Music brings people together. Communities are created and fostered through melodies, which is why it’s important to promote excellent work by musicians both popular and obscure from all over the world, hoping its influence will reach our Brooklyn audiences. As a music lover myself, I’m always searching for new music (regardless of when it was released).
Here are four of my picks for this week:
Kero Kero Bonito – Time ‘n’ Place
The second album for London-based band just came out and it’s a power pop kinetic soundscape. The album deals heavily with loss and mourning, which are strangely complemented through fun, light melodies. My favorite song: “Visiting Hours.”
IAN SWEET – Crush Crusher
This album is an intimate portrayal of anxiety and solemn lyrics that will stick to you like glue. You can preorder the album here and listen to the singles below. The song, “Holographic Jesus,’ just came out and Jilian Medford, the LA-based musician behind the project, stated, “‘Holographic Jesus’ is a song based around collecting holographic Jesus posters from various bodegas and dollar stores while living in Brooklyn. I am in no way religious but I hung them up all over my room and was constantly finding the nuances and idiosyncrasies of each one. You could turn your head the slightest and see an entirely different image reflected. I felt connected to that idea. Some people collect ceramic frogs or action figures but I collect holographic Jesus posters. This song is about the things I went through in that room while these posters were so to speak ‘watching over me.'” My favorite is, of course, “Holographic Jesus.”
Erika Spring – Scars
Spring’s second EP just came out and it’s a quietly beautiful sonic world that centers around dreams, senses, and memory. You would be remiss to not listen to this dreamlike world. Spring, who is a NYC-based musician, is also one of the band members of Au Revoir Simone, and has been working on solo music as well. My favorite: “Divided Waters.” Spring described the album herself, saying, ” “These songs are about listening with all the senses — skin brushing someone else’s skin, listening with memory, seeing the lenses we see through, slipping into something, embracing the invisible and unseen forces at play.”
Silent Servant – Shadows of Death and Desire
Silent Servant, which is a project of DJ and art director Juan Mendez, has a forthcoming album coming out in December (which you can preorder here). Mendez is know for crafting strange electronic post-punk music that feels like it should exist in the future. His single, “Hand In Hand,” was just released and can be listened to below. In Mendez’s own words, “The record is a product of a significant life change that wasn’t a benefit,” which can be felt in the single alone through its surreal and grotesquely fast-paced stylization. I’m definitely curious to hear the album in its entirety.