The Year in Indiepop…According to Nathan

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.

 

 

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LIPS Drop New Single

It’s only been a few short months since LIPS dropped their remarkable self-titled EP, and they quickly return with this stunner of a new single. Vocals are stretched across the opening few seconds, reaching that dreaminess favored by the likes of Alvvays and Flying Fish Cove as of late. Behind Rachel’s stellar vocal performance the band finds their guitar work flirting with that jangle-gaze sound; it’s the sort where you can’t tell if the band’s flirting more with dream pop or jangle pop, but you’re ears are at full attention soaking it all in. This is a band on the ascension, so be sure you’re on board!

Sunday Records Drops LIPS EP

Cornwall’s LIPS are about to be the next great act on the storied Sunday Records; tomorrow they’ll drop their debut EP…and get ready for everyone to swoon. In starting out the EP, the drop a bold indiepop challenge in “Apartment;” it’s fueled by these dancing dreamy guitar jangles and feathery vocals from Rachel Anstis. Antis is the clear winner here, though she steps aside to let the band do their best to get you to kick up your shoes. Skip down a song and you’ll find “Walls” toying with the fuzzier “gaze” side of the realm. Still, Anstis steals the show, moving between angelic notes and calming cool, running through the song like its her own vocal playground. “Sunken” turns around to show you just how far the outfit can take their pop sensibility, shaking about between sharp angular cuts and hazy notes that tear through your speaker. I’m putting my money down now that this is one of the Top 5 EPs of the year!