CHARLOTTE DAY WILSON — IF ONLY

'If Only' is deceptively conventional. We have R&B vocals, keys and a groove; structurally, we have verses, pre-choruses, choruses, post-choruses, a bridge. But additions and quirks that elevate this song into a shining beacon of timeless romance, a paragon of bygone pop.

The creation of Toronto-based producer, singer and musician Charlotte Day Wilson, 'If Only' brims with textures that make it a fully-furnished room of a song. Glassy keys glisten, resonating with fireplace warmth, providing a juxtaposition between cold and hot, outer and inner — the yearning heart. Drums tick and bump with subtle kicks and snares, bass bubbles and booms keenly below, while now and then synth vox hop up and down a keyboard following the brassy voicebox fuzz of saxophone melody.

It's a flavourful mix. The approach to thick chorus and almost sparse verses is also a satisfying contrast, as is the cheerful Charlie Brown-esque intro melody against the expressive rising chorus, like the difference between accepting lost love with something like nonchalance, and then the sudden wave of longing reality, a feeling matured.

Day Wilson's lyrics to 'If Only' spell out this ache of loss told in the music. Take the chorus, for example, a play on counterpoint with deep, heart-rending bass, keys and vocals in wondrous syncopation.

And times move slowly without you
Heaven if only you could hold me
and turn it all around

The hopeful prayer-like tone of the chorus then shifts in mood for the final two lines, where clocks have stopped and grief is currency instead of seconds:

Tell me the time comes back
Still stuck in visions of what we had

In this lyrical weaving, her vocal tones add to the song's textural wonderland, alternating between deep silkiness and skipping acrobatics, layers upon layers to give a rich fullness to the sound. It's this overall fullness combined with the classic R&B structure of the song that gives it such timeless mystique.

To this end: Are we listening to this in 2026? Or could we intersperse this with muted crowd appreciation and feel as though we are four fifths of the way through a hazy live concert in 1992, candles lit on the stage, a smoke machine, a collective swoon in the audience as Day Wilson's masterwork sweeps through yet another gorgeously evocative chord change — are we there?

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• 🔔 The gorgeous 'If Only' is taken from Charlotte Day Wilson's new album Patchwork. You can purchase it digitally over on Bandcamp.

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🐣 THE NEON DESIRE — SCORCHED

Intense is the beginning of 'Scorched', this journey of a track by Toronto soundmaker The Neon Desire: sludgy bass synth croaks and growls menacingly beneath the one-note yarn of ear-satisfying synth, soaring high and circling above the bubbling lava below, rising and falling but always airborne. The beat swaggers slowly, loping muffled thumping kicks and hip-hop flavoured snares, with beeps and boops flickering in the midst of the jagged heated atmosphere.

But it is this track's numerous transitions that give it real depth. The melody, beat and even the mood of this surprising piece of music change at every one. From 2:12, for instance, trance synths needle in spiny and threatening, freakish swirling sounds storming in as the beat double-times and thumps, joined by warming glassy chords at 2:36. A minute later the vibe turns chiptune with staccato chords bouncing along; a plaintive synth-flute melody begins to play softly. All through these transitions and later ones, the growling bass still curls underneath, the volcanic landscape still there tumbling and crumbling, its many facets, from molten magma to fertile fields, illustrated throughout the track.

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• 🔔 This track is from The Neon Desire's recent self-released EP Deepest Blue, which you can purchase from Bandcamp.

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LAZY INTERVIEW #23: HARRISON

← #22: VULKANO #24: BO EN →

In any creative vocation there is usually a trade-off between quality and quantity. I say USUALLY because it's only the usual thing; sometimes you get both at the same time, but often you make a LOT of stuff of wildly varying quality or you make REALLY GOOD stuff, just not very much of it. Harrison seems to be one of the rare few who has to make absolutely no trade-off whatsoever. He makes a lot of music at a consistent level of (very good) quality. From edits, remixes ('Zelda Menu', anyone?) and future funk joints dripping with obscure samples, to more recent stuff that is almost wholly "original", Harrison's back catalogue already bulges with greatness.

Particularly interesting is his very recent 'Connect ✿' series, in which Harrison tries to portray the thoughts and feelings of his female friends based on conversations with them. Not only is the concept itself unique and rather sweet, but the nature and styles of sound that Harrison can explore here goes beyond the boundaries of his inaugural sounds: compare the already-classic 'Sunshine The Street Cat' with the most recent Connect, 'Charlotte', and you'll see what I mean. A summer-flavoured soulful funk mirage, and a pattering juke track with Rainbow Road flights of fancy. Totally different.

Happily! The clearly quite busy Harrison was happy to delve into a Lazy Interview exclusively for YES/NO. Actually, forget that, not exclusively, cause, well, I just asked him. That was all. EXCLUSIVE is in its meaning and its origins an ugly word. Read up.

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Who are you? Where are you from? What do you do?
My name's Harrison based out of Toronto and I'm a producer or instrumentalist.

Why did you decide to start creating music?
I was super bored and was going through a "rough" time in my life. It really actually started out as a joke with a few friends and I didn't want to stop. Boar M'londe showed me how to use Reason and we actually started out as a group (HMPF). We didn't break up or anything we just didn't make music at the same time because one of us would be gaming while the other one was on his computer.

How would you describe your sound? What makes you and your style stand out?
I honestly can't answer that because I don't know. I haven't found it yet which is starting to piss me off.

Is there a perfect time and place for listening to your music?
Depends on the album. When it Rains was made for the Fall and Prom King was made for the spring. Anything in between I really just made so people would dance and stuff.

What inspires you most when writing a song?
Females.

What is your most memorable musical experience?
My first show. It was at a tea shop that my friend's brother owned. She started this event called "wholehearted" which essentially brought artists together in the least non-pretentious way. I just remember my hands shaking so heavily and shit. The girl I was into showed up with a guy and I drank too much and all this shit. After it happened, I don't shake anymore.

What are your favourite three songs at the moment?

1. Forever by Chris Malinchak

2. Loving Free by Spazzkid

3. California Soul by Marlana Shaw

Who do you most admire in the music world?
Definitely people who aren't giving up on the old school. The people who don't need to express their music through words and the people who aren't afraid to make happy sounding music. Onra basically.

In your opinion, what is the future of music?
My opinion is really strong on that. I can't answer that without sounding like a dick so I won't.

What's the future of your music - what do you hope to do next?
I don't know. Going to release an EP and an edit tape hopefully. I hope my "following" is open minded though. I'd really like it to be my best one yet.

What, aside from music, is most important to you?
Females.

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So it's clear that Harrison likes females. An inspiration, a great importance in his life, and literally the basis of some of his newest, most different tracks, it's nice to hear an honest love appearing – for whatever reason, Harrison and females just go, like peanut butter and jam (jelly whatever). It's clear to see in his 'Connect ✿' series, how he reflects the mind-numbing boredom of a girl daydreaming at school, thinking of better things to do, the lack of direction, the somehow sunny and vague sense of worry. Even without lyrics, Harrison makes his music deliciously human, connective and energetic and at all times hopeful.

Feeling as he is "pissed off" at not finding a definitive style, well, if I may speak for a wider group of listeners, it's fine. In fact, the variety is great. We dip in here, we dip in there, we are never bored with your sound. I mean, perhaps this reflects an overstimulated generation, of which I am also a part, one that is indecisive, unsure – but why can this not be a good thing? Why can this not be a thing in itself? It might be the case that Harrison's style is one of fluid mutability, underpinned by a continual search for a "defining sound" – no exhaustive goal but the variegated journey itself – and if it is so then let it be: people clearly love him for it.

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← #22: VULKANO #24: BO EN →

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HARRISON – WHY YOU MAKE ME HAPPY [FREE DOWNLOAD]

Last time I wrote about Canadian trackmaker Harrison it was regarding his track 'Lolipop Love', which heavily sampled something else. In fact, a lot of his stuff is heavy-heavy on the sampling side of things – being a component of vaporwave in the form of funk-loving New Generation, I wouldn't expect anything else to be honest with you. But: all artists change, all artists evolve – they wouldn't exactly be artists if they didn't now would they? Gotta have like some certain degree of progression and amelioration surely, or if not that, a creative wandering mind which hates boredom.

Now, however, with 'Why You Make Me Happy', Mr Harrison might be trying something different. He released or perhaps it's more realistic to say uploaded the track a few hours ago, posting it on Facebook with the message that he was "Trying to grow up and use less samples." I don't know if using less samples is a sign of growing up, but changing anything about your musicmaking style is at least a telling sign of maturation. Tagged "Future Love" the track is sure of itself in its upbeat, spacey romance, sprinkled with cut-up vocal samples as it continues into its synth-led heart.

Cause it is pretty synth-led, glowing in the fizzing jaunt of the beat, shining like rays of light streaming through a window and cutting through the summer dust of a room; samples of outdoors background noise separate sections of the song, giving it a fresh, Springtime feel. By the end, all elements have been added: laser pulse high-register synth melody stuttering, clonking woody xylophone, whooshing future air of synth chords. All of it comes together, fluttering vivaciously, a clean, surgically-cut track that still possesses the sensual nostalgia of the type of songs that Harrison would sample – a sense of soul, romance, funk lilt. Shocks of sound cluster zip in the meld of everything, the pop equivalent to orchestra hits, the flummoxing caress of the heart thanks to this wholly new and futuristic yet retrodirected sound, a whistle awakening memory, life returning to the earth.

Uh anyway, this is from Toronto-based producer Harrison and it marks a significant change in his sound. Being only 18-years-old, there's plenty of room for growth despite being so clearly gifted and skilled at musicmaking as he already is, and as such I await with anticipation to see how his music will sound in the future.

This is a FREE DOWNLOAD btw (click yoself here).

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HΛRRISON LOLIPOP LOVE

Loving this sound at the moment. It's turning old into new. You know the story by now. Some artists I've talked about who are doing this KINDA thing include Wasted Nights and Saint Pepsi, just to name a couple. It's a style that's spreading across the internet, which is or at least must be in many people's eyes the future platform of music. But that's beside the point.

The point is, it's using old shiz to make new tracks. I guess it's like fishing. Fishing has been going on for thousands of years, and the fish stay the same the whole time. But what's different is the cooking method - the dish. People are always pushing the boundaries when it comes to haute cuisine, or indeed haute musique. Just music in general.

After that convoluted message I suppose it's time to introduce the cause of my gibberish: HΛRRISON (but for the purposes of convenience let's say HARRISON). He's a young, up-and-coming artist from Toronto, Canada. He makes music that drips 80s vibes like a lush freshly watered houseplant drips water. It's the prevailing sound. Sensual, groovesome, phresh. You know what I mean.

So let's d-d-dive right into HARRISON's catalogue - actually I'll leave that to you; I'm just gonna slice off the freshest piece and dip it in some sauce and grill it. Which is 'Lolipop Love' - a reworking, a cover I guess kinda, of an obscure song of the same name from 1984 by obscure artist Bryan Loren (shrug).

HARRISON turns the pastel coloured drum machine synth-fest of the original into a much meatier listen. It's as if everything's been reinforced, from the now well-rounded reverb of the beat to the low rumble of the bass. The funk is undeniable, creeping under your skin in an instant. The heart and soul of the 80s original is most definitely kept, transplanted into a bigger, better vessel, like some kind of android, who is sleeker and stronger than the old body. Now, that's quite a talent, don't you think?

There's a powerful grip to this song, one that you can't help but yield to and be carried off by. To where? Somewhere nonexistent where everyone is power-dressing and swishing their perms around. Yet people have smartphones and stuff. It's the middle of the Venn diagram where past and present (future?) meet and party forever and ever. Positively swimming in good, summery vibrations. Oh and he has a KEATS//COLLECTIVE (same label as Wasted Nights) release coming out soon. Who knows when?

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GAY CHRYSOTILE [VIDEO]

Why this song is called 'Chrysotile' I have no idea - because it is the most commonly encountered (I say that like it's a Pokémon) form of asbestos going, and in the song there's pretty much no reference to asbestos. I know what you're thinking, "Forget about the song name yo - the band's called GAY!" Sure they are. They are called Gay. But a band name's different to a song name. There are loads of crazy band names in the world - you'd probably be surprised at the LACK of story behind a lot of them. They serve to grab your attention mainly. Maybe it was a joke to begin with, so they could get onstage and say "good evening everyone, we're Gay" and get a few laughs from the crowd or something. I don't know.

Just listen to/watch it, ok?

Fun frolicking in the video. I like to see that. Who doesn't? But about the song, it's nice. Kinda has an afrobeat vibe about it, certainly in the well-arranged verse anyway, where the drums are off-beat and the melodious guitar picks a zingy little sungura-style melody (sungura is the popular guitar style of Zimbabwe). But in the chorus it comes to a raucous sound and regular rhythm, whipped up by the appearance of a horn section and distorted guitar strumming. It's like a North American (they are from Toronto) pop rock song taking a laid-back stroll down a street in Harare.

Judging from the lyrical content of the song, which has an out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new kind of feel to it, there could be a reason for it being called 'Chrysotile' - the act of replacing stuff built from asbestos as a parallel to being "restless, restless for newness" as the lovely falsetto harmonies sing in the song. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into it.

N-E-WAY. If you like what you heard, it is the newest song from Gay's upcoming album Dance Mix 95, out 12th July on Pleasance Records.

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AUSTRA HOME [VIDEO] // BEAT AND THE PULSE

When I heard the first few bars of this song I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen. I have to admit I hadn't heard of Austra before, so I had literally no idea what expect.

In 'Home', we're graced with singer Katie Stelmatis's vocals which are controlled-yet-teetering-on-the-verge-of-tears, suiting the lyrics, "You know that it hurts me when you don't come home at night". What's most evident in the song is how it turns from a potentially regular piano-driven Marina and the Diamonds kind of affair, into one that seems to be aping house music more than anything else.

And it's great: not too hectic, refrains cut up and placed like samples in strategic locales of the song, nice voice, good beat, catchy melodies, interest during the last half of the song with ethnic-style sounds. This is definitely something that I could get on board with.

Have a listen below. The video, whilst I'm not sure exactly how it relates to the song (am I stupid?) at all, is interesting too.

Then I saw that the band had released a video on YouTube even more recently than this one. But it actually turns out it's an old video for a song called 'Beat and the Pulse' from their first album - Feel It Break (2011) - edited because of nudity or whatever. Naturally, I found the original video. It's weird. See for yourself. Webbed hands an that.

But the music. This is a much more electro-fuelled song, with bulging synths and ghostly vocals that float over the top of the pounding drums. The song title definitely has it right, there's both beat and pulse in the vibe of this one. There is, however, a more basic sound to it that new song 'Home' has definitely dusted away and tuned up for a more interesting and multi-faceted sound that suits what they seem (at least) to be aiming for stylistically with their dream-like realist electro-pop. Nice!

'Home' comes from upcoming album Olympia, out 17th June on Domino.

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