MUST LISTEN 013
Every week, we’ll be bringing you Must Listen: a series that's a compilation of rising artists along with songs that must be added to your everyday playlist. This week’s playlist consists of emerging acts like Munya, Strongboi, and Arverne. Turn up, tune in, and tune out.
Roche Musique labelmates Dune and Crayon present a visual for the single off their recent collaboration album Hundred Fifty Roses. The song drips with downtempo, r&b, and jazz sensibilities, with lush organic instrumentation from the collaborators, along with a poignant (albeit a foreign language to us) verse from Ichon in french. The visual follows Ichon as he becomes a rose dealer in efforts to meet a woman he lusts for on the computer. Upon meeting her, the visual becomes even more abstract, with the scene of Ichon and the women both covered head to toe in roses, in a loving embrace.
Munya (feat. Kainalu) - “You Never Let Go”
Munya, Montreal indie-pop darling, collaborated with instrumentalist and producer Kainalu to deliver a sweet, bumbling indie-pop track which laments on the narrator’s ability to let go of relationships and people of their past. This is sung by Munya over the sweet, syrupy, airy instrumental track which provides a positive outlook on a sometimes negative topic: letting go. The accompanying visual depicts images from a beach overlooking the coast, flowers, butterflies, and what seems to be a woman walking along the beach, all through a pink-tinted frame.
Strongboi - “Strongboi”
South-African vocalist Alice Phoebe Lou and producer Ziv Yamin make up the duo which is Strongboi. Strongboi is a cool, groovy record with elements of tropical music. Alice switches between rap/sung verses and a sung hook detailing seducing sexual imagery of a woman and falling in love. The visual is a collection of lo-fi cinematography capturing the two in comedic moments in what seems to be a mall, juxtaposed to shots of them preforming against a desert backdrop.
Bronze Avery - “Only You”
Rising pop star, as well as 005 cover star, Bronze Avery delivered us an aesthetically pleasing visual for his single ‘Only You.’ Playing with projectors, shadows, color, and shape, this visual is a beautifully crafted image which compliments the care-free, romantic, celebratory sentiment of the song.
Arverne - “Better”
Arverne is the moniker of Queens-based songwriter Rickey Gonzalez. The song, Better, is an engaging lo-fi pop tune, flush with meticulously crafted guitar lines reminiscent of chillwave artists of the early 2010s. The song, a mid-summer breeze track, is complemented with a visual of vintage footage of cars, romance, and sights. A perfect lo-fi indie track to add to the summer playlist.
Naeem - “Stone Harbor”
Crossing paths with the likes of the Avalanches and Bon Iver to Big Red Machine and Mouse on Mars, Naeem has an eclectic taste in music and it is on display in this new single. They sing “Every word I read I think of you // Every song I hear I think of you // Every love I’ve had I think of you,” over an energetic house beat layered with rubbery synth bass, horns, and keys to create an uplifting atmosphere to the romanticism
Starchild and the New Romantic (feat. Toro y Moi) - “Tape”
Bryndon Cook is known as Starchild and Starchild & the New Romantic. His latest project features a single with Bay area indie star Toro Y Moi. Both of them take a lackadaisical nonchalant approach to the song, singing over the mellow breezy synths complimented with some light guitar flourishes, a quick but poignant track.
Lee Clarke - “WYO”
Philly-based producer, multi-instrumentalist, and DJ, Lee Clarke, known for his jazz-inflected, texturally rich beat-making, has released an EP part of Astro Nautico’s Atlantics X campaign to benefit artists negatively impacted by COVID-19. The single off of the EP is mostly instrumental; Jazzy guitar licks bring us into the track which is then layered by thick drums, only to devolve into jazzy abstraction as the breakdown hits and the guitars go full funk and proceed to close out the track in a similar fashion, layered with female vocal harmonies, horns, and organ chords all for the good groovy measure.
Ego Ella May - “Give A Little”
A somber, serious, but beautiful visual for London R&B artist Ego Ella May colors the senses through muted reds, and browns, an all black cast, and lyrics pertaining to the aimlessness that sometimes is life as we discover who we are and our purpose on earth. The backing track is a beautiful arrangement of guitar, horns, held in place by the rickety click-clack of the drum track.