Foxwarren trip, Wilmette go big, Hot Chip get heady and more in today’s Roundup. Did you know Bobby Vinton celebrated his 84th birthday last month? Now you do.
1 I’m a road-trip guy. So I’m a sucker for a good road-trip video. And you won’t find an artsier (and spookier) one than this stylish, cinematic number that complements the orchestral roots-pop experimentation of Andy Shauf and Foxwarren’s Lost on You — the latest single from their 2018 self-titled debut album. It’s definitely a trip. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “The juxtaposition between technology and the desolate desert, combined with dreamlike colors on the LED tubes strategically placed to showcase the shadows and textures of the natural landscapes lead to the perfect backdrop for Lost on You, an eerie and lonely song. Where Shauf leaves space for orchestration in his solo music, Foxwarren take time to ruminate on passages and themes. Propped up by warm driving rhythms and a familiar voice, and coloured with soft electronics and coarse guitars, their record ultimately hinges on sincerity. It captures the feeling of friends pushing each other, of a band looking inward for inspiration instead of outward for influence.” Wait! Who’s that guy?
2 Finding Bigfoot couldn’t do it. Mountain Monsters couldn’t do it. Bigfoot in America couldn’t do it. In Search Of couldn’t do it. In the end, it took a band — Chicago post-hardcore outfit Wilmette, to be exact — to capture and expose the mighty Sasquatch. At least, that’s how it goes in the entertaining video for their surging single Winter Stay, a preview of their July 19 EP Anxious Body. Of course, things might not turn out as you expect. Unless you expect that they captured a real Bigfoot. In which case, you’re just dumb. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Wilmette blend pop-punk and hardcore with a fresh style that relies on pop hooks, honest lyrics, and strong musicianship.” Big hairy deal:
3 “Moja droga jacie kocham means that I love you so.” If you recognize those words, congratulations — or condolences: You have clearly been exposed to the timeless wonder that is Bobby Vinton’s hit single My Melody of Love. Which brings us to English electro-popsters Hot Chip and their new song Melody of Love, from their upcoming album A Bath Full of Ecstasy. It is not a cover of Bobby’s song. Not by a long shot. But thanks to its shimmery rapture and dance-pop energy — not to mention the trippy head-shot video that complements it — you will quite certainly love it so. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “The album’s opening track, Melody of Love began life as a 12-minute instrumental track featuring a sample from the gospel group The Mighty Clouds of Joy. Under the eye of producer Rodaidh McDonald, the group turned it into a bombastic explosion of Technicolor pop. The song is about the importance of the transformative, non-verbal moment – ecstasy as personal happiness, but also of transcendence, of being outside oneself.” Feel the love:
4 Change is inevitable. But perhaps not the extensive amount of change Emily Cross has undergone lately. Since her 2016 album Wabi Sabi, the Austin singer-songwriter who makes music under the handle Cross Record has divorced, quit drinking, become a death doula, started the observational podcast What I’m Looking At, and toured and recorded with Loma, the trio she formed with Dan Duszynski and Jonathan Meiburg. I don’t know how that all factors into her new self-titled album and the reflective, gently drifting single PYSOL My Castle, but clearly it hasn’t done her any harm. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “PYSOL My Castle is immediate proof of Cross’s introspection. Inspired by a visit to an overstimulating Mexican street market, the track describes her search for an unencumbered mindspace: “Walking through the plaza in a dream / All these people reaching out / touching me. I cannot take what you are giving / You cannot break the bubble I’m living in.” Some things never change:
5 Nobody can give you everything under the sun. But London singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ash Walker can (and will gladly) offer you his groovy new album Aquamarine on July 19 — and the spaced-out low-impact funk of his first single Under the Sun right now. So really, you can’t complain. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “A cosmic explosion of sound and color, rhythm, shape, and patterns, Aquamarine is the take-off of an audial spaceship, a sound discovered in the grooves of thousands of records, united in one. Recorded at home with the freedom of time and space, it combines analogue and digital, and a fondness for normally unwanted shapes and textures such as fuzz, hiss, and crackle.” The water’s fine:
6 There aren’t many songs in this world that dare to raise the important questions. Thankfully, Be Alright, the summery dance-pop single from Dion Todd, doesn’t shy away from a truly tough issue. Namely: Is alright even really a word? I mean, shouldn’t it be all right? Be sure to contact him on every form of social media you can find to weigh in. The fate of life itself depends on it. Meanwhile, enjoy his single. Alright? SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “At first glance, Be Alright sounds like a typical love song, but it actually has a much deeper meaning,” says Dion. “We wanted to really hit home with a message far beyond a couples relationship, or the ups and downs we’ve all experienced at some point with someone we love. The true message is actually much more powerful. It’s about overcoming our differences between race, religion, politics, skin colour, shape or size of a person, looking beyond the superficial of what’s on the outside, and focusing more about what’s on the inside. Something we’ve lost given the effects of social media. I’m excited for the release of the music video soon which I think really captures the essence of the message.” Be here now:
