LISTEN: Low – ‘Days Like These’

Following the release of 2018’s critically acclaimed Double Negative, long-standing duo Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker – aka Low – have now announced their upcoming new album, their thirteenth in twenty seven years as a band. Taken from the album, they have now shared a stirring new single.

Flowing with the duo’s trademark sweeping harmonies and a heartfelt glistening emotion, ‘Days Like These‘ interweaves choral celestial tones with twinkling guitar melodies. Building with an anthemic splendour and impassioned majestic grace, it’s a beautifully bittersweet ode to hope and self-realisation.

Watch the poignant new video for ‘Days Like These’ here:

Hey What, the upcoming new album from Low, is set for release on 10th September via Sub Pop Records. Pre-order here.

Mari Lane
@marimindles

Photo Credit: Nathan Keay

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Track Of The Day: all cats are beautiful – ‘thought i saw u in the shop last nite’

‘thought i saw u in the shop last nite’, the new single from all cats are beautiful, arrived earlier this month on London label 0800-MOSHI-MOSHI. It’s a blissed out track, perfectly suited to the summer months, which drifts along in its own groove – acoustic guitar melded with occasionally glitchy beats, synths and a vocal delivery equally intimate and detached.

The duo (comprised of Elena and Kyle) describe themselves as “two queer best friends making dance music but for sad people”, and the happy/sad dynamic comes across not only in the lyrics – which describe the sense of loss when someone close isn’t there anymore – but in the music and production. The self-produced band use minimal arrangements – the texture of the song is made up of just a few key elements – but still create a rich, warm sound which complements the vocal perfectly.

There’s a touch of early Hot Chip (whose first album was released on the same label) here in the band’s comfort with experimenting with pop, indie and electronica, bending the forms of multiple genres to their will, seemingly at ease. Similarly, the reference within the lyrics to Frank Ocean handily signposts another influence and another musical world that the band draw from. But perhaps attempting to classify this ‘post-pop’ group through comparisons and genres is besides the point. Their upcoming EP, from which this track is the second single, is titled the things we made, and there’s a pleasing simplicity to that which reflects something in the music – it sounds like exactly what you suspect it is: the sound of two talented people who care about each other a lot having a good time making music.

Watch the charming new video for ‘thought i saw u in the shop last nite’ here:

the things we made, the upcoming debut EP from all cats are beautiful, will be released via 0800-Moshi-Moshi very soon…

Gregory Metcalfe
@gregorysparty

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EP: Deap Vally – ‘American Cockroach’

Self-described as “songs for the underdog”, Deap Vally’s latest EP American Cockroach is a musical metamorphosis for the LA rock duo. With songs that shed their garage rock shell, Deap Vally have grown wings that weave through bluesy ballads, satire and sincerity on this four-track phenomenon, which is sonically kissed by the soft lips of collaboration, featuring the likes of bassist Jennie Vee (Eagles of Death Metal) and Ayse Hassan (ESYA/Savages).

Imagine a trashy bar with a single spotlight shining down on a beautiful, bluesy singer in a thigh-split dress. You’re downing a beer and watching her half-sprawled across a grand piano, serenading a crowd with songs saturated with sadness. That’s what listening to the opening track ‘Give Me A Sign’ feels like. With slow staccato beats, vocals that emulate the same sultriness of Lana Del Rey and Mazzy Star, ‘Give Me A Sign’ is a truly tender ballad. As vocalist Lindsey Troy says of the track, “[This] is a deeply personal song. It will always mark a very specific time in my life.”

‘I Like Crime’ is (as one YouTube commenter perfectly puts) a “cunnilingus bop,” with Jennie Vee shredding on the bass, Troy’s rasping vocals and Julie Edwards’ unwavering drumbeat giving the serial killer storyline of the lyrics some serious swagger. The titular ‘American Cockroach’ is a return to Deap Vally’s garage rock roots. It’s a sexy invitation for class war that would make even Karl Marx wet. Finishing strongly with ‘Better Off With Nothing’, Deep Vally’s collaboration with the talented Ayse Hassan is haunting yet radiant; the post-punk track is a perfect end to this brilliant EP.

Photo Credit: Ericka Clevenger

Jay Mitra
@punkofcolour

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Track Of The Day: Aiko – ‘Daughter Of The Sun’

A magnificent storm fills the sky in AIKO’s swirling track ‘Daughter of The Sun‘. With a myriad of sounds too grand to contain, the London-based artist stretches her dark pop anthem beyond a “pop” script, creating an all-encompassing soundscape that is equally as heavy as it is liberating.

Borrowing cinematic elements of electronic music and art-pop, ‘Daughter of the Sun’ allows individual moments to be themselves, sinking low when needed, and soaring up in celebration during others. The dynamics are reminiscent of the Loud-Quiet-Loud songwriting approach made popular in the nineties by bands like Pixies and Nirvana, but in a way that is sonically unique to AIKO and is grounded in the fluctuation of dense synth sounds.

Paired with an emotive arrangement, AIKO’s lyrics revolving around the saturation of love makes for a warm experience. Throughout the track, she shares earnest confessions delicately illustrating vivid moments of profound infatuation. She is “completely submerged into” the sun with what feels like no control, but does not forget her awareness as she paces herself throughout this process: “Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, and let things happen”.

The percussion throughout ‘Daughter of the Sun’ relentlessly strikes until the track’s finale, where AIKO’s voice and its surrounding instruments come to a cathartic climax that feels like a sunbath. A truly captivating offering that beams emotion down from the sky, gently caressing your face with its twinkling splendour.

Jillian Goyeau
@jillybxxn

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