It's Time To Finish What We Started And #SaveOurStages

To date, over 1.5 million live music lovers nationally have written letters to their elected officials via SaveOurStages.com, but it’s not enough. Without an influx of federal funding 90% of independent music venues across the nation will collapse before congress reconvenes in the fall.

Within the next week, both the Save Our Stages Act and Restart Act, two bills that have been introduced and can ensure the survival of independent venues across the nation, will be up for vote in Congress. It’s time to make sure that these pieces of legislation get passed. Keep in mind that the Save Our Stages Act also impacts Broadway, so this isn’t just us fighting for our sacred music spaces. It’s up to the people to fight for the communal art spaces where we gather to connect over art.

We need to step up and finish what we started, y’all.

Today the New York Independent Venue Association (NYIVA) alongside with the newly formed National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) are calling for a day of action. If you were one of the 1.5 million angels who already submitted a letter with ease via the SaveOurStages site, there’s a new letter for you to fire off to your representatives urging them to pass these bills.

The list of NIVA members/venues speaks volumes in terms of both how hard our industry was hit and how many locally owned businesses have been impacted due to COVID. I think of how many times I have felt my heart sink walking past Knitting Factory, Baby’s All Right, or Music Hall of Williamsburg since the pandemic shut down NYC, unsure of how long it’s going to be until it’s safe to be sweating profusely in sold out show, grinning from ear to ear as the bass from the band I’m seeing shakes my entire body. These spaces are sacred and precious. We need to do everything we can to protect them right now against all of this uncertainty.

I know in NYC alone there are more than 1.5 million people appreciating music or Broadway at any given moment. If show going is your moment of sanctuary against the insanity of this thing we called life, I encourage you to take time out of your day today to first (obviously) send the latest letter to your representatives and then identify at least 5 friends you love being at shows with and directly put this in front of them. You can put this in your Instagram stories or post it on Facebook all you want, too, but take a moment to check in and make sure that the people you’re eager to share space with again are doing their part, too.

Please take the time to reach out to your representatives RIGHT NOW.

[RANT] Finding My Algorhythm

Today I’m happy to report that, somehow in the midst of a global fucking pandemic that I’ve managed to find myself in probably the best mental health state of my life. As much as quarantine has been a nuisance because of being so isolated, it has really allowed me to thoughtfully reflect on things I wasn’t sure I’d ever be ready to address. Throughout this period of healing, I’ve really come to treasure how my whacky, overworked brain, and big ass heart both truly eat, sleep, and breathe music every second of my day.

I'm not sure how many people who write about music can also say they have not only worked in music but that they’ve worn as many hats as I have while working in music. Since moving to NYC I’ve worked in music publishing and at labels (in both marketing and radio). I’ve been an artist manager. I’ve even been a tour manager. In addition to working in music, I’ve also had the opportunity to work in advertising with Fortune 500 brands doing social media. I am realizing more and more that my unique perspective gained from all of these experiences is probably a lot more useful than I had initially thought.

As I float around the internet I observe a lot. For example, I make it a point to take note in which bands cluster together. I also do really nerdy, data driven things like cross-reference number of streams, monthly listeners, and social media following in order to gauge where in their career an artist is likely at, based on my personal experiences with monitoring those numbers for the artists I worked with. While it’s not entirely how I decide who gets covered in this space, it certainly helps me navigate the complexities of attempting to lend the level of support any particular artist may need.

In the past few months, a data point that I have found myself increasingly more fixated on is the impact of the playlists that listeners are discovering these artists through. Furthermore, who is behind these playlists that are helping to drive the larger numbers. 

Are you surprised to hear that normally if 5 out of 5 of the displayed playlists are all owned by Spotify, that their monthly listeners, followers, and streams  are often exponentially larger?

Didn't think so lol. 

As someone who quite often romanticizes The Algorithm™ but keeps a watchful eye on Spotify, in the past few years I’ve become more aware of their editorial playlisting and its increasingly alarming impact on music, specifically from a community standpoint. I genuinely don’t know if anyone else feels this way, but Especially In the midst of a pandemic, observing bands of all shapes and sizes tripping over themselves to laud streaming platforms (but let’s be honest it’s mostly Spotify) for chucking one of their songs on a playlist so as to stay in their good graces is just…. well, it’s just as weird as it is just really fucking depressing. 

This is all while knowing full well that touring off the table for the foreseeable future. Thus it  makes sense that everyone is collectively scrambling to stay afloat. That said, something about witnessing this just makes the future look so…. bleak. I know these kinds of shoutouts are fairly standard for the industry for other formats. For example, it definitely makes more sense to shout out a radio DJ. The space on the airwaves is limited and there’s a lot of vetting that is involved to take a chance playing an artist on the radio. Something like this I think a DJ is more than entitled to being acknowledged for their efforts. 

But with playlists, especially with how limitless they seem to be, are they really generating enough value? It shouldn’t surprise you to hear that I’ve made a fuckload of playlists in my time on this planet so far. I can tell you that once you get the hang of how you want them to flow that they can be assembled fairly quickly and easily. For these platforms to do this it is not a lot of *work* to throw a metaphorical bone to a band by chucking a track into one of the probably thousands of editorial playlists that exist. To be sure, I am not discounting the overall taste or attentiveness to details of making a good mix, I just know that in-tools like Truffle Pig exist (which I imagine by now they have integrated into the tool they use for playlisting submissions). I am saying that there is no scarcity to the number of playlists in the way that there is obvious scarcity in the example of an artist attempting to get radio play. 

The thing that is concerning me the most these days is - what happens after that song hits a playlist? With the sheer volume of genres and mood-related playlists that Spotify’s editorial team can crank out all while knowing that there are algorithms at play tweaking a good number of these to keep you on the platform consuming and accumulate more data for either them to monetize like they apparently do with data on our moods (ps labels have been using Spotify to gather data on us, too). If I give Apple Music shit for being more concerned with being in the device business and Google the data business instead of solely the music business, then I really  simply can’t ignore the very blatant move on Spotify’s part to be more in the audio streaming business than the music business. I know there are a lot of factors at play here and I’m not tryna have a heated debate right now about streaming royalties because FUCK ME that all is so messy, political and honestly out of my jurisdiction (not to mention Mark Mulligan already has some meaningful thoughts on all that anyway).

For this moment I’d mostly just like to pose the following questions:

Is essentially ⚡️being paid in exposure⚡️ from Spotify’s editorial team actually impactful enough for musicians?

Especially right now, is scrapping for a shot at their reach actually worth it in terms of fan conversion? How does quality vs. quantity come into play here? Additionally, in the wake of how clear it’s become that the music community as a whole has some major cleaning up to do to be a truly inclusive and safe space - are we sure this approach to artist discovery is being mindful enough of that?

Look, I know it’s not the job of the massive industry gatekeepers to both exhaustively investigate and nudge every artist they’ve ever given the time of day to a certain level of success every single step of the way. I also know obviously that individual fans should be doing their own level of due diligence as both consumers and community members upon discovering a new favorite artist. But here’s another question to ask - are the majority of Spotify’s users aware of things like the massive housecleaning of sexual predators underway in the industry right now? If so - where are they learning about this and is it always after the fact and not an opportunity to dodge a predatory bullet? 

Meanwhile, it’s no secret that the state of music journalism is just as disheartening to be a part of. Even before the pandemic hit we all helplessly witnessed massive layoffs at a plethora of publications, including but not limited to music. In addition to the majority of the sites that were crucial for discovery during the Music Blogging Boom drying up, we’re now watching some of the most brilliant critical minds in our community pivoting to personal newsletters while they’re unemployed as a means to contribute to the community while also maintaining credibility. As much as I find this to be deeply admirable, I’m just as concerned with how this will play out in the long term as I am with the gap that I feel is widening between an artist’s initial exposure and career longevity.

So….

….. why the fuck am I saying all of this? 🤔

Well for one, I feel like if I didn’t air the above concerns that I wouldn’t be true to myself or to the community I have loved and lived to serve for the majority of my life. More importantly, and it makes me really uncomfortable to be this vulnerable, I’d like to use this opportunity while I have your attention to acknowledge that for the past few years I’ve struggled a lot with knowing how best to contribute to an industry that honestly has made me feel like I was no longer needed while simultaneously having a slew of strangers begging me to devour an onslaught of music both inside and out of my blogger inbox, form quality rapid-fire reviews,  promote, and maintain relationships with either publicists or artists directly.

Y’all, it’s really fucking hard being essentially an editorial staff of one, especially when your standards for artist coverage goes beyond mostly regurgitating the contents of a press release.  Furthermore, it has become increasingly difficult to not let my frustrations of not being respected as such get in the way of wanting to do right by the artists that come into my life in the variety of serendipitous ways they do. I mean fuck, within the confines of my inbox specifically, I am expected to respond to pitches from folks who either have clearly never even looked on my website based on what they send alongside the (let’s be honest) an unnecessary number of frantic follow up emails I get from familiar faces in hopes of coverage. A reminder that, although I am often presumptively pressured to deliver the same output that this specific editorial staff of one is not doing this full time nor am I being compensated for this work. It has taken me literally everything in my being not to rage quit altogether. To be clear, THIS IS ME ✨NOT✨ RAGE QUITTING. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

I guess this is all to say, if not for the sheer fact that I derive so much joy in sharing music, that I would have stopped throwing money at GoDaddy and Squarespace a long time ago. In my lifetime I’ve found sharing music to be the thing that has allowed me to best articulate my inner world to other people as a means to connect. Even before SKOA, the deep connections I made through music were personally transformative. Still, being afforded this platform has brought people into my life that mean so much to me that I’m in tears at the thought of a life without them. This is my way of making sure it’s known that I intend to continue to honor what music has done for me by doing the work and figuring out in real-time alongside all of you how to best foster a rich community of people who intend to help elevate and champion stories of musicians from various walks of life. I hope to fill in the gaps between that first dopamine hit from a song that grabs you to the second we get back to shows, whenever that may be. With (ugh) no end in sight to quarantine I really have nothing to lose here other than maybe money that could have been spent on records instead of overheard site costs. That said,  If you’re up to indulge me in this endeavor and show support, I’ve created a Patreon which I am open to tweaking to make sure the energy exchange is sufficient. In the meantime, as I find my algorhythm here, please know that I am open to feedback to what you think would be helpful or cool to be a part of.

In the meantime, because it wouldn’t be an update from me without music, please enjoy a collection of a fraction of the songs that helped me get to where we are now.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Bob Moses - "Desire"

photo credit: Lucas.MK

Everyone’s favorite makeout music makers, Bob Moses, have returned with a brand new single and news of a new album that will be out next month! The album is called Desire and it’s a concept album surrounding the positives and pitfalls of humanity’s driving wants in the digital age we’re living in. “Desire can become quite destructive if you're not self-aware. With this record, we’re trying to be self-aware by looking at our own desires and reckoning with them,” explains keyboardist Jimmy Vallance. “Stories about desire are timeless: Icarus flying too close to the sun and ending up falling to his death…that idea inspired the falling man on the album cover. That symbolized to us how desire can lead to a downfall.”

The duo has chosen to share the title track of the album as their initial offering, which is a collaboration with Grammy-nominated ZHU and it is…well let’s just say it’s aptly named(😍). It’s definitely a slight pivot to their signature sound, but I appreciate that ZHU definitely urged a different kind of energy out of them. They also unveiled an interactive video for the track, further demonstrating the pleasure/pain sides of desire. I was going to share it below but I can’t shut the autoplay off so you can head here to check it out. The below standard version is equally as demonstrative of the concept they’re going for.

The idea for the followup to their sophomore album, Battle Lines, came while the duo were out on their last European club tour as their original two-piece setup. “It was great being back in that environment and feeling the communal energy,” recounts Vallance. Singer Tom Howie adds,“We wanted to make something that was continuously mixed, something that would take the listener on a journey and replicate that feeling we try to create when we’re playing our sets in a club. We’ve appreciated the worlds created in concept records from bands like Pink Floyd and Nine Inch Nails. We thought it would be interesting to combine that kind of songwriting with the flow of modern electronic music.”  

To celebrate the launch of Desire, Bob Moses will play a B2B livestream set with Blacklizt (a project by ZHU) as part of Insomniac’s Factory 93 “Secret Project Livestream”. That’s happening on Friday, July 17 at 4pm PT / 7pm ET HERE.

Desire is out on August 28th, 2020, courtesy of the fine folks at Domino.

Desire

Release Date: August 28, 2020

1. Love We Found

2. The Blame

3. Desire (Bob Moses & ZHU)

4. Hold Me Up

5. Outlier

6. Ordinary Day

Pre-Order

[SONG OF THE DAY] Aish Divine - "Common Questions"

image courtesy of Aish Divine

To witness all that is Aish Divine in the flesh is remarkable. It was sheer luck that I stuck around to check out his set at Piano’s last year during Mondo.NYC. It only took a few seconds after he first opened his mouth for me to be hooked and hopelessly devoted. For the next 20something minutes I was glued to his every move. It’s difficult to explain the sensation that washes over you when you share a room with someone that is there to be heard. To clarify, there is a difference between someone hoping to be heard and folks like him who somehow give you no other option but to hear them. As an immigrant, queer, person of color, Aish Divine is here to be heard. It is not a suggestion, it’s essentially command. He will be the first to tell you as he shared recently on Instagram, “I want to undo the injustice, the unfairness, the non-equality, and lack of visibility that I experienced. I will undo it with the rest of us.”

His latest track, “Common Questions”, is exemplary of his ethos. Taken from his forthcoming sophomore album, The Sex Issue, the track examines the world of online dating through a queer lens. From first blush, it’s easy to say that “Common Questions” is another song bemoaning hookup culture, but it’s more than just moving on from one warm body to the next as you may have heard previously from tracks from other queer artists like SAKIMA’s “Apps”. From his experience on dating apps, seeing things like, “no femmes", “no asians”, “muscle only”, etc. on dating profiles are the alarmingly normalized things that possible matches are just causally leaving on their profile. This is of course before being inundated with common questions about dick size, STI testing status (*which to be clear is not a bad thing to ask but not within the first 10 minutes of talking to someone*), and essentially just questions related to solely hooking up.

Meanwhile, as he notes in the song, “Ain’t got time for common questions / I just wanna man with intuition / who knows how to keep my attention / he’s a good fuck and tender affection”.

Oh honey, same same same same sameeeeee.

Not only is the song a fuckin bop that won’t stop, but the video is full of fabulous non-binary folks and was directed by a woman, as are all of the upcoming videos for The Sex Issues singles. It's a dance filled, intersectional view of queer, non-binary, South Asian, American street culture….and I can’t fucking get enough of it.

More details on The Sex Issue forthcoming. For now, get caught up on his debut album Mother, which was released earlier this year.

diSKOAverweekly: Week of July 15, 2020

Tell you what, that week of media deprivation I did 2 weeks ago has resulted in a crazy amount of music going through my ears ever since. I feel like I’ve reverted to MySpace era-me where I just floated around the internet looking for cool songs to snack on. The only difference between now and then is you don’t have to torrent to take a chance on someone you’re just remotely curious in. If anything, it just helps you float down the rabbit hole all the more. I hope y’all are taking advantage of all this downtime in quarantine to find new folks to get invested in. It’s hard to know which baby bands will be able to stick it out until it’s safe to go to shows again, so now more than ever, we need to be taking chances and throwing our $upport accordingly, you feel me?

Okay! Okay! Okay! Yes yes I know!

Less Talk. More Rock.

Here are the 16 ways I love you most this week:

1. Mayer Hawthorne - ”Rare Changes”

   Last week Mayer Hawthorne dropped this smooth little vibe that he co-wrote with SebastiAn long before the pandemic began. As he shared on Twitter: “I can’t believe how inadvertently poignant it is. We’ve got a long way to go, but I’m deeply inspired by all of the positive changes happening out there.”

2. Elle Músa - “Mango Pops”

   Elle is adored by Geowulf which is how I came to know her and this lovely little summertime tune. It sounds just as refreshing as your first bite into a popsicle on a really hot day.

3. Tohu Bohu - “IT.”

   Tohu Bohu keeps making these slick ass indie pop songs so I’m going to keep making sure you hear them. That’s just how this works.

4. Stray Fossa - “For What Was”

   I’ve been meaning to share these guys for awhile. This feels like the right time because with every new track they release they further shape their sound. It’s obvious from the last few tracks they’ve dropped that they’ve really hit their stride.

5. The Nicholas - “Rockshow (feat. Odessa)”

   The Nicholas did some work on the most recent Golden Vessel single and also has just dropped a song with Akurei. Do not let all the Aussie angels confuse you though. He’s currently based in LA, which how I assume he came to collaborate with Odessa on this track. At this rate I’m just torturing myself with songs about shows because I can’t go.

6. NIMMO - “Dancing Makes Us Brave”

   Got better acquainted with NIMMO this week. I’m now well read up on their exit from their deal with Sony and all the work that went into their debut LP, The Power, that came out last year. I keep coming back to “Dancing Makes Us Brave”. Every time it comes on it has my full an undivided attention.

7. Birdee - “Rumors (feat. Andre Espeut)”

   Decided to catch up on what Birdee has been up to since he’ll be dropping a remix for Pink Flamingo Rhythm Revue's latest track this week. I found last year’s LP Then Came the Sun to be quite nice. This track was my favorite.

8. Phony Ppl - “Why iii Love The Moon”

   I finally held still long enough to listen to more than just like 2 Phony Ppl songs. It’s cool watching "Fkn Around” take off right now. It feels like everyone is talking about that song. I hope folks are taking the time to dig around in their catalog and really get invested.

9. Ruel - “Painkiller”

   I’m genuinely confused how someone like Ruel can be huge seemingly everywhere else but the US. This man would easily dominate the radio over here. Instead, I had to find him while checking out who Taka Perry remixed and get knocked on my ass at the original (in addition to the other songs of his I checked out). Also - this is why I get so weird about hearing remixes before the original. You might not connect to the rework as much as the original. Do the extra legwork and peep both. It’s even more fun when you love both.

10. CUT_- “Cry”

    I have been following along with CUT_ since I came to love “Undertown” back in 2017 (as seen in the DW archive). After releasing last year’s A Small Group of Individuals, the duo has returned with this new number. Fun fact: their artwork for this single comes from one of my favorite artists on Instagram: Slime Sunday. As someone who has had some really fun times grabbing random albums because its artwork looks cool, nice to feel a little validated that cool shit really does attract each other.

11. Oklou - “SGSY”

    Came to know Oklou courtesy of the Flavien Berger track she contributed vocals for at the beginning of the year and decided to see what her solo releases were like. Her production chops are just as gorgeous as her voice is.

12. Dombrance - “Poutou”

    It’s so wild tumbling into someone like Dombrance, who just seems to be low-key hiding in plain sight. I’m still working to fill in the gaps of his whereabouts in his release timeline, but regardless there’s a massive spike in activity from Parisian producer and I am paying the fuck attention to his every move.

13. Lxury - “Guess”

    Lxury’s No Real Rush EP dropped back in May on Fools Gold. It was one of those things I tumbled into hopping around on Instagram. Pretty sure A-Trak was singing their praises. ANYWAY. The EP is very good, but “Guess” is the kind of song that’s so enchanting in its own dancetastic way that while I’m getting lost in the moment it feels like it ends way too quickly, which is impressive given that it’s almost 6 minutes long.

14. REBEL YELL x R-T-FAX - “Anti Club Music”

    Boyboy was plugged the feature his friend Marcus Whale did on a track with REBEL YELL’s latest album, Fall From Grace and lemme tell y’all….she makes me nervous like in the best possible way. She makes that bomb ass dark techno, you know?

15. DDm - “Pull Up”

    My beloved Miss Eaves was singing DDm’s praises on Instagram in an attempt to get him to 10k followers over there and I took to him very quickly. His lyrics are witty AF, so it should be no surprise to you that he used to be a battle rapper. Also his beats are fuckin siiiiiick. I’m genuinely surprised that I haven’t seen his name in passing before now.

16. J GRGRY - “Don’t Ever Give Up”

    I’ve been meaning to call out this track for awhile. The Seattle singer has a new single coming out next month so you have plenty of time to get yourself acquainted in time for “China Creek”, which is coming out on August 14th.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Pink Flamingo Rhythm Revue - "Diamond Man"

photo credit: Keegan Westervelt

If you haven’t already, you should get to know the solo project of Eric "Doc" Mendelsohn, Pink Flamingo Rhythm Revue. If the homey looks familiar it’s because he’s been making the rounds in the Brooklyn music scene at least since 2014 (he’s possibly best known as 1/2 of Ghost Beach). He’s also been hitting the road with Des Rocs as their bassist. This week he released his latest track, “Diamond Man”, on what is increasingly becoming my favorite local label: toucan sounds.

“Diamond Man” is a glitzy funktastic little nu disco number that is sure to make these scorching summer days more tolerable. Fair warning though: that guitar solo near the middle of the song might temporarily melt your face off if you’re not prepared. I suppose that’s there to make sure you know he is here to funk you up something fierce. If you’re like me and cant’t get enough of “Diamond Man”, a remix courtesy of LA’s Birdee will be dropping in a week-ish (7/17). That gives you plenty of time to also go back and get well acquainted with everything that Mendelsohn’s been releasing under PFRR for the past couple years. You could also check out Des Rocs or Ghost Beach if they weren’t previously on your radar. Blonde got a hell of a lot of love in my household when that dropped.

Pink Flamingo Rhythm Revue · Pink Flamingo Rhythm Revue - Diamond Man

[SONG OF THE DAY] LP Giobbi - "Meet Again (feat. Little Boots)"

IT’S
VIBE
OCLOCK
ON
FRIDAYYYYYYY 🎉💃🏼🕺🏼

Y’all know how much love I have in my heart for LP Giobbi. In addition to her consistently dropping back to back bangers, it’s been so inspiring to watch how her FEMMEHOUSE initiative has really taken off. I’m constantly seeing new sessions coming up to help empower women with the tools to be their very own badass.

Today we’ve been blessed with a new track, a piano house #posiparty anthem titled “Meet Again”. The track itself came together pre-covid while LP was riding a train in Vienna on the way to a show last winter. Then while in lockdown, she sent it over to Little Boots to get her creative take. As timing would have it, Little Boots had just recently heard Queen Elizabeth II’s speech where she implored the nation to keep hope alive during these dark times we’re living in, reassuring everyone that, “We will meet again”. The rest, as they say, is history. “It’s such a simple line, but I felt pulled to share it as a meaningful message across the world to everyone feeling lonely, disconnected or sad,” shares Little Boots. 

LP has also shared an accompanying video for the song, featuring a montage of simpler times from her childhood. There are a lot of adorable *BB Giobi* moments in the montage, a lot showcasing just how much she was raised around music (but you already knew that because you read my interview with her 😘).

If Mark Ronson’s recent cover of Richard & Linda Thompson’s 1974 classic, “I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight” (as seen on diSKOAver weekly) was hitting you right in the Yearning For The Dance Floor Feels™, “Meet Again” is the [for now] bedroom dance party banger you need to get you to the other side of this pandemic. It definitely has me daydreaming of my next outing with LP Giobbi filling the floor with her selects and originals. That last show at Elsewhere dancing and hugging with TC from Crush Club and LEFTI was def one for the books.

Speaking of bedroom dance parties. LP Giobbi is keeping busy on Twitch during the week, spinning hella house a whopping five days a week. Schedule for all of her upcoming livestreams are below in addition to tonight’s FEMMEHOUSE session.

LP GIOBBI’S WEEKLY SCHEDULE ON TWITCH

Wednesday 1:30 PM EST: LP Giobbi’s Club Set
Thursday 1:30 PM EST: LP Giobbi’s World House Party
Friday 1:30 PM EST: LP Giobbi’s Techno & Coffee House Party
Friday 9 PM EST: LP Giobbi’s Chicago House Party
Saturday 1:30 PM EST: LP Giobbi’s Piano House Party
Sunday 1:30 PM EST: LP Giobbi’s Gospel House Party

OTHER UPCOMING LP GIOBBI LIVESTREAMS

July 11th: LP Giobbi @ Rave Family Block Party - Femme House Stage [TICKETS].

July 11th + July 12th: LP Giobbi @ Retrospektfest (exact time TBD)

[SONG OF THE DAY] Akurei - "SUCKER"

photo credit: Maxwell Byrne

You should get well acquainted with Aussie bb Akurei. At first he was a name I caught in passing on “DOWN” from BAYNK’s latest EP, A STUDY IN MOVEMENT, along with Golden Vessel who y’all got a taste of yesterday if you bumped this week’s diSKOAver weekly. Recently he released his latest EP, SEROTONIN, which also happens to be the debut release on the recently launched indie label sumoclic, which is co-owned/operated by Akurei & Golden Vessel.

The first of three EPs that Akurei plans on releasing in 2020, SEROTONIN follows his September EP, which was released near the end of last year. “I wanted to share a few bite sized projects, and the three track format was an exciting idea to me,” he explains. Almost immediately after releasing September he began working on new material, but nothing really starting coming together until February when he went on a writing trip with two of his good friends, Golden Vessel and Emerson Leif.

Why yes, I’ve wandered myself into another nice little collective of talented individuals down under. Glad you noticed that, too. 😘

These guys are keeping busy and there’s already more to share since this EP dropped that is forthcoming, but given how quickly I’ve taken to Akurei and his tender unassuming voice, I just wanted to take a second to make sure he had at least one moment of your full and undivided attention. Although I thoroughly love the whole EP, “SUCKER” has really come to be my favorite.

Enjoy the SEROTONIN EP below. 💖

Akurei · SEROTONIN