Track Of The Day: Maya Lakhani – ‘The Line’

In a loud and driving new single that has as much grit as it does sophistication, Maya Lakhani’s ‘The Line’ is a cathartic release that rings out like a staple alt-rock anthem. From the moment the track dawns, chunky bass and overdriven guitars swell ‘The Line”s mix and sets the scene for a grungy instrumental. 

Crisp, hard-hitting drums keep the song grounded while Maya’s sharp and compelling vocals grab attention and never let go. “I’m always drawn to the darkness, things that rack my mind”, Maya sings with a purging tone. She alludes to the addictiveness of our personal demons with teasing lyrics and words of reflection. ‘The Line’ becomes transformative, however, as Maya describes that the tune is about learning to “set healthy boundaries and about starting again.” 

This personal evolution is depicted emotively through both Maya’s words and the track’s speculative instrumental. With a thick heaviness reminiscent of ’90s bands such as Garbage, and the enticing solitude of PJ Harvey’s vocal performances, Maya Lakhani has curated a modern rock tune that feels DIY, yet is polished with a contemporary edge. ‘The Line’ is a taste of something new, served on a nostalgic platter.

‘The Line’ is out now. Listen here.

Jill Goyeau
@jillybxxn

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Track Of The Day: Aislinn Logan – ‘Never Stay Low’

An atmospheric pop gem that gently dismisses the weight of unfair expectations, Belfast-born, London-based artist Aislinn Logan has shared her latest single ‘Never Stay Low’. Mixed by Kristofer Harris (Ghostpoet, Belle and Sebastian, Emmy The Great), the track is a breezy, melodic offering full of lush vocals and shimmering synth sounds.

“There is so much pressure on us to do things a certain way, from such a young age,” Logan explains about the context of her new single. “Intangible pressure, words that slip into conversation, glances, the atmosphere in a room. There’s a fear that if you don’t conform to expectations you’ll be deficient in some way, when the opposite is true. I wanted to create something about rejecting the fallacy of expectations, and the pitfalls if you don’t.” Through her affirming lyricism and tentative vocal delivery, Logan encourages listeners to “Look the other way / If you have you” when it comes to dealing with those who try to cast a shadow over your creative efforts.

Inspired by the sunny melodies of ABBA and Fleetwood Mac, as well as Phil Collins’ percussion (a favourite in Logan’s childhood), ‘Never Stay Low’ is an encouraging nod to those who need a bit of extra support to be their authentic, carefree selves. Listen to the track below.

 

Follow Aislinn Logan on  bandcamp, Twitter, Instagram, Spotify & Facebook for more updates.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: Maria BC – ‘Adelaide’

An ambient reflection on disconnecting from the world before finding your way back to it again, Brooklyn-based musician Maria BC has shared their debut single ‘Adelaide’. Taken from their upcoming EP Devil’s Rain, which is set for release on 5th February 2021 via Fear of Missing Out Records, the track is a blissful, lo-fi meditation on breaking introverted thought cycles.

“A friend of mine used to work as a museum guard,” Maria explains about the inspiration behind their new single. “Guests would almost never ask her questions, so she had a lot of downtime. She would spend hours building ‘memory palaces’ which are a mnemonic device that have helped some people to achieve total autobiographical recall. My friend would spend six, seven hours a day making these palaces. When she told me about this, another friend of mine said, ‘Aren’t you worried about getting lost in your interiority?’ And I thought, ‘damn, that’s so true’. I’ve seen that happen to so many people. It’s happened to me many times — this feeling that I’m stuck in the architecture of my own ego. ‘Adelaide’ isn’t about my museum guard friend — it’s a song addressed to a depressed version of myself, or someone who needs a hand to pull them back into the social world.”

Maria’s metaphorical hand is extended via soft guitar sounds and hushed vocals on the single. “I don’t want to tell you this,” Maria tentatively remarks before carefully unfolding their thoughts over four minutes of ambient sounds. Recorded in Maria’s apartment through April and May of 2020, ‘Adelaide’ is an intimate, soothing offering and a revealing insight into what’s to come from this talented emerging artist in 2021.

Listen to ‘Adelaide’ below.

Follow Maria BC on bandcamp, Spotify, Instagram, Twitter & Facebook for more updates.

Photo Credit: Sergio Gutierrez

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: Nuha Ruby Ra – ‘Sparky’

Perhaps it’s the nature of the year that we’ll soon be bidding goodbye to, but it’s seen Nuha Ruby Ra go from a one-time member of an art collective in a warehouse in East London, making confessional songs backed by DIY videos, to being played on Lauren Laverne’s BBC 6Music breakfast show, and announcing the cover art of her new EP.  

All of Ra’s singles to date have been confessional, with ‘Cruel‘ also speaking to sexual experience – but ‘Sparky’ takes things up a notch. For starters, there’s that ‘Warm Leatherette’ bass-line, and a sax hook that lingers, off-kilter, but insistent. And then there’s the lyrical content: the chorus of “… run your fingers through my hair / Get your words out my head” – a contradictory summation of the power exchange found in the verses, which see Ra both chiding and encouraging the intended listener. 

“I’m Sparky”, Ra has said in the press for the single, “It’s a name I was given by an old flame”, and that the nickname harks back to a period of “sex and dominance… Restless, irritated and reflective, even while having great sex”.  The song’s lyrics are mostly spoken, giving them an extra sense of honesty and directness, with the dualities of lust and rejection, control and resistance typified by images of spilt, sticky prosecco and long journeys taken for dirty weekends.

Sonically, the song sits somewhere between the post-punk of Ra’s sometime collaborators Warmduscher and the darker side of ’80s synthpop: it’s particularly hard not to make comparisons to Soft Cell’s ‘Sex Dwarf’ and Depeche Mode’s ‘Master and Servant’. With Ra’s accent, stance, originality of style and frank talk, there’s a little something of Neneh Cherry, on top there too.  

That combination is one of the key elements to Nuha Ruby Ra’s apparent emergence out of nowhere: her diversity of taste and willingness to take influence from seemingly disparate places at once. On a more practical level, but no less important, is her already well-established connections to alternative music’s best musicians and producers – ‘Sparky’, for example, was developed in a ‘synth cave’ owned by Psychedelic Furs, featuring members of Liars and Insecure Men, whilst its producer and mixer have both worked with such luminaries as Lana Del Rey, Patti Smith and David Bowie. If that’s not enough to tell you that Nuha Ruby Ra’s career is ready to ignite, then  a listen to ‘Sparky’ certainly will.

John McGovern
@etinsuburbiaego

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