Ahead of the full release, Sea Lemon has unveiled the final single from the album: the introspective and haunting “Cynical,” which actually premiered on a recent episode of Grey’s Anatomy. A delicate balancing act between honesty and melody, the track is anchored by a hypnotic groove and chiming, interlocking guitars. In the chorus, Lew sings, “Say you’re getting cynical / feel like I told you that I’m in a trench / Right on the outskirts while you’re on the edge / How far will you let it go?” Despite its title, the song carries a subtle optimism, suspended in the same airy lightness that flows throughout the album.

Sea Lemon describes “Cynical” as the track that bridges her earlier work with her evolving sound. “A lot of this record feels like a step in a new but related sonic direction for me,” she says. “‘Cynical’ is the song that feels the most connected to some of my former music… and is about the feeling of being all the way in on a relationship while sensing someone is on their way out.”

Accompanying the single is a cinematic video directed by the excellent Otium. It visually channels the emotional pull of the song with surreal imagery and a touch of melancholy magic. Watch and support via Bandcamp below.

Now, Lew has just returned with another taster, “Give In.” With glitchy drums and washed-out shoegaze guitars, the song sets an otherworldly tone from the start. “Outside a treehouse is a home / Who lives in there you’ll never know / At night the blinds are falling off the wall / You find a light careening from a hole,” Lew sings, painting a ghostly picture of obsession and curiosity.

“Give In” explores the pull of intrusive thoughts, especially the persistent urge to step inside forgotten, abandoned places. As Sea Lemon explains, “Growing up, I never knew the term of ‘intrusive thoughts’ but often had them… ‘Give In’ is about giving into the intrusive thoughts, and the relief and the consequences that happen after.”

Written in a single afternoon, the track feels both immediate and spellbinding. And it also comes with a video created by Otium.

Catch Sea Lemon on tour:
5/22 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre*
5/23 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre*
5/24 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall*
5/25 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall*
7/10 – New York, NY – Nightclub 101
7/12 – Los Angeles, CA – Zebulon
7/29 – Missoula, MT#
7/30 – Spokane, WA#
8/8 – Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern

*supporting American Football
#supporting Death Cab For Cutie

Jane Penny, the mesmerizing lead vocalist of TOPS, is readying the release of her solo debut EP, Surfacing. Shaped by her time in Berlin during the pandemic, a period she defines as challenging and fraught with vulnerability, the project became a catalyst for her to explore resilience through a transformative musical journey.

After “Messages,” Penny has now unveiled a fluttering and sexy new track, “Wear You Out,” of which she said: “I wanted to make something poppy and cute but also a bit sinister and weird, sensual and witty. Lots of wordplay, a bit dirty, I think the video represents the song well. Sometimes the greatest passion and the most intense love is slightly destructive and I wanted to explore that in a fun way.”

Like the previous single, “Wear You Out” comes with an excellent OTIUM-directed video. Watch below.

Lead singer of Montreal indie royalty TOPS, Jane Penny is launching her solo career with Surfacing, scheduled for this Spring on Luminelle. Penny started to write, produce and record the EP in both Berlin and Montreal, following TOPS’ European tour in March 2020.

“There are things I wanted to explore sonically and creatively, which would be impossible in the context of TOPS,” explained Penny. “I wanted to challenge myself to create a whole world of my own, to write all of the parts, program the drums, choose every sample, write the bass line. When I took control over the entire world of music that I was creating I felt that it also opened up a lot of emotional space, sensuality and intuition that comes through solitude. It took a while to reach a point where I feel it’s ready to share, but now the gates are open and I’ll definitely be continuing on this path.”

To introduce the project, Penny shared the first single “Messages.” Talking about the track, she said, “It’s a pop song about getting notifications from everyone except the one person you want to hear from, which was happening to me at the time. The opening sample — ‘there is a message for you’ is a strange message that the credit card machines in Montreal cabs make.”

Watch the video, directed by OTIUM and inspired by Maya Deren’s 1943 film Meshes Of The Afternoon, below.

Jane Penny – Surfacing EP artwork

Sea Lemon has been on our radar since the release of her excellent debut EP, Close Up, in 2022. Now signed to Luminelle, home of some of our favourite artists, Natalie Lew – her real name – deepens her dream pop sensibility on her upcoming Stop At Nothing EP, that she just announced today. “I call it Costco Cocteau Twins,” Lew says about the project, which showcases “another side of me”. “It’s a modern spin on classic dreampop and shoegaze.” The five new tracks were crafted in collaboration with an established name of the genre, Jackson Phillips, aka Day Wave.

Along with the announcement, Sea Lemon also shared a brand new track, “Vaporized”. Working as a companion to previously released single “Cellar”, the song embodies her conflicting infatuation with horror movies and intense fear of death, something that the Seattle-bred artist has been dealing with since her childhood. It all makes sense in the accompanying video, that she co-directed with Otium.

Two years after Voyage to Mars, MUNYA is readying the release of her sophomore album. Jardin will be out this Fall but Josie Boivin already shared two track off the record, that was entirely co-produced with Kainalu. “This album is about the people who raised me, the people who inspire me, those who made me the artist I am today,” she detailed.

We can already listen to the opener “Hello Hi” as well as “Un Deux Trois,” which comes with an Otium-directed video, in which MUNYA is chasing another woman (Greta Akopov) in the streets of New York.

“MUNYA has always paid homage to Giorgio Moroder; I referenced him as early as 2018 when I released my first song,” Boivin says. “This song is a tribute to him and the music he’s inspired, like Daft Punk’s incredible ‘Giorgio by Moroder.’ When Daft Punk broke up after 28 years, I was devastated, because they were among my favorite artists. You can hear Moroder’s influence throughout Jardin, but this song is specifically for Daft Punk and all those who have loved Moroder’s music. He’s contributed so much to my career as an artist as he did theirs. Plus, the world needs more music like Daft Punk and Giorgio Moroder.”

You can buy the two tracks and pre-order Jardin via Bandcamp below.

Widowspeak (singer-songwriter Molly Hamilton + guitarist Robert Earl Thomas) have just announced the release of The Jacket, originally set to be a concept album about the formation and separation of a fake band. The theme is self-referential on purpose : the guitar-centered project navigates the absurdity of ego, codependency and all the contradictions surrounding them.

They have also unveiled the excellent first single, “everything is simple,” which comes with an OTIUM-directed video, shot at a rodeo. “The concept is centered around the idea of trying, knowing that even if things turn out differently than you intend, the very act itself is what you are striving to achieve,” OTIUM explained. The Southern imagery also finds an echo in the dusty and languid rock arrangements. Watch and pre-order the album below.