Following the recent release of her latest single, ‘TO BE YOUR FRIEND,’ 26-year-old LA-based electropop artist and producer JORDI UP LATE returns with another brand new single entitled ‘PUNX,’ a collaboration with Wyatt Thunder. As JORDI UP LATE wrote on her newest single: “Sometimes, we give a lot of energy and time to people who aren’t true about their intentions and we feel that we have been played. However, in the end those people are really just playing themselves out of healthy friendships and kind lovers. ‘PUNX’ is basically about telling someone to F* off and letting toxic people go while also unapologetically and happily reminding them of what they are losing and what we are gaining.” On its accompanying music video, she continued: “The ‘PUNX’ music video revolved around shooting on a green screen set. I utilized the green screen throughout the entire video as a tool for creating movement, motion, effort, and sweat, without actually going anywhere or accomplishing any distance. This mirrors the idea of putting effort into a relationship that goes unappreciated. The song is also about gaining freedom by saying F* it and letting my unfiltered feelings guide the way. Green screen also provided an amazing opportunity to get whacky and surreal in post, like a dream – unfiltered. I then purposefully like to reveal the green screen as a comment on fakery and manipulation explored in the lyrics. Overall the visuals needed to reflect both the dark but fun sensibilities of the track.”
Singer-songwriter Harriette announces that she has signed to AWAL Recordings. The Texas-born but Brooklyn-based artist has also announced the April 27 release of her debut EP, I Heart The Internet and shares the first taste via the single ‘Goodbye Texas’ which embraces a Western dancefloor glow as she ironically examines her lack of place in her home state—a concern that hit close to home after the political contests of the last few years drove friends and families apart. She says, “I wrote ‘Goodbye Texas’ two years ago as I was driving out of Texas after Christmas. I lived there for 18 years and always felt like I stuck out. As I got older it seemed like everything I wanted to achieve was going to happen elsewhere. It came to a point where I really needed to take some space from being home and this song was my key to the door out.” She continues, “The song was surprisingly easy to write, it felt like everything I wanted to say came out so naturally. It was easy to recall what I have always admired about the state – the sunsets, wide open spaces, bluebonnets and yellow roses. But just like the song explains, the sunsets became too hot, the spaces weren’t green anymore and I felt like the bluebonnets had forgotten my name.” Watch the video, directed by Jacqueline Justice & Muriel Margaret below.
Maisie Peters has dropped a new video for her latest single, ‘Body Better’. The first cut from her soon-to-be-announced second album, it was penned alongside Ines Dunn (Griff, Mimi Webb) and producer Matias Téllez (girl in red, AURORA). “’Body Better’ is one of the most honest songs I’ve ever released, and definitely the most personal,” Maisie explains. “I wrote it after a breakup and it deals with the ugly things you think to yourself in the aftermath, when you’re painstakingly going through everything small thing you did and were and wondering what you could have changed. It’s a song about insecurity and vulnerability, about giving a lot of yourself away to someone who decides they don’t want it anymore and knowing where to go from there.” [via Dork]
Ailbhe Reddy is sharing the video for ‘Last To Leave’, the latest single to be taken from her forthcoming second album Endless Affair, which arrives on March 17. ‘Last To Leave’ is a beautiful and dreamy lo-fi journey of love, romance and embarrassment. Ailbhe says: “It’s about having an infatuation with someone who you find frustrating and watching as they make a fool of themselves at a party, while knowing you might be doing the same thing.” Of the video, she continues: “I sent the album onto Mark Logan & Collective Dublin a few months after it was finished in August 2021, Mark immediately connected to Last to Leave and we decided to work on something together. He had so many amazing ideas for it and was so passionate about bringing them all to life! Shooting with the crew and cast over 2 days was incredible, especially Danielle Galligan who managed to help me act as well as being the emotional driving force behind the narrative! Big thanks to Elton the pig for playing me in the final shots too!”
Kicksie, the project of Toronto musician Giuliana Mormile, has been home-recording and self-releasing since 2018, and they’ve been very prolific. Her last album, 2020’s All My Friends, was given a wider re-release by Get Better Records, and now she’s got a new album called Slouch–her fifth LP overall–due April 14 via Counter Intuitive Records. Alongside the announcement, they’re premiering single and music video ‘You’re On.’ The song rings with fun, guitar-forward emo-pop, taking cues from the early 2000s. [via Brooklyn Vegan]
Amber Arcades has shared the suitably moody music video for her latest single ‘True Love’, from her new album Barefoot on Diamond Road out now. [via Dork]
The Santa Cruz rock band Scowl are about to head out on a massive North American tour with Show Me The Body, Jesus Piece, Zulu, and TrippJones. Now, they’ve announced the Psychic Dance Routine EP, their follow-up to their 2021 debut album How Flowers Grow. It was produced by Will Yip, and they’re introducing it with the fearsomely catchy ‘Opening Night.’ “‘Opening Night’ is a song I’m particularly excited about because I really worked on this song’s structure with the boys in the band,” Scowl’s Kat Moss said in a statement. “I felt inspired by early 2000’s indie rock songs written by bands like The Strokes and Vampire Weekend.” Moss continued: “Lyrically this song takes a pretty literal stab at my experience of feeling jolted from stage to van, and back again, every single night. I also had experiences on tour where I was seeing faces in the crowd that belonged to people from my past, and it was pretty shocking.” [via Stereogum]
Ashnikko is back with her first new single since 2021, ‘You Make Me Sick!’. ‘You Make Me Sick!’ is their first outing since covering ‘Carol of the Bells’ for Spotify in November 2021, and is accompanied by a Saam Farahmand-directed video. Ashnikko says of the track, which was written with longtime collaborators Slinger and Oscar Scheller, “I’ve decided to come back with my angriest, most cathartic song to date. My own personal rage room for me to smash my plates.” [via Line Of Best Fit]
While physically thousands of miles apart, the partnership between Greek pop artist KID MOXIE and German pop artist NINA came organically. Upon connecting, it was instantly clear the two were “synth sisters” destined to make music together. The result is a 5-track EP collection titled Lust set for release on March 24 via Italians Do It Better. The title track ‘Lust’ is out now alongside an edgy and seductive neo-noir music visual shot in Athens by director Paige Von Bank. The Lust project first began as a desire by KID MOXIE, the musical moniker of Greek born, LA-based composer and musician Elena Charbila, to recreate the Jennifer Lopez hit ‘Waiting For Tonight.’ After connecting with synthwave doyenne NINA (Nina Boldt) via Zoom, the idea emerged that a sultry female duet is exactly what this track needed. The notion of a duet-driven project was very appealing to both artists who’ve firmly established themselves with successful solo releases, and notable past collaborations. It was clear both pop/synth songstresses shared a similar headspace and bonded over their affection towards dark cinematic scores such as Blade Runner, Twin Peaks, and Drive.
Georgia Mooney reveals her stunning debut offering ‘War Romance’. Cinematic and full of emotion, ‘War Romance’ is here as an incredible debut solo moment from Georgia Mooney. Offering dreamy escapism and fantastical romance, the Australian musical polymath has put her best foot forward and proves to be a one-of-a-kind artist to watch. Georgia Mooney is an ARIA-winning singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Sydney. Her music is ornate and hand-crafted, sculpted by a strong mind and a delicate heart. ‘War Romance’ is the first taste to be taken from her upcoming debut album, coming later this year via Nettwerk. Taking inspiration from the beauty and potency of vulnerability, and the complexities of connection and perception, Mooney’s talent for songwriting is showcased by her soaring ethereal voice and lush soundscapes. Influences from every member of the Wainwright family, Laura Marling, Joni Mitchell, the sophistication of the Great American Songbook and even classical composers sift through her songs seamlessly, alongside fuzzed out guitars and production that evoke the unsettling genius of Kate Bush – both her idiosyncratic wall of sound instrumentation and unexpected turns of chords and melodies. ‘War Romance’ is born out of the maelstrom of the contemporary world – climate change, covid, political unrest and relentless waves of global tragedy. When life is beyond your control and the world seems to be slipping beyond the bounds of repair, we cling to the clarity and desperation of love. On the single, Georgia Mooney shares, “I have always loved wartime films & novels for the way they portray relationships. When life is fragile and we are faced with our mortality on a daily basis, we cling to one another for comfort. Superficial problems fall away and the bonds of love feel extraordinarily strong and vital. It’s a bit melodramatic, but romantic and earnest too. Like standing on a cliff, clutching a letter, staring out to sea.” The ‘War Romance’ music video stars award-winning comedian and guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under Rhys Nicholson (they/them) making their drag debut as Georgia Mooney, and Mooney herself as Nicholson. Romantic and fantastical, the clip sees them move and sing around a beautiful old hotel in a time and place that is impossible to define.
Tove Lo is already following up her 2022 album Dirt Femme with a funky new single called ‘Borderline.’ If you’re thinking that ‘Borderline’ sounds like it could’ve been pulled from Dua Lipa’s latest album, there’s good reason: “Tons of love to @DUALIPA for trusting me with this baby,” Tove Lo wrote of the track on Twitter. “This is the very first song we wrote together and the very start of our friendship so this feels extra special.” But like many of Tove Lo’s best hits, ‘Borderline’ is a love song with an air of darkness: “I like to feel my bones when they crash into my heart/ I like the taste of blood when you’re tearin’ me apart,” she sings against the song’s heavy, thumping bass line. Watch the Nogari-directied video for the track below. [via Consequence]
With her trademark hot-pink hair, brassy London belt and punky electro-pop, girli is hard to miss — but in ‘Imposter Syndrome,’ the artist is unrecognizable to herself. “I’m so paranoid that everybody hates me/ Wear a big smile when it’s in style,” girli sings in the single’s music video over a breakfast of eggs, toast and ketchup reading ‘Fraud’ as a circus ensemble of diner characters steal glances at the superstar. Becoming more surreal by the second, the crowd of eccentric on-lookers jeer and scowl at girli, pushing her from the trippy diner into a dark alley, where she dodges the spotlight, finding herself swarmed by a crowd of real-life fans protesting the pop star. Signs reading ‘FAKE’ push against girli as the mob grows volatile, silently mouthing “fake,” “fraud” and intelligible screams under girli’s anthem. As the visual closes, the crowd dissipates in a cloud of smoke and girli finds herself alone, begging the question of how much of the raucous scene was imagined by the singer herself, creating characters of her intrusive thoughts as if building her reality from smoke. Milly Toomey (AKA girli) has been on a journey of self-discovery, which comes out through ‘Imposter Syndrome’ and previous single ‘I Really F**ked It Up,’ arriving at the conclusion that she will always surprise herself — and it’s okay to not know what comes next. “I was overthinking everything, feeling like a fake, scared that I was an underachiever and that everybody knew it and was laughed behind my back about it,” girli says. “I kind of go through life feeling like everybody else has a guidebook, and I’m just making it up as I go and getting it wrong. This song is about wanting to run away because of that feeling and being so unsure of yourself it scares you.” [via PAPER]
Bite Me Bambi have released a new single, just in time for Valentine’s Day, ‘Let Me Love You’. Along with the song comes a new video, a veritable special effects extravaganza. Just watch out for Cupid’s arrow! [via that’s good enough for me]
Athens, GA psych-folk group Immaterial Possession, who are led by Cooper Holmes and Madeline Polites and include Kiran Fernandes (son of Olivia Tremor Control’s John Kiran Fernandes), will release their second album, Mercy of the Crane Folk, on May 5 via Fire. They’ve just shared ‘To The Fete,’ which should appeal to fans of Syd Barrett, Broadcast, and the places in between. The video, shot and directed by the band, feels like a lost short from the silent film era. [via Brooklyn Vegan]
