At this point we are no strangers to Southern Africa’s fastest growing rap export Proklaim. A bountiful artist that is consistently tight with his words and immersive with his dynamic flow, ‘BABYLON’ is a solid new addition to Proklaim’s quickly expanding repertoire.
Namibian, based in the capital city Windhoek, Proklaim is a hiphop artist who seems to have emerged into the scene roughly a year ago, and have since been dropping one fantastic single after another, each with a delightfully unique flair. We’ve seen the rapper handle calypso, latin, and funk, among other musical styles, in his steady stream of singles.
‘BABYLON’ seems to take an angrier path, as far as its musical leanings go. Slightly aggressive with the industrial reverbs on the beat and the bustling and threatening vocal adlibs and the intense delaying effect on them, ‘BABYLON’, at points, is cacophonous. The aggression can also be felt in the dark and looming composition of the song. ‘BABYLON’ is Proklaim’s most edgy song to this point.
Proklaim’s passion is always palpable in his varied releases, and it is not different on ‘BABYLON’. The man’s desire to design varied sonic backdrops allows him to always craft fresh sounding beats that never sound the same and to this point, this has been Proklaim’s biggest secret for longevity.
With bittersweet lyrics about a love that is not meant to be, chord progressions that drip with melancholy, and a few off-kilter musical and production cues, Love Ghost’s latest release is a truly gripping one. ‘2Young4U’ is an all around nice piece of music.
Based in Los Angeles, Love Ghost is the musical project of singer and songwriter Finnegan Bell. Known for their distinctive emo leanings, Love Ghost’s voice has always been gripping and his deliveries immersive. Teaming up with Annie Gago on their latest single, ‘2Young4U’ is a bilingual, experimental, emo ballad about lost love. Defined by a tearjerker chord sequence played as gentle arpeggios on a processed clean guitar, ‘2Young4U’ sounds positively haunting, with a neon-lit atmosphere exacerbated by the song’s dynamic, almost hypnotic rhythmic drive and distinctive production.
Annie Gago’s Spanish sung sections are memorably melodic, and the song’s outro guitar solo, processed by a harmonized is perfectly wonky, lending the song its experimental edge, and confirming Love Ghost as a bold artist that does not give in to expectations. The production by Ervin River is also not to miss. Perfectly balancing the song between its emo core and its peppy, upbeat, and almost rock leanings, River has created a sublime mix for ‘2Young4U’.
‘2Young4U’ is a punchy and emotive listen that’s easily replayable. Nuanced and full of detail, this adventurous release is well worth a deep dive into its dark and moody universe.
The vibes of Frank Joshua’s left-field music are infectious, dark, and brooding on ‘Seedy Grammar’, his latest single, fluently blending melancholy and horror in a whimsical vessel that’s impossibly immersive.
London-based Frank Joshua is an incredibly fruitful indie, alt, and art pop musician who has put out more (good) music in the past three years than some other artists put together in their whole careers. A creative juggernaut, Frank Joshua’s music on ‘Seedy Grammar’ is delightfully nuanced, whether we’re discussing the enchanting musical atmosphere or the looming darkness of the accompanying clip, it is clear that Frank Joshua’s high-volume output does not equal compromise on the quality of that output.
‘Seedy Grammar’ is weedy and dark. Joshua’s voice is brooding and the syncopated groove is addictive, and so are the song’s prominent chord sequences, the only trace of Joshua’s artistic core as a singer and songwriter. The arrangement, rich with syrupy, venomous, and thick synth pads, jazzy and wooden guitars, and caramel-thick Fender Rhodes leads, supported by an invaluable but sparse sub bass part that glues together the song’s dense low-end, which sounds paradoxically light and cloudy -rainstorm clouds that is.
The video, recalling the fall of the Berlin wall and the final days of the Soviet Union is extremely dark and charming, enigmatic and cool. ‘Seedy Grammar’ is a song about the deeply sociological phenomenon of the erosion of adherence to grammatical standards and its relation to ideological and political declines, and in so many ways, the music, the mix, the video, and everything in between, seem to point out exactly that. I don’t know how Frank Joshua pulled that off, but I’m really glad he did.
Esclamativo’s Italian rap is sublimely summery and fresh in his latest single ‘Senza confini’, a punchy and hypnotic piece of colorful hip hop that’s fitting for all the beach playlists out there.
Esclamativo is a hip hop artist hailing from the southern Italian town of Castelmezzano and for ‘Senza Confini’ his latest single he has joined forces with producer Arktiz after first meeting him in a gym in Switzerland and deciding to work together on songs that would equally resonate with Esclamativo’s Italian audience and Arktiz’s Swiss one.
Guiseppe Scavetta, better known as Esclamativo, discovered a shared musical interest with Arktiz (Marco Granata) which led them to the fruitful studio session that resulted in ‘Senza Confini’. Esclamativo’s rapping is engaging and melodic in the hooks, while being cool and approachable elsewhere. The beat is booming and chill, its medium tempo lending the track a very cozy feeling that fits its airy mix and Mediterranean vibes.
A song about freedom and a vibrant summertime life, ‘Senza Confini’ is bountiful with summery vibes that make it a great addition to playlists for road trips and beach times. A groovy mix from Arktiz that complements Scavetta’s easy going rapping make for a delightful listen.
The music on Buko Shane’s latest album takes the serenity of the timeless fusion of folkish arrangements on acoustic guitar and a deep, rustic voice, and doubles it with meaningful words about some of the toughest times in recent memory and haunting compositions. Pandemic Blues is an arrestingly beautiful listen to sit through.
The latest album by Helsinki-based americana outfit Buko Shane is called Pandemic Blues, and as the title makes it clear, the music almost entirely surrounds the isolation, desolation, and fear that we collectively felt during the lockdowns. Buko Shane’s approach to expressing this isolation comes in the form of minimal arrangements that are mostly populated by just the acoustic fingerpicking and voice of frontman Heikki Hanninen, supported by a sparse palette of folkish ornamental flairs; fiddles, organs, and such.
Musically, Pandemic blues is extremely delicate. The skeletal arrangements introduce a sense of peaceful loneliness that is then exacerbated by the largely bittersweet compositional style that mixes moderate tempos with watered down tonalities that are just as major as they are minor, resulting in fluid musical atmospheres that shapeshift exceedingly well with the listener’s emotions. Pandemic Blues is a soothing album that will validate your feelings equally whether they be sorrow or joy.
Credit: Heikki Hänninen
Pandemic Blues maintains its sparse arrangements until one song before its halfway point. ‘See That My Grave Is Kept Clean’ is a delightfully dark piece of macabre blues with an atmosphere that I’ve never experienced in a song before. Drenched in layer upon layer of reverb and with a dramatic, bluesy composition with its fair share of horror elements, like the consistent wall of wailing string pads in the background, or the shuffling and intimidating drum groove. A truly unique song. ‘See That My Grave Is Kept Clean’ is not the album’s first moment of standout song building, ‘Another Sunday Morning’, the album’s starter, is another show stopping composition full of lush dissonance and musical surprises akin to Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker. ‘Another Sunday Morning’ showcases Buko Shane’s compositional toolkit in its most stripped down and charming guise. With a litany of color-injecting chords and an ethereal string part introduced in the song’s latter half, it is one sublime introduction to an album.
‘My Old Companion’ is another immediately catchy piece that has one of the album’s more twisting compositions and more nuanced arrangements, with the instrumental section, blending a foreboding, buzzing, and massive synth lead with a terrific acoustic guitar solo that intertwines major and minor tonalities in a particularly surprising fashion. But maybe not as surprising as the succulent saxophone performance on the next song over, titled ‘The Ride’. Probably the album’s boldest cut, ‘The Ride’ is a slow burning experimental piece that fuses a freeform saxophone performance with one of Hanninen’s more expressive vocal and lyrical deliveries. The song’s second half sees the introduction of a barreling, thunderous drum part that knows no rhyme or reason, injecting plentiful chaos into the song’s already upturned atmosphere. ‘The Ride’ is a daring foray into the most experimental jazz and noise sounds, showcasing a truly wild face for Buko Shane, and one that’s absolutely unexpected based on everything we’ve been exposed to up until this point.
‘Static Laziness’ follows the intensity of ‘The Ride’ with one of the album’s gentlest and smoothest sonic tapestries. The tenor saxophone laying some caramel smooth lines alongside a rich string arrangement and a thick, pillowy pad sound, all working together to alleviate the trebly nature of the acoustic guitar. A descending progression makes ‘Static Laziness’ a song that is consistently falling down to the ground far beneath. Buko Shane have excelled in creating a floating feeling with their fantastic arrangement on this piece.
Buko Shane’s Pandemic Blues is -without a doubt- one of 2024’s best releases. An album that is loaded with intent and purpose, with concepts that string the experience together lyrically and musically, this release is a masterful display of restraint, control, and pure, unbridled artistry.
Country singer and songwriter Brooke Moriber is no stranger to tearjerker pop with expansive atmospheres, contemplative chords, ethereal, soaring vocals, or wholly immersive song building sense. ‘So Do I’ is an utterly gorgeous piece of dynamic country pop that is far deeper than first meets the eye.
Brooke Moriber is a New York based pop music artist, singer, and songwriter whose thoughtful and gentle pop tunes are always beautifully balanced between meaningful words, sweet chord progressions, Moriber’s own powerhouse vocals, and her superb songwriting talent. ‘So Do I’ is Moriber’s latest single co written with Jessica Cayne and Karen Kosowski, and just like the rest of her songs, ‘So Do I’ is a touching piece of romantic country pop with an instantly lovable composition, Moriber’s unmistakable passion in delivering the bittersweet words about a lost love.
‘So Do I’ is a song about regretting ending a relationship and feeling helplessly unable to get it back together and feeling stuck being unable to move forward with your life. To drive this home, Moriber’s arrangement lean more than ever before on rock. With a driving beat and a wall of lush pads to support the chords, Moriber’s delivery is as charismatic and as powerful as ever, but with a hint of flamboyance this time around that was replaced with an impactful sense of reservedness on her previous, calmer songs. On ‘So Do I’, Moriber is ably taking the centerstage, basking in the limelight, playing the role of a frontwoman as if she was born for it. Meanwhile, wailing guitars serenade her soaring delivery with morose slide licks that balance the high-octane beats-and-voice duo, bringing the energy back to controllable levels.
‘So Do I’, produced by Karen Kosowski, mixed by Craig Alvin, and mastered by Greg Calbi, is a wonderfully full listen. Orchestrated with love, impeccably balanced, and superbly tight. Another arresting song from Country’s star of the moment Brooke Moriber.
This brand new take on an ever-enduring classic is easily good enough to be its own thing. Louise Dearman’s take on Duran Duran’s timeless early 90s classic ‘Ordinary World’ is punchy, dramatic, and modern, adorned by Dearman’s startling vocal virtuosity, this cover is quite the way to pay respect to one of the 90s best loved rock ballads.
Louise Dearman is a London-based singing star. An accomplished stage vocalist, Dearman’s immense vocal capabilities have seen her performing lead vocals with the BBC Concert Orchestra, the London Concert Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, among others, as well as having her grace some of the biggest West End musicals like ‘Wicked’, ‘Cats’, and ‘Grease’. An accomplished and established stage artist.
On Louise Dearman’s faithful recreation of Duran Duran’s ‘Ordinary World’, she opts for a simple swap of Simon Le Bon’s iconic voice for own, as well as feature a more strings-centered arrangement that befits her operatic delivery. The results are a cover that’s true enough to the original that it is immediately recognizable, while being its own thing that’s grander and more sublime, with a modern orchestral sound that’s removed from the 1993 original’s anthemic rock vibes.
There’s nothing to fault with this brand-new rendition of ‘Ordinary World’. Being one of the 90s most best enduring hits, Louise Dearman’s recreation is faithful and exciting. A fitting homage.
Child of SP’s trademark introspection and sophisticated gentleness is best explored on his jazzy single ‘Out the Mud’ on which he asks many hard questions that ought to have us correctly monitor how far we’ve come since we started. ‘Out the Mud’ is a song about growth and capitalizing on opportunities. Sung with his graceful coolness, ‘Out the Mud’ is an outstanding single.
With Brazilian roots that trace back to Sao Paulo, Child of SP is now based in the Portuguese capital Lisbon. With soft deliveries, Child of SP casually blurs the line between RnB and hip hop, giving us something that has the punchy directness of hip hop, interspersed with the contemplative soulfulness of RnB.
On ‘Out the Mud’, the hip hop takes is molded by the punchy electronic beat and subdued sub bass, while the song’s chords, gentle and soulful piano, and Child of SP’s gentle and restrained flow define the song’s soulful nature. A varied cut that’s lyrically confrontational and musically rewarding.
Child of SP is growing to become a reliable musician whose name can be confidently associated with solid and calculated songs. Whether it be his signature introspectiveness, his sharp lyrical wit, or his approachable and rich musical atmospheres, Child of SP’s music is lush and chill, and ‘Out the Mud’ is one more solid example of that.
Eerie Themes of Horror in “Summer of Sam 24” EP by Solar Soundz
An eerie cloud glooms over the place once you hit play on the first track, “6 Feet Deep” from the brand new EP “Summer of Sam 24” by Lisbon-based Hip Hop producer, Solar Soundz. You almost feel like you’ve just stepped into a graveyard, similar to the track’s title.
Smooth flow, fire verses, and undeniably catchy beats ensue from one track to the other, with collaborations from the likes of Jarren Benton, Young Buck, Bishop Lamont, Big Twins, Legs MC, iNTeLL, Kool G Rap, Ren da Heatmonsta, and Canibus.
WARNING: Shivers might start running down your spine as you explore the EP’s dark themes of horror.
Tracklist:
6 Feet Deep (feat Jarren Benton)
Who is Sam?
Death & Disaster (feat Young Buck & Bishop Lamont)
SoS (feat Big Twins and Legs MC)
Bury Your Bones (feat iNTeLL)
No Reason (feat Kool G Rap)
Last Man Standing (feat Ren da Heatmonsta)
Vacation (feat Canibus)
A collision of old school boom bap, with drill and trap, let you into the sinister world of Solar Soundz’ 8-track EP. The third track on the EP, titled “Death & Disaster” was released as a single on July 3rd, featuring Young Buck and Bishop Lamont, and it sets the horrific scene perfectly with hard-hitting beats and lyrical erudition that haunts you to the core.
The instrumentals on the second track, titled “Who is Sam” is a short-story brimming with questions, while the fifth track, titled “Bury Your Bones” takes you on a frightful journey of death. Fans of horror films will be pleased to witness the EP’s artwork, which features a blood-curdling doll that stares right into your soul. Annabelle, is that you?
As for the final track in the EP, titled “Vacation” starts off with dark synths and orchestral – almost-operatic – backup vocals that accompany an effortless flux of rhymes by Canibus that has you replaying the EP for another ride into a terror-filled realm.
The overall music structure of the EP is populated with a storyline that transcends amply, while carrying a similar spooky feel throughout the project. Keyboard elements can be found on tracks like “No Reason”, with a touch of guitar strikes, that complements the chilling vibes further. The mixing is simply impeccable and abundant, which allows the listener to step inside the crime scene seamlessly and flip through the stories from one track to the other without interruption.
The EP is available to stream on all platforms starting from August 8th.
Singer-songwriter and recording artist Shane Rennison has captivated audiences with a heartfelt authenticity. Hailing from the Catskills in Upstate New York, Shane started bringing diverse covers to fans before transitioning to original music, where he puts his emotions into his music and soulful live performances.
Shane’s debut album, filled with pop glimmer and indie rock optimism, arrives as eleven-track ‘Irrational’. Shane takes audiences to new heights right from the opening, ‘All The Scars’ filling the atmosphere with a flurry of dreamy tones, sliding guitars, twinkling synths and catchy vocals all setting the scene.
Progressing through the project, Shane dances through influences far away and close to home, a steady folk ballad found in tracks like ‘I Think It’s You’ and subtle country energy falling into ‘Losin’ You’, whereas ‘What You Need To Know’ and ‘Long Road’ bring subtle elements of alternative pop into the mix.
This genre traversal makes for a unique project, Shane’s talents being pulled in multiple directions but arriving at a ground-breaking blend of acoustic and electronic genres, all the while keeping a shining pop undertone that makes for infectious listening. ‘Where I’m At’, alongside its deep emotional descriptions, also seems to define the album as a time capsule for Shane’s songwriting, with his sound set to continue to evolve across subsequent releases.
Shane explains his album, “I’m so grateful I finally get to share this album. We’ve been working on it for about two years now, and it’s just so nice to put it out and move on creatively. I felt as though artists were getting away from full-length projects that flow from one song to another. It’s kind of a dated concept because, in the streaming era, you can start an album on any track you wish. So for this project, I wanted to create seamless transitions from one track to the next to create a really cohesive project that satisfied us as a whole.”
With Brazilian roots that trace back to Sao Paulo, 
