Francis - Turning A Hand
Sometimes it just seems as though every single corner of Sweden is hiding some great dreampop or indiepop band, and the ceaseless flow of excellent music in these genres is showing no sign of stopping soon. On the gorgeous 'Turning A Hand', Francis bring forth plenty of emotion, an etherealness that brings to mind Cocteau Twins and a truly beautiful melody.
Francis' website
Buy: 'Turning a Hand'
Daydreams - Trust
Daydreams is the alias of Daniel Chavez Crook from Los Angeles, and judging by his recent Facebook posts, he'll be releasing an album very soon. 'Trust' is the kind of overdriven bedroom shoegaze that quite a few people are making to such a high standard now, and this stands alongside just about any of them, bringing melody and fuzz in equal measure.
Daydreams' website
Pale Collection - Autumn Wall
Unhurried but still intense, Copenhagen's Pale Collection stir trip-hop, dreampop, alt-country and more into a big melting-pot and come up with this slow-burning concoction that uses spaciousness and a variety of sound textures to form a deceivingly heady mix. 'Autumn Wall' is perfectly produced and is the work of a band deserving of wider recognition.
Pale Collection's website
Buy: 'Autumn Wall'
Looperstar - Light Life Love Liberty
The alliteration-loving latest from Looperstar is a whirling semi-acoustic hybrid of psychedelia and shoegaze that gradually builds. Main man Dave Adkins manages to tap into the sounds of southern American psych and bring the desert to Bury St Edmonds as swirls of organ begin to push themselves to the fore creating something quite hypnotic.
Looperstar's website
Buy: 'Light Life Love Liberty'.
Garbage Dreams - The Inevitable Anguish Of Living A Brief Life In An Absurd World
With a title like 'The Inevitable Anguish Of Living A Brief Life In An Absurd World', you'd be forgiven for thinking that Garbage Dreams were stroppy emo teenagers, but the young Belgian band instead make shuffling, dreamy psychedelia with spaciousness and a certain deftness of touch. They only have a few tracks online so far, but the future's looking bright these guys.
Garbage Dreams' website
Buy: 'The Inevitable Anguish Of Living A Brief Life In An Absurd World'.
Work Drugs - American Fool
Philadelphia's Work Drugs have spent the last few years perfecting the art of making alt-pop tunes that glide by, so it's no surprise that their latest single, 'American Fool', is a dreamy, chilled electro-pop track that feels free and easy to the point where it's pretty much flawless. Even during the winter this brings summer to your ears.
Work Drugs' website
Buy: 'American Fool'
Chin Of Britain - Last Seen Alive
It would be nice to think that Chin Of Britain was some kind of award, a bit like "rear of the year", but we really have no idea where Steven Keeler got this name from. New album 'The Weasel Is At The Bridge' (add that to the odd names list...) is out on March 4th, and jittery, layered and experimental single 'Last Seen Alive' shows that his imagination isn't just limited to words.
Chin Of Britain's website
Buy: 'Last Seen Alive'
Bear Worship - Our Friends
It's pretty difficult to categorise the skewed, electronic, psychedelic alt-pop that Dublin's Bear Worship makes, but you could imagine this being some kind of Animal Collective offshoot, and not just because of the name. With a debut album on the way, single 'Our Friends' hints at a colourful and inventive collage of sounds that will transcend genres.
Bear Worship's website
Buy: 'Our Friends'
Holy Wave - California Took My Bobby Away
When it comes to psych and shoegaze, there's maybe no better place to be right now than Texas. Holy Wave have a foot in each genre, as they take the classic gazey sounds of the early '90s and sprinkle them with reverberating psychedelia on single 'California Took My Bobby Away', a woozy masterclass from their new album 'Freaks Of Nurture'.
Holy Wave's website
Buy: 'California Took My Bobby Away'
FEELS - If You'd Meet Me Tonight
Finnish group FEELS are set to release their first EP 'Butterflies' today (March 1st) and it's a quite beautiful introduction. Tracks like single 'If You'd Meet Me Tonight' and free download 'Next Time' are understated yet epic at the same time, taking electronic dreampop into the stratosphere without the need for histrionics or masses of effects.
FEELS' website
Buy: 'If You'd Meet Me Tonight'
Golden Daze - Low
The world isn't exactly suffering from a shortage of psychedelic pop right now, so it takes something good to stand-out. Los Angeles-based duo (they originate from the Midwest) Golden Daze certainly do that with their combination of accessible tunes and a deft hand with effects. Ace single 'Low' is taken from their self-titled album, available now.
Golden Daze's website
Buy: 'Low'
Courtney Askey - Paris Apartment
This gorgeous single from Leicester's Courtney Askey takes the buzz of early '90s alt-rock and slows it down to form a gently smouldering and thoughtful track that allows her to stretch those fine vocal chords and pile on the atmosphere. She describes her music as "intergalactic grunge folk", and it's difficult to argue. An incredibly promising debut.
Courtney Askey's website
Buy: 'Paris Apartment'
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