Did You Listen to Azure Blue’s The Night of the Stars?
It’s been a busy December on my end, so I apologize if I haven’t hyped up this new Azure Blue record enough. The Night of the Stars hit just over a week ago, and it’s possibly my favorite work of Tobias Isaksson’s ongoing project. While he’s been dabbling in building electronic hooks over the years, I’m not sure he’s had the perfect pop song like “The Miracle,” which I’ve got streaming below; it’s got a thumping drive to it, matched by gentle vocals…and even gets a little horn work in there, for all you nostalgic pop fans. “Under the Stars” is another standout, hitting you with synthetic pop from the moment you press play; the song then churns in on itself and delivers a smooth undercurrent that soothes and bubbles the way pop should. The Night of the Stars is available now through Matinee Recordings; stream the whole thing HERE.
It seems like the year is grinding to a slow halt, as there are fewer and fewer trickles of new tracks coming our way, though I’ll admittedly hope that that’s the end of the year preparations not the musical end of times. Still, I fell in love with a lot of great songs, like a new single from the last Mope Grooves LP, which just came out on 12XU. Also, 12XU adjacent is a new single from Austin’s Quin Galavis, which I was digging too. There was a brand new single from The Gentle Spring, which hopefully got you Field Mice fans excited. Plus, RayRay has been busting his ass on getting coverage out for Levitation this week, with new posts up on Pissed Jeans and Acid Mothers Temple.
Pretty heavy week we had over on the ATH here. The Bay Area and Austin area had some great tunes to offer us, such as new stuff from Sad Eyed Beatniks and Holy Wire, or perhaps Swiftumz and Letting Up Despite Great Faults. We also got to preview some great shows like Adrianne Lenker and The Umbrellas (that was a blast btw!). Plus, Cursive return after a few years off, so of course the site’s emo contingent was keeping you up to date there. Then there were Nathan faves like Icarus Phoenix, Quivers and Azure Blue, all of whom offered us up new tunes. Tons to enjoy below.
It seems weird to say, but last week was the first time in a long time where I was able to find every song we covered on all the DSPs! Does this mean I’ve gone mainstream? Anyways, we had a few premieres running from the likes of Class and Alijca-Pop, so be sure to check those jams out.. And, as per usual, dipped our toes in the Austin pond, with new stuff from Holy Wire and the stream of Will Johnson‘s new LP. Oh, and we made sure we had as much Oceanic coverage as possible, throwing our weight behind Soft Covers, Native Cats, The Small Intestines and Exek! Give a listen to the singles below!
As we’re all looking back on the year 2019, I tend to gravitate towards lists with little agenda, other than to shine a light back on the year in the areas I adore. For one, the indiepop scene. Now, there’s always a great big debate about what indie pop is, so for all intents and purposes, I admit that I just don’t care, so the genre’s purists can yell at me later. Now, this may read as a best of, but merely this is the stuff that stuck out in my brain, so if I missed something, I love you and I’m sorry. Honestly, it just gave me a chance to make a fun playlist (2+ hours!) full of hits for all you pop fans.