In the underground world of inventive art pop and artists who are willing to push the experimentation in their work to the next level, Copenhagen’s SØSTR has found its own comfortable niche surrounded by mystique. The project founded by sisters Louise and Sharin Foo (of indie rock greats The Raveonettes) already showcased songwriting ambition with the haunting “Peace Of Mind”, released last month. With their latest single “At First”, the duo continues to push themselves into new territories.

“At First” takes some inspiration from the early works of artists like Arca, Smerz, and FKA Twigs. Aided by gentle bells, it offers light chamber pop flourishes that belie the dense and mysterious atmosphere conjured by the synths. At the same time, the song has a rhythmic backbone of booming 808s, intriguing glitched vocal samples, and reggaeton rhythms, standing in stark contrast to the psychedelic instrumentation. It matches perfectly with the song’s topics of lust, love, and romantic toxicity.

The song tells a story of a relationship that loses its foundation in mutual trust and safety. “At first you made me feel very safe / but then I realized one took and one gave” serves as a painful resurgence of one’s memories, but also a cautionary tale about toxic partners.

If you are interested in the Montreal indie pop scene, you might already know Una Rose – real name Rosie Long Decter. The artist, who cut her teeth with the shoegaze project Bodywash, is now readying the release of her debut EP Myth Between. After the smooth indie rock of previous single “Partly”, “Resolutions” is our second taste of this forthcoming release and a welcome expansion into the world of dream pop and electronic.

“Resolutions” came about just as the pandemic was gaining momentum. The song is dedicated to Long Decter‘s father and even though it was made before the world underwent total isolation, it encapsulates the lack of contact between the two.”We did what we usually do—talk politics, watch movies, drink beer. Dad stuff. I began writing ‘Resolutions’ after he left, thinking through our complicated relationship and what I get from our conversations,” adds Rosie. The feeling of hanging on to every recent memory of a person you love, recreating them in your mind just to not feel them gone, is what Una Rose conveys spotlessly in “Resolutions”.

The track has also a pretty captivating sound palette as well. She fuses the organic and digital sounds into one. The synths that begin the song don’t sound too far from an accordion. Some of the speedy drum loops could be taken from a drum ‘n’ bass song, but the song quickly progresses and presents a punchy live percussion afterward. The dreamy keys pair nicely with the heavenly chants in the second half of the song. This symphony of contrasts brings “Resolutions” enough complexity to hold the listener’s attention throughout, but it’s also catchy enough to enjoy the song casually. That alone showcases the songwriting talent of Una Rose, while also delivering an emotional heavy-hitter in the process.

From the get-go, Gidea sounds sonically focused and confident in their artistic direction. Her debut single, “Intrepid Traveler,” whose title nods to 1960s The Merry Pranksters member Ken Babbs, sees her as a guide into the captivating beauty of Earth. Taking cues from the greats such as Joanna Newsom and Kate Bush, the song traverses the most adventurous sides of chamber pop and indie folk.

To say that “Intrepid Traveler” sounds upbeat would be an understatement. Carefully arranged cellos and harps as well as gentle vocal harmonies create a gorgeous soundscape. The transition in the latter half of the track into a quiet and calm passage of harps and choirs perfectly compliments the more up-tempo first half.

It’s often that folk songs this lush and rich in their instrumentation, could be described as ethereal or heavenly but rarely do songs truly embody these descriptors as well as Gidea‘s debut single does. It’s a perfect soundtrack for discovering the charm of the world and connecting with nature around us. “I wrote it during a dark time in my life and it helped me to feel better. I hope it does the same for others. Music can be very powerful in that way”, she confessed.

Experience “Intrepid Traveler” today, before it hits all the streaming platforms tomorrow, and be ready for Gidea’s debut EP in spring of 2023.

One of the latest additions to the roster of Local Action, Eden Samara is a Canadian singer and songwriter currently based in London. Samara broke through with guest appearances on Loraine James‘ “Running Like That” and Parris‘ “Skater’s World” last year. Both songs feature heavy bass and UK bass-inspired rhythms, with Eden‘s expressive vocals granting the tracks a sense of melody.

Now, Samara has announced that her debut album will come out this autumn. She’s just released the lead single for it – “Madonna”, a groovy dance song that marks a stark contrast with Samara‘s previous work. From the steady kicks and synth embellishments that open the track, “Madonna” transitions into a heavenly chorus where Eden‘s R&B vocals take the main stage.

The song keeps evolving after the sudden key change at the halfway point and turns into a liberating deep-house jam with ethereal repetitions of the chorus. Even though electronic dance music tends to be repetitive and meditative to a certain degree, Samara peppers her song with little details and extra layers of sound so the spell is never broken.

Eden Samara has also released a music video for “Madonna”. Directed by El Hardwick, the video is a perfect representation of the sensuality and recklessness of a club night. “Madonna navigates fears I’ve experienced when first dating someone about being accepted for the most complex areas of my sexuality and queerness,” she detailed. Watch below, and stream the track in our Best Tracks of 2022 playlist.

After the gentle and beautiful acoustic arrangements of “Until Lately” and the shoegaze-adjacent “Thousand“, Carrie and Matt Wagner have taken some inspiration from electronic music to create an ambitious narrative-heavy song that feels very reminiscent of Beach House or early Sweet Trip.

For a song that is only 3 minutes long, “Missing The Party” englobes a very diverse and eclectic set of musical styles. The track kicks off with dreamy spoken-word passages and synthetic keys bouncing off each other to create a steady rhythm, just for it all to crumble under the chaos of chugging guitars and lo-fi drums. As the spoken-word bit ends, multiple synth arpeggios enter the mix creating a chaotic, yet beautiful and dreamlike soundscape, which feels like a digital reinterpretation of the foundations of shoegaze.

As vocalist Carrie explains, “the first third of the track draws from the commute-home drudgery so many people experience while working an unfulfilling 9-5 job. Then, the middle spoken-word section is me describing an actual very surreal dream I had, which was a combination of idyllic childhood imagery and mundane, yet anxiety-inducing work situations I encounter on a day-to-day basis. “When you sleep, your brain is trying to make sense of things, and can help reveal what you really want or don’t want. With that being said, I think the contrasting imagery in that dream speaks for itself.”

The video for “Missing the Party” plays into the vision of a city landscape morphed beyond recognition after being transposed to a digital reality. Watch the enrapturing, psychedelic visuals, support the track via Bandcamp, and check the recent photoshoot we made with the duo before their gig at Pianos.

For a group made up of people living hundreds of miles away from each other, Plaster Cast‘s music couldn’t be more intimate. The project nails the dreamy and melancholy sound of bedroom pop at its best while giving it a twist of its own. This is certainly the case of the second single to their upcoming EP Control. After the release of the sunny title track, the new single “Waves” is a much more gloomy and moody offering in comparison.

“Waves” generously takes inspiration from dream pop and chillwave aesthetics yet doesn’t remain fenced by any boundaries. Taking the main stage is a groovy bassline, which sits atop a flurry of gentle synths. Paired with a steady drumbeat, the single deviates sonically from the majority of moody bedroom ballads, giving it more power and vigor. These funky elements go with the track’s ethereal vocals and layers of synths surprisingly well, creating a unique retro-dance-meets-futuristic-indietronica vibe.

In spite of its upbeat instrumental, the song’s lyrics lament the world-spread loneliness that came with the pandemic. There are feelings of misunderstanding others, but also a lack of empathy towards oneself. When the final vocal harmonies of the song hit, the repeating choruses of “there’s something at the bottom if you can get to it” works as a much-needed pick-me-up.

Jennifer Vanilla has created an extremely charismatic, fun, and eye-catching persona in only a few years since going solo. Once a part of the experimental Brooklyn pop band Ava Luna, Jennifer has taken a turn into the more conceptual territory when it comes to their musical presence. They describe themselves as a humanoid alien-musician who has only just been connected with their physical body. Hailing from the far-away land of “Jenniferia”, Vanilla‘s main power is of course making music – and on their new single “Body Music”, they offer a glimpse of the heavenly world they came from.

The song is a groovy crossover between house, art-pop, and dance-pop that reminds one of Charlotte Adigéry‘s recent work. At first, you might be excused for thinking that its power lies in its relative instrumental simplicity. The steady kick-hat-clap-hat pattern, piano chords, and synth bass melody bring just enough to make your head bop. Yet as the song progresses, it recruits dreamy keys and saxophone, which – alongside a rich vocal performance – conjure up a fantastic and otherworldly atmosphere.

Throwing everything at their reach into the pot, Jennifer Vanilla pairs a near-robotic spoken-word intro with a minimalistic chorus and hypnotic beats, creating a fusion as unlikely as it is effective. By subverting sugary aesthetics, they’re following hyperpop’s ideological ethos; however, their sound reaches territory yet unexplored by the PC Music troupe. With undeniable charisma, Jennifer Vanilla delivers an ear-warming and off-kilter dance tune.

Electronic music producers Persona La Ave and Baraka have teamed up once again for a new single titled “Vapor”. It is an early offering off an upcoming album under the same name slated for release on April 29. This isn’t the first time the duo collaborates. From the smooth instrumental electronics of “III” to the more texturally organic “IV”, Persona La Ave and Baraka put out two vaporwave-tangential records in the past few years. With their latest single, they seem to place a bigger emphasis on the inspirations of vaporwave rather than on the genre itself.

“Vapor” achieves the genre’s ethereal and soothing vibe while brightly avoiding common lo-fi aesthetics. The instrumental backbone of the song is incredibly funky. The bass synths pair with punchy drumbeats creating a great groove, which keeps the song constantly engaging throughout its runtime. The occasional saxophone flourishes are a great detail too and really bring “Vapor”‘s old-school influences home. Despite brimming with dreamy and nostalgic synths in pure vaporwave style, it refuses to stay the same with occasional little rhythm changes and pitch shifts.

The dialogue samples help the track to establish a true atmosphere of the lounge music vaporwave strives to be. However, where the classic vaporwave goes as far as only to be a nostalgic homage to the “easy listening” music of the past, Persona La Ave and Baraka‘s deconstructed take on the genre showcases them directly borrowing and redefining lounge in the context of the completely new landscape in the world of popular music. Impeccably crafted, the result is nonetheless still futuristic and more than fulfilling.