Electro – Page 2 – 7th Level Music

You can find a “Holy Grail” with Vacations’ new single.

Vacations—the Australian indie rock band of lead songwriter and vocalist Campbell Burns, bassist Jake Johnson, guitarist Nate Delizzotti, and drummer Joseph Van Lier—announce their new album, Pursuit of Anything, out October 2nd on Nettwerk, and release the lead single/video, “Holy Grail.”

Pursuit of Anything captures Vacations at a turning point as Burns reflects on the disorienting, often contradictory experience of growing up, tracing his path from Newcastle (Australia) to Los Angeles and New York—caught between ambition and the more traditional lives unfolding back home. Written by the band and produced by Burns, the album finds Vacations operating as a fully creative force with Burns drawing constant inspiration from his bandmates’ lives and perspectives: exploring how they’re each living out different lives yet share a common experience, all in their own “pursuits.”

Mixed by Beatriz Artola (Geese, Caamp), the result is a richer, more intricate, and emotionally expansive sound. Pursuit of Anything arrives as the band solidifies their place as one of the most globally resonant indie acts of their generation with sold-out world tours, double-platinum certified hits, and over 3.5 billion streams. The record turns inward, driven by the push and pull of devotion to music, relationships, and self-discovery. It is this tension that fuels an earnest, dreamy pop album that feels instantly classic.

This is on display on today’s single, “Holy Grail,” a diamond of a pop song, the sort of music you want to listen to while lying out in the sun. The track is impressionistic and melancholy: “How can I fool myself,” Burns sings in the song’s opening moment. The synths around him twinkle and the song lilts.

“‘Holy Grail’ was based on a stressful Zoom call we had together as a band last year,” Burns reflects. “We were in this period of wanting to write and record new material, but then also being stuck in a loop of unsustainable touring. So many people I know have devoted their entire lives to music, and yet, at times it can feel as if you’re in pursuit of anything just to make it work for you. This push and pull dynamic of something I love so much is fascinating to me. I may struggle at times, but I will always return to it because it brings so much joy and fulfillment and ultimately outweighs any negative.”

Watch the Video for “Holy Grail”

Pursuit of Anything is a labor of love, the product of a group of friends who have been making music together since they were barely out of their teenage years. On it, there are weddings, families, reflections on the past, and hope about the future. “It’s about happiness as a feedback loop,” says Burns of the record’s title, “How you keep chasing the next thing.” It’s a record that feels classic the first time you listen to it, it feels like chasing that rush, that sense of self discovery and rediscovery. And it shows Vacations at the height of their songwriting powers. It’s a pop record that takes pop music seriously. Lovely, earnest, dreamy and hopeful as they come.

This summer, Vacations will embark on their Holy Grail Tour across the U.S., Asia and Australia. The run of dates also includes the band’s very own MATES Festival with the third installment taking place at Knockdown Center in NYC on Saturday, June 20th. The all-day, full-building, multi-stage event will take over the Main Hall and Ruins at Knockdown Center, and feature Vacations, grentperez, girlpuppy, Mamalarky, Alex Lahey, Horse Jumper of Love, Thelma Plum, and Winter. Tickets for all dates are on sale and available here.

Pre-Order Pursuit of Anything

Vacations Tour Dates:
Thu. July 9 – Jakarta, ID @ M Block Live House
Sat. July 11 – Perth, AUS @ Freo.Social
Sun. July 12 – Adelaide, AUS @ The Gov
Thu. July 16 – Brisbane, AUS @ The Triffid
Fri. July 17 – Melbourne, AUS @ 170 Russell
Sat. July 18 – Sydney, AUS @ Metro Theatre
Sun. July 19 – Newcastle, AUS @ The Act at Earp Distillery

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t take a vacation from subscribing.]

[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Various artists – DJ Notoya Presents Tokyo Pulse

Famous crate digger DJ Notoya has put together another excellent compilation of rare Japanese city pop and funk tracks from 1974 to 1988 – Tokyo Pulse. Some of these tracks were only released as a single or a demo, and never on a full album.

Starting with Naomi Chiaki‘s “Yoru E Isogu Hito,” the compilation drops you into the funky flotilla right away. It helps that Chiaki’s backing band is Godiego, a highly successful prog-rock band in 1978 Japan. Steve Fox‘s bass groove almost carries as much weight as Chiaki’s voice. Yumi Murata‘s “Ranhansha” is a great disco track that belongs in about a hundred movies from 1979. The horn, piano, and synth arrangements in it are all solid.

L-E-V-E-L were an all-female city pop trio who got help on their 1981 album eve and the track “Bagdad No Atari Nite” from none other than Masahide Sakum – creator of the legendary TR-808 drum machine. “Lake in the Forest” by GAM (Great American Music Band) is a weird blend of reggae and synthwave that somehow works despite all odds.

Nami Shimada‘s 1988 track, “Mitsumeteirunoni,” is bright city pop that makes you think that Japanese pop singers were light years ahead of U.S. ones in the 1980s. Tiffany wishes she had a single this cool. Bread & Butter cook up “Memory” from their 1974 album Barbecue. It’s fully of groovy hand percussion, porn music guitar, and even a wicked harmonica solo from Satsuya Iwasawa.

“After Image” is a stellar find, as it comes from Minoru Koyama‘s only album, 1980’s Hard to Be a Man. The bass walk on it by Mike Dunn is top-notch. “Island Cuckoo” by Chikara Ueda & The Power Station doesn’t team Ueda with the Robert Palmer-fronted 1980s band, but that doesn’t matter because it’s a solid jazz-funk track with sharp keyboard work from Ueda. The compilation ends with HIgurashi‘s “Anata Wa Doko Ni Irundesuka,” which could’ve been a Bond movie theme in another life.

This is a gold mine for city pop fans and might lead you down several rabbit holes to find other stuff like it. Be prepared.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Vhyce – Romantic Visions EP

Looking for a fun record to spin at your next summer house party? Vhyce has you covered with his newest EP, Romantic Visions.

The title track opens the EP with almost seven minutes of heavenly house beats and dance piano. “And We’re All Connected” trades out the house music for trippy trance music that will fill the floor if it’s not already. “Eco Simulator” keeps the party going with great beats for your workout, post-workout pool party, and the drive back from the pool party. “Paradise” has a solid house piano line through it that makes you feel like you’ve gone to the hippest church revival ever.

“Perks of Daily Life” is another floor-filler with a thumping backbeat that allows it to be easily dropped into a dance mix. The soaring synths add a cool futuristic touch. The EP winds up with the Magari Goa “91 mix” of “Every Ending.” It sounds like could’ve been unearthed from a 1991 rave time capsule full of glow sticks, ring pops, coach’s whistles, and condoms.

All in all, this is a solid EP that will brighten up your summer playlist. Go grab it before Memorial Day gets here and the weather gets colder.

Keep your mind open.

[I have romantic visions of you subscribing.]

[Thanks to Inflyte!]

Rewind Review: Bollywood Bloodbath compilation (2011)

I knew I was going to buy Bollywood Bloodbath as soon as I saw the cover and read “The B-Music of the Indian Horror Film Industry.” That cover image, by the way, is from the 1981 monster film Janni Dushman (which is readily available on YouTube if you’re interested).

The collection is packed with great Bollywood psych-disco-horror music ranging from 1949 to 1985. It starts with the spooky laughter of Rajesh Roshan‘s theme to 1981’s Sannata (The Silence), which adds synth wind sounds and ghostly vocals to the mix. Pulsing beats lead the charge on Hemant Bhosle‘s funky phantom track, “Sasani Khez Koi Baat” from another 1981 film – Sansani (The Sensation). Bappi Lahiri‘s “He Met Me in the Guest House” (from 1980’s Guest House) is a rare Bollywood track with English vocals (by Preeti Sagar) that’s a mighty fine lost disco track. Lahiri’s horn-filled (and monster roar-including) “Meri Jaan” is another cool gem from another 1981 movie about a weird snake monster called Dahshat (Shock) and has lovely vocals by Sulakshana Pandit, freaky synths, and almost spaghetti western guitar sounds.

Up next are the prolific team of Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma with “Aa Jane Jaan” from the giallo-like Intaqam from 1969. It combines bells, spy movie-like horn blasts and hand percussion beats, and mysterious sounds you can’t quite place…and it ends with what sounds like a fight or murder taking place on screen. More mysterious sounds abound in Ratandeep Hemraj‘s “Birha Ki Maari Koi” (from 1979’s Shaitan Mujrim (Satan’s Culprit)) as Jyoti, the lead actress, sings alongside howling dogs, creaking coffin lids, screeching cats, and a horn section that sounds like it might be drunk.

Lahiri returns with the simply titled “Dance Music” from 1982’s Maut Ka Saya – a film about a swamp monster. It’s a rather bouncy track (with sexy, nearly orgasmic laughing) that could be mistaken for a cumbia instrumental upon the first listen. Apparently, this swamp monster is a cool cat. So are the duo known as Sapan Jagmohan, who display their jazz-funk chops on 1978’s “Aji Kahan Gum Ho” from the occult film Darwaza (The Door).

The duo of Laxmikant-Pyarelal return on the theme for 1967’s psychological thriller Anita. The simple hand percussion instruments highlight the lead character’s paranoia. Usha Khanna (Bollywood’s first female music director) provides “Tere Jaisa Pyara Koi Nahin” from the 1981 movie Hotel (the plot of which was pretty much ripped off by Poltergeist a couple years later). Khanna uses a funky bass groove and strange synth notes to craft a slick track.

Roshan comes back to another track from Sannata, this one being “Marjaban Too Kuthe Part 1.” It’s a fun love song hidden in a movie about a series of brutal murders. Sapan Jagmohan’s “Sote Sote Adhi Rat,” from 1984’s Siskeyan is a standout on the record with its great guitar work, funk bass, disco beats, and lush vocals from Salma Agha.

After the short instrumental “Ab Kahan Jayenge Ham (Sad)” by Bhosle (another track from Sansani), we get the exciting theme to 1980’s Andhera (The Darkness) by Sapan Jagmohan. The movie blends a vampire film with a crime thriller, and the “crime” sound is prominent here. You’re expecting a chase scene or a fight to break out any moment. Lahiri’s title to Dahshat follows it with more bat-snake-who knows monster sounds combined with fast tabla beats and warped synths and guitars that sound broken.

Roshan delivers the (in terms of title) out-of-place “Superman, Superman” from Sannata. Two detectives are trying to find the serial killer in this film, not intrepid reporter Clark Kent, so why a song with Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, and Ursula Vaz singing about the Man of Steel is in this movie’s soundtrack is anyone’s guess. Nonetheless, it’s a blast and needs to be in the next Superman movie.

Another nice inclusion is “Dance Music” by Khemchand Prakash from what is considered to be the first Indian horror film – 1949’s Mahal (The Mansion). It’s not dance music for the nightclub crowd. It’s dance music for a strange ritual or for ghosts…or both. Another track from Maut Ka Sava by Lahiri is next, titled “Aafat,” and it combines surf guitar with city pop saxophone and Kraftwerk-like synths. I don’t how it works, but it does.

Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s “Chal De Rol” from Jaani Dushman is the most meditative track on the compilation with its excellent tabla work and swirling string instruments. My guess is that its supposed to call the crazy beast killing young brides in the film, but I could be far off base. Roshan’s “Marjaban Too Kuthe Part 2” is another lovely cut, and then we have “Dekho Dekho Dekho Magar Pyar Se” from 1985’s Cheekh (The Scream) by Nadeem Saifi and Shravan Rathod that could almost be video game music and has fun vocals by Alga Yagnik and wicked guitar riffs, tabla beats, and horn blasts.

The compilation appropriately ends with “Bindya Tarse Kajra Barse” by Rahul Dev Burman from the 1980 psychological thriller Phir Wohi Raat. Burman is sometimes known as the “Indian Ennio Morricone” for his massive output, experimentation, and talent.

Finding stuff like this is like finding a treasure chest of money in your backyard. It baffles you at first and then you’re elated by it.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: The Human League, Soft Cell, Alison Moyet – Chicago Theatre – Chicago, IL – June 23, 2026

It was a sold out night at the Chicago Theatre for this triple bill of 1980s music giants. The crowd was full of Gen Xers and Boomers who were buzzing outside the theatre and giddy once they got inside the place. I saw two people in their twenties there. I’m sure there were more, but they were vastly outnumbered…which is a shame because synthwave is hot stuff right now among the younger crowd. Go watch Stranger Things if you don’t believe me.

Alison Moyet started the night sounding and looking fabulous. Her backing band was sharp, especially her guitarist who subtly put down some slick riffs for those paying attention. Moyet was all smiles throughout her set, telling stories and expressing her thanks to the crowd. She played a good mix of stuff from her solo albums and Yazoo (known as Yaz in the U.S. for some weird reason) records. “Changeling” and “Only You” were lovely, and ending your set with “Don’t Go” is always a power move.

The modern version of Soft Cell was up next. Marc Almond is still on lead vocals and personality. David Ball died last year but not before they finished a lot of new material for their upcoming record, Danceteria. The new lineup came out right away with “Memorabilia,” the B-side to their first single, “A Man Could Get Lost,” which they also played. It was a weird new wave switch from Moyet’s sultry disco set, and I loved both. “Nostalgia Machine” (a clever takedown in 2022 and now) and “Out Come the Freaks” were other standouts, and, of course, they ended with “Tainted Love” to get everyone on their feet. They mentioned they’d be back in the spring to do a full show.

The Human League came out in full synthwave force with “The Sound of the Crowd” and “Mirror Man” with lead singer Philip Oakley quieting any curiosity about the strength of his voice right away.

Here comes The Human League…and the Mirror Man.

“The Lebanon” was a good highlight, and even stronger in 2026. An interesting moment was when I spotted a couple slow-dancing to “Human”…a song about infidelity. There’s a story there, I thought.

“Love Action (I Believe in Love)” is already a great song, and it’s even better life. The same goes for their mega-hit “(Keep Feeling) Fascination.” Their encore included “Being Boiled” (their first single) and “Electric Dreams,” a collaboration Oakley did with Giorgio Moroder.

They had a fun energy for the whole show, including multiple costume changes for Oakley, Susan Sulley, and Joanne Catherall, good visual effects, and Oakley prowling around the stage like some mysterious wizard. They’ve said they plan to keep touring as long as people want to see them and they’re healthy enough to do it, so get to a show while you still can.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Brian!]

Vitesse X covers Filter for her latest single.

New York producer, vocalist, and DJ Vitesse X shares her take on Filter’s late-’90s alt-rock classic “Take A Picture,” out today via Music Website. The track follows her recent single “Memori,” her first new music since the release of her acclaimed second album This Infinite.

On her version of “Take A Picture,” Vitesse X pulls the song out of its post-grunge radio-rock context and into something hazier and more suspended. Built around trip-hop-leaning drums, atmospheric production, and the song’s unmistakable melodic center, the cover draws out the melancholy beneath the original’s sense of escape while bringing it into Vitesse X’s own dream-pop world.

Of the track, Vitesse X says, “I was listening to ‘Take a Picture’ in the car in the winter, deep in some heavy emotions. I was feeling really detached from the current state of music and exhausted by the demands of the modern world. When the song came on, I was immediately transported back to a feeling I had completely forgotten existed. A time where life felt tangible and simple and pure. It was honestly transcendental. I opened up my phone notes to remind myself to make a cover, and a month later it came to fruition.”

Vitesse X has spent the last several years shaping a sound that sits between dream pop, breakbeats, club music, and alternative electronic production, becoming a quiet reference point for listeners drawn to shoegaze-adjacent electronic music, soft-club nostalgia, and left-field pop. Her 2024 album This Infinite expanded that world further, with KEXP calling it “a fantastic set of glistening synth-pop” and Pitchfork previously describing her debut Us Ephemeral as “transportive” and “engineered with precision.” She has since continued to connect across indie and electronic audiences through touring, collaborations, and a growing visual world.

Check out “Take A Picture” and stay tuned for more music from Vitesse X coming soon.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe.]

[Thanks to Cody at Terrorbird Media.]

Cornelius announces new album with a new single with Sean Ono Lennon – “Aeons.”

Today, Cornelius announces his new album ‘REFRACTIONS’, the forthcoming full-length from Japanese musician, producer and composer Keigo Oyamada. The album is to be released on August 19th on Eat Your Own Ears Recordings and marks a new collaborative chapter in his work. Along with the album announcement, he has also announced a Japanese tour as well as a show at London’s Barbican.

For more than three decades, Cornelius has occupied a singular space in contemporary music, transforming everyday sound into intricate rhythmic systems and immersive, cinematic soundscapes. ‘REFRACTIONS’ continues this trajectory while marking a subtle but important shift outward. Where previous Cornelius records often leaned toward introspection, this new work is shaped more explicitly through collaboration and exchange. A sentiment illustrated with the album’s lead single “Aeons”, featuring Sean Ono Lennon. The track sees Lennon contribute vocals and lyrics, bringing his distinctive melodic sensibility and lyrical voice into Cornelius’ ever-shifting sonic world.

The creative relationship between Kiego and Sean stretches back to the late 1990s, when Cornelius first encountered Sean’s work and was struck by its unusual harmonic language, melodic openness and experimental pop sensibility. Across the years, their exchanges have continued to evolve through shared projects and long-standing artistic trust, with Sean inviting Cornelius be part of Yoko Ono’s re-formed Plastic Ono Band, doing performances is LA, NY, and London.

“Aeons” represents one of their most direct collaborations to date. Speaking about the collaboration, Cornelius says: “As the world and my surroundings changed at an intense speed, I think all of that inevitably shaped this work. Rather than expressing these ideas directly, I approached them structurally – exploring continuity, transformation, and multiple coexisting states within a single, uninterrupted flow of time.”

That same sense of shifting perception runs through “Aeons,” a track built around fluid forms and subtle instability, where melody and texture appear, fracture and reassemble in constantly evolving configurations.

Sean Ono Lennon reflects on the collaboration: “I’m always honoured to work with Keigo, he’s one of my favourite humans on the Earth Planet!”

Listen to “Aeons (ft. Sean Ono Lennon)”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14-VSYqIRWw
‘‘Refractions’’ album links: https://linktr.ee/Cornelius_Japan

Emerging in the early 1990s after the dissolution of Tokyo pop group Flipper’s Guitar, Keigo Oyamada quickly developed a reputation as a meticulous sonic architect, building dense, playful and highly detailed musical worlds that dissolve genre boundaries entirely.

International breakthrough album ‘Fantasma’ (1997) established Cornelius on a global stage and is widely regarded as a landmark in experimental pop. Its collage-like approach to production drew comparisons to The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, Beck and The Beastie Boys, while helping define a new international appetite for adventurous Japanese music. Nearly three decades later, the album continues to resonate with new generations of listeners, with b-side “Typewrite Lesson” recently unexpectedly finding renewed life in a viral moment on TikTok and support from artists such as Rosalía.

“This time, instead of turning inward, I wanted to open the work through interaction with others,” says Cornelius of his new work. “I’ve come to feel more strongly that reality is not something completed within oneself, but something shaped through relationships and exchanges.”

That philosophy runs through the fabric of ‘REFRACTIONS’, which also features contributions from Arto Lindsay, Bid, and longtime collaborator Shintaro Sakamoto.

Across ‘REFRACTIONS’, Cornelius continues to explore shifting perception, memory and interconnected consciousness, not through narrative but through sound itself. Tracks behave less like fixed compositions and more like living systems: ideas branch, overlap and mutate, forming an evolving sonic landscape where multiple states coexist at once.

Despite its conceptual framework, the record remains deeply human in tone. There is a familiar warmth and playfulness embedded within its intricate construction, a sense of curiosity that has long defined Cornelius’ work. Drawing from psychedelic pop, ambient music, Brazilian tropicália, kosmische experimentation and minimalist composition, ‘Refractions’ ultimately resists categorisation, existing instead within its own internal logic.

For new listeners, ‘REFRACTIONS’ offers a gateway into one of contemporary music’s most quietly influential catalogues. For long-time followers, it reveals an artist still expanding and reshaping his language after more than three decades.

What emerges is not a fixed statement, but something constantly in motion: music that refracts, reshapes and reorients itself as it unfolds. ‘REFRACTIONS’ marks the beginning of a new chapter for Cornelius, an artist who remains entirely singular in the landscape of modern music.

Cornelius live dates:
10 Sep – Yokohama, JP – KT Zepp Yokohama
12 Sep – Tokyo, JP – CLUB QUATTRO
13 Sep – Fukuoka, JP – Zepp Fukuoka
19 Sep – Sapporo, JP – Zepp Sapporo
22 Sep – Nagoya, JP – Zepp Nagoya
23 Sep – Osaka, JP – Zepp Namba
26 Sep – Sendai, JP – Sendai PIT
2 Oct – Tokyo, JP – Zepp Haneda
3 Oct – Tokyo, JP – Zepp Haneda
6 Oct – Tokyo, JP – Zepp Shinjuku (TOKYO)
19 Jun, 2027 – London, UK – Barbican

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity.]

No Joy releases title track from upcoming EP – “Big Life, Big Leaf.”

In 2025, No Joy released their 5th LP Bugland. The project of Jasamine White-Gluz, had long been a critical darling, but their 2025 album was a new high water mark. Produced by the heralded Chicago experimental artist Fire-Toolz, the album earned a Best New Music designation from Pitchfork, who called it “a perfect album for our current shoecraze…Bugland is full of more textures, more ambiance, more chunky ’90s guitar. It crushes like a giant box of Gushers,” with further praise coming from Bandcamp, FADER, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, AV Club, Hearing Things, FLOOD, and Exclaim, and last week was nominated for the Polaris Prize.

At the end of May, No Joy appeared at first edition New York’s Total Bummer fest and next month they’ll make an appearance at the legendary Roskilde festival. Ahead of that appearance No Joy is announcing a new EP entitled Big Life, Big Leaf, which is a further collaboration with Fire-Toolz, who just released her first LP on Warp Records. The EP will be released on August 21st on Hand Drawn Dracula, and is being announced with its title track, which was co-written with Japanese Breakfast and Sky Ferreira producer Jorge Elbrecht.

White-Gluz says of the track:

“This was a demo I had that we never got around to during the Bugland sessions. In 2024 I brought it to Jorge Elbrecht (Japanese Breakfast, Sky Ferreira), who I have a long history of writing with. We really love exploring the absurd, combining musical ideas that shouldn’t really make sense together – it felt great picking up where we left off after 2020’s Motherhood LP. Bringing the song back around to Angel Marcloid (Fire-Toolz) more recently (post-Bugland LP sessions) made perfect sense to me; both Angel and Jorge have insane musicality and melodic imagination. Angel is a brilliant pop producer, she has a knack for shaping where a song can take you emotionally. Tara McLeod (Kittie) rips on guitar as usual, continuing to bring this heavy-but-effervescent energy.

“Lyrically, I wrote and recorded these vocals in one take during an emotional time this past spring. I was exploring the boundless pain one feels when it is time to say goodbye to someone or something. It is also during those moments that it is important to remember, ironically, to have joy. To mourn is also to celebrate.”

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Tom at Terrorbird Media.]

Billy Azurdia releases a dreamy new single – “Solamente En Mis Sueños.”

South Bay based singer-songwriter Billy Azurdia is releasing “Solamente En Mis Sueños,” on July 7, 2026. The genre bending single will be the 3rd and final release before his upcoming full length album. A danceable and ambitious departure from the straight forward tenderness of “Contigo,” “Solamente En Mis Sueños” showcases
Azurdia’s confident versatility, blending city pop, folk and shoegaze.

Azurdia delivers a distinct 3-act anthem that begins on a sparkling dance floor, followed by a chromatic build that releases into a massive, distorted crescendo. The lyric and emotional component describe a chance meeting, that while beautiful, leaves one with a heart full of longing and bittersweetness. The finale explodes with fuzzy guitars, and dreamy synths, as Azurdia belts “Dejame aquí, puedo verte sonreir” (“Leave me here, I can see you smile”).

Billy Azurdia has been writing, producing and releasing music from his solo projects and as a contributing member of multiple Los Angeles projects, including Mind Monogram and Jane Astronaut, since 2011. His most recent work is an arrival as an indie folk writer, blending earthy grit and shimmering whimsy.

“Solamente En Mis Sueños was an opportunity for me to explore unconventional structure, danceable rhythms and blending it with the singer-songwriter styled indie folk that I’ve been producing these days. I’ve had the desire to explore city pop for a long time and I love songs that don’t ever return to a previous section, like (The Beatles) Day In The Life. I ended up with something I’m really excited about.”

“Solamente En Mis Sueños” will be on streaming platforms July 7th 2026.

Keep your mind open.

[I dream of you subscribing.]

[Thanks to Billy Azurdia!]

atmos bloom beckon us “Closer” with their new single.

Music is what initially brought atmos bloom — Tilda Gratton and Curtis Paterson — together when Tilda auditioned to play bass in Curtis’ band at the University in Manchester.

Seven years on from those rainy nights rehearsing in Trafford, the duo, now life partners living in London, are set to release their most compelling record yet. Everythingness was born out of a series of balancing acts, the journey through youth and young adulthood, chasing adventure while longing for home and falling in love with the city where they found this home, yet still needing to escape it in order to think and create. The record maps the duo’s journey through these themes whilst staying true to what initially brought the two together. It’s set for a July 24th release via Spirit Goth.

Following last month’s release of “Everything,”today they share the new single for “Closer.” It plays into the hazy, half-lucid magic of the band’s formula.

On “Closer,” the band share: “‘Closer’ explores self-love and finding peace with yourself and your inner child, whilst also missing past versions of you that no longer remain.”

Check out the new video via YouTubeandpre-order the album.

atmos bloom’s first musical venture together: a psych-rock-shoegaze outfit inspired by bands such as Sonic Youth, Pavement and julie ignited a love for being in a band and making music. Their debut album Flora was born as the pandemic began to ease and restrictions in the UK were starting to be lifted. The record reflected this new beginning, a shining, shimmering record of hope that felt like an endless summer, with just a glance over the shoulder at the troubles left behind. As a result, Flora was inspired by jangly bedroom and dream pop, such as Alvvays, Beach Fossils and Cleaners From Venus.

On this second album Everythingness, a much different time is represented, a time with more uncertainty, painting a clear picture of the state of flux the duo found themselves in. The flow of the record reflects the endless cycle of feeling up and down and the sudden changes we all experience. From hope, self-realisation and sufficiency to fear, loneliness and unbearable pressures. The most positive and joyous parts of the album are met with the darkest and most lost. Even within individual songs we find ourselves plunged into a landscape that’s unrecognizable from the one where we started, only to be dropped back in and end at the beginning. Neither the ups nor the downs linger for too long and the overall message of the record is left up to the listener.

Do we enjoy the light whilst we’re in it, cut loose in the dark and embrace the unpredictability? Or do we live in fear of the uncertainty that’s around the corner, unable to embrace either the light or dark for fear of a sudden shift. The record ends with a clock-like rhythm, representing the perpetual cycle we find ourselves in, unstoppable and uncontrollable, all encompassing – Everythingness.

Without the restraints of trying to make a particular record, the pair unleash a wide range of influences, all explored through an honest and personal lens on this self recorded and produced work. In particular, bands such as DIIV, Ulrika Spacek, Deerhunter, Broadcast inspired Everythingness, without betraying the duo’s foundation in both psych-rock-shoegaze and jangly bedroom/dream pop.

The album’s artwork and themes reflect the environments in which the album was crafted – a patchwork, a collage, intersecting aspects of life and the world, and the journey to find our place within it.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to George at Terrorbird Media.]