Laufey - James
Laufey's debut EP Typical of Me is out today, and it's already stealing hearts left and right. Her track "James" might be especially good at that, as it tells a tale of the type of heartbreaker we've all fell for—and had a dramatic fallout with. Nothing feels quite like the realization that you were in too deep over the appearance of someone who is, in reality, too shallow. And nothing feels quite likes this track as Laufey combines her jazzy guitar style with captivating vocals and harmonies that will give the name "James" a whole new meaning for you. The Icelandic-Chinese musician writes songs the way a painter would make a self-portrait: mixing strengths and limitations to present a perspective no one else would have. The result is something deliciously charged with feelings. For more of that, make sure to check Laufey's Typical of Me. Photo by Blythe Thomas.
— Giulia Santana on April 30, 2021Lydia Luce - Maybe in Time
Each day this week, Nashville-based folk singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lydia Luce offers insight on tracks from her sophomore album, Dark River. Follow along as she intimately details her songwriting process in her own words. Photo by Alysse Gafkjen.
The song was written with my friend and fellow singer/songwriter Raymond Joseph. Growing up in a religious family I have often questioned the existence of God. I went to a Christian school from preschool up until college. l attended Christian camps in the summer, went to church every week, and memorized Bible verses. For most of my life, I accepted the ideologies of Christianity because that was the only thing I knew. As I grew I started playing music and reading books outside of my Christian school curricula. Music led me to spaces filled with people that did not believe the same things I did. I started to question the beliefs I was raised with and become curious about other possibilities.
I feel that I am in connection with God when I am still and when I’m in nature. Writing this song forced me to have conversations about my beliefs with my family and it encouraged me to be vulnerable and honest. Even though we don't believe the same things there is still love and respect for one another. I want to remain curious and respectful because we are all just trying to work out the complexities of life. — Lydia Luce
— on April 29, 2021Richie Quake - Never See You
Occasionally, farewells can be some of the most difficult bridges to cross. Other times, well, it seems those bridges just couldn’t burn any quicker. Indie-pop gem Richie Quake tells the tale of the latter in his latest drop “Never See You."
This smooth track offers experimental synths that activate the senses, maintaining an intoxicating spontaneity in every pulse. Quake cultivates a lo-fi, retrowave audiovisual within this track that is most notably his. A stylized bassline effortlessly carries the lo-fi nature of the track before bleeding into an electronic funhouse of synths. The chorus is inexplicably tranquil, gliding listeners through the three-minute song on the back of the happily purported reassurance that he will “never see you again."
“Never See You” is the successor of “Rules," an upbeat funky track with a personality of its own that was released back in March. With more music on the way in the near distant future, anticipation cannot even begin to describe our elated disposition for all things Richie Quake. Photo by Freddy Torres.
— Bianca Brown on April 29, 2021Lydia Luce - Tangled Love
Each day this week, Nashville-based folk singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lydia Luce offers insight on tracks from her sophomore album, Dark River. Follow along as she intimately details her songwriting process in her own words. Photo by Alysse Gafkjen.
"Tangled Love" is about attachment. I was in a relationship that became painful and difficult yet there was something that held me to it. My partner realized he was an addict and I realized I had co-dependency issues. This song talks about the intricate web that those patterns create.
We tried a few different percussive ideas and what stuck was clapping and hand drums to create these polyrhythms. The percussive section in the chorus is Ross McReynolds and Jordan Lehning clapping (Jordan's Idea). — Lydia Luce
— on April 28, 2021James Lockhart Jr. - 2short
“2short," the lead single from James Lockhart Jr.’s upcoming debut EP, poignantly and cleverly tackles the cruel beauty of memory and the uniquely sublime nature of time spent with those you love. The song follows a back and forth in the narrator’s mind, between moments of warmth, brought on by images of the past, and cold realizations that those images cannot compare to the true moments of connection that they shadow. This contrast is expertly accentuated by the arrangement and production choices. In the sections of memory, the sound is full, the drums are center stage, and it feels like James is singing right next to you. When the feelings of isolation and longing take over, the drums cut and his voice takes on the distant quality of a radio or telephone. The lyrics are straightforward yet lush with emotional potency. The second verse description of a Polaroid photo being taken, and subsequently looked to, “when I need to see somebody glowing,” struck me with a sharp bolt of nostalgia because of its accuracy and truth. In this particular moment, as we move into the summer and the world hopefully begins to open up safely, “2short” is able to delicately both lament the love and connection which was lost over the past year and implore the listener to cherish the moments that will come. Photo by Sara Laufer.
— Emerson Obus on April 28, 2021Lydia Luce - Occasionally
Each day this week, Nashville-based folk singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lydia Luce offers insight on tracks from her sophomore album, Dark River. Follow along as she intimately details her songwriting process in her own words. Photo by Betsy Phillips.
Jordan Lehning and I wrote "Occasionally" in the fall of 2019. He sent me the melody in a voice memo while I was on tour in California and I began jotting down some lyrics. Initially, the song was written about a reoccurring memory of someone. It lingers, you try and cast it away but it is resilient.
After the tornado hit Nashville in March 2020 this song took on a completely different meaning. I realized that this song was about anxiety. I was having a really difficult time the few weeks after the tornado with panic attacks and severe anxiety. We recorded this song at Southern Ground in Nashville. — Lydia Luce
— on April 27, 2021Sea Glass - Lemon Lime Watermelon (feat. Sky Adler)
Sunny chords strum in to transport you to a beach somewhere with great friends and cool drinks on Sea Glass’ newest single “Lemon Lime Watermelon.”
Sea Glass is the brand new project from Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist and producer Jake Muskat. Through Sea Glass, he aims to create an exciting, collaborative project as each song features a different co-writer vocalist. For “Lemon Lime Watermelon,” Muskat enlists the help of Chicago native Sky Adler.
Whimsical lyrics let us know that “Lemon Lime Watermelon” is “fresher than toothpaste.” The song builds as arpeggiated keys and a buoyant beat surface, inviting us to get out of our heads and be more present as Adler sings, “They’re stuck in last year / I’m flying through this week.”
With the vaccine rolling out, the weather getting nicer every day, and the possibility of experiencing live music again, it certainly feels like we’re in the home stretch of a forgettable year. Although we must keep taking care of ourselves and others, these uplifting times tell us that despite what’s happened, there’s still joy to be found.
As the song closes and filtered keys play the last chords, you can’t help but feel compelled by their proposition: “I’m starting over baby / You should come along with me / Let’s go on a spaceship / Let’s go on a journey.” How could you say no to that? Photo provided by Sea Glass.
— James Ramos on April 27, 2021Low Island - Momentary
This week, Oxford-based quartet Low Island is taking over Buzzing Daily to walk us through select tracks from their debut album, If You Could Have It All Again. Follow along as they delve into the modern synth rock-tinged record, which they've deemed "a love letter to a wasted 20s." Photo by Evelin van Rei.
Momentary is a song about unrequited love. It’s about wishing that the strength of feeling that someone instilled in you is something that you could give to them, and how so often love’s trajectory can travel along steep inclines only to be met with abrupt cliff edges. But what the song is trying to say is that in spite of all that, it’s always worth being honest about how you feel, no matter the outcome, because only then can you find the strength to move on. It’s a cliche but it’s true. — Low Island
— on April 23, 2021Wilby - Joanna
Instantly infectious and only more memorable with every listen, Wilby’s latest single proves once again how powerful of a songwriter and artist she can be, and already is. The band feels so welcoming and homey, a fuzzy riff tying a bow on it all. So when Wilby delivers a devastating lyric to open, it caught me off guard: “I can still hear your voice in the kitchen." The more I consider this lyric, the more beautiful it becomes. Some of my fondest memories live in the kitchens of my life. Family often finds itself there, a place to care for one another. The lyric and band transport me back to those places, and I can hear my grandma talking about her day, my aunt walking me through a recipe. It warms my heart. There’s more happening around us, but Wilby winks as she asks, “Honey, what’s the rush?" It’s moments like these that keep me in awe of Wilby’s music: tremendously human and vulnerable insights, from a voice like none other, sitting atop a loose and wonderful band. Shortly after the singalong-worthy chorus, we get another example of her magic. I’ve been haunted by this stunning thought: “Every memory has its limit / Good but never enough.” Even amidst Wilby painting these verses with specific and stunning imagery, it’s a reminder to be grateful for, and present in, each moment that comes our way. It’s easy to do that during this song, so lovely at every turn. The bridge offers another wonderful moment, a reminder that we can always carry our loved ones with us and hold those relationships close. The rest of the song has me singing and crying along, my heart filled to the brim with warmth and with love. Photo by Bennett Littlejohn.
— Max Himelhoch on April 23, 2021Low Island - Feel Young Again
This week, Oxford-based quartet Low Island is taking over Buzzing Daily to walk us through select tracks from their debut album, If You Could Have It All Again. Follow along as they delve into the modern synth rock-tinged record, which they've deemed "a love letter to a wasted 20s." Photo by Evelin van Rei.
This is a song about a toxic relationship; not necessarily with a person, but with yourself. A part of yourself that you become attached to and, for fear of change, you don’t want to let it go. It’s about taking that part of yourself, or that feeling, for one last dance before finally saying goodbye. In an interview the other day, the interviewer likened it to the last cigarette. I thought that was a neat way of summing it up. — Low Island
— on April 22, 2021Ruth B. - Situation
The other night, I was sitting on a patio in East Austin chatting with friends. With vaccines rolling out and folks excited to start stretching their limbs, maybe it was talk of travel that sparked this query to the group:
Friend: “You know when you’re first dating someone, or the relationship’s young...and you kind of ask yourself, are we cool? We’re cool right? Like when one of you is out of town, or you haven’t seen them in a bit? But then when the relationship’s more mature, you don’t think twice about it even when you’re apart.” She added with a smile: “It’s just—yeah, we’re cool. You know.”
As it should be.
Ruth B.’s latest single, "Situation," brings to mind that overthinking, feel-your-cell-phone-vibrating-even-though-it's-off sense of uncertainty that can get muddled in with early relationships, or those lacking transparency and honest communication, especially around commitment.
Despite her description of this uncertainty, Ruth B.’s lyrics spotlight self-awareness, and her silkily straightforward melody lets the song’s meaning ring clear—like the kind of communication everyone deserves to have (and give) in their relationships: "If you love me let me know or let me go / Let me know or let me go." Photo by Gabriel LN.
— Talia Pinzari on April 22, 2021