"Dang" - Caroline Polachek
Genre: Pop, Electronic
RIYL: SOPHIE, Charli XCX, FKA twigs

Art-pop mainstay and geese-whispering musical sorceress Caroline Polachek is fresh off the heels of her acclaimed record Desire, I Want to Turn Into You, which was released on Valentine’s Day this year. In the months since its release, she has teased a deluxe version of the album to fans online, and it seems like she’s ready to make good on those words with her completely bizarre—even by her standards—new single “Dang.”

Co-produced with frequent partner-in-crime Danny L Harle and former SOPHIE collaborator Cecile Believe, the track is perhaps the most deliberately oblique piece of music she’s ever put out under her own name, and it’s loaded with references to her own material. The song’s title is a play on the name of her debut solo record, Pang, and the song samples Desire cuts “Blood and Butter” and “Bunny Is a Rider.” There’s mysterious talk of a “pretty city kitty sippin’ on chartreuse” and “spill[ing] the milk on the bed,” as well as the abrupt puncture of a seconds-long, heavens-reaching shriek and muffled cries thrown into the mix. Polachek seems to be looking to the same sonic and lyrical zaniness that guided the aforementioned Desire single “Bunny” to cult success, but to compare “Dang” to anything else that Polachek has released is a disservice to the track’s gleeful chaos and unbridled, singular imagination. If “Dang” is an indication of what any of her upcoming material might sound like, then we seem to be in store for quite an unexpected treat.

- Chris Turino

"The Animals" - Helena Deland
Genre: Folk
RIYL: Faye Webster, Adrianne Lenker, Rozi Plain

“The Animals” is a mid-album highlight from Montreal-based singer-songwriter Helena Deland’s new record Goodnight Summerland. Deland is known mostly for her experimental, melancholy-tinged indie pop, though this record finds her abandoning that sound altogether in favor of straightforward, no-frills indie folk. In the lead-up to this album’s release, Deland spoke of how it was conceptualized in the wake of her mother’s death in 2021. “The Animals” is an evocative and tender extension of this central purpose, keeping aesthetically in line with the album’s expressionist and muted cover. Atop a heavenly intertwining of acoustic guitar, gentle drums, and wisps of organ and piano, Deland sings “We went up the mountain / Last Friday night / All of the animals / Were out in plain sight / They didn't bid us to follow them / They didn't hiss us away / No, to us, my love / They had nothing to say.” What Deland does masterfully on this track and across the record is put her grief in conversation with the stillness of the natural world. It hits like an arrow to the heart when Deland closes the song with “Nights like these I can’t quite tell / A fear from a wish”—the grace with which she assesses her feelings in the aftermath of insurmountable loss is simply transfixing.

-Chris Turino

"Flashback" - Hannah Diamond
Genre: Pop, Hyperpop
RIYL: Charli XCX, SOPHIE, A. G. Cook

Hannah Diamond is the blueprint, whether you know it or not. One of the original figureheads of London-based record label PC Music — which first emerged in the early-2010s and garnered attention for its hyper-glossy sensibilities that pushed pop to its extremes — Diamond helped shape the sound and aesthetics that turned PC Music from a record label into a genre label. Her latest album Perfect Picture comes in the wake of news that 2023 will be PC Music’s final year of releases. Although Diamond came up in this world of superficial and synthetic pop music, her sincerity and emotional vulnerability is what has always set her apart from her PC peers.

“Flashback,” an unassuming album cut from Perfect Picture is a summation of 10 years of Diamond refining her craft. Doused in her trademark levels of pristine electropop production, Diamond stands reflective in the aftermath of a relationship. “I used to be someone you liked a lot / Love me, love me not / I still like you a lot,” she sings. As usual, Diamond is able to boil down complicated feelings into frank declarations, delivered with the simplicity and assuredness of a robot reciting code. If Perfect Picture marks the end of the era, then “Flashback” is its nostalgic love letter.

Keep an eye out for my review of Hannah Diamond’s Oct. 17 show at The Moroccan Lounge in the next newsletter!

- DJ Danny Darko AKA Fitz Cain

"Salvation - Early Mix" - The Cranberries
Genre: Post-Punk, Alternative Rock
RIYL: Lush, The Breeders

Among the outtakes and demos included in The Cranberries’ To the Faithful Departed (Deluxe Edition), the band released an early mix of “Salvation," one of the album’s original singles. For casual listeners anticipating more of the whimsical musings found in viral hits “Linger” and “Dreams," I’m sorry to disappoint. “Salvation” is their direct antithesis. Where these innocent confessionals gracefully harp on love’s vacillations, “Salvation” is like a slap in the face, breaking through as an intended reminder of the harsh reality of abuse and addiction. The track erupts with crashing drums and pounding strums as Dolores O’Riordan’s familiarly whirling vocals take a turn for the post-punk, boasting a sharper, angrier edge than some fans are used to. On first listen, the lyrics sound like something you’d expect from a trying-to-be-hip D.A.R.E. curriculum, as O’Riordan warns “To all those people doing lines / Don't do it, don't do it / Inject your soul with liberty/ It's free, it's free”. An easy in for pastors attempting to connect with the youths, the chorus chants “Salvation, salvation, salvation is free," with a repetitive intonation that is way too easy to get stuck in your head. All jokes aside, once you get used to the lyrics, “Salvation” is a great introduction for fans hoping to get acquainted with the not-as-popularized, edgier side of The Cranberries.

- Gia Canto

"Fall" - Ozean
Genre: Shoegaze, Dream Pop
RIYL: Cocteau Twins, Pale Saints, Slowdive

Lost with the turn of the digital age, Ozean returns with “Fall," having finally released on streaming platforms what previously resided on cassette tapes alone. Formed after a happenstance meeting at a RIDE and Lush concert in 1991, the short-lived Californian band brought home-grown shoegaze to the American front, all from the comfort of their bedroom recording studio. A hidden gem with enough talent to hold its own amid the genre’s biggest players, it’s a shame that Ozean only recorded less than a handful of demos before meeting its eventual end. After digging up these archived tracks for a work-related blog post, Eric Shea—the band’s guitarist—accidentally set off the ripple effect that resulted in the EP’s re-master and release. Even twenty years after their height, despite their three-song discography, Ozean gives fans of Cocteau Twins something to get excited about. “Fall” transports listeners to a world of their own invention. Lisa Baer’s phantasmic croons pair effortlessly with the band’s swaying symphony. The song boasts a fuzzy ethereal melody that invites the audience to slip into the depths of their conscience, as all great shoegaze should. Whether you’re walking down the Seine or just past Doheny, “Fall” is the perfect soundtrack for a wistful late-night stroll.
- Gia Canto

NEW ADDS: Caroline Polachek, Helena Deland, Hannah Diamond, The Cranberries, Ozean