Lukka - Abby Sage - The Fades

Photo - Jen Meller

Lukka - Life In Reverse.

Lukka, the brainchild of German-born, New York City-based artist Franzi Szymkowiak, released her latest single “Life In Reverse” this week, from her sophomore album, Something Human due August 26.

Discussing the track, Franzi noted, “‘Life In Reverse’ talks about the end of a close relationship, as both partners realize that time has changed them. And that one shouldn’t be afraid of that change… 'only a matter of time and you get used to it’” - watch + share “Life In Reverse” via YouTube.

Something Human speaks to both the head and the heart. The album’s essence is perfectly captured in its first two singles “Wisdom of the Sun” - a yin-yang ode to finding positivity in even the darkest of situations, and “Life In Reverse” where Lukka finds herself closing one chapter, to start the next. At once an escapist psychedelic synth-rock odyssey and a timely shot of science-based spirituality, the 10-song LP wraps messages of oneness and self-determination inside multi-layered melodicism, cultured retro-electronica, and tastefully effected guitars. “Transmitting the message of love and oneness through music is very important to me,” stated Szymkowiak.

In essence a solo project supported by a semi-fluid band, Lukka’s sound is rooted in Franzi’s early influences growing up near Dresden, Germany – the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, the Beatles, The Who, Led Zeppelin – and, more recently, David Bowie, early Brian Eno, Flaming Lips, and Deerhunter. Extensive busking and performing around the world included four years in Australia, where she embraced that region’s new wave of psychedelic synth rock, including Tame Impala, Pond and Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

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Abby Sage - The Florist.

Today, LA/London based alt-pop artist Abby Sage announces her forthcoming sophomore EP The Florist out October 21st via Nettwerk. The announcement arrives with the release of the stunning title track single. 

Abby Sage’s upcoming EP is fueled by a love for character sketches, with each song becoming a tiny play or narrative. Take the new single “The Florist,” and its depiction of a woman who can bring beauty to the lives of others. “I’m someone who’s so protective of their friends,” shares Abby. “When something is broken, I want to fix it. And a florist is someone who through their actions makes a room prettier – because flowers always manage to do that.”

Commanded by a pillowy production, deliberately impassive vocals, and a skittering drumbeat, “The Florist” is an appetizing slice of soulful indie goodness. Gentle and quiet songwriting is at the forefront, with labelmate Boy Willows providing a hand in co-writing a portion of this beautiful and sweeping track that enthralls with notable and radiant power.

Abby Sage’s The Florist EP is a follow-up to her 2021 debut EP Fears of Yours & Mine, a collection of songs that was just the beginning in showcasing her commanding sound and precarious outlook of the world around her. Abby expresses, “The last project was a very personal take of what I was immediately experiencing at the time while this project feels a bit grander scheme and observational. I had nothing that was immediately bringing me either intense pain or joy (I normally experience things in extremes this way), there was something about this period that felt over looming and bigger than myself. I was in London taking the tube from session to session and felt like a sponge. One time there was a particular group of kids next to me and I listened to their conversation for the duration of the journey along with a few other snippets of chatter around me. I wanted to write about the experience of others, the unfamiliar coinciding with the familiar.”



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The Fades - You Follow Me Around.

London based post punks The Fades are back with a new album - You Follow Me Around is the first cut from it & a taste of what’s to come. With DJs like Steve Lamacq, John Kennedy & Marc Riley supporting various releases & glowing write ups in Louder Than War, Fresh on The Net & alike, The Fades are a band who’ve consistently turned adversity to their advantage, finding the best in life while not taking themselves too seriously.

Recorded in Brixton, South London using an array of analogue equipment, You Follow Me Around is a raucous indie post-punk blast of alternative pop, recalling the time when lead-singer Dave Lightfoot was stalked by both an ex-partner & his own cat clambering for affection at home - a sort of dual experience of enforced attention from very different sources. “The song was written at a very difficult time when this ex-partner was seriously harassing me” says Dave. “It made me ill & I lost so much weight but in the usual ‘Fades’ way, I managed to make light of it by linking the song to my cat, who was also harassing me but in a much more loving way. Basically, I took the positive approach to a very stressful situation & then a song came out of it”.

In true punk DIY style, The Fades recorded their debut single above a chip-shop on the Staines Road in West London. It was quickly picked up by Steve Lamacq who played it on national radio & soon a buzz was building around the band. Then explosive gigs with bands like Ocean Colour Scene, Bloc Party, The Mystery Jets & German rockers Art Brut gained them a reputation for raucous mayhem, including a penchant for multi-band clothes swapping on stage! Next up, US indie label Cranky Girl Records arranged for an East Coast tour of the States alongside some American releases, which all culminated in a whirlwind of gigs, parties & scintillating scotoma!

Buoyed on by a new-found enthusiasm when they sold out of their 2020 vinyl album Ragnarok & embracing the ‘new reality’ of working from home during lockdown with many a remote writing session, the band went back into the studio to record upcoming LP Night Terrors, from which You Follow Me Around is taken.

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Will Sheff - Pale Blue Eyes

Photo - Bret Curry

Will Sheff - Enstrangement Zone.

Today, Will Sheff known for leading the critically acclaimed indie-rock stalwarts Okkervil River across nine beloved albums announces ‘Nothing Special’, his debut solo album set for release on 7th October via ATO Records.

While Sheff acknowledges that the album’s title opens him up to some cheap digs from music writers, ‘Nothing Special’ is not mere self-deprecation: it’s a record that wrestles with the dream of rock and roll exceptionalism and the realignment of values necessary to move past youthful delusion and give your day-to-day life a more mature sense of meaning and hope.

Says Sheff, “When I was just a kid, I got caught up in the dream of being a rock and roll star. Like so many other young people, I fell in love with the idea of being called to this glorious path outside of ordinary life. And I ended up in a band with people who felt this same call - especially our brilliant drummer Travis Nelsen, who was like a brother to me. We would trade tales of hilarious antics and outrageous excess and tragic death like they were almost scripture. Travis and I fell out painfully, and he died in the early weeks of lockdown. I think a big part of ‘Nothing Special’ centres around grieving for him, grieving for everything my friends have lost, grieving for the rock and rock and roll myth, and trying to open my eyes to a more transcendent reality.”

Sheff sets this emotional journey to arrangements that contain subtle surprises, referencing baroque pop, blurred-lens synth ballads, sci-fi psychedelia and the widescreen ambience of 1970s and ‘80s ECM Records releases. It’s a record that follows its own idiosyncratic yet intuitive internal logic as we follow Sheff — and his expansive list of collaborators — into whatever’s next for us, both individually and collectively.

Accompanying today’s announcement is a video for ‘Estrangement Zone', a song that sets Sheff’s less-than-hopeful vision of society’s decline to retrofuturistic digital timbres more associated with Oneohtrix Point Never or Boards Of Canada than Okkervil River. Directed by Johnny North and prominently featuring Marcus Paek as a character simply called The Youth, it’s a mystical desert fantasy that’s part ‘Dune’, part ‘Stalker’. Says Sheff: “I think of the ‘Estrangement Zone’ video as a kind of magical spell the crew and I were trying to cast — a parable about endings and beginnings happening simultaneously.”

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Photo - Honey Davis Wilkinson

Pale Blue Eyes - Little Gem.

Following the announcement of their debut album Souvenirs, coming out on September 2 via Full Time Hobby (Dana Gavanski, Silverbacks), Devon’s Pale Blue Eyes has today shared a new track from the record. The accompanying video, directed by Dylan Friese-Green and Aubrey Simpson, captures the band on the road, crammed into a Nissan Micra, cruising through the English countryside. Watch it here

Speaking of the track, the band said “Little Gem is about relationships and gardening. We call Lucy [PBE drums and synths] The Emo Gardener. She’d painstakingly cultivate her little greenhouse only to be left distraught when the tomatoes got blight – swearing and weeping by the compost heap. The song is a metaphor for our band's journey. It’s about breaking down, then finding a way around – growing new tunes, cultivating them and sometimes having to start again from scratch.”

Souvenirs was recorded in PBE’s own Penquit Mill studio, just south of Dartmoor, the studio having been funded by a bank loan and endless part-time jobs. PBE are the couple Lucy and Matt Board, crucially aided by Motown-mad bassist Aubrey Simpson. Matt (vocals/guitar) and Lucy (drums/electronics) met at Dartington College of Arts in South Devon, a storied establishment that’s been enlivened over the years by people including Igor Stravinksy, Yul Brynner and John Cage. Lucy’s dissertation was titled “An Investigation into Sheffield's Alternative Music Scene Between 1973 and 1978, with Particular Reference to Cabaret Voltaire.” The PBE album was mixed and mastered by Dean Honer (Eccentronic Research Council, Moonlandingz). Dean has been an integral part of Sheffield's electronic scene and has mixed artists including Róisín Murphy, The Human League and Add N To (X).

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Cari Cari - Flight Attendant - Phil Thornalley

Cari Cari - Welcome To Kookoo Island.

Cari Cari have shared the newest single to be released from their forthcoming album Welcome To Kookoo Island due out on September 16th, 2022 via Perla Nera Records. Despite sharing a name with the album, their new single ‘Welcome To Kookoo Island’ takes the listener on a soft and gentle daydream, stepping away from their usually zestful and energetic bursts of psychedelia.

“While Cari Cari was founded with the aim of placing their music in a Tarantino flick, ‘Welcome To Kookoo Island’ would probably be a better fit for Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom” says guitarist Alexander Koeck. The new single sees the duo unplug their electric guitars and take the listener on a magical boat ride down the Mississippi, longing for the innocence of childhood, letting go of the trouble of adult life and, as the lyrics say, “whatever I can’t change I will just let go”.

Cari Cari is Stephanie Widmer (vocals, drums & didgeridoo) and Alexander Koeck (vocals, guitars). Since their inception, Cari Cari have been tirelessly working to create their own world, carefully crafting everything from their music to their artwork, videos to set design in-house. This meticulous attention to detail has earned the band a loyal following; Rolling Stone Magazine called them ‘the biggest discovery of Primavera Sound Festival’, their die-hard fans sold out 1000+ capacity rooms across Europe and their debut album was praised by the likes of NME, KCRW, Rolling Stone, IndieShuffle and many more.

However, for the band, all roads have led them to Kookoo Island. The product of years of world-building, Welcome To Kookoo Island, was born from a desire to retreat from modern-day life completely. “Kookoo Island is our libertatia, the utopia of what we think the world should be like,” explains Widmer. “It seems to be cuckoo to dream of such a place right now, but dreaming of what we want the world to be like is the first step towards making it a reality,” she continues.

Cari Cari · Welcome To Kookoo Island (Master)

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Flight Attendant - Crybaby.

Flight Attendant has unveiled the video for new single "Crybaby" and announced their upcoming debut full length will be out on September 30th. Flight Attendant belongs to that breed of rock bands made in Nashville, where their sound is nothing less than a sonic unicorn. Blending sounds of grunge with power-pop hooks, viola and light synth textures, they have begun to create a hypnotic sound and energy all of their own.

The group met through many shared interests, friend circles and glasses of wine. Karalyne (Lead Vocals, Keys, certified Sommelier, originally from Kansas City, Kansas) met Vinny Maniscalco (Vocals, Guitar, award-winning bartender, originally from Boston, Massachusetts) while bartending together at Nashville restaurant 5th & Taylor where Nikki Christie (Vocals, Viola, great at drinking wine, originally from Los Angeles, California) joined in too. It didn’t take many nights of cocktail making and wine tasting before the band formed. With the addition of drummer, and long time drinking buddy Derek Sprague (drums, lager lover and also from Boston, Massachusetts) the lineup was complete. Together the group has released a collection of singles including pulsating grooves like “Man of Chaos,” which was described by numerous media outlets as one of the best singles of 2020.

Flight Attendant has played sold out shows from Nashville, TN, to Austin,TX, including SXSW 2022, Tomato Art Festival and the Nashville Film Festival - where they have entranced audiences, sold out merch and created a fitting example of what's to come. They are now gearing up for a European Tour in the Fall to support their debut album, produced by Grammy Winning engineer and producer, Charles Yingling. With the help of their cabin crew, Flight Attendant is quickly making a name for themselves on the global stage.

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Phil Thornalley - Fast Car.

A quick scan of the many records Phil Thornalley has worked on, and you’ll quickly spot some of the biggest names in popular music, including Bryan Adams, Thompson Twins, The Cure, Psychedelic Furs, XTC, Duran Duran, and even Paul McCartney. Phil co-wrote and produced Natalie Imbruglia’s 1997 worldwide smash “Torn,” and has written hits with Pixie Lott (“Mama Do”) and BBMak (“Back Here”). A kind of rock’n’roll Zelig, his name is probably on countless records in your collection, although you probably didn’t even know it was him.  That bass line on The Cure’s “Love Cats”? That’s Phil. The haunting and ethereal production on Prefab Sprout’s “When Love Breaks Down”?  That’s Phil too.

Now, on his latest offering, Now That I Have Your Attention, Phil Thornalley steps out of The Swamp (his North London studio) to unveil 11 catchy and brand-new original songs (plus three bonus tracks on the CD!) that find him exploring the production stylings pioneered by the Electric Light Orchestra’s Brummie boffin, Jeff Lynne.

Thornalley celebrates the fine musicality and pure joy of Lynne’s widescreen symphonic string sections, the bare-faced brutality of his straight-ahead rhythm bed tracks, and plenty of multi-tracked and stacked harmony vocals. On tracks like “Stand By Love,” and “High On Your Supply,” Thornalley makes more than a passing nod towards Lynne’s carefully layered sonic tableau, from the multiple acoustic guitars to the highly specific electric guitar lines.

Clearly, it’s a sound that Thornalley can’t get out of his head. “Maybe we should have called it the Traveling Phil-burys,” Thornalley jokes, “but I enjoyed the earlier ELO records, and the way they married a crummy beat combo with the grandeur of a full orchestra - it was over-the-top but infectiously musical, creating a foundation of the oxymoronic ‘controlled’ rock and roll drums and a super simple bass guitar.”

Why, you may well ask, would a lauded and Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer (and the focus of a recent in-depth career retrospective story in the American trade magazine, Tape Op) decide to record an album with both feet planted haphazardly in the squelch of the seventies sounds of ELO and glam rock? Because it’s fun.

“When I listen to pop radio these days,” says Phil Thornalley, “no one seems to be having any fun. In my teenage years, every other record you heard was ridiculous. I think that sense of fun is missing from today’s often turgid, doleful would-be soul singers moaning about their millionaire ennui.”

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Little Quirks - Charlie Houston - Fresh

Little Quirks - Maybelle.

Little Quirks – Australian sisters Abbey and Mia and their cousin Jaymi – are excited to reveal new single 'Maybelle' - another undeniably catchy folk-pop earworm, lifted from their forthcoming Call To Unknowns EP – out August 25th via Glassnote Records.

Abbey Toole muses, “Maybelle is a story of a woman with a wild mind and imagination. She travels town to town, sharing stories of her adventures. Over time, the news spreads and she becomes the legend of Maybelle. “I wanted to write a song that would draw audiences to dance and get excited! I wrote it while stomping my feet around the house and clapping to the beat.

“This one was especially fun to record as we got everyone involved in the recording in a big room to stomp, clap and chant. Maybelle is fun and energetic, our favourite song to play live. We can’t wait for everyone to finally hear it!”

The band has had a busy year so far having toured their high-energy live show through USA and UK. Today they are very pleased to announce a handful of Australian dates across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. 'Maybelle' is the next installment from the band’s new EP following previously released singles 'Florence’s Town', 'Someone To Hold' and 'The Rain'.

Little Quirks’ 2018 single Crumbled has been a runaway favourite on Spotify with over 4 million streams and they have amassed a loyal following for their powerful and distinctive DIY videos on YouTube, including an impressive version of ABBA’s 'SOS'.

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Charlie Houston - Dinosaurs In The Garden.

The 22-year-old singer-songwriter, Charlie Houston is following her Spotify USA Viral 50 track, "Wide Awake", which she recorded with the Grammy-nominated electronic duo, ODESZA with her new single, "Dinosaurs In The Garden" – out now via Arts & Crafts. 

Speaking about the new single which finds Charlie tapping into a more grunge-pop sound, she says: "'Dinosaurs In The Garden' is about the fear of getting your heart broken while in a relationship. While you have no reason to suspect it’s going to happen, there is always looming anxiety about the fact that you’ve allowed yourself to fall for someone and now can’t control whether it works out or not.”

Houston, whose “contemporary R&B-inflected pop straightforwardly addresses the meaningful mundanities of Gen Z life” (Bandcamp) is following her 2021 genre-bending debut five-song EP, I Hate Spring which received praise from Zane Lowe, Rolling Stone, and SPIN, while landing a Spotify Times Square Billboard. As she prepares the release of her second EP, due out later this year, she will be joining ODESZA on their mammoth stadium tour which commences tomorrow, as well as concluding her cross-Canada support tour with JUNO Award 2022 Artist Of The Year, Charlotte Cardin.

Charlie Houston · Dinosaurs In The Garden

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Fresh - Why Do I.

London punks Fresh have shared a brand new video for 'Why Do I', the closing track of their new album 'Raise Hell'. The track resolves the record with our protagonist breaking free of a toxic relationship, joyously riding into the sunset singing doo-wops. It’s the first time on the album that the inner conflict settles, and contentment takes precedence.

Talking about the new video, lead singer and principal songwriter Kathryn Woods said “After getting back from an intense UK tour, we thought it'd be nice to have a fun day out at the beach on the bands dime. A seagull stole one of our doughnuts, and another one pooped on Dan. They may have been the same seagull, we will never know.”

On the track itself, she expands; “Sadness and self-doubt are acknowledged and present on ‘Why Do I’, but they don’t hold power over you anymore. There’s power in starting from scratch. Think Nicole Kidman signing divorce papers in 2001-vibes. There’s a real catharsis and joyous presence to this song, upbeat do-woop vocals, guitar riffs with a touch of delay and soaring lead vocals make it a great note to end the record on."

Fresh have been an unwavering fixture within the UK punk scene since their first record in 2017. A joy to behold live, Woods honed her craft not only fronting Fresh but as a member of several heralded indie and punk bands, including cheerbleederz and ME REX alongside Fresh bandmate Myles McCabe.

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Improvement Movement - Forever Honey - Melting Dreams - Paper Foxes

Improvement Movement - 11:00.

With so much of the music industry feeling constantly inundated with projects being disguised as indie music by major labels, there seems to be a level of exhaustion around the discovery of new bands. The Atlanta, GA-based Improvement Movement sets out to vertically and horizontally integrate all your needs with their debut project, Don’t Delay, Join Today! – out July 29, 2022, through Acrophase Records – which is a collection of songs that might gravitate towards fans of Drugdealer, Altin Gun, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra, as well as fans of startups like Theranos, WeWork, and Juicero.

In all seriousness, the project is a special amalgamation of insanely talented Atlanta musicians who have found a way to collaborate with each other under the band title. Improvement Movement includes (but is not limited to) a rotating cast of Atlanta musicians like Tony Aparo, Zach Pyles (credited on projects from Washed Out, Neon Indian, and Deerhunter to name a few), Marshall Ruffin (Lonnie Holley, The Mount, RUFFIN), Clark Hamilton (klark.sound, Safari Williams) – each a full-fledged artist in their own right – to execute their recordings and live shows. The band was aided in finishing the album by artists and producers including Kelly Pratt of Beirut playing all the woodwinds on the album and Jason Kingsland who mixed the album (notable credits include Band of Horses, Father John Misty, Belle and Sebastian).

You are about to permanently alter the course of your natural life with…Improvement Movement

Usually when a band starts an album cycle a press release is written in an effort to build a story around the band with mentions of all star producers and recording trips that yielded songs from the most famous studios on earth. For Improvement Movement we are here to dispel any of the unfounded rumors being spread that lay heavy claims of the project being mislabeled as a “cult” or “multi-level marketing scheme”. By the end of this EPK you will find yourself a believer in the greatest movement the world has ever seen.

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Photo - Rita Iovine

Forever Honey - I've Been Down.

Yesterday Brooklyn rock outfit Forever Honey will be sharing their new single "I’ve Been Down.”  It’s the second of two singles off an upcoming EP titled “Could I Come Here Alone.” Lyrically, “I’ve Been Down” draws upon the personal experiences of singer Liv Price, who explains the song’s inspiration: 

"I’ve Been Down" is about an instance of trying hard to force feelings for someone and what that point of staleness and auto-pilot looks and feels like–mentally checking out all the time; staring at the ceiling; going through the motions. 

I had this realization one night of how many times I let relationships continue beyond their expiration dates.  In general, I’ve always had a tendency of doubting myself and second guessing what my gut is screaming at me, feeling like I’m just mistaken and need to try harder.  So, it took me much longer than I’d like to admit to recognize that I don’t actually owe anyone my love or company. And that my feelings for someone aren’t something I can just turn on and off, or will into existence.

The rest of the band breathes an air of melancholy into the poignant subject matter with catchy finesse. Instrumentally nodding to their shoegaze inspirations (e.g., Mazzy Star, The Sundays), chiming guitars weave in and out, complementing the emotive and directive vocals. Like so many Forever Honey songs, guitarist Mekonnen masterfully translates the sorrowful lyrics into equally expressive guitar riffs.

Forever Honey · I've Been Down

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Melting Dreams - Like Me.

‘Like Me’ is a soft and mysterious ode to dreams. It contemplates both the sweetness enveloping a dream and its in-satiety; it speaks both of the euphoria and the anxiety that come with chasing after it. Most of all, it speaks of vulnerability – the laying bare of the skin (and of the heart) – that comes with revealing it to others.

Lush strings pull us up to the heights of adrenaline, while tense drums and enigmatic melodies seem to bring the warning of tragedy. Together, they embody the stomach-turning sensation of anticipation and the indistinguishable feelings of fear and excitement. Yet, gentle synths and xylophones wrap us on a cloud – the drunken haze of dreams is lulling and luring.

The angelic vocals travel from soft whisper to powerful belt – there is vulnerability in sharing one’s heart, but there's also courage – and so the voice trembles but rejoices at the thought of possibility, gaining strength, and guiding us to a culmination that is supported by the band's atmospheric and powerful wall of sound.

The band is sharing the first theme from their debut album; they’re giving in to their most vulnerable moment. The question that now beckons to be asked is: Will you like it?

Melting Dreams are a dark dream-pop band formed by Inês Rebelo (Vocals and Vocal Production) and Asaf Rahamim (Songwriting and Production) who teamed up with Artur Lenivenko (piano and synths) and invited musicians from all over the globe to record their debut album, Can You See Me?, set for release in September 2022. They are greatly inspired by film-noir, animation films, and acts such as Kate Bush, Florence and the Machine, Lana Del Rey, and Patrick Watson.

Melting Dreams · Like Me

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Paper Foxes - Heartstrings.

Phoenix-based 5-piece, Paper Foxes are back with their new single ‘Heartstrings’, taken from their upcoming new album Paradise Deluxe. With a genre-bending sound that blends elements of indie, disco and electronic music, the new single see’s the band venture further into the realm of synth-pop with an 80s-inspired, heavily electronic soundscape.

Full of bright yet warming analogue synth, punching electronic drums and thick, throbbing bass ‘Heartstrings’ quickly captures an uplifting feel as the intense, fluorescent electronic instrumentation takes hold. The effortlessly emotive, infectiously catchy lead vocal soon enters, instantly introducing the song's main hook with a cool, chilled delivery which emphasizes the track's edge. Reminiscent of the likes of M83 and MGMT, this is a fresh approach from the band, a move away from the guitar-led sound of their previous releases.

Made up of CJ Jacobson (vocals, guitar), Patro Gaston (synths), Oliver Lemke (guitar), Robert Ciuca (bass) and Henri Bernard (drums), Paper Foxes have garnered over 100 thousand streams to date, making a name for themselves with their unique brand of alternative-indie come new-wave. Having gained recognition after being named ‘the best-unsigned band in AZ’ by Alt Press in 2020, the band gained a number of sync deals with Netflix, MTV and A&E before setting out on a tour of the southwest United States with Hunny and The Happy Fits.

Now back with more material from their upcoming new album due for release in 2023, the band continue to establish themselves as an exciting up-and-coming band surely set for big things.

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