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.

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.”

After releasing her debut EP The Fuzz back in 2018, Ontario based artist Ellis has been steadily working on her full-length debut, which was produced by Jake Aron. “Into The Trees” is the final single taken from her debut album, born again, which also dropped today.

Stepping away from the confines of the dream-pop genre that tinged The Fuzz, “Into The Trees” displays a more nuanced edge, a calm assurance to take its time. There’s a haunting melancholic edge born from the echoing of the guitars, accompanied by yearning lyrics such as “I’m not sure I’m what you bargained for”.

This pining is also displayed in the multiple shifts in the song, this ever-changing beast that is “Into The Trees”. It’s almost as if the structure of the song itself is mirroring what the lyrics describe as trying to strike the balance between being yourself and also metamorphosing to fit in with what the other person “bargained for”.

Ellis has crafted a kind of magic. The one minute thirty mark sees a lilting guitar riff appear, the bass turns up and it becomes more reflective and less moping in tone. The change in tempo then confers the song an oddly uplifting air. Each minute of the song thereafter reveals another layer, a swirling mass that astonishingly creates movement and textures, turning the track from a straight-up emo dream-pop ballad into something living and transformative.

Then, in the final thirty seconds, the stakes are raised into an explosion of pure catharsis, offering an epiphanic ending. It’s both ecstatic and heartbreaking, it’s pure drive and anger and heartache.

“Into The Trees” is a track of pure buildup. The momentum it gathers as it progresses is just as delightful as the climax itself. Whilst it’s serpentine in its delivery and it meanders with precision, it’s not until you’re amidst the clattering drums and the shock of the heavy guitars that you realise you were floating along, completely under Ellis’s spell.

Watch the accompanying animation, courtesy of director Andrew Friesen, and get the album via Bandcamp below.

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Following up to the previously released singles “Fall Apart,” “Embarrassing,” and “March 13,” Ellis has just unveiled another song from the 10-track project. Announcing a new personal cycle, “saturn return” combines dreamy arrangements and redemptive lyrics. “Saturn Return is an astrological term for the time in your life where Saturn literally returns to the same place in it’s orbit that it was the moment you were born,” she detailed. “The first one happens in your late twenties, and it’s a time of radical transformation. I am in mine now and have been feeling it big time! I wrote this record while reflecting on all the ways my life is changing, reconciling things from the past and making space to move forward.” The track comes with a Michael Pugacewicz-directed video in which the Canadian artist faces her young self and closes this chapter like if she was… born again.

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After a series of amazing singles released throughout 2018, Brooklyn-based multidimensional quintet Barrie have finally announced the release of their debut album. The 10 tracks of the project, that they describe as a collection of well-crafted pop songs that are little bit fucked up, were written by singer and guitarist Barrie Lindsay. As you might have guessed, Barrie is mainly her project and she also co-produced the album with Jake Aron.

This exciting announcement comes with the release of a first single, “Clovers”. Fed by floating vocals, a hopping piano and shimmering synths, the spring-like song sounds like a very promising appetizer. Listen to the track below and pre-order the album via Bandcamp.

Hailing from the French city of Toulouse, just like me, Laure Briard has announced the release of a new album “Un peu d’amour plus s’il vous plait” for early 2019. She has also shared the first song “Marin Solitaire” which was produced by Jake Aron and inspired by an interview of high seas navigator François Gabart. In between French Chanson traditions and shades of bossa nova (she also released a Tropicalia-inspired EP earlier this year), the track is pure psyche-pop poetry. Watch the accompanying Marjorie Calle-directed video below.

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