[SONG OF THE DAY] Blanche - "Moment"

Photo credit: Chloe Sheppard

Belgian alt-pop artist Blanche (born Ellie Delvaux) released her latest single, “Moment” late last week along with an accompanying music video.

Speaking on the track, Blanche explains that "Moment" is about the struggle with, “living in the present, trying to forget about any doubts and fears you have…” She goes on to say, “We have to let ourselves live. If we don’t learn to enjoy the present moment, then we might regret it when it’s over.” This theme is reinforced in the music video, which features her and her friends letting go of their inhibitions while focusing on the excitement and purity of youth.

Fun fact about the track: the hook for “Moment” was actually written by Delvaux’s boyfriend for one of his rap tracks, but they quickly saw the potential in collaborating on making a new Blanche song with it. It would be cool to hear the original to fully understand the journey that the track took before being blessed with the alt-pop star’s powerhouse vocals, but an awesome factoid nonetheless.

[SONG OF THE DAY] SATICA - "Agave Nights"

Long Beach based songstress SATICA unveiled her latest single, “Agave Nights” along with her first ever music video. I stumbled into SATICA when she teamed up with SKOA favorite SAKIMA for their song, “Dysfunctional”. Since then the siren has been stringing us along with more bops like “Drippin’”, “Inner Child”, and my personal drug of choice (pun intended) “miss yr high”. According to SATICA, “Agave Nights” is, “probably the most honest/emotionally driven things I’ve written.”

LA fam can catch her on December 8th at The Roxy with Shawn Wasabi. Tickets available here.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Bronze Whale - "Never"

On Friday Austin based duo Bronze Whale unveiled their latest single, “Never”. The electro-pop outfit have been working diligently on their upcoming full length, The Shape of Things, and have been sharing some tastes of what’s to come along the way with songs like, “One”, “Gold Grain”, “Patterns”, and “Warm”.

Speaking on the new single, the band shared, “‘Never’ is about grief, loss, and the stages we go through to bring our head above water.” They added, “we wanted the music to represent these feelings just as much as the lyrics, so we built this song with the idea of muted melodies that erupt with emotion in the choruses.”

In addition to working on the new album they also recently returned from a trip to LA trip and are finishing up some collaborations they worked on with Khai, Pronouncedyeah, and Aire Atlantica. 

If you happen to be in the Austin area you can catch the band on December 2nd at Sweater Beats.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Slum Sociable - "Afterthought"

Slum fam are back! When last we ran into the dynamic duo that is Slum Sociable it was back in June with their single, “Can’t Figure It Out”. During their downtime they managed to team up with Kim Moyes from The Presets along with producer Konstantin Kersting (The Jungle Giants, Mallrat) for their brand new single, “Afterthought”.

As you may recall, their self-titled sophomore full-length saw a slight delay in release due to singer Miller Upchurch’s struggling with depression but ultimately ended with them dropping a heart wrenching album (and if I’m being honest, one of my favorites of the year). With every single that they’ve dropped since then it’s very obvious that Upchurch is in a lot better place than he was previously. Their latest single, “Afterthought”, is a moment of reflection where Upchurch wishes he had done certain things differently. “Looking back on them can be frustrating”, he explained, “so I channeled my frustrations of not acting sooner into this song.”

Given that Upchurch’s voice has quickly climbed the ranks as one of my favorite all time voices, it is to be expected that I am so happy to hear that things seem to be going better for him.

In addition to this new song, the band has announced that they’re going to be hosting The First Annual Slum Sociable Xmas Special along with guests Two People and Ro at Corner Hotel in Richmond, Victoria (Australia obviously).

If anyone would like to pitch in for plane tickets this may legitimately be all I want for Kibbmas, especially if they’re actually planning on playing “Last Christmas”. Sigh.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Money & The Man - "Just Like The Sun"

Blessed be the day that The Algorithm™ came into our lives and somehow knew just the song to include in our playlists or in this case, at the end of a song I sampled on Soundcloud. As much as I love to romanticize my days of record store shopping in college where I just bought things that looked interesting, I adore the power that The Algorithm™ wields.

At any rate, I am happy that I was able to stumble in to Money & The Man. Based in Zwolle, Netherlands, the Dutch duo unveiled their debut self-titled full-length late last week, which is a blend of grungy blues-rock and has the ability to fill (possibly even overflow) the gaping hole in your soul that Queens of the Stone Age left after you found out all of the awful things Josh Homme is capable of doing when he drinks too much and you couldn’t bring yourself to listen to them anymore. If you find yourself enjoying their latest single, “Just Like The Sun”, just wait till you hear the rest of the record.

Mmm I am really enjoying this rock block I’m currently on. Sometimes I think that my rock days may be over, but then I just realize that most of the rock bands out there right now are kinda….boring? Money & The Man are definitely the opposite of that.

blah blah blah the band are playing everywhere that isn’t here. Actually that’s only half true, while they’re not playing in the US, they’re actually only playing a few shows in The Netherlands in the next couple of months. You can find more info over on their Facebook page.

[SONG OF THE DAY] MID CITY - "Old Habits"

Right so you’re welcome in advance for your new obsession.

Fam, please allow me to introduce you to the band you’ve been waiting all year for, MID CITY. Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, these dudes are about to blow out your fucking eardrums in the best possible way. You know how in cartoons a character would do something normal like open a random door but then unsuspectingly get run over by a train? That’s what their latest single, “Old Habits”, feels like in your earholes. This is some high octane indie rock for fans of bands like The Walkmen or more recently (and incidentally enough, also Australian) Gold Class. I imagine that listening to “Old Habits” paired with The Walkmen’s “The Rat” and Gold Class’ “Twist In The Dark” back to back could give the faint of heart some palpitations.

Earlier this week the band unveiled the video for the single in addition to announcing some tour dates (which are nowhere close to me whatsoever 😩) for January and February 2019. Aussie fam please make sure you go see these guys and report back on their live show for me so I can be jealous, k?

[SONG OF THE DAY] Spacey Jane - "Cold Feet"

Prepare yourselves fam for I have found the perfect little bop to trick you into believing it’s actually warmer outside than it actually is. Western Australia’s Spacey Jane have crafted the perfect blend of indie pop in the form of their song, “Cold Feet”, which is off their EP, In The Slight, which was released last week. Fans of Car Seat Headrest, Alvvays, and the like will def catch a vibe from their EP. From the looks of things these Aussie babies are quickly gaining some good momentum in the land down under with no signs of slowing down and I’m HERE FOR IT. They just secured a slot at Falls Festival in Freemantle early next year so if you happen to be down that way do not miss these little indie darlings.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Sure Sure - "Idiot"

No one in music right now is having as much fun being in a band than LA’s Sure Sure.

No one. It’s just not possible.

This band is so pure that it’s next to impossible to not get the warm and fuzzies from merely thinking about them. I have had the pleasure of catching these guys twice and their live shows are jam packed full of laughs and super fun synchronized dance moves. We love good people making equally as good (if not better) music. We love them even more when their hoodies are the softest thing of your entire life.

As the band explains, their latest single, “Idiot”, is a song “about judging a person from afar and then realizing you are that person. It’s also about embracing your dysfunctionality and ripping a guitar solo.”

The band has been out on the road with other SKOA favorites Wilderado and there’s just one show left of the tour. If you happen to be in Salt Lake City and could use a posi-party then head to Kilby Court on Friday (11/16)….and definitely grab a hoodie good Lorde that thing is seriously so soft. I’ve barely taken mine off since I got it.