Music
Drifting melodies, hooky guitars and irresistibly catchy vocals – dive into these alternative and indie music gems in our Spotify playlist.
Just like goth, metal and trance, indie rock and pop are genres that will never, ever die. All music goes through cycles of domination and the musicians that inhabit the myriad worlds that make up the alternative and indie rock and pop universe are never far away from the throne.
Sound Selections is a celebration of music from the outer corners of these sprawling but inter-connected genres, all of it powered by a fierce and often noisily uncompromising DIY spirit. Below are a few of the standout additions to the playlist, including tracks from much-anticipated upcoming albums, glossy, pop-leaning classics and joyful guitar wig-outs.
Check out our Sound Selections playlist below:
BADBADNOTGOOD & Charlotte Day Wilson – In Your Eyes
BADBADNOTGOOD have risen through the ranks of Canada’s jazz-ish music scene with their genre-flexing, hip-hop-indebted sound. But on their 2016 album, IV, the group expanded their horizons further still, dipping their toes into a more laid-back realm of lounge and R ‘n’ B. This really comes together in the record’s penultimate track In Your Eyes, a broody, soulful collaboration with fellow Torontonian Charlotte Day Wilson.
RIYL: Kadhja Bonet, Madison McFerrin
Khruangbin – Time (You And I)
Texan trio Khruangbin make music that transports you, their discography a vibrant swirl of instrumentals rooted in soul, R ’n’ B, dub and psychedelia. But for their new album Mordechai, released by Dead Oceans on 26 June, the band bring a relatively new element to the fore: the human voice. Time (You And I) is a promising take on what’s to come, showcasing guitarist Laura Lee Ochoa’s languid vocals.
RIYL: SAULT, Sugar Candy Mountain
The Aces – My Phone Is Trying to Kill Me
Feel like you’re addicted to your phone? Have you been mindlessly scrolling more often than you’d like? Well, The Aces’ singer-guitarist Cristal Ramirez is right there with you. My Phone Is Trying To Kill Me, taken off the band’s forthcoming album on Red Bull Records, is an upbeat rallying cry to put that goddamn device down for a little while.
RIYL: Hayley Williams, MUNA
Snail Mail – Heat Wave
Snail Mail’s anthem for the heartbroken, Heat Wave, is the emotional catharsis you need when going through the crushing motions of a breakup. Taken from the then teenager’s smart debut album, Lush, released in 2018, Lindsey Jordan captures the raw devastation of heartbreak in every crackle of her voice, while ripping across the fretboard of her guitar with satisfying furore.
RIYL: Japanese Breakfast, Soccer Mommy
Whitney – You’ve Got A Woman
Chicago’s indie posterboys Whitney have a way of making warmth ooze from their music and 2017’s You’ve Got A Woman has hazy sunshine in abundance. Their cover of an obscure 1975 single by Dutch psych band Lion tips into the sultrier side of what they do, while retaining their signature retro glow.
RIYL: Cass McCombs, Real Estate
Kakkmaddafakka – Moonshine
Norway’s Kakkmaddafakka have an impossibly deep well of energy. The indie-pop maximalists have earned a reputation for their high-octane live shows across Europe, and they bring that same livewire disposition to the studio. Take their recent track Moonshine as a case in point: a bolt of bubblegum vocals and frantic drums that will leave you out of breath by the end of its rapid-fire two minutes and 45 seconds.
RIYL: Lemaitre, Django Django
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