Annie Blackman is an artist that routinely brings listeners to new places. While these new landscapes are often emotional or metaphorical, the video for her latest single “Souvenir” takes audiences to a physical space beneath massive statues located throughout New Jersey. Blackman sings directly to the camera as she stands beneath a gargantuan replica of Grant Wood’s American Gothic in one moment, and gently strokes the head of an enormous, red cow in another shot. The strange proportions of the video—beautifully portrayed thanks to careful handiwork by her cameraman and brother William Blackman—set the scene for the out-of-body experience that Blackman narrates in her newest offering.

From her debut EP released during her time in high school, to her follow-up album penned while she was still in college, to her more mature singles put out within the last few months, Blackman has often used her songwriting as a form of confessional. “Souvenir” is no different, continuing a trend of intimate lyricism that doubles as secret sharing. The track details a sexual encounter that left Blackman feeling removed from her own body. The song starts by setting the scene while also describing the beginning pangs of dissociation, with Blackman singing, “Here ‘cause it feels alright / I’ll forgive my body in your basement tonight / Separately I’m struggling and standing at the sink / I deserve whatever hurts I think.” Ultimately, it’s unclear if Blackman feels harmed or just perplexed by the interaction. The track ends with the artist stating, “It is what it is / Soft and sweet and meaningless / Don’t forget that I was here / The soreness in my legs: A souvenir.” Comparable to the mellow and melancholic etudes of Adrianne Lenker or Julien Baker, “Souvenir” is quiet, thoughtful, and complicated.

About the track, Blackman explains, “In this song, a night comes and goes, and I’m working with limited proof that it ever even happened. A souvenir can be a feeling, physical or emotional, and I’ve always found them essential in processing an experience. Part of what I love about writing songs is that they become souvenirs eventually, too.” Check out your souvenir below.

New York-based DIY pop artist Sir Babygirl has just shared the visuals of “Cheerleader,” a track taken from her fab debut album Crush On Me (one of our favourites of 2019). The video, which she co-directed alongside Olivia Cucinotta, features a bunch of up-and-coming New York comedians and actors in the role of horny studs and cheerleaders. For queer teenagers, high school is not often a piece of cake: when they’re not bullied, they’re at best ignored by their peers, who are, in the meantime, fully exploring their affective and sexual life.

“This video is for any queer person who wishes they could reclaim their high school experience and enjoy exploring their sexuality without guilt or shame,” explains Sir Babygirl. “Here’s to building the world we don’t want to just survive in but get to be our whole entire ridiculous fucking selves in, both within the music industry and outside of it.” The video features a bunch of up-and-coming New York comedians and actors in the role of horny studs and cheerleaders. Watch below.

San Antonio-born, Austin-based singer-songwriter Christelle Bofale is the latest signee to join the amazing label Father/Daughter. Following up on the elusive lead single “U Ouchea,” the up and coming American artist, who is deeply inspired by her Congolese roots, has now unveiled a brand new song from her upcoming debut EP.

In this indie rock cut, Bofale is delicately, tactfully singing about unrequited love and the limits between love and friendship. “‘Origami Dreams’ is about a time I tried out a relationship with someone I considered more a friend. They ended up saying “I love you” and I simply couldn’t return the sentiment,” she explains. The track also comes with a Matt Winkler-directed clip which acts as a pastiche of intricate paper creations and intimate moments with Christelle. Watch below.

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After the excellent “Heels” and “Flirting With Her,” queer pop producer Kelsie Hogue, aka Sir babygirl, has just unveiled a third single from her upcoming debut album. The new offering “Haunted House” also comes with an Eli Raskin-directed video.

About the visuals, Raskin detailed:

[su_quote]The overall concept is that we’re trapped inside my diary, so we wanted the set to reflect the idea of being trapped in your own trauma with no perception of the outside world. We thought of the world as the diary – a physical repository for one’s most potent memories. Haunted House is about that entry that still torments you and everything it takes to rip that page out.[/su_quote]

We don’t know about you but we’re so hyped up by Crush On Me. Three months left before the whole project. Meanwhile watch the video below.

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Ahead of debut album ‘Crush On Me’ dropping early next year through Father/Daughter Records, Kelsie Hogue, also known as Sir Babygirl, is out to claim the queen of pop crown with ‘Heels’, a 2000s revival track that has borrowed from the likes of Britney and Xtina – but through an all important queer lens.

Sick of having male producers not get their bubblegum dreams, Sir Babygirl taught themselves production to have full control. Using music to explore their own sexuality and gender identity, the artist delivers a slice of pristine pop ready to be a part of the queer revolution. The queer abandon pulsating throughout ‘Heels’ is a much needed reminder that even pop music is a powerful form of expression and activism. Hogue is able to own and allow others to own their queerness.

‘Heels’ bounces along with Sir Babygirl steering the ship right from the get go. Speaking to Notion, Hogue says ‘Heels’ is ‘an ode to coming to terms with boundaries and knowing when to call it a night, it’s refreshing to have an emerging queer artist so in tune with their limits and image.’ Tune in below.

Taking her cue from emo-pop acts from the early 2000s like Rilo Kiley or Death Cab For Cutie, Whitney Ballen’s first album for Father/Daughter Records is a compelling exercise on teenage angst. A candid yet intricate album, “You’re A Shooting Star, I’m A Sinking Ship” traverses through a myriad of moods while managing to convey a singular non-conformist aura. Its title already hints at the possibility that this is the kind of album that might err on the cheesy side now and then, but it is also the kind of self-deprecating statement that makes emo music so compelling for a certain young demographic. “I think she’s cooler than me / she has softer hair than anybody I’ve seen”, she sings in the first lines of “Fucking”, one of the album’s singles and one of its strongest tracks. However, Ballen‘s talent as a lyricist goes way beyond your typical self-deprecating emo songwriter. The hook of that very same song is “I’ve got visions of you fucking her in my dreams”, which is as haunting and memorable of a lyric you’re ever gonna get.

The album’s production stands out amongst its many assets. It’s crisp and clear when it needs to be, with every little guitar lick or production trick being audible without overwhelming the rest of the track. But it can also be loud and mean in a way that most young indie bands wouldn’t even dare to be. After listening to “You’re a Shooting Star, I’m A Sinking Ship,” it didn’t come as a surprise that she had been recording a few songs at Phil Elverum’s studio a year ago. While Elverum’s brainchilds The Microphones and Mount Eerie don’t seem to be direct influences in Ballen’s sound, her debut album does thrive in the same balance between mellowness and crudity that made Elverum produce the best music in his career.

The clean-distorted dynamics of “Black Cloud” are as jarring as they are effective, channelling the restrained energy of the verses into a wordless chorus that manages to be one of the most memorable moments of the album without doing much more than just being really fucking loud. A Microphones-like interlude, “Nothing” starts off on a similar note, with a noisy intro (featuring a sort of free-jazz wankfest!) that soon gives way to Whitney Ballen plaintively singing the album’s title over layers of guitar feedback.

What is even more stunning about these two numbers is that they’re rapidly followed by “Moon”, a tweer-than-thou song following a nursery-rhyme structure both in its melody and lyrics. It is the kind of stark contrast at which the singer-songwriter excels, and one can only wish that other artists similarly talented at writing songs would dare to do this kind of things in their first album. It is precisely that ability to set in opposition drastically different moods that turns “You’re A Shooting Star, I’m A Sinking Ship” into one of the most adventurous guitar debuts in recent years. At least half the album could be fittingly labelled under the twee tag, Whitney’s childish vocals making a strong case for it. However, there are many moments (too many for it to be unplanned) when she doesn’t shy away from a truly abrasive sound.

At times beautifully backed up by horn arrangements (see the mid-tempo stunner “The Kiss”), Whitney’s songs are strong in melody and layered in instrumentation. Lyrically, she tends to switch between a familiar millennial despair (“Everything that’s good goes” are after all the first lines in the album) and a quasi-impressionistic approach that she takes up in more graceful songs like “The Kiss” or the title track. At her most successful, she combines both and gets away with it, “Rainier” being the prime example. There’s also something to be said about her knack for story-telling (“San Francisco”), though the biggest compliment that could be made to her lyrics is that they equal the beauty of the music playing underneath them.

There is an elephant in the room, though, and it takes the form of a Charly Bliss-meets-Yoko Ono singing style that will understandably throw some listeners off. It is particularly grating during the first few songs, and while it’s easy to get accustomed to Whitney’s rather particular vocals, they’re the one make-or-break element here. That being said, it works rather well in the slower tracks, and it brings in a unique quality that makes the album stand out.

Poignant, catchy, and quirky, “You’re A Shooting Star, I’m A Sinking Ship” is a truly great accomplishment that ranks amongst the year’s best debut albums. Once you get past Whitney Ballen’s idiosyncratic vocals, it’s extremely easy to fall in love with this collection of hook-heavy songs that feels as musically expansive as lyrically intimate. Without a doubt, one of the most overlooked albums of the year.

Chicago singer-songwriter Tasha has unveiled “Kind Of Love”, the first single off of her upcoming debut album. The artist, who was an active member of local racial justice organization Black Youth Project 100, has infused her political fights and her ideals into her “bed songs”, as she named them. This first single doesn’t sound like your typical revolutionary anthem though. In this intimate and romantic ballad, everything is subtle and so are the messages. The bass line is languorous and the percussions, which seem to draw from bossa nova, are simply magic. Tune in below.

Las Vegas’ artist Shamir had a busy 2017 year as he released two albums, “Hope” and “Revelations“. It seems that he still has some tunes for us in his pocket as he’s just shared a brand new single and video. The catchy and 60s-infused single “Room” sounds like the continuity of his last DIY, indie albums. For the visuals, he artist brings us into the intimacy of his Philadelphia bedroom. About the metaphorical single “Room”, he detailed to The Fader:

[su_quote][It’s about]feeling trapped even when there’s an opening presented to you, those times you feel stuck and depressed to the point that making it out of bed feels like an impossible feat. ‘Room’ is a song for those that need that extra push to keep going and take advantage of all the open doors put in your path.[/su_quote]

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Shamir‘s “Room” 7″ is out March 9 via Father/Daughter Records and will feature another track named “Caballero”.

Shamir is in his room but also on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.