A selection of new and/or relevant indie/rock tracks that have recently left an impression on us. For the full playlist click here.
Quality Living- “Moon Is Out”
“Moon Is Out” is a single by Quality Living, an indie rock band based out of New Jersey making songs since 2016. The song “Moon Is Out” is a groovy single with strong drum beats that keep the song upbeat. The melody of the song is mellow with quite a few sustained notes, and the lyrics mash with the song and feel like one.
The track feels like a background score for a film in which the teenagers are goofing around in the parking lot way past their bedtime; it evokes a sense of nostalgia and tenderness.
Wesley David- “Stop Sign”
Wesley David is an artist based in the US, brought up in a doomsday bible cult. He held onto music as an escape from a young age, listening to classic and progressive rock. The grief and pain he carries get beautifully translated into his latest single, “Stop Sign”.
The single has themes of hope and despair, and hope wears different skins and isn’t always comfortable to deal with. It’s layered with acoustic guitar, The vocals start almost as a whisper and initially feels gloomy and moves to almost hopeful by the end. There are also folk elements in the percussion that tie the whole song together.
Cellarscape- “Three Years of Roses”
“Three Years of Roses” is the second track from the album Alternative Piano Club by Paul Terry, his singer-songwriter alias Cellarscape, and his post-rock project alias Aptøsrs. The album consists of 12 songs that all showcase piano in different ways. It keeps the piano as the central theme and uses it to build narratives and stories around it.
The track starts out with acoustic guitar that fades in and out, and the vocals set an atmosphere that’s heavy and sorrowful. When the piano comes in with lower chords that strike like lightning, it gives you goosebumps. The vocal overlay at the end conveys desperation and almost feels like begging the other person to stay and not waste three years of roses.
Andres Ekbald- “Early Mornings”
“Early Mornings” is a single by Andres Ekbald, a Swedish artist who has 3 studio albums under his stage name, MIKÄEL. The single “Early Morning” is a beautiful duet alongside performing artist Crissi Cochrane, who is known for her silky vocals and soulful music.
Andres Ekbald’s low, almost gruffly textured vocals and Crissi Cochrane’s sweet, melodious vocals complement each other and add to the atmosphere of the song. The lyrics are from the perspective of two young people doing the best they can.
The tone of the song has hints of nostalgia in the way you look at memories very fondly, in a way you’d pay anything just to go back in time and live it all over again.
Tár – “Black Lights”
Tár is a 4-piece band from Szczecin (Poland) consisting of Tomasz Jackowski as the vocalist, Krzysztof Boboryko on guitars, Robert Lachendro on bass, and Daniel Nowakowski on drums. They are known to produce nostalgic gaze and desert rock.
Their single “Black Lights” leans more into desert rock with the way the bass and electric guitar are played. The lyrics speak about finding it ‘hard to dream again of sweet nothings’, reminiscing about the past and how it all mattered to nothing. The track is upbeat from the start, and an electric guitar riff adds a layer of pulsing excitement to it. Tár is one of the bands that would sound amazing at Burning Man.
Find our previous indie/rock reviews here.
