Back in September, Couch Prints unveiled Waterfall, a pivotal mixtape that marked a sound shift for the trio-turned-duo. Jayanna Roberts and Brandon Tong are now pursuing their metamorphosis with Waterfall: Rebirth, their debut album which they recently introduced with the single “True Religion”. Boasting voice memo samples, subway screeches, and fuzzed guitars, the 90s-inspired track depicts the crazy paths of individuals rushing through the Big Apple at full speed. “We’re crawling through it, the end is near but it’s not today”, sings Roberts. For some reasons, it reminds me of “Ray Of Light”, with their singular dreamy edge, and I’m so excited to see what’s coming next from the Brooklyn duo.

After “Impressions,” “All I Know,” and “Horsepower,” synthpop duo Couch Prints just unveiled the closing track off their upcoming mixtape Waterfall – an alternetely crystalline and boisterous offering that confirms their move towards shoegaze territories. “‘Alive’ is an exploration of emptiness, the pain of living in your body without calling it a home,” bassist Brandon Tong stated. “A pain exacerbated by our skewed perceptions of other people’s lives.”

With “All I Know,” the new single by New York’s Couch Prints (Jayanna Roberts + Brandon Tong), the best place to start just happens to be at the beginning. The ballad begins with a stunningly produced sound like glass falling onto ice, scraping against the surface before effortlessly transforming into a sharp chime that leads to the opening vocals. And what an evocative way to start. Suggested here is some sort of abrupt separation, as if something was torn apart. FKA Twigs used a similar sound effect in her “Cellophane” music video to reference the destruction of a relationship. Here, the lyrics seem to suggest this is a tear from something negative and insidious (perhaps the distracting void that is the internet?) in search of something more tangible. The ballad also takes on a very special meaning, as it’s their first release as a duo (Jacob Truax is still credited on the track, though).

Now, this is quite a lot of focus over just the intro of the song, but that’s a testament to the level of detail and precision in its production. This is complemented stunningly by Jayanna Roberts‘ vocals, which are at once breathy and strong. There is also a real sense of movement in the piece, which makes sense considering the Couch Prints duo are both dancers. This is particularly true of the instrumental break between the first and second chorus, where the low piano carries a depth that contrasts beautifully with the righter tone from the guitar.

What a stunning song to lead us slowly into another Sad Girl Autumn. May we all be moody and sentimental in the coming months, as we have a great track to accompany us.

After “Impressions,” NYC trio Couch Prints (Jayanna Roberts, Brandon Tong, and Jacob Truax) continue to tease the release of their sophomore EP with another dreamy single. ““Horsepower,” as its name suggests, is a song about cars,” they explained. “In the wake of a global pandemic that completely pulled apart our notions of what stability is, there’s a parallel in the way car crashes disrupt so many of our lives at random. We want the world to have a rhythm we can stick to, but ultimately chaos is too powerful.”

New York dreamy synth pop trio Couch Prints (Jayanna Roberts, Brandon Tong, and Jacob Truax) follow up their excellent debut EP Tell U with a propulsive, shoegaze-y new song. Produced by Jake Aron (Solange, Snail Mail), “Impressions” is “about fear and love, about the fear of falling for someone new.”

Back in July last year, we were introduced to the mellow, otherworldly and buoyant sound of NYC based trio Couch Prints. Fronted by Jayanna Roberts, the band released two eerie yet oddly soothing synth-pop tracks that have become highlights of the past year.

Ahead of their debut EP, which is set to be released by our friends at Luminelle, they have now released their latest dreamy offering in the form of “Faces”.

With Roberts’s floating and choral sounding voice leading the track, the throbbing synths underneath amass to a sparkling effect. Paired with the sparse but stable electronic drums beat, this delicate song is transformed into an uplifting anthem. This may sound strange, specifically when taking into account the topic of the song, yet “Faces” possesses a real bittersweetness and strange magnetism despite its seemingly airy sensibilities.

Of the track, band member Brandon Tong explained: “‘Faces’ was a song I wrote way back, before Couch Prints was around. I’d been on and off with this person from my high school for like six years and it had completely shaped my whole worldview for so many years that a lot of the lyrics I was writing in some way referenced the relationship. Despite how obvious it was that it wasn’t working out, we kept ending up in the same place and recommitting to the same mistakes.”

A song about “surrendering yourself in the least romantic way possible”, “Faces” conveys dichotomous feelings. The opposing forces of Jayanna Roberts‘s serene voice, the ethereal swirling synths and the harsh electronic drums create a real sense of sad inevitability, just like when you know that someone isn’t right for you.

Known for their outlandish videos to match their offbeat sound, they have also unveiled a visual accompaniment for “Faces” which sees a haunted-looking Roberts sat atop a metal swivelling chair, lit up by a projection of garish, make up covered faces. Gaining traction and becoming more erratic, the video plays out like some kind of strange purgatory. Watch below and pre-order the Tell U EP via Bandcamp.

With two amazing singles already in their bag, “Tell U” and “Of Drawing“, Couch Prints are one of our favourite up and coming bands out there. Consisting of Jayanna Roberts (vocals), Brandon Tong (keys), and Jacob Truax (guitar), the NYC-based synth-pop trio has just announced the release of their debut EP and shared the video for “Tell U”, their 2019 ethereal breakthrough single.

“I wrote the first iteration of this track while living in Denver,” explained Tong. “I was working this job I hated and had this feeling that life was speeding by. I ended up moving to New York a few months later, and shortly after Jake came out from Paris to record some of the music we’d been collaborating on the past year. While he was [In Paris] he had worked on music with Jayanna, so he called her to come sing on the tracks. We showed her the tracks and immediately she was humming along and had this incredible tone and way of singing, so we started recording for “Tell U” and finished it that night. With so many moving pieces coming together so serendipitously, the final song came to celebrate this feeling of transience and movement and leaving the past behind.”

He then added:

“When we gave the song to Mayachka for the music video, she took that wistful feeling and our experiences, and created a story about a supposed three-way love triangle between us – with all the romance and nostalgia of a 2000’s soap opera. It perfectly captured the melancholy and strangeness of our first year coming together.”

Shot with a Betamax camcorder, the vintage video looks more like a Telenovela than Truffaut‘s Jules et Jim as their depiction of love, jealousy, and heartbreak is funnily over-dramatic (the intro credits are pure comedy). The visuals were shot in the Lent-Riker-Smith homestead, the oldest private dwelling in New York City. Watch and pre-order the EP below.

With two stellar dream-pop singles under her belt, 20-year-old Brooklynite Maisie May hasn’t let Covid-19 hold her back from creating music. Her latest track, “Colors We Dreamt,” is a measured and mellow response to a situation in which you’ve been given too many false promises, where you’ve been wronged in a way that you can’t come back from.

Dazzling with simplistic yet heart-wrenching imagery brought on by the lyrics “The way you say/The colors we dreamt were never gonna blend/The way/The polish came between our closing hands”, “Colors We Dreamt” speaks to the hollow emptiness felt in the aftermath of an emotionally manipulative relationship.

“I washed our mornings in the rain,” Maisie May sings, as her own vocals are played over the top of the closing verse. It’s almost like we’re feeling the rain too, like the track is sonically raining down upon us to a cleansing effect.

With an acoustic guitar forming the backbone of the track, layered up with a tinkling electric guitar occasionally for good measure and a sombre, languid drum beat, “Colors We Dreamt” is orchestrated for heartbreak.

Maisie May’s airy voice adds to this feeling of being untethered, almost lost in the ether of pain. For a track that was written, recorded and produced in just three days (with help from Maisie May’s partner Brandon Tong of the ones-to-watch Couch Prints) and in her bedroom no less, “Colors We Dreamt” is a staggeringly realised track.

Much like her previous releases “Flying Without You” and “2 Smart 2 Cry“, “Colors We Dreamt” has a diaristic feeling to it, an approach that has become a signature. These personable reflections are what makes her music so exciting; we recognise ourselves in her vulnerability and turmoil. Despite their very intimate nature, the situations that Maisie May navigates are universal.