LISTEN: Circe – ‘Mess With Your Head’

A glistening dark-pop tune that ruminates on the rush of emotions that come when you surrender yourself to love, London-based artist Circe has shared her latest single ‘Mess With Your Head’. Co-produced by Emre Turkmen (formerly Years & Years), the track is a dazzling blend of sultry vocals, Kate Bush inspired beats and jagged electronics, flowing in the same cinematic vein as Circe’s previous creations.

“It’s about the extremes that love pushes us to, the exquisite pain of knowing someone else controls how your heart will fair that day,” Circe explains about the context of her new song. “We are all so often the worst to the people we love the best. There’s a lyric inspired by Shakespeare -‘You gave me your heart / and I gave you a pound of flesh’ – for me the line expresses not only the possessive feelings love can cultivate, but the idea of handing over ‘flesh’ gives physical weight to the emotion of love. The visceral stages from the lightness of a body you know so well, to the heaviness of a battered heart.”

Reflecting on the false promises we make to ourselves when we’re caught in a romantic web – “I’m out of my depth and I swear / it’s the last time” – ‘Mess With Your Head’ is permeated with a deeply relatable, intensely human sense of lust and longing. The down-tempo accompanying B-side tack ‘I’m Still Not Sorry For What I Said’ extrapolates on these confessional, powerful feelings. It embraces the raw truth of a moment of desire, shrugging off the shackles of shame and urging listeners to fully explore their own romantic impulses.

Listen to ‘Mess With Your Head’ and ‘I’m Still Not Sorry For What I Said’ below.

 

Follow Circe on Spotify, bandcamp, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter & Instagram

Kate Crudgington
@kate_crudge

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LISTEN: Brimheim – ‘hey amanda’

An ode to friendship in all its bittersweet glory, Danish alt-pop artist Brimheim has shared her latest single ‘hey amanda’. Taken from her upcoming album, can’t hate myself into a different shape, which is set for release on 28th January via W.A.S Entertainment, the track is a celebration of platonic love, brimming with nostalgic lyrics, warm guitar sounds and tender vocals.

“Obviously there are plenty of great romantic love songs, but for some reason there aren’t a lot of love songs about friendships, even though they’re often just as crucial and formative as any crush or relationship,” Brimheim aka Helena Heinesen Rebensdorff explains about the context of her new single. “Amanda and I became best friends when we were 10 and it is one of my closest relationships to this day. The impact our friendship has had on my life is hard to overstate – especially because we grew our shared interest in art and music together at a very formative time in our lives. I feel like that’s pretty special – to have grown into the adult versions of ourselves and still be friends.”

Brimheim recalls her teenage memories of talking on the landline for hours and biking over to Amanda’s house with genuine warmth, earnestly admitting “in my heart we’re still kids messing around / just like we used to.” Emerging from the shadowy grandeur of her previous single ‘poison fizzing on a tongue‘, the buoyant ‘hey amanda’ is a gentler, but equally as emotive track that showcases Brimheim’s talent for capturing a moment in its purest form.

Listen to ‘hey amanda’ below.

Follow Brimheim on bandcamp, Spotify, Instagram & Facebook

Photo Credit: Sofi Hellberg Olsso

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: KIN – ‘The Runaways’

Having previously charmed our ears with the sounds of ‘L.O.V.E’ and ‘Sharing Light’, and with over 310,000k streams of their songs on Spotify, London trio Grace, Ritu and Adam – aka KIN – have now shared another ambient new single.

Oozing a glistening, emotion-strewn splendour, ‘The Runaways‘ reflects on the mixed feelings of leaving a settled life and started afresh somewhere new. As the distinctive celestial allure of Grace’s vocals flows alongside chiming hooks and a shimmering energy, it’ll gently tug at the heartstrings with its poignant lyricism and a heartfelt ethereal majesty. Taking the listener on a mystical adventure, it’ll immerse you in a sparkling sense of romanticism, creating a stirring ode to finding a sense of belonging – a feeling of being home, not necessarily in a place, but in a person who you feel a deep connection with; a sentiment depicted beautifully in the accompanying self-directed video. With an exquisite emotive charm and captivating musicality with shades of The XX, ‘The Runaways’ is a perfect slice of blissful alt-pop that’ll cast you under its sparkling spell on first listen.

Produced by Josh Tyrell (Lana Del Rey, Mark Ronson), ‘The Runaways’ is out now via 3tone Music.

Mari Lane
@marimindles

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Track Of The Day: Christine Sako – ‘Coda’

Inviting with a breezy-pop disposition, Christine Sako brings us another infectious ear-worm with her latest release ‘Coda‘. Following her recent track ‘Seasoned’ and the shimmering sound of ‘Sediments‘, the Minneapolis musician proves that her artistic identity still has space to unfold as she brings us into another sonic undertaking that is uniquely her own. 

Beat driven melodies and dense layers of synth create cool, crisp layers for the bed of ‘Coda’ to dance upon. It is here where we see the benefits of Sako’s production abilities – sounds concentrated and filled with attention to tonal detail. This track showcases Sako’s use of captivating aspects of electronic soundscapes, juxtaposing them perfectly with the melodies of an energetic-pop anthem. 

‘Coda’ is wholesome in meaning, embodying both the relatable struggle of running into burnout, whilst also providing a feel-good song that captures the empowering feeling of letting go of negativity. Draped in Sako’s glistening, powerful vocals, its chorus is an undeniable hook that is clear and confident with cathartic emotion. 

Christine Sako holds her own with power-pop assertiveness and enticement, as ‘Coda’ holds our attention with its blissful energy.

Jill Goyeau
@jillybxxn

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