MUST LISTEN 019
Every week, we’ll be bringing you Must Listen: a series that's a compilation of rising artists along with songs that must be added to your everyday playlist. This week’s playlist consists of emerging acts like Liv.e, Yot Club & Navy Blue. Turn up, tune in, and tune out.
Liv.e - “I Been Livin”
The Dallas-raised, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter, rapper, and producer debuts a visual for one of the standout tracks on her recent album Couldn’t Wait to Tell You. The visual and song divulge into a slow, molasses-like, hypnotic state. Backed by a floaty, rickety sampled piano beat and some synth chords, Liv.e vocalizes about the feeling of exhaustion and being on a path for a while, yet continuing forward.
Yot Club - “Water Fall”
Yot Club is a one-person band reminiscent of acts like Ariel Pink and mid-’00s indie bands. The instrumentation is lucid, with chorused guitar chored chugging along to Yot-Club’s droning, intoxication voice.
Navy Blue - “Simultaneously Bleeding”
Speaking from a place of introspection over a dark, slowed, and warped piano sample, Navy Blue delivers line after line of cold steel in the form of rap lyrics indicating the struggles he’s faced, challenges he’s overcome, and why he believes he is unstoppable.
Blue Material - “Blue Blood”
This upbeat breezy track is perfect for a day at the beach—a standard love song with some brilliant instrumentation which will have you air-guitaring before the songs over.
Ruby Haunt - “Avalon”
A somber acoustic guitar-led track, Ruby Haunt reflects on life through a nostalgic lens, framing it as a fire, giving hints to the mundane day to day, this track is a call for help, a plead for something stimulating which is lacking from the singer’s current state of mind. The mid-west sunset visual passing by as if you were driving with the window open in slow motion compliments the track stunningly well.
Oracle Sisters - “The Vibes”
This track is a sweet and sugary indie track with all the motifs to match. From the harmonized nasally vocal passages to the arpeggios guitars throughout, to the breakdown on the latter half of the track, Oracle Sisters don’t reinvent the wheel, and it’s paying off with this track.
Pink Fruit - “Angela”
A cute bedroom pop song from Pink Fruit, framing her delicate voice with a lush guitar section and an electronic drum loop to complete the bedroom pop anthem formula.
Dad Bod - “Wasting Another Heart”
Dad Bod employs mellow psychedelic aesthetics to their song production to create an off-kilter, yet somewhat familiar track about heartbreak and it’s dealings.
strongboi - “tuff girl”
Strongboi’s follow up to their last single improves upon the signature sound they are cultivating with each release, a blend of tropical, 80’s pop and r&b, and some downtempo for good measure. The result is a fantastic experience that finds the listener being taken in by the instrumental’s dreamy quality, contrasted by the bits of vocoder speech phases on the hook of the song.