Stillastar is Austyn Benyak, half of the Cleveland indie rock duo Pearly. 2022 is bound to be a busy year for Benyak. To start with, February 11 will welcome Pearly‘s first studio album. Titled Silver of the Mirror, it sees Benyak‘s and his bandmate Josie Yeager follow a noisier direction than their early singles.

But before that, Benyak is kickstarting his solo career with an impressive first single, “Momma”. Adopting the moniker Stillastar, he has been teasing this project on social media since the start of the year. On January 10, he posted a brief announcement on Instagram, revealing that he would be “starting again as ‘Stillastar’ and that new music would soon follow.

That music is here now. “Momma” proves that Stillastar is a fresh new start for Benyak, who here relies on more straightforward songwriting than with Pearly. In many ways, “Momma” is a fairly conventional song. Based on a simple chord progression strummed on acoustic guitar, it’s in its austere arrangements and drowned-out vocals that it takes on a ghostly character not unlike slowcore greats Red House Painters.

Stillastar has also shared an amazing self-directed video for the song. Starring Benyak, it’s a visually superb reflection on gender and transformation.

Let’s not beat about the bush: 2020 was the worst year of my life and I think it might be the case for a lot of people around. As a music fan, not being able to attend any concerts, seeing some of my favourite venues and festivals endangered and reading that up and coming talents are struggling more than ever has been a big bummer. I’m not even mentioning all the emails starting with “hope you are well during these strange times”. Well, guess what? We aren’t!

Even if we have spent most of our time locked at home, streaming more music than ever, not sure the smallest DIY artists will see the difference when they’ll receive their royalty revenues. All of that to say that artists need you more than ever. As we always repeat it, streaming is good but it’s not enough. Buy your vinyls, cassettes and merch and so on on Bandcamp special days (so they get 100% of the amount) or via your local record store (yes, they’re also having a hard time), attend virtual shows or, even better, send direct tips to the artists.

Some good news, though: 2020 has been pretty amazing music-wise. While it’s not always easy to support everything or to keep up with all the weekly releases, our staff tried their best to introduce you to some promising up and coming talents and bring the best new music to your ears throughout the last 12 months. Today, we are presenting our favourite EPs and mixtapes of 2020, with some obvious picks and a few overlooked discoveries to keep an eye on in the future. Thank you for reading us. Hope you enjoy and discover some cool new stuff. You can also check our Best Albums and Best Tracks selection.

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40. Ferrari Garden – “Longest Slow Dance”

39. ascendant vierge – “Vierge”

38. quinzequinze – “Le Jeune”

37. Sedona – “Rearview Angel”

36. Gabriels – “Love and Hate in a Different Time”

35. Julia-Sophie – “y?”

34. Pearly – “prettydarksexymusic”

33. Sports Boyfriend – “Seek No Answer”

32. TDJ – “TDJ001”

31. Zsela – “Ache of Victory”

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30. Sofia Kourtesis – “Sarita Colonia”

29. Bumper – “pop songs 2020”

28. Planet 1999 – “Devotion”

27. Alaska Reid – “Big Bunny”

26. Tomberlin – “Projections”

25. DVC Refreshments – “Hits Only”

24. Isla Den – “Virtual Garden”

23. Alpen Glow – “Amertape 2020”

22. Lysandre – “Maison-Dieu”

21. Forever – “Close To The Flame”

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20. Nilüfer Yanya – “Feeling Lucky?”

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19. Shygirl – “Alias”

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18. 박혜진 Park Hye Jin – “How Can I”

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17. Molina – “Vanilla Shell”

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16. Murmur – “Behind Your Back”

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15. Jockstrap – “Wicked City”

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14. Magdalena Bay – “Mini Mix, Vol 2”

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13. Isola – “EP1”

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12. Penelope Trappes – “Eel Drip”

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11. Eris Drew – “Fluids of Emotion”

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10. Couch Prints – “Tell U”

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9. Blue Hawaii – “Under 1 House”

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8. Japan, Man – “The Bad Days”

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7. Christine and the Queens – “La Vita Nuova”

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6. Charli XCX – “How I’m Feeling Now”

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5. Zelma Stone – “Dreamland”

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4. Laura Groves – “A Private Road”

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3. Yaeji – “WHAT WE DREW 우리가 그려왔던”

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2. oklou – “galore”

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1. Bullion – “We Had A Good Time”

An up-and-coming alternative pop duo from Ohio formed by Josie Yeager and Austyn Benyak, Pearly have just put out their first-ever EP. Blatantly knee-deep in self-awareness, they have titled it prettydarksexymusic. As you have probably guessed by now, it’s at times pretty, at times dark, at times sexy music.They have been compared with Julee Cruise for a reason, although the title is more resembling of that last Lykke Li album. Needless to say, Pearly appear half-naked in their press photos, fittingly taken in black and white. Hidden somewhere in his parents’ house, the guy from Cigarettes After Sex is wishing he would’ve come up with prettydarksexymusic as an album title a few months earlier.

Fortunately for us listeners, all the self-awareness and playfulness painfully lacking in Cigarettes After Sex and other similar cringey, softboi music are actually present here: to start with, Pearly’s album blurb simply states that prettydarksexymusic “magnifies their success and launches them into the heavens of fame.” Though this sense of humour is not a central part of their music, the liveliness with which they approach their instruments is. For a dream-pop record, this EP is surprisingly groovy and spirited.

Something that usually comes up while discussing American Midwestern alternative music is its dusty, drunken quality. This is particularly true of the music made by bands from Ohio, whether it is Guided By Voices’ lager-powered bluntness, Red House Painters’ sad-bastard slowcore or the distorted yet melodic sexual explosions of The Breeders. Pearly, however, don’t operate in this realm at all. They trade with the familiar currency of dream-pop instead, but they do so from heterogenous approaches. At times, their music directly evokes the work of Chromatics, Beach House or Mazzy Star. It does so with commendable proficiency. The starry-eyed acoustic-guitar-led ballad “To Me” might be the highlight of the EP, but there might be an argument for Pearly being a better band when they get more lighthearted and mischievous.

Though the lovely interplay of guitars by the end is not without its merit, “This Hurt” is entirely dominated by its bassline and synth work, instantly invoking New Order’s merger of post-punk and dance. “Machine Song” works even better in favour of this argument, starting out as an ambient track only to take a radical left turn towards a grunge-y kind of dream-pop. Every instrument is buried under layers of distortion, and the angry, ugly riffs they play are more Smashing Pumpkins than My Bloody Valentine. At least that’s what happens for a while – by the end of the song, it has been transformed into a casio-and-guitar bedroom serenade.

For all the deadpan vocals that deliver pensive melodies and the wistful instrumentation they’re bathed in, it is this stern refusal to stick to a single mood that ultimately defines Pearly and separates them from similar acts. They are especially reminiscent of Mr Twin Sister, who started out as a more-or-less average late 2000s buzz-blog band and ended up being one of the best and most interesting dream pop acts of the 2010s, bringing in jazzy grooves and diverse instrumentations. While there’s something commonplace about prettydarksexymusic (it’s titled like that for a reason, people!), it stands out as an adventurous, melodic, and at its peaks, unlikely fun EP. Stream via Spotify and buy via Bandcamp.