Here are 4 artists that are worth your time.
As always, I’ll include this month’s Spotify and Apple Music playlists at the bottom.
Ellis
Hamilton, ON
Instagram | Website | Bandcamp | YouTube
Someone smart once said that ‘Melancholy is the happiness of being sad‘. That came back to me while I was listening to Ellis’ music. I’ve had a few of her songs lurking on various playlists for a while. I don’t know where I first heard her music, but the new single was the song that finally convinced me to dig into her work. I love this song. Her voice has a unique sound, and she has a knack for a memorable melody with enigmatic and very personal lyrics:
That album is being released in a few weeks — there are four tracks out so far, and I like all of them. There’s a couple of record release shows in Toronto and Hamilton coming up. Hoping to get to the Toronto one.
Dopamine is another memorable track, from her 2021 EP Nothing is Sacred:
She’s new to me, but she’s been putting out music for a while. Here’s a good piece in Vice from 2018 about her and her music. Seems she had a moment then with her first EP, and I wasn’t paying attention. Then her debut record came out just as the lockdowns hit, which must have really been a momentum-killer.
I wonder if she feels like this is a bit of a fresh start.
At any rate, the new stuff is great. Can’t wait to hear more.
Sofia Bolt
Los Angeles (but somewhere in France, originally)
Instagram | Website | Bandcamp | YouTube
She’s been putting out music since 2013, and got a decent hit by Pitchfork for her album Waves, but this is the first time I’ve come across her:
I really like the layered vocals and production. The saxophone is a nice addition, and her other recent single is very much in line:
Her new LP comes out May 10, and her catalogue is full of good stuff. 2022’s EP Soft Like a Peach is a good one too, as is the two-track single City of You from the same year. Direct, kind of conversational lyrics, simple and memorable melodies, and song structures and arrangements that are subtly complex. She sometimes sings in french too, which is fancy.
This track from her debut album Waves is another standout (the whole album is great):
Not Me But Us
Naples, Italy
Instagram | Bandcamp | YouTube
This came on as I was on a long drive through mostly farmland. It was a beautiful morning, sunny and crisp, I was in no rush and the roads were empty. A perfect drive, and the album was a perfect accompaniment.
Not Me But Us is made up of two guys: Bruno Bavota and Fabrizio Somma (who goes by K-Conjog), both of whom have pretty acccomplished Bandcamp portfolios. This is their first album-length collaboration.
This album is cerebral and cinematic and has a distinct narrative arc. It’s soothing and peaceful without being sedating. The instrumentation and pacing changes enough to maintain interest rather than fading into the background. The production so crisp that it’s worth listening to on expensive headphones. Even the vinyl is stunning (I’ve ordered it and will report back when it’s in hand).
Kelly Moran
New York
Instagram | Website | Bandcamp | YouTube
I don’t know anything about piano music. Weeks ago I somehow found an interview with Kelly Moran on a Substack called Tone Glow. This quote is what convinced me to learn more:
When I made Ultraviolet, I initially made all the music when I was tripping on acid. I had taken three hits of acid and I had taken a lot because I really wanted to go deep and get lost inside my mind. I really needed a reset. I had been struggling to write music for this artist who was torturing me. They were telling me, “I don’t like this piece you’re writing, it’s no good. You can do better than this. This melody doesn’t have any direction.” It was like pulling teeth, and one day I needed to just turn my brain off and not think about any of it, just go to the forest and the beach and melt a little bit.
What classically-trained pianist talks like this? Maybe they all do! I should find out.
Anyway, I added her latest album Moves in the Field to my new artists playlist, then a couple days ago I was in a particularly dark place and it came on and just took me over.
It was kind of transformative in that specific moment. I was reading an article about steam in NYC and listening to this album and every bit of negativity just melted away.
The interview is worth reading in full, it’s a rare piece of PR-free honest and open conversation. Here’s another bit that I loved where she describes working with the Disklavier (basically a super-sophisticated player piano/sequencer, I think):
It’s so insane to sit at the piano and play, and then walk to the other side of the room and press play and listen to myself. I’d be like, whoa, I sound like that? Crazy. It’s quite humbling to work with the Disklavier. I learned that it’s so easy to get carried away. You can bang the hell out of your instrument because it feels good and cathartic, but sometimes the things that feel really good to play don’t always sound the best to the listener. Playing with the Disklavier has really taught me the power of restraint and subtlety, and it’s given me a lot to think about in terms of expressive nuance. It made me such a more sensitive listener and performer.
You can see the thing in action in this video, it’s pretty nifty:
Her 2018 LP, Ultraviolet (the acid one) is very different but also really beautiful. It uses a lot of sounds other than piano, but is just as meditative and layered, if a little more trippy.