#dusky pop

British singer songwriter iiola’s second single may be named Sickly Sweet, but there’s nothing overly cloying about the song. In fact, if anything, this is a bittersweet heartache anthem that explores the inevitable tide of jealousy that follows on the heels of most breakups. The 24 year old artist exudes much smoky charisma on the mellow simmering pop song, seducing our ears with her effortless vocals and her softly windswept serenade, which evokes a cross between Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey. Sickly Sweet arrives a month after iiola made her debut with dusky seductive ‘don’t shut me up’, which can be streamed below. Stream/download Sickly Sweet via major digital services, here.

Buzzy Lee is certainly attracting a lot of buzz these days, particularly after the Los Angeles based singer songwriter, who’s also the daughter of renowned film ogul Steven Spielberg, released her last single Coolhand. She reunites with acclaimed producer Nicolas Jaar on her latest single, too, adding fuel to that buzz. No Her, a cimmerian indie pop aria, marches slowly and deliberately, a bewitching and other worldly beauty with murky, dusky production and aching, burning guitars. The entrancing songbird explains: “‘No Her’ is about that piece of myself that I’m worried my partner will discover isn’t really there. That there is an ideal ‘her'; someone’s idea of me is different from who I am, and yet, I’m worried the other ‘her’ is the one who has drawn them in… But to be fully honest it’s about not believing someone loved me.” Re-visit our Coolhand feature, here. No Her is lifted from Buzzy Lee’s forthcoming EP Facepaint, out April 27. Pre-order, here. 

As Shaun & Julie further explain: "HOPE is a song about chasing your dreams envisaging them right in front of you mixed with the struggles and anxieties you have to overcome to get there, with the silver lining being the hope that one day you will. We spent a lot of time traveling between Glasgow and London exploring opportunities and hustling - writing, recording, meeting lots of new people. Sometimes all that hard work can feel like it’s for nothing, but you keep going and this song represents our journey so far.” It’s a journey we much empathize with, and one that doesn’t delineate from much of what we all experience, whatever the fine details. We’re fortunate to have such a gorgeously breathtaking, intricately woven pop song to escort us through our dark times. Stream/purchase Hope, here.

Phoenix star in the making Kailee Morgue was already a buzzing name even before she released her first single, Medusa, last month. The 19 year old singer songwriter has a devout following online, and she’d teased the gem long ahead of its arrival. We’ve been looking forward to her second single since, and her momentum shows no sign of slowing down with the release of Discovery, a bittersweet electronic pop song with a dulcet melody and a brittle yet resilient tone, propelled by her svelte supple voice and the song’s dynamic ebb and flow. Somber keys are paired with an edgy yet fluid electronic soundscape to give us a dramatically affecting ballad. Medusa and Discovery are solid proof that this arresting chanteuse is going to be an emphatic force in 2018. Stream/purchase Discovery, here.

PARKER, a 21 year old singer songwriter from England, leaves us fully entranced and totally bewitched by her new single Runs & Rides. Its dusky electropop wraps its opaque tendrils around us, while PARKER’s voice entraps us in the muggy haze of the song. Runs & Rides is like Lana Del Rey, gone more syrupy nebulous and gothy dark. It brims with a similar sort of vintage nostalgia. Runs & Rides is a sinuous winding, murky simmering ballad with sultry guitars, and it’s out now via Killing Moon Records.

NYC indie pop artist Alice Kristiansen sets off all our starlet alarms with a willowy enchanting pop single named Lost My Mind. Its svelte beauty is redolent of Billy Eilish’s lithe, graceful pop as well as the dusky elegance of Mononoke (who’s now one fourth of RITUALS). Lost My Mind is currently featured on Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist. It arrives by way of a music video which Alice directed shot by shot herself. In the video, her finespun indie pop is set to cinematic shots that perfectly correlate with the song’s lyrics and themes. Alice’s soft, delicate voice and the song’s atmospheric trickling soundscape combine for a heartfelt and honest effect on the dark and contemplative, grand and beautiful song. Alice Kristiansen was previously known for her YouTube covers, having built a fan base of over 452,000 subscribers. She’s set to conquer the world with her original music if she continues to present us with such cinematic stirring pop. Download Lost My Mind from iTunes, here.

Sydney singer songwriter couldn’t have chosen a better musical pseudonym for herself when she settled on GRAACE. Her music, as we’ve learned many times in the past, is exquisitely graceful, supple, and affecting. She makes a stunning return with Last Night, a tenderly aching, honest and vulnerable late night ballad brimming with remorse and sadness. It’s a beautifully moving piece, with pristine vocals. Last Night follows on Numb, her platinum selling collaboration with Hayden James which she co-wrote and performed on. Sigh-inducing, poignant melting Last Night is out now and available, here.

We were first introduced to Sophie Meiers’ ambrosial voice when she appeared on Gill Chang’s Deal With It and Madnap’s Honey. The Colorado chanteuse is now planning to release her self-titled solo debut this fall. She swaddles us in more perfumed enchantment on Something About You, produced by Los Angeles’ Clayjay. It’s a subdued enchanter, a dusky ambling, beat shuffling pop ballad with a bittersweet lilt. The pining serenade can be streamed/purchased, here. There’s something about Sophie Meiers, and we look forward to hearing more of her debut EP.