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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LISTEN: Borito – ‘Child’

A buoyant, carefree tune reminding listeners to embrace their youthful tendencies, Tel Aviv indie four-piece Borito have shared their latest single ‘Child’. Taken from their upcoming album What We Have Now, the track is a delightfully upbeat distraction that offers a brief moment of relief from the day-to-day pressures of the adult world.

Self-described as a “time machine that sends you back to your summer vacation,” Borito want to create music that simply makes their listeners feel good. Channelling the innocence of their collective 90s childhoods for both lyrical and musical inspiration, the band acknowledge the difficulty of growing up in today’s technology-led world on ‘Child’ and reassure their listeners that a young heart – regardless of your age – is nothing to be ashamed of.

“As always, we see today cultural clashes between young and older generations,” the band explain. “We believe that each person should cherish their inner child and remember we’re all searching for our way in life in one time or another.” Led by vocalist & guitarist Yael Copeland, Borito’s catchy and contemporary alt-pop sound is a cheerful antidote to the grown-up status quo.

Watch the animated video for ‘Child’ below.

Follow Borito on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter & Spotify for more updates.

Photo Credit: Ariel Pedatzur

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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LISTEN: Gillie – ‘Leaving Alone’

An atmospheric rumination on the importance of authentic relationships, Welsh-born London-based songwriter Gillie has shared her latest single ‘Leaving Alone’. Interweaving pop sensibilities with her lush vocals and gritty guitar sounds, the track is a musing on the unexpected feelings of competition that threaten to erode the foundations of existing friendships.

“I found myself withdrawn and numb to friendships and this childish merry go round of emotions,” Gillie explains about the context of her new single. “It made me recheck a lot of my relationships, I think you need that sometimes. I wrote it with the guitar line at the forefront and was channelling a carefree reaction, planning this wildlife of independence – and whilst usually, I get sad and reflective when writing – with this I was just saying goodbye and was fine with that.”

The catharsis this personal breakthrough brought to Gillie is reflected in her soft vocal delivery and resolute and defiant lyrics on ‘Leaving Alone’. Described as a “sonic liberation,” it’s an optimistic new offering from an artist who is moving forward and no longer phased by the difficulties of her past.

Listen to ‘Leaving Alone’ below.

 

Follow Gillie on bandcamp, Spotify, Instagram, Twitter & Facebook for more updates

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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