pearla – “daydream”

– featured image courtesy of shervin lainez –

pearla is the vessel for the songs of brooklyn’s nicole rodriguez, an amalgam of closely-woven genre cues that feel intimately familiar. as rodriguez readies her debut extended play, to see release later this year, she’s shared its first single, “daydream.”

“daydream” burns slowly initially, rustic piano chords providing the scaffolding for rodriguez’ lead vocal before cascading into something with a bit more urgency, a restrained catharsis to anchor an impressive inaugural batch of songs.

quilting & other activities arrives september 6th via egghunt records. listen to “daydream” below.

bodywash – “eye to eye”

– featured image courtesy of the artist –

the montreal quintet bodywash occupy a hazy realm of polychrome, where smears of shoegaze collide with bubbly synths and vocal tandems that sound like they’re delivered from the bottom of a thirty-foot well.

the band has its roots in the creative partnership between chris steward and rosie long decter, forged in 2014 when the two were students at mcgill university; since recording an EP in 2016, bodywash has swelled to its current size while working on their debut full-length, comforter, due later this year.

on “eye to eye,” the first taste of comforter, tag-team a lead vocal that has a tendency to burrow into the greater texture of the track, an end result that feels like dusk settling in on a humid summer’s day. a guitar line faintly echoes the chorus’s vocal melody, its second iteration a precursor to a transportive instrumental bridge that fleshes out the seamless nature of bodywash’s sonic communications.

bodywash have recently joined the ranks of luminelle recordings, who will release comforter at some point in 2019. for now, take in “eye to eye,” below.

premiere – clay beds

– featured image courtesy of adrian estrada –

the tacoma, washington duo clay beds have found a fitting home for their self-titled debut release in hush hush records, the seattle purveyor of nocturnal music that flitters between electronic, pop, and ambient.

for proof, look no further than the project’s second single, “apple pie,” which finds the duo – boston transplants john anderson and hailee rogers – navigating an aqueous, gauzy choral landscape populated by reversed swells and percolating keyboard motifs. a potent snapshot of things to come from clay beds, “apple pie” pairs well with its predecessor “one old horse in the dirt and sun,” offering a pensive glimpse at the duo’s more atmospheric side.

clay beds is due march 29th on cassette and digitally via hush hush. listen to “apple pie,” premiering right here on the dimestore, below.

yumi zouma – ep iii

– featured image courtesy of ryan mccardle & aidan koch – 

what else is there to say about yumi zouma that hasn’t already been said?  the new zealand quartet has proven, time and again, that their ability to craft pristine pop gems is second to none, regardless of whether the songwriting takes place in the same room or spread out across all corners of the globe.  as its members navigate towards the end of one chapter in their collective existence and look towards the next, EP III emerges as a cathartic victory lap.

following two similarly-titled extended plays and a stirring pair of full-lengths, EP III closes out a trilogy of works that have spanned the quartet’s entire career, pulling together snippets of demos dating back to their nascent days that help inform their latest round of collaborative songwriting.

opening number “powder blue/cascine park” is vintage yumi zouma, juxtaposing skittering hi-hats with wistful, arpeggiated pre-choruses and gliding refrains, its extended bridge a sustained instance of clarity that launches the track off into the sunset.  elsewhere, “looking over shoulders” tacks in an appropriately hesitant, contemplative direction, its understated current flowing towards a swirling chorus replete with the cool adage of “i was never yours to give away.”

bolstered by the early singles “crush (it’s late, just stay)” and the triumphant finale “in camera,” EP III is yet another sterling example of yumi zouma’s pedigree.  a return to the band’s original form, the four-track extended play offers a masterclass in their democratic, collaborative process, its memorable melodies and spacious soundscapes the end result.  EP III is out today via cascine; listen to it in full, below.

premiere – ryan von gonten

– featured image courtesy of the artist – 

a change of scenery can prove to be a powerful catalyst for inspiration.  after logging years of work alongside treasured artists like lomelda and molly burch, ryan von gonten departed texas on a coastal venture, arriving in oakland in time for the seeds of his solo debut to germinate.  truthlikeness is a fully-realized inaugural outing, its eight songs a synthesis of the loneliness that can transpire upon arrival in an unfamiliar place.

as a primer to von gonten’s forthcoming full-length, bear witness to “anthem.”  slow tremolo pulses are driven from their cavernous expanses by a soft but persistent keyboard line, blooming into a consonance of dream-pop and folk, the former twinkling in the latter’s gentle breeze.  von gonten’s instantly memorable falsetto is an enduring force throughout, commandeering the track with a hushed tenor that sounds like it was delivered crouched over a microphone in utter secrecy.  a compelling glimpse of things to come, “anthem” embodies its title in its own singular way, harnessing an inherent intimacy and doling out salient components for maximum effect.

truthlikeness arrives at the tail-end of summer via glasgow’s human noise records and features contributions from lomelda’s hannah read and andrew stevens, who also lends his percussive talents to the live rendition of hovvdy.  the album’s lead single, “anthem,” premieres today, right here on the dimestore.  listen in below.

harrison lipton – “beacon”

– featured image courtesy of the artist –

earlier this year, the new york singer-songwriter harrison lipton released loveliness, a collection of tracks concerned with the various stages of relationships that together constitute his debut full-length.  at the forefront of the album is “beacon,” a contemplative, downtempo cut that recently received a gorgeous music video treatment.

directed by and starring lipton as the principal character, “beacon” opens with a shot of a cascading waterfall and quickly establishes lipton as a troubadour on a solo venture through the wilderness.  the second half of the video finds lipton encountering and entering an abandoned house, circumstances becoming more surreal with every utterance of the track’s thesis: “i don’t know what to believe.”

with swirling textures and a tumbling falsetto, the aural components of “beacon” square nicely with its visual counterpart’s magical realism, an end result that is simply transfixing.  watch the music video below.

harrison lipton – “blue boy”

– featured image courtesy of the artist –

harrison lipton’s debut album loveliness is a tender ten-track ode to friendship and romance in various stages.  the new york singer-songwriter wraps a formidable falsetto up in pillowy guitar chords and angelic synths, a laid-back palette in which rumination is inevitable.

nestled towards the end of loveliness is “blue boy,” a downtrodden down-tempo number about someone dearly departed.  lipton wistfully recalls fond memories with another, a static synth arpeggio shifting slightly in solidarity with lyrical melancholy, a nod to fleeting stability.  “blue boy” hits its stride in the final minute, aqueous tendencies triumphing over the greater texture and drowning it in repeated psychedelic iterations of the titular phrase.

loveliness is out now via yellow k records; take a listen to “blue boy” below.

premiere – ocean hope

– featured image courtesy of the artist –

angeliki and serafim tsotsonis craft intimate snippets of expansive, dreamy pop in their respective home studios in greece; the sister-brother duo carefully piece these fragments together and offer up the final results under the moniker ocean hope.  a 2015 extended play, chamber dreams, suggested contentment with the secluded, a quiet exploration of their aesthetic’s intricacies, but upon further review this approach seems to be a mere foundation, the duo’s ceiling still far out of sight.

later this month, ocean hope will release rolling days, their first full-length effort.  its ten tracks burst wide open with a technicolor aural palette, thick analog synthesizers and prominent lead vocals filtered through its kaleidoscopic lens.  earlier singles “devotion” and “my baby” are a testament to this newfound boldness, a tendency that certainly extends to the album’s third offering, “holy bound.”

“holy bound,” with its familial lyrical tinge, is a capsule of the nostalgic escape ocean hope provide throughout rolling days, seasick guitars stumbling into a cascading synth melody while angeliki’s vocals resonate throughout.  paired with a robust bass line and a contemplative saxophone outro, “holy bound” is saturated but not overflowing, a bounty of textures that continue to reveal new facets of themselves upon repeated listens.

rolling days is due out may 25th via the ever-reliable folks at hush hush records.  listen to “holy bound,” premiering here on the dimestore, below.

premiere – pat moon

– featured images courtesy of the artist –

perhaps you’ve come across accolades for pat moon on this website before; if so, allow us to indulge a bit.  2016’s don’t hide from the light is a timeless debut, eight songs of spectral, ambient pop that provide a window into kate davis’ synth-driven aural dreamscape.  the portland-based musician announced a follow-up album, romantic era, earlier this spring, a highly-anticipated release that will arrive may 18th.

in contrast to the murky, haunting lead single “medieval spells” lies a more crystalline offering from romantic era, “spiraling.”  crystalline is, of course, a relative term; in the realm of pat moon, vocals will always stack to the stratosphere, a hazy choir that smears into similar synth timbres.

“spiraling,” with its shuffling percussion and glassy arpeggiations, is quintessential pat moon, the project in its finest form.  the track’s back half unravels ever so slightly and slowly, embodying its title while peeling back outer layers to expose an even more pensive core.  “spiraling” premieres today, right here on the dimestore.  get lost in the excellent new track below.

pat moon – “medieval spells”

– featured image courtesy of kyle j. reigle – 

pat moon’s 2016 debut don’t hide from the light is proving to be one of the decade’s most enduring records.  kate davis’ spectral synth soundscapes are equally perfect for muggy summer evenings and bone-chilling winter mornings, the rare album that feels intimately applicable to one’s surroundings year-round.

later this spring, davis will release a follow-up, romantic era.  beyond title and timeframe, information is scant, but the announcement was made in tandem with the release of a new single; “medieval spells” evolves methodically, a cavernous choir slowly layered over murky synth beds comprising its positively haunting architecture.  it’s a fascinating preview of romantic era, one that further blurs the line between meditative and hypnotic with every repeated listen.  hear the track below.