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Mid-March Singles: Light but not Slight

Last updated on March 21, 2018

1. “Maria” – Frances Luke Accord. FLA make it just sound so easy. This beautiful, svelte indie-folk tune has all the swift fingerpicking a folk fan could want and all the memorable melodies of an indie-pop fan could hope for. Maddeningly, the song is only 120 seconds long. Guys! You could have kept going for like three more minutes without overstaying your welcome! Highly recommended.

2. “Rounded Sound” – Roxy Rawson. “Rounded” isn’t the right term for this kinetic, frenetic indie-folk blitz–the herky-jerky passion of Regina Spektor, the incredibly warm catchiness of Lisa Hannigan, and a liberal dose of her own distinct vision create a wild, enveloping tune that flows, bounces, rushes, and snaps to its own logics. One of the coolest, most interesting tunes I’ve heard all year. Highly Recommended.

3. “Apocryphal Blues” – Harrison Lemke. The first time I heard Harrison Lemke I bought his album after about 2 minutes worth of listening. If you’re into old-school Mountain Goats records (inception all the way until Tallahassee), you’re going to want to do the same thing when you hear this song. Lemke’s vocal tone and melodic tics are similar enough to John Darnielle’s that you can imagine these are lost tMG tapes, but you don’t have to be a tMG obsessive to appreciate the excellent lo-fi pop that Lemke is purveying. (These tunes have far more rounded edges than the id blasts of tMG’s early days, too, which helps.) But there’s warbling electric guitar, bleating harmonica, and an insistently strummed acoustic guitar–just the way you like it, lo-fi heads. (Bonus points: this and subsequent tracks treat Genesis with all the serious but also creative religious imaginary a Christian could hope for in an artist.) I could keep going for a long time, but suffice to say this song and EP are highly recommended.

4. “Rise Up” – Belle of the Fall. Here’s some densely-packed indie-pop/indie-folk, layering glockenspiel, multiple vocal lines, strings, drums, and guitars into a tight sonic space. The interplay of the multiple vocal lines is a lot of fun. Fans of the Decemberists’ songwriting attitude, Belle and Sebastian’s acoustic style, and male/female duos will be very into this.

5. “April to Death” – Flower Face. Flower Face’s delicate, smooth folk arrangements contrast with the speedy Kimya Dawson-esque lyrical delivery and the unexpectedly sordid and painful tale the song tells. There’s a lot going on here–a lot more than meets the ear on first listen. Watch for Flower Face.

6. “Crying Shame” – Jennifer Castle. This is a spartan, ’50s-doo-wop-meets-’70s-Fleetwood-Mac pop song that wriggled its way into my ear and just didn’t leave for a long time. Castle’s vocal melodies are subtle but man, do they ever stick.

7. “I’m Done” – Gordi. If you’re getting out of a bad relationship, do I have a song for you. The gravitas that Gordi can pack into a single vocal line is more than some can do with a whole song or six. Her distinct, unique vocal tone leads the way through this kiss-off acoustic track. There’s a mournful trumpet and some found/manipulated sound, but this tune is all about Gordi’s voice and guitar.

8. “Breathe a Breath of Me” – Lokki. This piano-led ballad is gospel-inspired in so many ways: the dignified piano performance, the thick background vocals, the distinctive vocal rhythms, the call-and-response vocal patterns in the chorus–mmmm. All of those things come together perfectly around a singer/songwriter core to create an excellent tune.

9. “Song for Omer” – Evelyn Kryger. Sort of jazz, sort of folk, sort of Middle Eastern, all chill. This combo has chops and chemistry–this is a smooth, unique, head-bobbing ride.

10. “The sky is clear now” – Stefano Guzzetti. It’s one thing to write an album of solo piano works, but it’s quite another to create an album of very high quality in the genre. Guzzetti clearly knows what he is doing–instead of just creating a beautiful melody or an intriguing bass hand, he sets the mood and tone for the piece as it is going along. There are some other sounds to help create the relaxed, somewhat melancholy mood, but it’s mostly the carefully curated tone of the piano, the subtle timing of the notes, and the relationships between the low end and the treble that create this enveloping mood. A beautiful entry into the genre.