melancholy is hauntingly beautiful in alternative pop artist nakhané’s “fog”

AFROPUNK alum and South African musician Nakhané offers a hauntingly beautiful ballad with the first single from the artist’s debut album, Brave Confusion.

bold sounds and indelible hooks overflow on st. beauty’s debut ep ‘running to the sun’

You don’t listen to St. Beauty, you immerse yourself. Alex Belle and Isis Valentino’s lush soundscapes and ear-melting melodies drape you in sounds of heartbreak, resilience, and a refusal to let  the bullshit of the world drag them down to its depths. “Can’t nobody tell me who I’m gonna be / I’m breaking free / Show love like my momma told me” they sing on the highlight “Colors.” Their debut EP is overflowing with bold sounds and indelible hooks. Songs like “Stone Mountain” showcase their unique talent for music that you can just dissolve into with insightful and introspective lyrics. “Lately I’ve been too hard on myself / blaming my problems on somebody else” they sing in a moment of honesty. It’s fitting that their last track is called “Lucid.” The whole album has the feel of a lucid dream, the washed out sound-scapes blurring everything before evaporating in moments of emotional clarity.

The EP is out now and streaming via Soundcloud.

love songs get an afrofuturist twist in lush new single by byron biroli, ‘kings’

It’s fitting that Byron Biroli would find a game collaborator in Afrofuturist digital collagist Khan Nova. His songs are a meld of electro soul and Baganda traditions with a distinct retro future vibe, all wrapped together in a warm synth glow. A video collaboration from them would be mind bending perfection. Biroli’s latest “Kings” is a love song celebrating that person who inspires you to be the best version of yourself. It’s the kind of song that instantly washes away the cynicism that’s all too easy to fall into these days. More of this please!

Photo: Khan Nova

 

 

this all female-compilation of south african alternative and experimental music is what your ears need right now

Xannthe Cupido’s Subterranean Wavelength is quickly gaining a reputation as a home for underground music that seeks to actively break boundaries. Their latest project is a 10 track compilation that gathers together a collective of female artists from across South Africa. Tides offers a wave of talent ranging from dreamy indie pop to experimental hip-hop, folk-inflected soul to electronica, and it is so future looking the qualifiers to describe it haven’t been invented yet.

Like the best compilations, there’s a little something for everyone. Highlights like Umaah Screaming Sun’s “Wind Whistle,” Kajama’s “What We Came For,” Marley Bloo’s “Mimes,” and of course compilation curator Tribal Rebel Ludi’s own contribution “Luminance,” deftly balance the past and future. They pull inspiration equally from ancient traditions and the sharpest bleeding edge of the underground. The infinite possibilities of a laptop are anchored by the weight of history in a way that’s at once grounded and exhileratingly free. But if your interests range more towards the poppy with the experimentation kept as color, Floors’ “Leap” and “Family Tree” from Symphonica offer a lot to love.

Xanthe explained in a statement to OkayAfrica: “In a nutshell the project is a celebration of women who engage in the more left-field soundscapes in South Africa. The idea was also to highlight the presence of such women and that incredible things can be achieved with the absence of masculinity. The concept of “Tides” speaks directly to the notion of going through different motions of being a woman. It speaks of music (sound waves) , turbulence, consistency as well as the highs and lows of consciousness.”

west african folk stories are beautifully explored in electro-soul artist diamant ballou’s mini-ep ‘black belle’

I’m a sucker for a good concept album. On her latest EP, UK-based Diamant Ballou draws on her Ivorian heritage to re-imagine West African folk tales, with songs contrasting the cultures and sounds of the two characters as they navigate a relationship. It’s a beautiful story that smartly makes use of Ballou’s musical and cultural influences to craft characters and worlds that demand deeper exploration. Stream the tracks now via Soundcoud.

 

take a ride of poignancy, humor and rage with cabaret-punk singer counterfeit madison’s ‘opposable thumbs’

“I Hope It’s Alright” on Counterfeit Madison’s Opposable Thumbs is officially my new theme song. It’s a smiling middle finger to the wind on an album full of unexpected turns, heartbreaking poignancy, humor, and rage. The Nigerian-American singer’s unique voice is larger than life, belting out anthems of struggle and strength over a cabaret punk sound that treads a line between Nina Simone and The Dresden Dolls.

Opposable Thumbs by Counterfeit Madison

Though Counterfeit Madison shines when she lets her rage loose, Opposable Thumbs biggest highlights come when she lets the tension simmer beneath her ballads. “Concept of Life #1 in B Major” and “Slow As Molasses” allow Counterfeit Madison to showcase a talent not just for biting lines (which she has in abundance) but for indelible melodies and haunting atmosphere. With a voice that stops you dead in your tracks to feel all the feels, you only have yourself to blame if you don’t stop and listen.

indie-pop artist hush makes “waves” with a vintage, hook-heavy new track

Some artist take a while to figure out their sound, and some emerge fully formed from day one. LA’s HUSH may only have 2 singles to his name, but both “Waves” and “Easy” are rich with hooks and texture and vintage vibes. Over a beat straight out of 1983 and spaced out guitars straight out of now, HUSH’s songs of heartbreak and seduction are determined to stay stuck in your head. (But in a good way) It’s the soundtrack to washed out wasted nights, whether you’re wondering where it all went wrong or making fresh mistakes. Don’t sleep on this one.

alt-pop singer-songwriter melisa whiskey’s voice reaches stratospheric heights on ‘moon + the sky’

Singer/songwriter Melisa Whiskey has that kind of larger-than-life timeless soulful voice. On her latest EP, Moon + The Sky, she details stories of heartbreak and frustration. From the longing strains of “Played” to the defiant “Billin,” Melisa Whiskey’s voice spills out emotion. It’s the driving “Rent” though that steals the show. Anchored by a driving piano line and the album’s most focused production, it showcases Whiskey’s emotional range in a way that shows what she’s capable of. Stream the whole EP on Spotify here.

take a stunning exploration of bullying in benjamin clementine’s powerful ‘i tell a fly’

There are certain legendary periods of art when the weirdos win, and for one brief magical second, it feels like anything is possible. Psychedelia in 1967-68, punk and hip-hop in 77, alt rock in 92-94, and I want to add to the list whatever is happening right now.

Hearing Benjamin Clementine’s stripped down and hauntingly beautiful debut Cornerstone EP back in 2012, how gloriously bizarre I Tell A Fly would be was unthinkable.

Following a trajectory similar to both Tom Waits and Nina Simone from showtune-inflected piano ballads to masterfully composed idiosyncratic songs that transcend definition or genre, Clementine’s latest album finds the artist on a path without rules, where anything is possible.

Opening with “Farewell Sonata,” Clementine quickly subverts himself, interrupting the classical piano with sped up harpsichord and mutated vocals. “God Save The Jungle” is one of the most “traditional” pop songs on the record and still finds time for huge flights of fancy amid his ode to the government-overlooked parts of London and Calais. The Syrian refugee crisis takes center stage on many of the songs. “Better Sorry Than a Safe” and “Phantom of Aleppoville” are the most explicit, but references cut throughout, particularly on the album highlight “By the Ports of Europe.”

Reportedly, the album was intended to explore bullying. The plight of the outsider is explored in abstract paintings like “Jupiter” and “One Awkward Fish,” songs detailing the mistreatment of individuals to contrast songs about the cruelty of entire societies.

“They say you must become an animal or the animal to protect us—the good good animals—and so we go to war” from “Quintessence” is his blasé anti-mission statement. How easily people slip into being bullies without giving it a second thought is glimpsed throughout Clementine’s expressionistic melodies and sound collages. It is a remarkably profound and human message embedded within one of the weirdest damn records to come out on a major label in years (decades maybe even).

With I Tell A Fly, Benjamin Clementine joins artists like Thundercat, Moses Sumney, and Sampha in ushering in a new era of abstract art-pop that engages as deeply with social consciousness as it does with artistic experimentation.

In the 5 years since Cornerstone, Clementine has evolved from a balladeer with a unique voice to one of the most unique voices of a generation. Where he goes 5 years from now is anyone’s guess, but there’s no question it’ll be remarkable.

celebrate self-care on the stunning indie pop gem ‘tangerine moon wishes’ by sandra nkaké

“I don’t know where the light is / I don’t know where the sun is / But I know that I got fire in me”

AFROPUNK Paris alum Sandra Nkaké avoids easy answers on her latest album Tangerine Moon Wishes. Drowning in feedback and noise, the album switches from a driving call to see the beauty and strength in yourself to questioning to a plaintive search for meaning before you’ve even had time to take it all in.

Her songs are propulsive and uplifting and heartwrenching and contemplative often all at the same time. There’s an indescribable beauty here, and an unquenchable longing.

From “The Dawn” to “The Dusk,” Sandra Nkaké creates a hushed sustained intensity. The fire she lights on Tangerine Moon Wishes burns slowly but fiercely. Songs like “The Last Journey” build from a delicate a capella to an intense wall of feedback and percussion. Soaring over it all is Jî Drû’s stunning flute; moaning out ancient pleas for peace and freedom.

While songs like “Dreaming” and “Hope” are invitations to self care, the driving passion in “Change” and “Maybe” seem to clarify the message. If we can see the fire in ourselves, it can catch the world over.

Tangerine Moon Wishes is not a record to put on in the background. It’s something to create space for. Take time with. Contemplate. Breathe. And really truly listen.