In case you missed it — the GULA crowdfund, and the rest of the lovely Book Bazaar, is live now! We’re going into Day 3 and nine of our 22 projects have already funded, which is incredible!
Just tuning in now? The Book Bazaar is a cohort of indie authors all crowdfunding book projects at once – some of us are brand new to crowdfunding, and some are old hands, but we’re all helping each other out to see our projects come to life. GULA is mine, a book-length epic poem about poverty, capitalism and the fall of the empire.
Welcome back everyone to — *checks my watch* Really? This one’s actually on fucking time? Holy shit. Anyway, this is the roundup for March’s new releases, posted in the second week of April, a.k.a. an actually appropriate time.
Child of the Earth – Lena Raine
We’re starting off with a Canadian artist (yay!) and a slightly sad backstory (aw.) Earthblade was a videogame announced by Extremely OK Games back in 2021, as a spiritual successor to Celeste. However, tragically, the game was cancelled in December 2024 for a myriad of reasons. Lena Raine, who was composing the music for the game, released what she deems more of a concept album than an OST early in March — and it’s a gorgeous collection of instrumentals that give the landscape of a game that will now never exist.
I don’t use ‘landscape’ lightly, either. The soundscape of this album is tremendous. I’ve listed specifically ‘Child of the Earth’ which has building minor-key synth and a crackling, rattling noise that starts chiming in about halfway through– deeply ominous without being too on the nose, and yet a little reminiscent of cicadas. But other tracks are just as excellent, and all with very different vibes from each other. ‘DEFY’ is a series of building chimes that are almost bubbly; and ‘Poison in the Roots’ is unsettling but pretty with distant background vocals and a steady, almost post-rock momentum to it as it grows. (Also out of all the tracks, ‘Poison in the Roots’ might be the one that makes me the most desperate to know what this game was about. Pleeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaase.)
I am such a sucker for anything with a synth in it. It’s a problem. Except not really because listen to this shit!!! It slaps!!!! (Sorry, I left my professionalism in my other coat.) Vectorgeist is an experimental/synthpop musician living in Oregon, and this track is a preview for an album releasing later this year. More than that I cannot tell you. The mystery. It compels me so.
Anyway, like I said, this slaps. As usual, I dearly wish the lyrics were provided, but I also don’t feel their absence as keenly as I sometimes do — the vocals feel so smoothly integrated as part of the music. This is the kind of music I should be listening to while committing a cyberpunk heist in 2252 Tokyo.
I’m not usually a love song person, but this sweet song by Lazy Pines is adorable on so, so many fronts. The lyrics are horny (and gay) but incredibly sincere in their longing — and the melody behind them is adapted from a piece of classical music, ‘Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity’ by Gustav Holst. It’s fascinating listening to the latter piece, which is performed with a lot of pomp and circumstance, and wondering how Lazy Pines got a sweet love song out of it — but it’s a very, very elegant piece of work. My one note is that the vocals and music don’t always blend as well as they could, but indie music comes with occasional imperfections in mixing — and that’s part of what makes it great.
Not to do a complete tonal whiplash here, but this song is on here just as much for the absolutely hysterical spite on display as for the actual music. It is, to be clear, a fun as hell song. It reminds me of the meme songs on Youtube of the Olden Days, which were always excellently crafted on top of being, well, funny.
I don’t know the backstory behind the song. All I know, from what’s on the Bandcamp page, is that someone or other pissed off Schtewee and — it would seem — claimed Schtewee didn’t count as a real furry. The result is two minutes and fifteen seconds that belong in Bojack Horseman, with fevered chanting of “FURRY FURRY FURRY FURRY” and “yip yip!” It’s fantastic. I’m not being ironic or sarcastic — I, unabashedly, hands down, love this. Except for the part where it’s stuck in my head and won’t leave. FURRY FURRY FURRY FURRY FURRY–
This is one of two trans rage songs on here, and while they couldn’t be more different in terms of musical tone/form (they’re both technically metal, but that’s about as far as it goes), they’re both absolute primal screams of songs. For S.O.S., this is literal. Bella Bliss’s distorted, nightcore-styled vocals are barely discernable from the noisy, trap-static background, and it’s a good thing the lyrics are supplied because even with them, it’s impossible to make them out. And it’s perfect. It’s like trying to make out cries for help through a broken radio, but turned up to 15 — distressing, impossible to turn off, and amazingly proficient.
It’s almost a shame, even with the artistic coherency of it, that the lyrics are so hard to hear though — because they’re fantastic even on their own. “they can’t kill us in a way that matters/(you know this is an S.O.S.)/you can only live to see them die/(you know this is an S.O.S.)” is a banger of a chorus, and the rest is just as strong. Even more impressive — and I feel like I say this a lot, but it tells you something about the state of indie music versus the music industry — this is only Bella Bliss’s second official release. It’s all upwards from here.
There’s something deeply, endlessly compelling about the “spell it out” song, but it’s usually a pop construction. Between the bridge of The Best Damn Thing and Hot To Go coming with a cute dance, it’s not something I expect from industrial music – but Cameron Evesque Davis doesn’t give a shit. C O W A R D S is a targeted air strike right at the fuckers currently running at the U.S. and their cronies, right at where they’re the most sensitive — their egos. And it’s catchy, too. In a just world, this would be getting radio play, but wouldn’t want to offend the ears of the centrists, I guess.
Davis is based in Chicago and describes herself as creating an ‘eclectic mix of genres’, which is certainly one way to put it (one of her other fantastic songs is an industrial cover of ‘One Jump Ahead’ from Aladdin, which is now living rent free in my brain forever, goddammit) and that alone earns her a spot on here. She’s got a TON of music, too, so if you like C O W A R D S you’ve got lots to catch up on.
While I’m sure I’ve run into these before, I don’t have any memory of them; this track is from a split album between two bands! Rather than a compilation of several bands or a guest feature, there’s three tracks from each, evenly split down the middle — the first three are songs by Wolven Daughter, while the second three are Order of the Wolf. While I like the work of both, my favourite is the very last track, which is an Order of the Wolf song; I like deeply immersive songs with a lot of layers, and the rhythm of this one really sucks me in. It’s also got really impressive guitar and vocal work, where black metal often falls short on one or the other.
Once again, though, I’m begging metal bands to PROVIDE THEIR LYRICS. I’m happy to see that these folks are a queer antifascist black metal band, which spares me some of the usual headache when dealing with black metal, but it would still be really nice to know what you’re singing about. You put a lot of work into those lyrics. Let me see em!!!!
An amazing, heartbreaking thrash-metal dirge of a song. ‘Remember Us To Death’ is dedicated to Channell Perez Ortiz, Ashia Davis, Banko Brown, Ashley Burton, Tasiyah Woodland, Eden Knight and Brianna Ghey – only a handful of the losses our queer community has suffered in the last few years, but ones where most of us will recognize at least one name. This is, first of all, a beautiful tribute — fantastic lyrics, and a dirge in content but not in form, with driving guitars and growled/screamed lyrics more befitting queer wrath than anything else.
Secondly, it’s also a fucking amazing thrash song. Clocking in at almost nine minutes, one almost expects it to drag on, but despite the intensity starting at moment one and never really letting up, it still has the ebb and flow to keep you listening and paying attention all the way through. Some of that is because of the interplay of vocals between Beef (Bethany Pitts) and guest vocalist Lux Edwards — some of it is just the phenomenal instrumentation. Either way, don’t miss out on this one. You’ll regret it.
….God, these vocals. The percussion. The VIIIIIBES. This is like Depeche Mode and Bjork for the 21st century (yes, I know Bjork’s still around, no disrespect to the mother herself intended). Or the 22nd century, honestly, because the futuristic feeling of this is wild.
Circuit Des Yeux is an Indiana-based singer-songwriter who’s been active since 2007 in experimental music scenes, and has a 4-octave singing range — so every note you hear on this track is her. (Holy shit. Jealous.)
True story: when I first checked this song out, about three days after it had released, it had about 300-500 views. At the time of me writing this column, it has 57k. Don’t you love a good success story? (And only some of it can be attributed to that adorable murderkitty OC. Look at them!)
This is an experimental-electro/trance track, so it’s a little more laid back than the other stuff on here (in fact, it’s closest in tone to Lena Raine’s work but if Children of the Earth got into the ketamine) but it’s definitely got that good thuddy to it if you like your music to have some knives in it. (I’m totally a professional expert music understander, guys. Why else would you come to the deaf guy for your recs?) It’s also apparently inspired by a musician called Femtanyl who — aside from having a fucking kickass name, what the shit — is new to me! So not only did I get a new song, I have a new artist to check out as well as Apathy!
Check out Bloodspiller by Apathy here!
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Additionally — most, if not all the artists I’ve posted about this time around are queer and/or trans. There’s a reason I post Bandcamps when I can, and that’s so that you, my readers, can do your part to support vulnerable queer lives. Listening to a song on Spotify is something, but it’s fractions of a cent. Buying a track on Bandcamp, though, or even a whole album, costs less than a coffee — and it not only helps put money in a starving artist’s pocket, but it shows them, it shows us, that you’re out there. And then it’s yours to listen to, forever! Think about it. Taylor Swift will never know that you bought her music — but indie artists will, and do, and it means the world.
There’s been a lot of people making peace with the political atmosphere with “well, we’re gonna get a lot of great music out of this” — which, I don’t think that’s a great coping mechanism, all things told. But so far, I can’t disagree. There’s a general atmosphere around music criticism that music is somehow worse or less diverse than it used to be, and that might be true in some senses. But every time I do one of these roundups, I’m always stunned at the variety and quality of the stuff that comes across my feed.
Before I get into the nitty-gritty, a few details about Genrefvckery. If you’ve released something lately and you’d like me to review it, send it my way! You can find me on Bluesky at @fiversdream or on SubscribeStar right here. There’s also a contact form on this site. I can’t guarantee I’ll get to everything but this is a great way for me to hear about stuff I might not otherwise. If you want to know how I find stuff, the best advice I can give you is to listen to music with purpose. The more diverse, strange and niche you make your listening habits, the more Spotify or Apple Music or your listening platform of choice picks up on that. My Release Radar gives me weird stuff because the algorithm knows I want stuff with less than 10k listeners.
Without any further ado, here’s my top ten for songs released in November 2024!
Никогда (Nikogda) – Lena Katina, ShonZi
If you put on this song and immediately feel like the vocals are familiar, don’t worry, you’re not hallucinating — Lena Katina first found fame as half of girl group t.A.T.u.! Unlike her co-singer, Katina’s remained pretty liberal, which is no small feat in Putin’s Russia; while the lyrics of Nikogda are pretty metaphorical, other songs of hers have flirted pretty closely with controversial topics while never quite getting blunt. (Who can blame her, considering Pussy Riot’s prison sentences?) ShonZi is less familiar to me, but appears to be an up and coming rapper. Language barriers aside, this song is awesome. The beat is engaging, the synth is smooth, and ShonZi and Katina’s vocals fit together beautifully. It doesn’t even feel like as short a song as it really is — it taps out at under two minutes.
2. Pretty Sweet Little Mess – Lilie Hoax
Lilie Hoax is another musician who can clearly be described as ‘up and coming’ – the first time I listened to this track, I could swear she had less than 1k listeners, and now, a month and a half later, it’s getting really close to 3k. (And that’s just on Spotify.) It’s not hard to see why, either. The track starts with a music-box intro and Hoax’s sweet voice in an almost singer-songwriter style. Hoax’s accent adds a really nice element to the song — I’ve always been sad about how often singers are ‘trained’ into singing with more or less American voices, and it’s lovely when someone gets some popularity singing with their own accent. (Bastille is another great example.) But the real achievement of the song is the chorus — where Joni Mitchell switches with a whine of guitar feedback to Sleater-Kinney riot-grrl energy. The overall energy is far closer to Alanis Morissette or Imogen Heap than anybody more ‘normal’, and it’s the kind of thing I dearly missed from indie rock. The best part is that this is from her first album and she’s 20 years old. I just hope she doesn’t get less weird over time.
3. I’m Not Sorry – The Pinpricks
We’ve been to Russia and Australasia — this time we’re in Germany with punk duo The Pinpricks, comprised of fiery female frontwoman Ronja Kaminsky and bass player Nils Degenhardt. I’m Not Sorry is from their second full album, and it’s got the raw energy of second-wave punk mixed with the acoustic grit of the OG grunge bands. Think Le Tigre meets Vice Squad.
What entertains me is that they’re apparently promoting themselves as pop-punk — which, I suppose, is accurate given production values and verse-chorus-verse models, but I’m always a little surprised at what counts as ‘pop’. The lyrics and music video are also an absolute hoot — low budget visual fun with a story that’s a more violent ‘No Scrubs’. I say this all one thousand percent as a compliment. If this means we’re finally getting pop-punk with some actual guitars back, then I’m down.
4. Day to Day – Acid Flashback at Nightmare Beach
Acid Flashback at Nightmare Beach is the project of phenomenally talented musician Lonny Starsky, who released the gorgeous Jazz from the Other Side Of The House in 2023 and is back this year with several singles. “Day to Day” is — not quite a sad song. It’s introspective, melancholy, and both about depression and — if I’m not projecting too much as a trans person living in horrible times — trying to take life ‘day to day’ after being handed an awful hand. Out of all the songs here, I think this is the one where the lyrics have affected me the most personally, and Starsky’s tender voice just makes them land all the harder.
Starsky’s work also defies categorization in a way I really enjoy, both creatively and as a stubborn hipster. Her works are tagged on Bandcamp as everything from ‘alternative’, ‘bedroomjazz’, ‘progressive lonnywave’ (a personal favourite) and ‘psychedelic emo’. This particular single hasn’t shown up on Bandcamp just yet and I’m not personally sure what words I’d use, butI think a lot of these tags speak for themselves.
5. Baliza – Driade
In case this list isn’t making it clear, I genre-hop with pretty extreme regularity. I listen to, quite literally, everything; I find the people who say “everything but country and rap” or “everything but opera” to be cowards. But the first genre I ever got into as a genre, under my own power, was metal. So I’m quite pleased to have at least one proper metal song on here, and what a song it is! Driade is a new band for me, but have been around under a different name since 2020. They’ve got a powerhouse combination of musicians, obvious just from listening to them, and it takes chops to play this kind of metal. All metal is a step or two up in difficulty; black metal is pretty high up there! (Although I’m still debating with myself whether this is black metal, doom metal, or gothic metal. It combines a couple different genre traits, and their Spotify unhelpfully lists them “modern, aggressive, delicate music from Madrid”. The only useful part of that is knowing they’re from Spain.)
Either way, though, this is a hell of a song and one I actually found much later than the rest of the list — it slid under my radar til well into December! I’m very glad I found it, and I’ll be keeping an eye on these folks.
6. Low Mood Season – Casey Lowery
This is the most popular song I think I have on this list, but in my defense… it’s very good. I love good singer-songwriter/folk-influenced work, especially when it’s not from the American South (Lowery is from the UK). And this song, about mutual struggles, hits in such a specific way. It’s not a coincidence that ‘Day to Day’ and this song are on the same list, but they also both came out in November, so who’s really at fault here? Winter, that’s who. Winter can go fuck itself.
Anyway, the production value on this song is incredible, but high production value also can’t do much for a song that’s already rubbish. Everything from the guitar to Lowery’s voice to the lyrics are like jigsaw pieces, and I’m almost annoyed at how much I like this song. I got a tiny bit of metal cred back with the last one and now here I am. Curses.
7. Say No To Drugs – We Don’t Ride Llamas
Now THESE folks are fucking cool. An Afro-Punk band of four siblings based in Austin, Texas, W.D.R.L. is made up of Chase, Max, Blake and Kit Mitchell. You might be expecting a silly song or a silly band, but ‘Say No To Drugs’ is actually a heartbreaking song about pain and — presumably — surviving withdrawal. With a surging soundscape behind Max Mitchell’s vocals, it’s a song you can fall into, and lyrics that might otherwise feel cheesy seem imbued with so much sincerity and genuine empathy that I find myself listening to the song over and over.
Another great note about W.D.R.L. – they were formed in 2014, which means 2024 was their tenth anniversary! Not a small achievement in today’s music world.
8. Riders On The Storm – Mortemia, Sirenia, Emma Zoldan
Next up is an absolutely bloody brilliant cover of ‘Riders on the Storm’ by The Doors. (There’s been a swath of really original cover choices the last few years — I only recently found out about In This Moment’s ‘ARMY OF ME’ back in 2023, on their album Godmode.) This is an odd case of redundant crediting, though; Mortemia is a one-man band comprised of Morten Veland, Emma Zoldan is the solo career of Emmanuelle Zoldan, and Sirenia in its modern format is comprised of…. Morten Veland and Emmanuelle Zoldan. So I don’t know what that’s about. Brand recognition? (Even that doesn’t make any sense, though, since out of all of these Sirenia is the most recognizable.)
Anyway, the song is gorgeous. The Doors are already a favourite band of mine — they’re often considered a precursor to the goth movement, which is one of those observations that sounds bizarre the first time you hear it, and makes sense the more you think about it — and ‘Riders on the Storm’ is, in its original form, a western-tinged song with just a hint of menace lurking behind its bassline. For the time, The Doors were already doing music much grimmer than normal — but of course, in today’s world of distorted guitars and shrieking synth, their work sounds very tame. What Mortemia and Emma Zoldan have done is take the lyrics and the basic frame of the song and opened it up to its full potential. It’s shorter, for one — two, the synths that in the 60s were still in their infancy are at full power here, and layered into a wall of sound that feels like a stormcloud. The guitars are louder, and Zoldan’s voice is a rich alto that feels like the only possible choice. (It would have been very tempting, I think, to go for either a male vocal or a soprano; but there’s a Valkyrie vibe to this that I don’t think would have come across with a gentler or more high-pitched voice.) For those keeping track, Sirenia et al. are Norwegian.
9. Charlie – The Hex
This time we’re in Ireland — look, I swear I didn’t plan this. And this is another band fresh on the scene, which always makes me feel good to cover! In fact, ‘Charlie’ is only their second single, after a release back in 2023. This is another pop-punk/riot grrl-flavoured song, and — amusingly — another revenge song, although this one is a lot more directly about jealously. The rhythm of the lyrics makes me absurdly happy, and I don’t have the knowledge to explain why — it’s just really well written. These girls also have incredible talent; for a second single, this is a hell of a song. They’re determined to play music in both Irish and English, and just in case anybody misses the memo, there’s a line in Irish in ‘Charlie’.
The members of The Hex are Caoimhe Garvin (singer), Katie Moran (lead guitarist), Helen McCarthy (bassist and pianist) and Peas Kelly (drummer). And I am looking very eagerly forward to their first album.
10. In Dreams – Suvitar
For our last song, we’re going to Finland! For those keeping count, we’ve had exactly two Americans on this list. (Which is still more than anybody else.) Suvitar is another brand new artist, which is amazing to me, cause this song is baller. It’s fast-paced with crunchy guitars and gothic vocals, so in other words, exactly my kind of thing. All I know about Suvitar so far is that this is her first single and that she’s very happily leaning into the gothic label. Which, GOOD. There’s been a SHORTAGE.
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Hello everyone! It’s been a while since I did my music columns so I’m doing a bit of a rebrand. Genrefvckery is my tag/column name for everything music related, and this is my July 2020 roundup for new music! This column is going to focus on indie and alternative music, but is very light on the concept of ‘genre’ otherwise. So you’ll see Honest Heart Collective and Pussy Riot next to each other, but no Taylor Swift.
Nursery-rhyme melodic vocals war with brutal hardcore, driving guitars and biting lyrics on this track from Death by Stereo. While there aren’t any available lyrics yet, it’s hard to imagine that “the world is great, things are fine, we’re all dying just in time” isn’t a pointed commentary. The balance of different energies on this track is brilliantly done and my favourite new track of this month.
Pussy Riot has always put their money where their mouth is (getting arrested by Putin is a pretty good way to prove your punk cred) but this song – and its video, which has captions with the lyrics – just doubles down on their sheer courage. This is a scary, electropunk song that clocks in at under two minutes in proper Ramones style, that starts with a chant of A-C-A-B. In case you weren’t sure what they meant by ‘Riot’.
The post-hardcore trope of a melodic/sung chorus with screamed or guttural verse vocals is a cliche at this point, but it’s a cliche for a reason – it works well, and Sleeping with Sirens does it better than most. Talking to Myself is an ode to the darkest parts of depression, and suitably enough, it’s angry rather than melancholy. There’s even a wry nature to it – “to everybody doing good, I wish you well, I hope you never have to go through this hell”.
On the topic of mental health, Rarity’s ballad “Worn Down” feels like a song about two people suffering from mental illnesses they can’t explain in a relationship with each other. The chorus goes in circles – “I think I’m mean to you/what are you gonna do now/I think I see through you” – and it’d be concerningly toxic if there wasn’t such real regret and confusion in the singer’s voice.
I don’t usually come to post-hardcore for inspiration and determination, but the lyrics of this song from 11|34 are surprisingly motivational, all the more so for the grinding guitars behind them. “And I know I’m not okay, but I’ll make it anyway, face my fears,” is exactly what I needed to hear. This song suffers slightly from a generic opening that leads into a surprisingly fun post-hardcore track. I think I’ve heard that guitar opening on ten songs released in the last month alone, and the track deserves better.
A sweet pop-rock song with folk influences, Honest Heart Collective’s new single betrays their Canadian identity in the best way possible. Canadian folk-punk has a certain sound to it, and this heartfelt song about tattoos and friendship has Thunder Bay written all over it. It’s not a song that pushes boundaries, but it will get stuck in your head when you least expect it.
al Riggs is a non-binary, autistic queer musician who makes heartfelt indie music that lurks on the boundary between folk and emo – somewhere between Dashboard Confessional, Cavetown and Frightened Rabbit. “Boyfriend Jacket, Boyfriend Sweater” is a sweet, lowkey love song from their upcoming album, a collaboration with guitarist Lauren Francis, and comes with – pinup art of a sexy orc? I’m into it.
I’ll admit, I can’t figure out whether or not McFly is mainstream these days. I’ve been a McFly fan since 2005, so that warps my perspective a lot. Still, Happiness is a boppy, upbeat track that’s jazzy and danceable in a way their stuff hasn’t been in a while. The big band element is reminiscent of All About You, although more upbeat, and it’s nice to see that after a hard stretch, they’re feeling positive.
This is a fun track, although it doesn’t really feel like a Stars track. It’s hard to believe this is from the same band that gave us ‘Dead Hearts’ and ‘In Our Bedroom After The War’, but I’m intrigued to see how it fits in with the wider album. But from a sheer musical perspective, it’s fun to listen to, multilayered and glitzy with a sense of something approaching.
Admittedly, I find this an odd choice for a single. It’s very standard for a Seether song, down to its disdain for religious institutions and grunge aesthetics, and doesn’t say much about what the new album might hold – especially after 2017’s Poison the Parish. But I find it growing on me, and the chorus has that grungy “fuck you, I’m still standing” energy to it that I love so much.
COVER FEATURE:
Somebody that I Used To Know – Three Days Grace
This is not a cover I ever expected to happen – let alone like. It’s not the first harder-edged cover of Somebody That I Used To Know out there, but if 3DG is good at anything, it’s cutting straight to the angst-dripping heart of the matter, and it certainly does so here. And besides, the more covers that are done of this song, the less I like the original. It’s so. Clean.
Havukruunu is a new band for me, but I’m enjoying their blend of folk elements with black metal, especially on this album. While translations of underground metal music are hard to come by, there’s an epic nature to the songs on here (especially the title track and Kuin Oinen Meri) that, paired with the incredible album artwork, gives away some of the inspiration. I’m particularly in love with the grand, bardic choral vocals that open the album. What a way to hook a listener!
Crickets is a recently formed indie supergroup featuring members of MEN, Le Tigre and Faith No More, and as somebody who listens to none of those bands, I’m very impressed by this album. “Drilled Two Holes” is bassy, rhythmic and ever so slightly unsettling, with vocals reminiscent of Metric in their heyday, and the synth undertones run through the whole album, insistent and ever so slightly demented.
Babybird is an altpop musician hailing from Great Britain, and Once We Have Destroyed Ourselves We Shall Build A New World is his first mid-COVID release. Trancy lo-fi beats serve as the backdrop to his soft vocals and simple, hypnotic lyrics, but the real attraction is the short but eerie title track, which sounds like it belongs on a movie soundtrack. I also enjoy the inclusion of the 3-track mixtape, which blends all three together – that said, it makes for a short EP. I’ll be checking out more of Babybird’s work, which probably deserves the moniker experimental more than ‘pop’.
fish narc combines trap beats with guitars and a punk sensibility, and his deep, disaffected vocals help bring it all together. A previous collaborator with the late Lil Peep and a member of the ‘GothBoiClique’, this is fish narc’s debut album, and it’s a hell of one – distorted guitars and depressing lyrics don’t let up for a second, and get a lot of power from being catchy. ‘SNOWFLAKE’ and ‘MY BEST’ are standouts, but the wildness on the title track is also fun as hell to listen to . Genre? What’s that? fish narc’s just doing what he likes to do.
Indie synth-pop outfit The Naked and Famous are the most familiar to me through singles ‘Punching in a Dream’ and ‘A Stillness’, so the album Recover is a little more gospel-ish than I’m used to. It’s good, though, and very feel-good in a sincere way. Plus, the electronic rhythms that keep the pulse going are intact and better than ever, pulling the whole album together. It feels like a happy coincidence that an album about recovery and determination is coming out during such a hard time for the world, especially with its candy-sweet energy.
See you next month for August’s releases! If you like the work I do, consider subscribing to my Patreon or leaving a tip at my Ko-Fi.
Elliott Dunstan 