Here are 6 artists that are worth your time, including one record you should consider buying if you can.
As always, I’ll include this month’s Spotify and Apple Music playlists at the bottom.
Mother Tongues
Toronto
Instagram | Website | Bandcamp | YouTube
Hit play and keep reading.
Late to this Toronto artist and I have no excuse. The record is great, and pre-zombie Pitchfork agrees. They’re on the same record label as Sham Family, so that might be one to watch (it was started by Canadian indie heroes Born Ruffians).
Anyway, you should listen to the full album. It’s rock music, and it’s dark-ish, and it’s synthy except when it isn’t. It’s heavy on atmospherics, it’s full of interesting sounds and effects. The record label describes them as “a carefully crafted cyber-psych opus that lurks between the cerebral and feral“, which is better than whatever I would come up with.
Tepid Spring
Edmonton, Alberta
Instagram | Bandcamp | YouTube
Another artist that I don’t know how I found. Their current single is called Tourist, and it’s a reworking of a song from an older EP that’s more acoustic and folk-y. Both versions are excellent, but digging into the lyrics of that older EP suggests that Alexa has a knack for writing impactful lyrics.
Here’s the album version:
If you dig that, check out the prior EP. Here’s hoping there’s more to come, soon.
Drahla
Leeds, UK
Instagram | Bandcamp | YouTube
The term ‘art rock’ is both vague and generally off-putting to me, but it works for this band. It’s all weird instrumentation (a saxophone that often reminds me of New Wet Kojak), mostly spoken (and often weird) lyrics, but all seems to have a killer groove behind it. This is the track that got me:
The full-length with that track is out April 5th. Their earlier album is called Useless Coordinates, and mostly has a more traditional sound than what’s been released from the new record.
RONA.
Melbourne
Instagram | Website | Bandcamp | YouTube
RONA. is an indigeneous artist from Australia and her music on her Closure EP reminds me of Sofia Kourtesis — soothing, layered, and organic. There’s not a lot of her original stuff out there, but her Linktree has links to DJ sets that are pretty great.
Her debut EP is also a great place to start. She’s got some profile in Australia and was a guest producer for triple j radio last November.
The triple j feature is a good introduction to her music and influences. Check out her latest video:
But wait! New track out this morning from her. Here’s Be My Medicine:
Baula
Sweden/Iceland
Instagram | Website | YouTube
The first two singles off of their upcoming album are both sort of perfect indie rock in different ways. Here they are:
Their sound has progressed a lot since their debut EP ‘Drought’ in 2019, and if those two tracks are anything to go on, they’ve got a bright future. The album is called Heavy Heart No Tears, and their website claims that they’ve “…gone through heaven and hell together”. I’m not sure if it’s related or just ironic but according to their Instagram, they’ve had some bad luck with their album pressing too:
What a nightmare! Buy the vinyl if you like the singles and can afford it. I have.
Also, that’s a good lookin’ dog.
Twin Skeletons
No idea where I found out about this band. They don’t have a Bandcamp page, so here’s their Linktree, I guess.
Their debut EP is out, though the release party is this weekend. For a band that’s only released four songs, they have a really polished sound. The singer’s voice is well-matched to the style, which ranges from kind of a synth-based throwback rock to something a lot more guitar-metal sounding.
Here’s a video of them playing live, and again, it’s pretty polished for a band that hasn’t had an official release yet. They sound a lot more straight-ahead hard rock, and the cover of Toxic is pretty fun.
Get a bandcamp, y’all!