Welcome to Weekly Round-Up No. 11! This week we review debut releases by KAYEX, STRØM, American Doubles, Isaac Lewis, The Orielles, Caprea, Velvet Drift, Stillia and Van Zeller. Enjoy the music!
KAYEX – My Friends
New Australian electronic duo KAYEX enter the dance scene with midtempo stomping dance track “My Friends”. The intro is nice, but the track excels at 0:51 when a deep and funky bassline takes over. It continues to drive the song while glittering synths are being added. This song is your new friend on the dancefloor.
STRØM – Mesmerize
Your state of mind when listening to this debut by STRØM is in it’s title: mesmerizing. You’ll drift away on it’s dreamy tones and soft vocals, but there is a dark undertone with lyrics about obsession and desire. “Mesmerize” is beautiful dark-edged electropop, and an amazing debut.
American Doubles – The Swell
Another debut by an Australian duo! American Doubles from Melbourne deliver a pleasant, nostalgic synthpop song with “The Swell”. The nostalgia is in both the music (80s sounding) and the conception of the song: the duo tried to capture the sense of freedom of carefree swimming during summer. The song is accompanied by a stunning underwater video. Must see!
Isaac Lewis – Lost My Head
Singer-songwriter Isaac Lewis is reminiscing on a former love on his debut single “Lost My Head”. It’s an emotional self-analysis that most of us can relate to: you’re in love knowing it’s not good for you. Inspired by Frank Ocean, the song turned out to be a classic R&B song. But at the end you can hear the acoustic backbone of the song, as it was originally written probably. Extraordinary.
The Orielles – Sugar Tastes Like Salt
It’s hard to describe the debut single “Sugar Tastes Like Salt” by young band The Orielles. The song is an 8-minute adventure covering several genres and styles. The song begins as garage rock but turns into an epic post-punk disco stomper, ending with surfpunk. Their own description ‘psych garage disco’ sums it up pretty well. Awesome!
Caprea – Too Young To Know Love
Electropop song “Too Young To Know Love” by singer-songwriter Caprea sounds like being in love for the first time: sparkling, hectic, hopeful and overwhelming. Hectic beats and vocal snippets, glittering synths and sounds, and the warm vocals of Caprea; it can be too much, but it works.
Velvet Drift – Morning Light
Velvet Drift is a 5 piece indie band from Manchester, UK, delivering the very catchy and energetic song “Morning Light” as their debut. We love the 80s sound of it: the classic-sounding synthpop/rock combination (dreamy synth melodies, firm guitar hooks) that makes the song perfect for the (alternative) dancefloor. Madchester rules again!
Van Zeller – You Can’t Lose
Classic rock n’ roll from Bristol! The young band Van Zeller debut with “You Can’t Lose”, an uptempo garage rock song with an incredible amount of youthful energy! Very infectious and serves as a energy boost when you need one.
Stillia – Let Me In
Extremely catchy, and cleverly produced, the debut song “Let Me In” by Stillia. It’s a cross between The Killers and Arctic Monkeys: polished but with the raw energy in tact. Guaranteed to be a radio hit in no-time. And a chart single. And a stadium anthem. We’ve already let you in, guys. Welcome.