The Big Indie Playlist: The best new music of the week
Here we are again; another seven days torn off the calendar as our march through this mortal coil continues. Now is not the time to lose yourself in existentialist dread, though, as The Big Indie Playlist is here and it’s ready to ease you into the weekend with a bumper crop of new music.
If the rain-soaked, thunderstorm chaos of Primavera Sound this week is anything to go by, the peak of festival season is well and truly upon us. Fittingly, therefore, the past seven days have witnessed yet another downpour of excellent new releases from old favourites, festival staples, and a fair share of up-and-comers, too.
Indie veterans Death Cab for Cutie continue to hold up the fort in anticipation of their newly released album, I Built You A Tower. Meanwhile, the genre-defying Latin grooves of Hermanos Gutiérrez give us all something to dance about this week.
As is tradition, the Big Indie Playlist is not bound by the genre included in its title. Spanning the spectrum from infectious cumbia grooves to melancholic indie folk heartbreak, this playlist casts a rather wide net across all the styles and substances the musical world has to offer. The only barrier to qualification is quality.
Now that the summer months are well and truly upon us, relaxation is key. Setting aside an hour or so to bask in the sunshine and discover some new music is invaluable, whether you’re searching for new groups to hit up at festivals or simply fulfilling your appetite for musical discovery. We’ve got you covered.
Must-hear: The best new releases of the week
Death Cab for Cutie – ‘Stone Over Water’: With I Built You A Tower, the new record by the Bellingham indie veterans, Death Cab For Cutie affirm that they have, most definitely, still got it. On this stripped-back highlight from the record, the group hark back to their earlier material, while retaining a sense of pushing onwards, creating something that pulls off the near-impossible task of endearing itself to fans both old and new. [4/5]
Nia Archives – ‘Vertical’: Perfectly embodying the title of her upcoming album, Emotional Junglist (due for release in July, just in time for the peak of festival season), the Bradford-born DJ and producer unleashes an infectious, driving mix of dance-heavy drum machines and a refreshingly vulnerable vocal performance. [4/5]
Radio Free Alice – ‘Lunch Money’: Aussie post-punks divert into a 2000s indie avenue on this new single, coinciding with their signing to the all-powerful Atlantic Records, with a particular earworm of a bassline punctuating an angsty, jangly single seemingly tailor-made for festival slots. [3.5/5]
Meryl Streek – ‘Rotten Fruit’: Calling upon the services of anarcho-punk godfather Steve Ignorant – of Crass fame – Dublin punks Meryl Streek usher in the announcement of a new album, Stories They Don’t Teach You At School, with a fast and furious indictment of the modern world, featuring Vincent Price on backing vocals courtesy of an audio sample from The Last Man on Earth. [4/5]
LXRP – ‘Pinata’: If you’re bored of upbeat summer anthems, allow us to introduce you to this endearingly moody post-punk triumph from Naarm/Melbourne’s LXRP, awash with DIY appeal and synthwave drum machines befitting of cold Eastern Bloc concrete; a particular gem from the self-titled album of the rapidly up-and-coming outfit. [4.5/5]
Tramhaus – ‘Plovdiv’: Driving, adrenaline-fueled post-hardcore excellence from Rotterdam’s rising indie outfit Tramhaus highlights the group as ones to watch over the course of the festival season and beyond, with this single already providing promise for the release of their Blister LP, not due out until October. [4/5]
Oral Habit – ‘Thin Trippin’’: Brighton’s blossoming music scene is rapidly becoming a regular fixture of this playlist, and the psychedelic stylings of Oral Habit form a particular highlight from the scene’s ever-productive output, ‘Thin Trippin’’ blending retro-styled indie guitars and a spaced-out atmosphere with unsuspectingly polished songwriting from Charlie Hales. [4/5]
Nora Stanley – ‘Noble Gas’: An ode to instability, the lead single from Stanley’s debut solo effort paints an incredibly strong view of her songwriting credentials, incorporating a wealth of different influences under the umbrella of her immediately enchanting, emotive vocal performance. [3.5/5]
Zoh Amba – ‘Dead End Street’: Continuing the saxophonist’s sudden switch to guitar, ‘Dead End Street’ is not a Kinks cover, but it is an excellent encapsulation of how this new direction from Zoh Amba remains indebted to the musician’s free jazz and avant-garde leanings, while also offering a garage rock rawness that cannot help but get the blood pumping. [4/5]
Saint Clair – ‘Gretchen’: An impressively emotive sonic love letter marks the announcement of the London quartet’s debut EP, featuring rather grandiose yet unpretentious production stylings that succeed in elevating ‘Gretchen’ above the delusions of similarly pained love songs infiltrating the airwaves week after week. [3.5/5]
Tokyo Tea Room – ‘Eyes Off You’: Nothing says summer quite like an indie-slanted dreampop offering, which is exactly what we have here, courtesy of Margate-based Tokyo Tea Room, which provides some much-needed light, along with a level of poise and polish beyond the group’s experience, to the darkness of many of this week’s releases. [3/5]
Jenny Gillespie Mason – ‘Touch Everyone On Earth’: One of the more melancholy releases of the past seven days, ‘Touch Everyone On Earth’ is reportedly rooted in a night of insomnia in New York City, but its dreamy, downbeat tones feel far more befitting of rolling hills and tall grass meadows. Either way, its ethereal indie-folk sound provides a touching soundtrack for Mason’s upcoming album, Safety of the Light. [3.5/5]
Off the Beaten Track: Left-field Sounds
Okonski – ‘Axes’: Ohio’s Colemine Records treat us to this beautiful unification of Steve Okonski’s classically trained piano mastery and the heavenly talents of harpist Rachel Kitchlew, on this new single that blends those timeless sounds with the distinctive grooves of old-school R&B and jazz. [4.5/5]
Hermanos Gutiérrez – ‘Canto Andino’: If you have been complaining about the lack of Latin instrumental genius on the airwaves as of late, fear not; Swiss-Ecuadorian brothers Hermanos Gutiérrez have returned with the announcement of a new LP, Los Ojos del Cóndor, and a brilliant, eerie and atmospheric opening single ‘Canto Andino’, befitting of the score from a cinematic western, during a moment of tense internal reflection for the hero. [4.5/5]
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