With the year drawing to a close, Week in Pop presents a humble assortment of selections from just a few of our favorites and standouts from the creatives that inspired us with their expansive and expressive ingenuity. Presented in no particular order and not according to any arbitrary quantitative ranking system; this feature is a work in progress that showcases a rough draft compilation that highlights just some of those that shined a bright light into our collective worlds during this past trip around the sun. Not intended to be exhaustive or entirely definitive by any stretch of the imagination, we present to you a selection of some of the year’s brightest stars and their offerings of emanating brilliance with:
Week in Pop’s Year in Pop: 2023
Joy Postell, The Magician
The iconic Joy Postell; photographed by Joey Whitley.
Love is spiritual. Love is ineffable. Love is hope. Love is a new chance. Love is beautiful. Love is all the aforementioned and so much more. Love is The Magician, the inspired new EP from lauded Baltimore r&b pop icon Joy Postell. The artist has garnered attention over the past decade with a proliferation of singles, influential releases with the prescient Diaspora, Back and Forth and more that have uplifted the cultural consciousness with a higher message of celestial light for today’s turbulent times. Shining forth bright beams of truths in the face of systemic oppression and countering adversity with storytelling arts of earnest affections; Joy’s oeuvre of work intuitively precipitated the upheavals, uprisings and tribulations witnessed in recent years with a bastion of suave self-styled rhythm and rhymes that offer an antidote of unrelenting liberation in the face of global, local and personal points of conflicts and attrition.
Welcome Strawberry, Scared to Look (Cherub Dream Records)
Beyond the blur and whir with Welcome Strawberry's Cyrus VandenBerghe; photographed by Zachary Rodell.
Constrictions, life balances, better states of being, creative pursuits and more; these ideas and ascetic concepts factor in heavily to the world building bloom and plume of Welcome Strawberry’s brand new Scared to Look EP for the esteemed San Francisco imprint Cherub Dream Records. Led by Oakland musician Cyrus VandenBerghe, also of Still Ruins, the follow up to 2022’s self-titled debut places an emphasis on immediacy and introspection alongside the restrictions of excess. It’s an assessment of being the person we want to see in the mirror, the desire to curtail the things that no longer serve us and embody ideas, attitudes and energy in a fully realized sound that is present and tangible in all that we create. VandenBerghe–with the assistance of engineer/percussionist Daniel Baylis, vocalist Cheyenne Avant, Nick Bassett and Zac Montez on mixing and mastering–presents a prosperous place that surpasses the pit beyond all of our nagging fears; a sacred sanctuary where we can lay our burdens down; a point of respite; a proverbial safe space; the coordinates where the ego and superego intersect in a harmonious and ineffable congress.
Strange Men, "Hot Nights" (Big Pink Records)
San Francisco’s sensational Strange Men, from left, Róisín Isner & Ashley Clayton; photographed by Cassidy Frost.
As the story goes — a fateful wait for an 8 Bayshore Muni bus became the groundwork for San Francisco duo Strange Men's new single "Hot Nights" for the brand new SF/Seattle imprint Big Pink Records. Conceived by Róisín Isner who sounded out the phonetic percussive progressions to herself before conveying it guitarist/bassist Ashley Clayton; the two built a royal ruckus that shakes, sneers, trembles and quakes with a fury that rides high, tough and feisty all under a minute and a half. Strange Men abide by the intrinsic and psychic school of pop curation, edifying the economy of engineering and designing the perfect, succinct song that accounts for everything that you would ever want to experience.
C3zR, “B.B.B” ft. Ifeanyi Elswith
The inimitable and amazing Ifeanyi Elswith; press photo courtesy of the artist via Instagram.
Embracing the whole wide world — C3zR; photographed by Vanessa Valadez.
Introducing Chi-town’s new producer to know, C3zR, of whom today announces the breakout album Round Voyage for 600 Block Records with the stunning debut of “B.B.B” that features fellow local talent Ifeanyi Elswith. Born Cesar Pino, the multi-instrumentalist has built a style from the books of jazz greats, citing Bobby Caldwell, Ramsey Lewis to contemporary luminaries like Enny, Kaytranada and many more as guiding lights. Beyond these catalogues of favorites, C3zR has been busy fusing a brand new fashion and line of focuses that are all his own. Working alongside fellow rising star Ifeanyi, a new tier of rhythm and bops can be found from a collaboration that feels like nothing experienced before or since. Call it a mood. Call it a vibe. “B.B.B” bursts through to the surface from the underground with a coolness and suave that cannot be denied.
poolblood, mole (Next Door Records)
Toronto titan Maryam Said — aka poolblood; photographed by Jibril Yassin.
Giving us all this and more is the almighty Maryam Said of poolblood released of one of the year’s biggest and most anticipated albums — mole. The long awaited to follow up to the Yummy EP from 2019, we discovered the pop universe of poolblood via collaborators ranging from Annika Zee to Shamir and more of whom pointed toward Maryam’s rising star based out of Toronto. Working in conjunction with the aforementioned Shamir Bailey along with Louie Short; mole is a mystifying and grandiose album that materializes like a psychic cinematic production that reveals the soul’s own lullabies, swan songs and saudade symphonies from the connective corridors that travel between the heart, mind, body and human spirit.
Gabby’s World, Gabby Sword (Carrot All Records)
Pop icon Gabrielle Smith clad in Junya Watanabe, Comme Des Garçons.
Transcendence and transformation defines the trajectories of mercurial spirits that open themselves to unlimited change. Nothing ever remains the same, life and time are not static constructs, motion is a part of the human exchange as history moves us forward into new chapters and new paradigms. Gabrielle Smith leads us into the frontiers of the strange and terrains of new discovery on the much awaited Gabby's World album, Gabby Sword. Co-produced with partner and Lindsay Barrie (otherwise known by just their surname), Gabrielle presents a voyage of healing and hemming the threads of today and tomorrow's musical textiles that allude toward future creative progressions.
Model Clocks, It’s Going to Be OK (Technofunk)
Vancouver’s premier pop vanguards — Model Clocks; press photo / cover art courtesy of the artists.
Subscribing to the universal construct of unbridled hope are the northern dreamers at Model Clocks who present the much awaited (and aptly titled) EP It’s Going to Be OK. The group of Simon Lock of Terrace, Chad McLeod, vocalist Jane Lauren Storey-English and guitar ace Dan Dall’Acqua together create a chorus of indefatigable inspiration and light. After pandemic related delays and navigating remote collaborations and the like, Model Clocks gives the world a work of unrelenting joy. Together they raise a banner of determination, ballads about navigating love, dream journals on the journeys of searching for meaning, the pursuit of better things and combining analogous eras into a synthesis that lends itself toward creative stylistic hybrids of the celestial sort.
Miracle Sweepstakes, Last Licks (One Weird Trick)
Wonders of wonders….Miracle Sweepstakes; press photo courtesy of the artists.
Toward the close of the chaotic and traumatic year that was 2020, New York’s adventurous wide-eyed pop voyagers Miracle Sweepstakes blessed us with the beauty of Rorschached that brought an abundance of endearing and eccentric light into our hearts and quarantined homes. Through the turbulence of the past 3 years, the Sweepstakes team of Craig Heed, Ian Miniero, Justin Mayfield and Doug Bleek endured the upheavals and tragedies of personal loss that lead them to largely record their massive new album by themselves. With the passing of Ian's father, the group took to his basement in Valley Stream, NY where they recorded with gear that his dad left behind in the home where the band used to practice back during the formidable years of their youth. Through experiments, trials, errors, breakthroughs and more — we present the band’s mighty testament to perseverance and prog pop prognostications with Last Licks.
Past Palms, Portraits
Electronic/ambient pop’s new appointed leader — Past Palms; photographed by Nuria Rius.
Thus sets the stage for the latest release from Richmond, VA pop polymath Past Palms as we bring you Portraits. Standing as one of today’s most profound and prolific artists in the realm of ambient arts — Portraits follows up a string of releases that instinctively grows more and more organic and ethereal in ways that are as mysterious as the communication and communion between the flora and fauna. From lauded releases like Ambient Music for Watering Plants, Summer Prayer, Empyrean, Senescence and more; Past Palms has arrived as one of the foremost institutions for breaking new grounds in the fields of finding new atmospheric arts that imitate, emulate and are intertwined with the air, ether and atmospheres that embody the environments of our lives.
Suzanne Bonifacio, “Mistakes”
Manifesting new creative tiers of existence with Suzanne Bonifacio; press photo courtesy of Ken Axford.
Like the atoms whirling and fleeting about in the breeze, carried by the wayward winds; we arrive at our own conclusions and points of calm by finding fleeting moments and places of pause within the maelstrom of everything that we cannot fully define or grasp that exists beyond the scope of our own comprehension. Thus sets the tone and stage for Suzanne Bonifacio’s staggering single, “Mistakes”. A slow burning sacred chamber track, the Buffalo, NY artist moves the lens inward toward meditative spaces. Delicately developed over the course of the past few years in a world consumed by the inertia of ghastly proportions that historians will pine over for eons — Bonifacio speaks to the guarded vulnerability of how we live. How we learn. How we grow. How we fall down. How we pick ourselves back up. How we fail forward. How we cope. How we arrive at our personal truths. How we love. How we find peace. How we organize a sense of order from the landfill heaps of memories, the weights and pressures of the world and how we arrive at a higher state of grace.
Liska, It Girl
Embracing the extents of infinity with Liska; press photo courtesy of Charlie Young.
Cue rising popstar Liska who unleashes the ecstatic extents of perpetual indulgence and serotonin per semper with “Infinity”. Alias Annelise Steele, a multidisciplinary artist based out of Chicago, announces the follow up to Le Boom with the anticipated It Girl EP that pushes the parameters of what maximalism can be. Drawing from the playbooks of debutantes and matriarchs that have rocked the systems, ruled the scenes and laid the golden cobblestones of yellow brick roads toward the emanating light of immortal stardom — Liska is fusing together a fashion of sound, sentiment, sensibility and style of ethereality in perpetuity. Beyond channeling every icon of the 80s and 90s who ever dared to shatter the champagne glasses in the VIP room of every boy’s club imaginable, Liska embodies an entity that has broken through the trappings of the mortal coil, inhabiting a world without end.
Otracami, touching the stove coil
The ascent of Otracami; photographed by Sai Tripathi.
These visceral and personal streams of thoughts comprise the debut single “Fold” from rising artist Otracami. The Brooklyn by way of Davis, California multidisciplinary polymath Camila Ortiz presents the album touching the stove coil that delivers songs of heart. Songs of experience. Songs of observations. Songs of sentimental stories. Songs that traverse the roadmaps of life, spanning coast to coast. Songs that collect the aphorisms that arrive as we live our lives. Songs inspired by the moments that have charged meanings. Songs of transcending the people we once were. Songs about who we are now. Songs about the road ahead. Songs that look back at the tributaries and trails we left behind. Songs about how we alter ourselves to fit the schemes of others. Songs about how we find ourselves through the noise and narratives of life.
Anna Hillburg, Tired Girls (Speakeasy Studios SF)
Anna Hillburg returns to San Francisco with an incredible new record; photographed by Justin Frahm.
“Holdin’ On” is Anna Hillburg’s ode to coping and trying to figure it all out. The song captures the feeling of fright and startled fears of coming back to a world that has been altered, rendered into terrain that stands at the crossroads of transitions, turmoil, rehabilitation, restoration, transformation, et al. From the glimmering, hopeful keys to the sincere horns; Anna looks outward and inward, seeking answers that only offer unlimited lines of questions and thoughts that beget new thoughts and perspectives. “Holdin’ On” deals with the feeling of the material realm that fades into the void of the ether, worlds that become beholden to the machinations of erasure and the sentiment of how truly fragile our communities, environments and ourselves really are.
Featured off the Tired Girls album via Speakeasy Studios SF, Anna delivers musical movements that tackle humanity’s collective exhaustion, identity, femininity, observing a world in flux, coping amid the cornucopia of seismic upheavals and so forth. Upon returning to San Francisco after a pandemic-era sabbatical in Nevada City, Hillburg articulates what is different. The differences outwardly, environmentally, internally, the externalities, the epiphanies, the inceptions of concepts, the constructs that are long gone, the things and folks that remain, the newness, the not so new and everything in-between that is found on the plane of our shared existence.
The Garment District, Flowers Telegraphed to All Parts of the World (HHBTM)
Weaving textile tapestries with The Garment District; photographed by Nicole Czapinski.
Presenting The Garment District's Flowers Telegraphed to All Parts of the World courtesy of the esteemed imprint HHBTM that features a rogues’ gallery of contributing talents from the likes of Lucy Blehar, Dan Koshute, Shivika Asthana, Corry Drake, Gary Olson and Alex Korshin under the visionary auspices of Ladybug Transistor legend, photographer, museum academic and polymath — Jennifer Baron. Orchestrated largely from vintage instrumentation at the home studio of David Klug in Pittsburgh [of which Jennifer expounds upon in lavish detail later in this feature], The Garment District takes the toolkits of the past to present something fresh that is more than the sum of it’s anachronistic counterparts. The Garment District showcases brilliantly how the very fabrics of constructs created in previous eras can be synthesized into new artifices of unbridled splendor. The wax, tapes and compact discs from your siblings, parents, grandparents, step-parents, aunts, uncles and everyone you have ever known become melded together for something that is absolutely fantastical. Baron and the crew conjure together a strong sense of supernatural feels that are adeptly blended into the material realm of the human senses.
Looms, The Dogs of Doubt
Brooklyn’s own legends — Looms; press photo courtesy of the artists.
Indictive of this are Brooklyn’s own beloved Looms, who present The Dogs of Doubt EP with the illustrious “You Already”. Bandleader Sharif Mekawy and company have endeared themselves to the world over the years with lauded releases like A Different Variety of Same, The Way Up, How It Has to Be, Sleeping Days and Waking Days — specializing in a craft that stirs a familiar sense of warmth within the listener while entertaining echoes of an enlightenment that Looms prove to be self-evident. The Dogs of Doubt offers something to help us cope with a distressed world, a balm to keep us keeping on and believing in the beauty of the human spirit as we all strive to make sense of a world caught in the whirl of circling the proverbial drain.
Jordannah Elizabeth, “Borders”
Baltimore author, journalist, artist, everything — Jordannah Elizabeth; press photo courtesy of the artist.
Jordannah Elizabeth delivered a live acoustic performance of "Borders”, the title track from the 2015 album of the same name. The Baltimore journalist, author, artist, academic, professor, media mogul, manager, model, publicist and so much more shares an intimate view of a song about the imaginary demarcation points that try as they might to keep us within the lines or defined by criteria that has no bearing or relevance. A prolific polymath who has spent years uplifting marginalized voices and talents, one of the world’s leading cultural critics who operates with strong fearlessness and grace, always spotlighting the esoteric and underappreciated undergrounds of extreme import and so much more than can fit within these humble pages — Jordannah shares a stripped down take on a beloved song about the perseverance of spirit and individuality with intonations of new works that have yet to arrive.
Sedona, “Touch & Go”
The absolutely iconic Sedona; press photo courtesy of the artist.
Enter the era of Sedona, one of the brightest stars to cast a glow on the pop art circuits enamoring fans and fellow artists alike. Week in Pop was one of the first media hubs to debut the artist/multihyphenate/phenom with the phone tag feels of “Call Me Up” that introduced one of the most beloved chanteuses to the world. Announcing a highly anticipated album debut in the works, Sedona follows up the recent single “Domino” with the red hot fleeting flight of fancy titled “Touch & Go”. A musical missive on the unbridled energy of infatuation, the track is an exploration of desire that grows from the fringes of fantasy and into the visceral realm of carnal congress.
Rob I. Miller, Companion Piece (Vacant Stare Records)
Denizen of all things pertaining to power pop DIY — Rob I. Miller; press photo courtesy of Nat McBride.
The Bay Area and beyond has been enamored by Blues Lawyer and the power pop offerings provided by Rob I. Miller as the much celebrated solo album Companion Piece proves that my, my, hey, hey — power pop is here to stay. "Clean" delves into the flannel garbed slacker steez where fuzz pedals light the way forward. A similar 120 Minutes mode is felt on "Bloodlust" that erupts into a beautiful blaze of unfettered oblivion, as "In Circles" operates with that Ardent Studios styled Big Star bombast that ponders the curious cases and shapes of interpersonal communication.
The Natvral, Summer of No Light (Dirty Bingo)
Artist extraordinaire — Kip Berman of The Natvral; press photo courtesy of the artist.
Created during the tumultuous period of the pandemic, former Pains of Being Pure at Heart bandleader Kip Berman presents the latest solo album Summer of No Light via The Natvral moniker. Sharing the debut of “Lucifer’s Glory”, Berman delivers tales of heroes and villains inspired during the stir-crazy days of being sequestered to the safety and sanctuary of home. Attending to family duties amid an apocalyptic backdrop of a pandemic and the feeling of a world that had entirely collapsed; The Natvral brings it all back to the basics by way of tunesmith testimonials like the ballads, novels, and sonnets bequeathed by old world troubadours.
The Parlor, You Are Love and I Am You
The expansive and embroidered pop realm of Jen and Eric from The Parlor; press photo courtesy of the artists.
You Are Love and I Am You is the ultimate abandon to the proverbial Steve Winwood penned "Higher Love". The record is all about a fusion of hearts that transcend beyond the mapped scope of our galaxies, delivered with the theatrical orchestral splendor of immediacy on "Now" that raises the curtain on the big show-stopping tune, "The Cloud of Unknowing". The song is designed for the festival stage, a fervent anthem of ascending toward an enlightened echelon in the new sacred spaces of the sublime that defy semantic articulation. Jen taps into the holy books of Saint Stevie Nicks on the glorious “Oceans (Carry On)”, traversing into the bouncy rocks & boulder beats of "Serpentine", careening along the catchy and glitchy cool cuts of "Ouroboros Loop". Mantras move upward on the hypnotic "Restless Life", the doe eyed devotional "My Only Ever Lady" that makes the multiverse feel like a warmer place of infinite love.
Total Slacker, "Freddy Krewger Sweater"
Time warps, hot pursuits and Total Slacker; video still courtesy of Nathan Kohler.
Tucker Rountree’s “Freddy Krewger Sweater” celebrates the styles of 80s throwbacks that mixes suspense and anarchic era specific sentiments that recalls all the campy media in conjunction with antiquated, modernist memories. Sitting pretty next to thriller classics like “Nightmare On My Street”, Total Slacker delivers a tribute to the Wes Craven franchise full of frantic phone conversations, creeping paranoia, stalker scares and more.
Forest Bees, Between the Lines: Stories and Sounds of a South Asian American Life (Dandy Boy Records)
The hive, mind and might of Forest Bees’ Sheetal Singh; photographed by Collen Eversman
Forest Bees debuted comfort and commiseration for the world in the initial wake of the global pandemic with the self-titled and recently Bay Area multi-hyphenate Sheetal Singh delivered the meditations and musings on culture and identity with Between the Lines: Stories and Sounds of a South Asian American Life. Featuring production by Maryam Qudus of Spacemoth, the new record is a magnificently transcendent pop cycle of narratives penned by Singh that ponders modern life experiences, conflicting connections and amplifying unsung narratives and heroines.
Miranda and the Beat, self-titled (Ernest Jenning Record Co. / Khannibalism)
La fête de Miranda and the Beat; photographed by Allen Ying
The story of Miranda and the Beat is something like a cult film favorite. With west coast beginnings, Miranda Zipse and Kim Sollecito made a dash for the Big Apple where they rounded out their punky pop posse with Dylan Fernandez and Alvin Jackson to make music in the vernacular of the viscous and visceral. Presenting their self-titled debut album via Ernest Jenning Record Co. / Khannibalism (a vanity imprint curated by legend King Khan), Miranda and the gang invite you to traverse NYC’s seemingly infinite expanses of electric asphalt on the world debut of “Concrete”. Catching the attention of the world with their Third Man Records single "Such A Fool”, the band trades freak beat psych frenzies for speedy leather clad punk dive bar devotionals.
Nova One, create myself (Community Records)
The inimitable and elevated world of mindfulness and majesty — Nova One; photographed by Maurisa Mackey.
Nova One gave the world a message of self-love, care and light with the lauded album lovable released during the throes of the pandemic that followed up secret princess and this year the Providence, Rhode Island artist Roz Raskin delivered the latest chapter with create myself via Community Records that takes on our current era of reconstruction with the liberating message of being free to be the person you want to be. If the previous offering was about learning to love yourself and others again, Roz presents an album dedicated to working on the self to be the realest and truest version of yourself. A record of actualization that treads rocky waters, swims through the depths of the seas and floats through the galaxies that meditates on human shortcomings, processing the pain, working through the hard stuff in the aims to arrive at a better state that embodies living a personal truth. The hardships and challenges are confronted head on in the hopes of being the honest superhero of the self that lives within the core of the human spirit.
The Leak, self-titled (Slang Church)
Get in the van and on the long and winding road with the Leak; press photo courtesy of the artists.
Seattle’s powerhouse of players The Leak presents a succinct cycle of big electric heavy hitters with their self-titled debut EP via Slang Church. The team of Taylor Clark, Sam Peterson, producer Dylan Wall and Niko Wood. the gang soak up some ultraviolet beams on "Weed in the Sun" with the vibe of baking in the solar rays while laying in the grass on the quad of an art school you flunked out of, "Congrats" exhibits some of the best presentations of modern day pop balladry, to elevating the power pop traditions with "Like a Shout". The playful side of the creative process shines through on "Poison the Sea", as the grandiose and boisterous "All Things" brings the record to a triumphant close.
Holly Waxwing, The New Pastoral (PC Music)
Heralding the pop praxis of Holly Waxwing; photographed by Molly Matalon.
Providing the world over a decade of enlightened electro touched tapestries from Peach Winks, remixes, Goldleaf Acrobatics and more; Waxwing hones in on the places where electronic adjacent compositions intersect within ecosystems of sensational splendor. These are works to further edify the unlimited landscapes found in the great outdoors, as well as offering elevated electro pop menageries for the introverted sorts that prefer the comforts of their cozy indoor domiciles. Holly Waxwing makes visceral music for ecologies and economies where even the most synthetic of rhythmic keyboard sequences feel holistically formed as if sprouted from the earth on its own accord.
Frankie Rose, Love As Projection (Slumberland/Night School)
DIY pop legend Frankie Rose; photographed by Esme Rogers Smith.
The bands have become canon: Vivan Girls, Crystal Stilts, Dum Dum Girls, Fine Place, et al. The artist stands as a singular force of visions and volition, the prolific Frankie Rose with the brand new album Love As Projection for Slumberland/Night School. Nearly six years since the release of Cage Tropical, Rose releases her most grandiose record to date in a full length that basks in the maximalist glow of big time productions and affectionate expressions. Projection shines at the top of every stylistic chart that it embraces, like an electro-emblazoned display of purpose, pride, presence and limitless persistence.
The Reds, Pinks & Purples, The Town that Cursed Your Name (Slumberland)
The grandeur and grace of Glenn Donaldson; press photo courtesy of the artist.
The Town that Cursed Your Name is like the novella about quandaries of settling into the arms of townie-dom or fleeing the coop for greener and brighter pastures and metropolises of illustrious promise & prosperity. Musings on mortality languish lavishly on the beautiful "Too Late for an Early Grave" that gingerly dovetails with the impulse to take flight for something/somewhere/anywhere/anything other on the timeless ballad of actualization and autonomy — "Leave it all Behind". The sound, vibe, prescient presence and utter immediacy of the record feels both rooted in the now while leaning toward the feelings from days of many futures past. "Life in the Void" is an anthem for every working stiff, the clock punchers of the world, those born with a plastic spoon in their mouths that missed the boat on all the suspect startup tech money luxuries, the every-person of whom were never handed anything but a nametag, a broom, dustpan and a corporate company polo shirt replete with insufferable color palette choice combinations.
Nima Kazerouni, self-titled (Shrimper)
Nima Kazerouni of So Many Wizards and more arts of wonder; press photo courtesy of the artist.
Expressing all of this and so much more is the righteous return of one of LA’s most influential artists, Nima Kazerouni, releasing his debut solo self-titled via Shrimper. Leader of the beloved So Many Wizards, Nima shares songs that revolve around leaning into fatherhood, ballads from the heart, songs from the lockdown and songs dedicated to new re-emergences and newfound affinities. Created in the confines of his own home studio (with an assist from Stereophonic Mastering’s Timothy Stollenwerk); the EP offers a more intimate side of the artist who has penned countless songs to dream on and fall in love in to/with. Nima rises from the chaos and worldwide wreckages of recent years with something that is composed with the deepest degrees of sincerities. Interpersonal relations are examined with raw honesty, reflections on the roads less and more often traveled, expressions of discovering a greater love and greater purposes in a cycle that curates the sentiment of a transcendent sanctuary with song.
Hibou, Arc
Peter Michel of Hibou, live at Bottom of the Hill, SF; photograph courtesy of Week in Pop.
The LA by Paris by way of Seattle bandleader Peter Michel composed Arc during a summer spent by the Canal de l’Ourcq, then recording his song cycle of sincere sentiments in the warmth of last autumn. The luster of days and evenings running their natural courses comprises the breathtaking "Night Fell", that feels like a dusk sojourn spent along the Seine with a bottle of rosé champagne shared with a dearly beloved soulmate. "June" exudes a sense of melancholia, like the transition of the solstices from spring that lead lionhearted into the life progressions and changes that arrive with the season of seemingly perpetual sun.
Figure Eight, drown
Abby & Nash of Figure Eight; press photo courtesy of the artists.
Giving the world the razor sharp economy of three blessed and blissed as all get out tracks with the drown EP, Figure Eight immediately captured the attention of the mind’s musical theater that seeks to witness crescendos of unbound melodic mountaintops awash in the aura and garb of unrelenting, uncompromising dissonance. Figure Eight themselves create case studies in the discipline of achieving indelible harmonies deep within the throes of chaotically controlled discord.
Foliage, "Can't Go Anywhere" (Club Mix)
Foliage’s Manuel Joseph Walker live at Bottom of the Hill in SF; photograph courtesy of Week in Pop.
The original track perfectly sums up our lives in the quarantine mode, locked in the confines of our own spaces and left with our own thoughts of a new better world, a new and better life, full of new, better and more meaningful exchanges with others. Just as the source material seeks for something beyond the mundane and menial claptrap jargon of unprecedented circumstances and mindless talk of the new normal — the Club Mix opens up a new level of catharsis in returning to the dark and dusty dives and dance halls that rejuvenate the human spirit among the company of fellow friends, acquaintances, contemporaries and everyone.
The Ian Fays, “Olive Says” (WWNBB)
The Ian Fays on the keys; press photo courtesy of Brian K Creative.
In this grand tradition of transformative art we present to you San Francisco’s The Ian Fays as they bring us a Valentine’s song for the holiday season with “Olive Says”. The core group of twins Lizz and Sara Fay follow up their recent wistful rustic single “Viola” with a magical torch song suited for smoky clandestine speakeasys, DIY spaces to the most elegant of jazz lounges. As a creative team that works in styles that span across myriad continuums of modern and post-modern constructs of musical sensibilities; “Olive Says” embraces baroque strings in a waltz that steps and sways inside of an endless melody that you never want to end.