Track Of The Day: Hearts Beating In Time – ‘Death Is Cancelled’

Honesty and vulnerability graciously emote as Malta’s alt-pop Rebecca Theuma – aka Hearts Beating In Time – shares her latest sparkling single, ‘Death Is Cancelled’. Melodic tones arpeggiate as the track opens and presents a scene for reflection: a world that is spinning as its viewer attempts to digest all that is around them. 

With themes of sadness for society at large, yearning for one another and the battle against mental lethargy, ‘Death Is Cancelled’ takes us on a journey that will seem familiar to many right now. Moments reminiscent of ’80s synth-pop trickle throughout the track with a nostalgic energy, juxtaposed with the contemporary subject matter that emanates as so poignant today. 

The impact of ‘Death Is Cancelled’ is immediate. Between its bubbling danceable melodies, and its echoing vocals that draw you in with a soaring earnest confession, it builds to a captivating, multidimensional experience. 

With a gentle softness that delivers such extravagant moments, it’s evident that Hearts Beating In Time has a knack for existing in more than one place. ‘Death Is Cancelled’ is an ode to the struggles of being an empathetic person in today’s world, brought to us by twinkling sonic sounds of the past. This track serves as a celebration for all the beauty that comes between now and then, and the beauty that will continue to come in our futures.

Of the track, Theuma explains:

“To me this song is a celebration of life and death, and the love in between. It is a song to dance to when the abyss opens up in front of you, and you’re dancing with the people you love the most as it consumes you. I like to call it the existential anthem of my life.”

Watch the new video for ‘Death Is Cancelled’ here:

‘Death Is Cancelled‘ is out now via Reckless Yes. It’s taken from Hearts Beating In Time’s upcoming album Songs For Girls.

Jill Goyeau
@jillybxxn

Photo Credit: Leo Chircop

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EP: Softcult – ‘Year Of The Rat’

A culmination of their thoughts on and experiences of sexism, misogyny and objectification, twin sisters Phoenix and Mercedes Arn Horn aka Softcult have crafted a bittersweet collection of lush, grunge-infused songs on their debut EP, Year Of The Rat. Pushing through pain and reflecting on their hard earned emotional resilience, the Canadian duo have written an ultra-cool manifesto of resistance designed to help relieve the pressures that come with existing in a patriarchal world.

Informed by their love of 90s guitar bands like Bikini Kill and My Bloody Valentine, as well as the bubble-gum grunge of Beabadoobee and Soccer Mommy, Softcult blend atmospheric guitars, energetic percussion and hazy vocals to create their softly antagonistic sounds. Working from their home studio for most of 2020, Phoenix and Mercedes were able to take stock of what they really wanted to achieve under their new moniker and Year Of The Rat is a mature offering that highlights the duo’s instincts for creating heady soundscapes that soothe the sting of a painful past.

“It might seem like we’re just super angry but it comes from a place of wanting to make positive change, which always starts with a conversation,” explains guitarist & vocalist Mercedes. This anger and empathy manifests itself in different ways throughout the EP, which kicks off with the melodic ‘Another Bish’. The duo find catharsis amidst their swirling riffs and frantic beats, arriving at the humbling realisation that even though you can’t always change someone else’s perception of you, you can refuse to be “tamed” by their reductive views.

The melancholic ‘Gloomy Girl’ provides listeners with a glimpse behind the veil of depression. It’s a tentative musing on the ominous feeling that you’re “wasting away” whilst going through a period of poor mental health. ‘Take It Off’ aches with a subdued anger that’s directed at catcallers, but it also doubles up as a care-free dismissal of ridiculous trophy wife standards. The pair continue to shrug off the emotional labour that’s routinely pushed onto women’s shoulder on the shimmering, restless ‘Young Forever’, before closing the EP with the cutting, yet tender sounds of ‘Bird Song’.

Fuelled by their desire to instigate change in their own circles and further afield, the Softcult blend observational lyrics, smooth vocals and atmospheric riffs together on Year Of The Rat to punctuate their personal statement against injustice and provide listeners with a brooding, polished, unexpectedly light listen.

 

Follow Softcult on Spotify, Instagram, Facebook & Twitter

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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ALBUM: Naoko Sakata – ‘Dancing Spirits’

Sweden is better known to most for being home to the beating heart of quality pop music than for its long legacy of experimental and improvisational composers. But what a legacy it is! Women have been at the forefront of this extraordinary scene for decades and in recent years have become increasingly visible. It’s possible, for example, to draw a direct line from artists like 1970s drone pioneer Catherine Christer Hennix through to current critical favourites Ellen Arkbro, Maria w Horn and Anna von Hausswolff.

Since moving to Sweden in 2008, Japanese-born Naoko Sakata has established herself as a major talent. First with her eponymous jazz trio and lately as a soloist of fierce intuition. Dancing Spirits is her second album of solo piano improvs, following last year’s impressive Inner Planets, and the first to be released through von Hausswolff’s own label, Pomperipossa Records.

Recorded in a Gothenburg church over two evenings in August 2020, these seven highly expressive improvisations are the sound of an artist pulling threads of composition not out of thin air – there is no such thing in a church – but from some other unknowable source of energy and emotions. Sometimes those threads unravel wildly, yanking something portentous into focus before resolving into musical dust motes that settle on the floor. At other times, the drama is more gently prescribed and the directionless journeying feels in thrall to something distant and tidal.

Sakata believes in the hidden influence of planetary alignment and in creating sacred spaces where peace and chaos are allowed to coexist and to channel ideas and emotions. As with astrology, part of the enjoyment of Sakata’s music comes from the ability to project one’s own imaginations and stories onto each composition. Anna von Hausswolff’s striking photography suggests a strong folkloric element at play. Dancing spirits, often women, have been referenced in popular stories dating as far back as Neolithic times. These spirits go by many names, from the tragic rusalka of central Europe to the dawn goddess Ame-no-Uzume and other dancing kami of Japanese mythology, and their stories are often linked with fertility, of the earth and of the people.

Whatever their rhyme or reason, Sakata does not discriminate in opening herself up to these dynamic energies and others. Her unobstructed playing gives body to whomever or whatever is drawn into the music, at the mic’d place at the mic’d time. Dancing Spirits, then, functions as a non-canonical window into a cosmic choreography of player, piano and what lies beyond the limits of scientific detection. It’s a challenging listen in that it makes a ritual of fearlessness, but admirable, too, for the very same reason.

Follow Naoko Sakata on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook

Artwork: Gianluca Grasselli

Alan Pedder
@_neverdoneing

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LISTEN: Sans Soucis – ‘I’m On’

An uplifting blend of lush vocals, warm synth textures and smooth beats that radiate with a new found artistic confidence, songwriter & producer Sans Soucis has shared her latest single ‘I’m On’. Released via AWAL in collaboration with The Young Guns Network and co-produced by Cid Rim, the track is a genre-bending reflection on the artist’s own experiences of recovering from an extended period of depression, finding joy and freedom when she was able to re-connect with herself.

“When I wrote this song, I wanted to express the fact that I am honestly ‘on’, like how people turn on a TV. I am awake,” Sans Soucis explains. “I’m ready to experience the world and enjoy my career path. A big part of my depression was that I felt less able to enjoy music, but after healing, I finally feel alive. My artist name is a nickname given by my Congolese family meaning ‘care-free’. The irony is that, for a time, I was making music as Sans Soucis, but I wasn’t really feeling like Sans Soucis. Now I am, and this song came to me in a flash; I needed to sing my heart out and put together all these harmonies, to express the joyousness and happiness I was feeling.”

Through her considered lyrics, exquisite vocal layering and tentative beats, Sans Soucis beautifully captures the relief of coming back to yourself after an inexplicably difficult mental health struggle. She hopes that her new offering will inspire others to reach a similar level of peace. “The biggest lyrical takeaway from this song is ‘Stop everything and set yourself free, I’m telling you just follow what you need’,” she continues. “I feel like joy and creativity should be recycled, and I want to inspire others to feel creative in life, whatever that means for them.”

Sans Soucis will be releasing her new 6-track EP, On Time For Her, later this year and has a London showcase performance penned for September.

Watch the video for ‘I’m On’ below.

Follow Sans Soucis on bandcamp, Spotify, Instagram, Twitter & Facebook

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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