Watch: Plume Giant BreakThruRadio Live Session

When I was introduced to folk pop trio Plume Giant earlier this year when they opened for Kishi Bashi, one of the highlights of their set was when they unveiled a newly written song which was rather unlike the rest of their of vibrant, energetic tunes. It was down tempo, melancholic, highlighted just how well the three could harmonize with it each other, and was really one of those moments where you knew they were onto something special. Fun and good times are great but this was Plume Giant revealing their songwriting chops in remarkably intimate way.

Lo and behold that same song is the main featured track in Plume Giant's BreakThruRadio session. The track titled "Castalia" is simply stunning. A piano-heavy ballad with small violin flourishes, the instruments are all secondary to utterly captivating vocals. It's a wave of raw emotive force that manages to overwhelm in the best way possible. You can't be unaffected by it, nor should you want to.

And that's one of the most exciting things about Plume Giant. They're gifted instrumentalists and certainly have their pick of them to play but they never lose sight of the importance of vocals and seem to build their songs around the inclusion of the most arresting use of them. That's what we get in Plume Giant's BTR Live session: a series of new songs similar but not congruent in sound that all seem to rest a large portion of their accessibility on just how beautiful their vocals can be - whether together or alone.

The instruments they use might change but their power they grant their vocals only grows stronger.

Pitstop: Emily Reo

(photo by Charlotte Zoller)

Considering I've known about her for almost a year to the day, I probably should've mentioned dream pop chanteuse Emily Reo far sooner. After getting caught in her undeniable wave of feel good melodic haze at  DelinquencyNYC last August and reliving the magic a couple months ago at FMLY Fest Brooklyn, not immediately sharing Emily Reo with the uninitiated is probably one of the biggest flubs I could make.

Normally the stuff of plentiful, intricately lain layers and unfathomable depths of beauty, Emily Reo sets herself apart from your standard dream-pop artists/bands with a rather brazen but enjoyable simplicity. Relying almost resolutely on infectious melodies, Reo may set them aloft on undulating seas of sounds of her own design but they are always the focus - percolating above creamy synth counter melodies  or toe-tapping, song-leading beats. The beauty of Reo's songs come from this and the fact that she uses her voice as another instrument for her to play with and alter like in "Coast" when she effects her vocals. Never quite becoming robotic, they shift between organic and digitized.  

It's a trope employed rather frequently that never quite loses it's appeal due to the fact that Emily Reo places such high importance on melodies - often having songs composed almost entirely of musical interludes with the vocals playing an important but more diminished, less featured role. Calm, lilting, and silky smooth, Reo really leans into the dream-invoking part of her dream-pop, crafting sleepy gently unfurling little numbers that even at their poppiest and most catchy, never manage to agitate and that's just the way I like it.

    

Emily Reo will finally be releasing her debut album Olive Juice on September 3rd via Elestial Sound. It's sure to be an absolute gem. Until then you can listen to the Emily Reo's wide berth of tunes via Bandcamp. 

Listen: Kishi Bashi - "Philosophize In It! Chemicalize With It!"

It seems like bands/artists are always showing Japan a very specific type of love. There's usually specific release dates just for Japan bundled with tons of extras and musicians feel a very real sense of accomplishment when they finally get a Japan show date or even tour. As a Japanese man, Kishi Bashi has made it a point to imbue his very music with his culture and plays Japan far more than your standard musican. One of the results of this was a very cool tour batch of songs only available in Japan via EP, tour promo, and jingles that thankfullly K. has decided to let us Americans in on.

"Philosophize In It! Chemicalize With It!", the a-side to the two song 7" out on Joyful Noise Recordings this September, has Kishi Bashi once again inhabiting the fantastical technicolor textural landscapes of his own creation. It's a realm where K.'s talent for infectious poppy love songs grant him supernatural abilities, narratively speaking. Less figuratively, K.'s able to provide fresh takes on a time-honored songwriting tradition. Instead of reinventing the wheel, K's splatters in vibrant high-definition spectrum of colors and propels it forward with a sense of inescapable cheer.

Watch: Young Dreams - "Footprints"

When it was announced that the next single from Norwegian orchestral pop sextet Young Dreams would be "Footprints", I was elated. In addition to being one of my absolute favorite tracks on the pretty immaculately spun Between Places, I was excited to see what frequent collaborator Kristoffer Borgli would do with the jubilant track.

Considering the previous videos for "Fog of War" and "First Days of Something" seemed to both disregard and utilize the tracks' lighter moods for dramatic effect - creating interesting dark narratives soundtracked by Young Dreams' mirth, I was intrigued how to Borgli would proceed here. Instead of spin an entirely new tale, "Footprints" revisits Young Dreams' rather brief past. Using cuts from their Modular Studio sessions as well as bits and pieces from their previous music videos (even going as far back as "Young Dreams"), it's a nice little retrospective of just how much the band has achieved in a rather short time-frame. Not all the selected scenes are happy ones but the lightning-in-a-bottle joyfulness of "Footprints" is inescapable.

Borgli's video for "Footprints" is a well-deserved celebration of  a rather young band that's enjoying a bit of success. A success I hope continues for as long as Young Dreams continues to make good music. Here's hoping that's a long, long time.

Watch: Left With Pictures - "Bloody Mess"

British chamber pop troupe Left With Pictures certainly earned themselves a bit of time off after the marathon that was their song-a-month In Time project and subsequent album release but after about a year and change off working on their third album, there's a peak at fresh new music in the form of "Bloody Mess", the last in their previously ongoing Miles End live video series.

Featuring fingerstyle as well as slide guitar, "Bloody Mess" doesn't transition Left With Pictures into the realm of folk pop. No instead, they adopt these into another of their feats of thrilling timbre experimentation. As if the differences between Stuart Barter and Toby Knowles wasn't enough disparity, they pair electric and acoustic guitars as well as sparingly utilized violin and piano for a real wealth of textures despite their stripped down numbers. 

A melancholic little dirge with simple but instantly memorable melodies, "Bloody Mess" is a proper return for the British five-piece (appearing as a threesome in this video) and a sign of good things to come on their upcoming third album. Here's hoping it's not too long of a wait until then. 

    

Listen: The Head and The Heart - "Shake"

Earlier this summer, Seattle folk rockers The Head and the Heart hinted at their return to bustling joyful  folk pop with the announcement of their eagerly awaited sophomore record Let's Be Still and tour dates.

Finally, about two weeks after that announcement we get a taste of what that sophomore record will sound like in first single "Shake". Featuring those incredible three-part harmonies, The Head and the Heart aren't reinventing the wheel BUT they're far from doling out the same old songs with new lyrics like some folk bands are wont to do. There's buoyant bopping bass lines, and restrained full band involvement, and that effervescent sense of awe-inspiring freedom the band manages to impart oh so easily.

There's also the band's relentlessly arresting songwriting chops fully on display here as the energy hangs back just enough to leave Jonathan Russell firmly in the spotlight. It's a fun track full of wonderful bubbly pop moment but The Head and the Heart still remain capable of galvanizing their meaningful lyrics with infectious music moments that have you hitting replay again and again.  

It's going to be a long wait until October. Until then, I'll be playing "Shake" at least 5 times a day.



The Head and the Heart's sophomore full length record Let's Be Still is out October 15th on Sub Pop Records.

Listen: North Highlands - "Halo"

About two weeks ago North Highlands signaled the end of their self-imposed hibernation with the a-side "I'll Do My Best" from their two song 7" EP out on July 30th. The b-side "Halo" only solidifies that the Brooklyn quintet is back in a big way.  Unlike the jangly rock-pop of "I'll Do My Best", "Halo" asserts its summery vibes in a different way much more inline with dance-y pop rock of North Highlands' Wild One.

Managing to be bright and sunny without steeping itself in beach rock, "Halo" is strong contender for my favorite North Highlands track and perhaps the strongest of the two new tracks. Nearly twice the length of "I'll Do My Best", "Halo" takes a bunch of unexpected twists and deviations allowing for a plethora of enjoyable musical moments that don't shirk on the toe-tapping body-rocking vibes. Instead of containing its instrumental jam to the last 30 seconds of the song, the whole last minute and change and well as several moments intermittently throughout are devoted toward releasing the beast; unshackled from Brenda Malvini's plush vocal plodding.