Switching between brooding synthesisers and ethereal interludes probably serves some greater artistic purpose for Darkplace yet their song “Maran” still sounds like it should be part of the soundtrack to some distinctly bleak movie.
Taking the piano driven route works well for Amy Duncan and “A Cautionary Undertow” duly exudes a degree of intimacy, and fragility, far removed from the expectations of modern music. It’s a serious song but it still floats.
It is abundantly clear that ghostbells have their synthesisers on maximum loop with the resulting sonic sledgehammer evoking a march through the midnight alleyways of the big city. It might be that “Darkness Saves” but mascara puts it in on the rebound.
Freed from the rigid regimentation of traditional jazz, Danakil Safari take their song “Oslo Black Widow” for a long and meandering walk through the forest of tempo shifts. This is the kind of song that should be paired with an arthouse type movie.
Quinn Bailey throws her heart into the words of “Sweet Boy” and swathes them in enough kitchen sink musical murkiness to make that guitar solo an essential ingredient. No matter, the Quinn Bailey recipe works out rather well.
You have to give Kat Robichaux credit. She can twist her song “M” into the sort of retro pop with attitude confection that would make you suspect that she had somehow cloned both Julie Brown and Amanda Palmer into her theatrical persona.
Another song wearing its grunge credentials on its sleeve? Indeed it is and “Lap It Up (Frog Boy)” by Black Mariah duly evokes memories of the days when every mall had a record shop and personal hygiene was a secondary consideration.
Appealingly untidy and rough around the edges, The Rat Utopia Experiment exorcise their grunge adoration and combine it with some decently acerbic lyrics to make “Leviathan” into a possible anthem for the dispossessed.
Super cool in that delightfully retro pop meets the dancefloor way, “Bal de Fin Année” shows that Jeanne Bonjour knows how to drive the groove train out of the station on a journey to happiness. Definitely worth the price of a ticket.
No one can deny that the art is strong in “Woolf” by Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys with winding words of literate reflection well to the front of the stage before those bleak synthesisers swoop in from the shadows. Twisted and yet direct, as they say.
Howling Bells pull that old guitar led indie sound out from the bottom drawer and freshen it up with a combined cupful of wistfulness and melancholy. Sweet female vocals add a further reason to listen as the song fades into the sunset.
Looped with a notable degree of affection for the rhythmic patterns of popular music of days gone by, Chaton Laveur swathe all their words in enough reverb to make you think that this song could live its days out in a basement club.
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