Track Of The Day: daze – ‘star signs’

Following a debut EP that raised £240 for Mind, ‘star signs’ is the new track from indie dream-pop duo daze. Written in February, the band say they’ve aimed for a mix of “sparkly guitars and warm synths” to create a perfect summer vibe.

I think they have absolutely nailed that. If nothing else, daze have proven that they are extremely competent when it comes to bringing their concepts to life. The fact that they manage to write, produce, mix and master the track entirely from their bedroom is a testament to their talent.

The different layers of the song fit together so well that it feels a lot more polished than you’d expect from even the most technically proficient homebrew. Having said that, I don’t think it’s lost any of the raw charm of DIY tunes. It has a lot of warmth and energy that only comes from a piece of art that someone has poured their heart into as they craft it.

The song itself is light and relaxed, but upbeat. The strings twinkle over the rich synths, eddying gently from riff to riff in a way that you can’t help but get carried along. Between the sparkles, the flow and the way it eventually fades away, ‘star signs’ captures the brightness and colour of summer sunsets using only sound.

It really is impressive how daze have managed to make such an evocative piece of music; a soundscape that inspires you to close your eyes and completely lose yourself in the scenes it creates. Particularly given it hit me with exactly that sensation on one of the drizzliest, dreariest days of the summer so far.

Kirstie Summers
@ActuallyKurt

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Track Of The Day: Nun Habit – ‘Marigolds’

A song about eczema, ‘marigolds’ by London five-piece nun habit packs way more of a punch than that description might lead you to expect.

It comes in hard and fast, leaping immediately into a big sound – there’s no gradual build up. Instead, this tightly-structured song is the kind of atmospheric track designed for speakers that make the floor throb. Rich growling bass balances out the shriek of the guitars, interweaving the strings to form an excellent platform for trippy burbling keys.

The low, aching vocals give the song a sense of vulnerability. The lyrics themselves are simple and self-aware, with a lot of feeling in every line and the emotion behind the words is clear. The song drips with anxiety, with exhaustion with toxic-masculine culture; with the resolve to stop caring about the ignorant, judgemental things people say. The vocals draw their power from the lyrics and their grounded tone is uplifted by the roaring music behind them.

There’s a sharp drop part way through; a great use of silence that trips you up, but quickly sweeps you back into the intoxicating sound. This, followed by the abrupt ending, reinforces how well ‘marigolds’ lures you into an entirely different headspace. It sucks you in and spits you out and leaves you wondering where to go for more. (The Kickstarter for their new album hedge fun is a good place to start.)

‘marigolds’ comes with a B-side consisting of a moody house edit by producer Josh Albiston. This version is lighter and slower-paced. It’s spaced out so you can feel more of the texture in the piece. Whilst it’s almost twice as long, it doesn’t feel it. The bright, popping sounds are softer, with gentler drums and vocals that are stripped right back. There’s still a chirpy rhythm to it, but it feels more house party than club dance floor. It fades away until just the throbbing bass line is left; until everything eventually drifts away into silence leaving you, still, eyeing that Kickstarter page.

‘marigolds‘ is out now, ahead of the release of nun habit’s debut album, hedge fun, set for release in August.

Kirstie Summers
@ActuallyKurt

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ALBUM: Fightmilk – ‘Contender’

Recorded in two sessions a year apart, GIHE faves Fightmilk’s second album Contender is worth every second of the wait, following 2018’s Not With That Attitude. The band’s writing and recording process has understandably changed over the past twelve months. Combined with the influence of their new bassist Healey and and an expanded musicality, their style has developed without losing any of the raw emotion at the heart of what makes Fightmilk special.

The album kicks off with an authentic false start. This, along with later interludes, makes for lovely humanising moments that give DIY bands so much charm. Then the music comes in hard and fast. From the first beat, you get big drums, powerful vocals and guitars layered beautifully over each other. The album is rich with riffs, fantastic flourishes of strings that make every song pop. Both in individual tracks and across the album as a whole, the instruments build to roaring climactic moments that launch the vocals to an impressive new reach. The band know how to use their instruments to ramp up the power of every track at exactly the right time.

The songs explore the human experience with Fightmilk’s distinct brand of unapologetic vulnerability. There are wonderfully fuzzy love songs (‘Overbite’, ‘Maybe’) and pettiness-about-your-ex songs and please-dump-your-awful-boyfriend songs (‘Hey Annabelle’). There is also a song about “a hypothetical billionaire and his hypothetical pop-star girlfriend”, which is definitely hypothetical…

The lyrics are intense and personal in a way you can’t help but relate to. Every song is evidently grounded in real experiences and so imbued with emotion. The themes don’t shy away from the darker side of reality, but examine the impact of heartache, the patriarchy or corrupt governments on your soul with a twinkling, scuzzy charm. There’s a great balance between the reflective songs and hopeful ones. It starts and finishes with uplifting tracks that beautifully frame the journey the album takes you on, concluding with a sense of scrappy DIY optimism.

The album captures the essence of 2021 perfectly, drifting easily between plague and feelings and third wave capitalism and exes. The range of powerful energetic songs and more gentle ones fit well alongside each other without jarring. The changes in tone and emotion between tracks flow together with an endearing ease. Contender is at once cathartic, validating and empowering. It’s everything I want in the music that will propel me out of the lockdown slump and into a year that makes up for every lost minute.

Contender is out now via Reckless Yes. Buy on bandcamp now.

Kirstie Summers
@actuallykurt

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LISTEN: ARXX – ‘DEEP’ (Alice Go Remix)

The characteristic mark of an Alice Go remix is the heart that goes into it. It is clear that her work is a gesture of love for the tracks and artists that get her personal treatment.

As much as any other song, this is true of her recent remix of ARXX’s ‘Deep‘. It retains the core components that made the original a powerful alt-pop anthem, but preserves those raw elements in Go’s own way.

The Dream Wife guitarist’s remix comes in more gradually. The original’s punchy start is replaced by a smoother opening that eases you into the meat of the song and allows it to carry you off on a wave. It takes ARXX’s growling guitar and rich vocals and cleverly weaves moments of quiet around them. This creates a delicious tension in the early bars that swoops fluidly into the juicier midsection.

The vocals have been treated with a touch of autotune in a way that plays into Hanni’s natural talent as a singer as well as lending itself to Go’s new feel for the track.

The remix is stripped back, with a subtler beat that throbs beneath the melody. The song is changed enough that the experience of listening to it is distinctly different. But all the elements that make the original so powerful are still there, only bared in a sharp new way.

You can listen to another special remix of ‘Deep‘ from Brighton band LIME’s Annie, and keep your eyes and eyes peeled for a new one from Linda Burrato!

Kirstie Summers
@ActuallyKurt

Photo Credit: Jessie Morgan

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