Beach Fossils, though, are deserving of this vague stock imagery, they are hardly an exceptional band. They’re one of the many indie pop groups that became popular around 2010 with the word ‘beach’ in their name (Beach House, Dirty Beaches, Beach Slang, etc). I tend to find most of these groups uninspiring but for whatever reason their song ‘What A Pleasure’ grabbed my attention. The guitars just seemed to chime so perfectly.

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‘Somersault’ is Beach Fossils’ third album. There are certainly enjoyable moments on this record and several aspects that make it seem more than just your standard guitar-based indie pop record. In most ways, though, it’s a record that deserves lazy, critic-y buzzwords like “slacker”, “hazy” or “stoned”. The album includes some attempts to expand their sonic palette like an appearance from indie-rapper Cities Aviv, drum loops on ‘Social Jetlag’ and lush orchestration. None of these moments, though, end up seeming particularly important. Cities Aviv appears on ‘Rise’ and talks, relating some non-sequiturs and nonsense as if you’re hearing one side of a fairly dull phone conversation. The orchestration, meanwhile, makes much of the music a bit too ‘easy like a Sunday morning’ for my liking — everything’s a bit too ‘nice’. Weirdly, my favourite moments on ‘Somersault’ are its most straightforward: ‘Down The Line’ and ‘This Year’. Each represents the band’s sound whittled down to its most successful elements: the vocal harmonies on ‘This Year’ sound lusher than they do elsewhere; the chord change into the chorus of ‘Down The Line’ pulls my heartstrings more than any other.

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Beach Fossils idea of beaches or surfing seems to be based more on The Beach Boys than actually spending any time catching waves or sunbathing. If any surfing did happen, it would be more as it might appear in a Wes Anderson film rather than it does in ‘Point Break’. These bands feel like the types to perhaps live by the sea but read well-thumbed copies of Penguin paperbacks while perched on the sand itself. It’s more about thinking of the sea as something twee with a faint whiff of the 1950s rather than a place that young people go to hang out and have fun today. This romantic view of the sea is also something I’ve never really understood having spent a large amount of time in English beachside resorts. These bitterly unromantic towns are generally battered by ocean winds and deprived by the economic collapse of their tourist industry (which they lost to warmer places like Greek islands). Exposure to places like this have given me a fraught relationship with beaches as cold, unpleasant places. Any link between the sea and the sort of transcendence Brian Wilson might have associated with it have generally been impossible for me to make. My difficulty with both beaches and guitar-based indie pop is also linked in the sense that both of them are popular with people who seem far more anxiety-free than me. Saying this, living in Australia has done much to increase my fondness for the sea. I no longer avoid it like a traumatised fisherman who has survived one too many shipwrecks.

‘Somersault’ succeeds in its mission to evoke a dream. It is an enjoyable but ultimately pointless experience that you can struggle to recall too many details of the next day. Trying to analyse it might feel like a good idea but nothing really means anything. I think that maybe dream pop has never really been my genre. Listening to a whole album of it makes you feel like a housecat whose life mainly consists of sleeping in the sun. This, in itself, is a pleasant enough experience but it doesn’t feel like you’ve actually accomplished anything with your life if that’s what you spend it doing.

Every week, Free scours through hundreds of SoundCloud tracks to find the best new gems by artists that are flying under the radar.

Each week our Brussels-based fellow overwhelms you with a variety of songs that make your head go nuts. Here are a few of his favorites:

RIN – Broke:

This American-Japanese, Brussels-based electronic artist RIN knows how to merge experiment with catchiness and high pitched stringlike tunes. If someone knows she’s performing in Brussels or elsewhere, please let me know!

Baba Stiltz – Can’t Help It:

From Swedish and Stockholm-based artists I always expect to hear indie/electro pop. Sorry for my prejudices to them who are not, including Baba Stiltz. Stiltz could easily chose to be a (boring but) well-paid straighforward house producer, as you can hear in the intro of “Can’t Help It”. Though the building tense gives away he can do a lot more and is going to something great. Cuz “Can’t Help” is an amazing dance pop song with emotional touch added by Stiltz’ soft Erlend Øye-ish voice.

Nick Nicely – The Otherside 2:

Described (in 2012 already) as “the greatest popstar that never was”, Nick Nicely is still around doing his thing and doing it well. “The Otherside 2” is the B-side of Nick’s brand new single “Ghostdream”, the follow-up of “The Otherside” (2004) and just the perfect exotic breeze in this weather.

Another week of fresh tracks by breaking artists around the world — brought to you by FREE. Check the full playlist below!

Check on Free‘s playlist every Thursday on HighClouds and follow our curator on Soundcloud.

Every week, Free scours through hundreds of SoundCloud tracks to find the best new gems by artists that are flying under the radar.

Each Thursday our Brussels-based fellow is going to overwhelm you with a variety of songs that make your head go nuts. But hey, Thursday is the new Friday! Here are a few of his favorites:

Kate NV – DE 1988:

Kate Shilonosova is in good company: the Russian pop singer is going to tour with our dear Jessy Lanza in North America, recorded a song with Deradoorian (Dirty Projectors) and she got covered by both The New Yorker and Noisey (Vice). Watch the video for her single “Kata” in which she’s surprising and probably annoying many commuters in the elektrishka and listen to this new song “DE 1988”. Grimes, you’ve got company!

Doon Kanda – Axolotl:

Jesse Kanda is probably most known as the visual artist collaborating with Arca and FKA twigs. Under the moniker of Doon Kanda, he’s releasing his debut EP “Heart” on Hyperdub. This song “Axolotl” got some good old Crystal Castles vibes!

She Major – Please Don’t:

“Electrospheric”, that’s how new Belgian pop artist She Major describes her own music. “Oh a new hollow word to describe music”, you might think. But no! With only her debut single “Please Don’t” out, we know exactly what she means: BANKS’ murky electronic vibes and a beautiful poignant voice. A new pop star is born!

Ménage à Trois – Homecoming:

A boy band who met at a gay karaoke bar. That’s the kind of band stories we like the most! “We don’t have an agenda to be a boy band”, they told The Guardian. “Although we are three boys as far as I’ve seen when our clothes are off. We will do dance routines eventually when my confidence builds.” We’re pretty sure Ménage à Trois will become one of our favourite live bands very soon!

Kassett – Charme (ft. RIN):

Belgian electronic wizard Gavin Vanaelst has always been very productive. A couple of month ago, he released a new album together with his friend Jonas De Houwer as Coco Haram. Now he’s back with a brand new one as Kassett.

Another week of fresh tracks by breaking artists around the world — brought to you by FREE. Check the full playlist below!

Check on Free‘s playlist every Thursday on HighClouds and follow our curator on Soundcloud.