SHADI G — GODDESS PT. 1

⌾ LISTEN TO SHADI G, GODDESS PT. 1 ⌾

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The minimal production of 'Goddess pt. 1' by Swedish artist Shadi G doesn't just serve to create a luxurious atmosphere — it allows the vocals of the musicmaker herself to soar and glimmer unimpeded. A patter of kicks and the abrasive pop of a snare propels the track forward on a blanket backdrop of soft synth chords, a glitter of zithers ornamenting it all; at the forefront, Shadi G's voice itself lilts and meanders with slow, acrobatic ease, vocal reverb like mist casting a dreamlike softness over proceedings.

"I felt I was in a place where the fun and playfulness could take a bigger part," says Shadi G in an email to yes/no.

'Goddess pt. 1' may be at its core a silky R&B number, but it's also a soulful exploration of the singer's Iranian heritage: lines of Farsi curl and spiral into earshot in the finale. "I love the melody of the language, the nature of the language itself is so poetic," she says, explaining that she chose include Farsi into her track because of the importance the language has played in her life.

"I really want Farsi to get a platform to be heard and seen," she adds. "Music isn't just made in English, even though it's the language that's given the most exposure and space by the industry."

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• 🔔 You can stream and/or download 'Goddess pt. 1' by Shadi G via whatever music service on this list is your preferred choice.

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🐣 YEULE — POCKY BOY

Firstly those synths, warped and wild, wrap the track in wreathes of rolling fog, a heavysoft sound that ushers you into this sunken world. Grainy and cutting, like a rain of razor wire, this is the cloud on which you sit throughout the song, the vantage point for witnessing yourself like an out-of-body experience. 'Pocky Boy' is all about this atmosphere, tender but cutting, harsh.

The voice of yeule adds to this sense of sea-mist, this mind miasma, the curdling of nebulous thoughts that end up as "voices in my... head." Her vocal reverbs into itself, a series of cyclical ruminations, sheaves of a diary ripped out scratching together dusty and fragmenting into a distant breeze, incoming.

Ultimately though there is this violent ambience, this scathing wall of grey noise punctuated by the pastel of those synths (struck by their stumbling rhythm, their picking-up-the-pieces irregularity, the head-in-hands voidsome chords of it), but it is given motion by the thump of a meaty house kick: the simple secret to continuing with life. The easter egg of a gun cocking.

And yeule's own voice, looped, echoes itself, a frenzy of movement—by the end, we return to those chords by themselves, ready to begin again; foreboding instead of finality.

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• 🔔 So the 'Pocky Boy' video is above, of course, and features instant messaging, some urban exploration and a little bit of pocky play, too. Directed by friend-of-the-artist Rabbit Sashimi (actually a thing; though we cannot find a jot of a soul online), it is described by the Singapore-and-London-based yeule as follows:

  "At the dawn of the new age, civilization has been wiped out by an alien race that can shape-shift into the humans that used to walk the earth centuries before. The aliens attempt to grasp the differences of gender and form that humans beings had, even though they do not know the difference because of their nature as non-binary beings."

• 🔔 This track was actually released back in April via Zoom Lens, so you may straightaway download 'Pocky Boy' here, should you wish to do so.
• 🔔 Aaand... yeule will be playing her first LA show on 23rd August, 7:30pm - 11pm, as part of Zoom Lens-curated night Malform. The location of this show is TBA.

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☟ yeule Internet Presence ☟
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🐣 IMS — STILL CRYING OVER YOU FEAT. IEVADELI

It is this gentle freefall feeling, the misty atmosphere that washes all around—the thick warm waves of synth curling like clouds and fluttering with energetic pulse, the twinkling simple melodies pinging off into the starry distance of the song, the nocturnal feeling of abiding loneliness, a strange comfortable longing, the feeling of a break-up yet still being in love, sprinklings of pinprick hope scattered on the melancholy majesty of the soft chords. London-based producer Imad Salhi aka ims crafts this vessel of emotive sound with not just a certain optimism in the sound, but in the rhythm, the shuffle of the beat, the gloopsome robust bass groove: in the hopeful bounce of it all.

"The track was inspired by a conversation with a friend, as she shared her plans to win her boyfriend back," explained ims. "The energy of the song comes from her eagerness, whilst the melancholic feel reflects her despair." Lithuanian singer ievaDeli provides vocals that reflect the feeling of the song, crooning with doubt and ache in the verses, whilst in pre-hook parts her voice raises up, beginning to soar and take flight, bright and positive. Still there is uncertainty, in the synth vox that bubbles as the hook, in their wordless worry the sounds are cyclical, the way internal anxiety and sadness create circles that sometimes feel unbreakable. Yet glimmers of goodness are the mainstay of 'Still Crying Over You', suggesting that a positive outlook on life means everything.

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• 🔔 You can download 'Still Crying On My Own' over here if that is what you desire.

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☟ ims Internet Presence ☟
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🐣 MICHL — WASTE?

Dynamic plays a big part in this new one from LA singer Michl. It swings like a galactic pendulum between the soft synths of the verse, its sparse beat with miniature percussion clicks, and the chorus, a swaying segment of the song that's sultry with wide rich synths and the harplike glittering sweeps of sound that give it a heavenly feeling. 'Waste?' questions ourselves, exhibits doubt; in the verse the synths grow and bulge and play in different patterns when Michl croons, "So what's next?"—in the second verse a pulse of synth bass begins to rumble at this juncture. Questions arise, unanswered, and send us into the exquisite disquiet of the chorus, where the snares clack and the hi-hats shuffle-swing, each one a sonic shrug, unable to answer the question of whether or not everything will go to waste, the synth shivering around it anxiously in the wake of this big question mark.

Michl's singing in the verse, lilting and beautifully treated by the space in between the sounds that cradles his voice, his vocals are also rhythmic, which is part of which makes this song so instantly likeable. The metre is verging on that in which Shakespeare wrote his plays, iambic pentameter, a rhythmic way of speaking where there are 10 syllables written in pairs, unstressed-stressed. However, in 'Waste?' this is shaken up. For instance: "i can't push this barrel any farther" is the other way round. We have then "cause every single step is getting harder" which is iambic, but there are 11 and not 10 syllables. And in the pre-chorus, "can anyone repair the mess we've made?"—this line is iambic, and follows the chords that play behind it.

This rhythm, like a heartbeat – de-DUM de-DUM – is naturally easy to follow, but by adding and subtracting syllables, stressing it backwards, the followable is subtly changed and sticks out, catching the listeners' attention. The point of this? Michl writes them well, that's what.

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• 🔔 Just one new track earlier this year, 'Everything'll Change', followed Michl's debut self-titled EP that appeared last year. So is that one, alongside 'Waste?', part of a new release? We dunno.

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☟ Michl Internet Presence ☟
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🐣 PAOLA MAURICIO — CONSENT TO THIS

Arriving from Manila today is this solemn march of a track, this synth-heavy lament of longing, 'Consent To This'. Twinkling from its sombre and wholehearted beginnings, a moody VGM-flavoured intro with synth leads that lance into the distance, the song builds into loftier emotive heights where fizzing chords swell over the tumbling overdriven kicks and clacking snare hits, firework ornamentation with shivering metallics, the voice of Paolo Mauricio vaulting up into the ether and gliding on this dreamy bed of sound.

Those vocals drift throughout, slow, earnest, carrying their silky lilt over the various decorations to the beat – the additions and subtractions of hi-hats, the fluttering high pitch synth like blinking stars, the smooth flutey sounds in the last especially bristling chorus, the energised drum fill at 02:58, aaaah, the whole thing – over all of this exceptional soundscape swaying slo-mo and sleepy. All the elements come together perfectly, Mauricio's voice weaving through the aching bumps of the beat and the sultry swathes of synth draped over them, a beautiful sculpture.

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• 🔔 Feel free to purchase the track via Beatport. You can also listen to it on Spotify if you wish.
• 🔔 The producer behind 'Consent To This' is Justin de Guzman, who is also behind the label on which it was released, Deeper Manila.

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🐣 SUPER MAGIC HATS — SEASHELL FEAT. MAYUMI

Here is an end of the day song from Super Magic Hats, a bittersweet what-a-lovely-time-we've-had-but-how-sad-it's-over kind of song, a song draped in gentle electronics and set on a bed of chill. In order to fully realise this feeling of melancholic euphoria the song features Tokyo-based singer Mayumi (aka GrayNightly, aka Chelsea Terrace) whose breathy vocal whispers plaintive and echoing through the synthetics, an illustration of a person alone in the world painted by the instrumental.

A genuine Balearic sunset sound exudes from the track, a slow sunset winding into the hazy indigo of dusk: the soothing just slightly abrasive pulse of the bass, the slow melody pinging into the distance with delay and reverb setting it timeless in space, the later arpeggios, all of it a well defined melt of tranquilising sounds. At the same time swells of emotion crest with the track's amplitude, with additions to the beat – syncopated snares, rapid hi-hats – with combinations of the two weaving together for subtle dynamics, a gradual rise and fade from the day to dark with memories in tow. 'Seashell' is the transition to twilight, the voice of Mayumi leading the way like a guiding spirit.

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• 🔔 This track is taken from Wish, the Super Magic Hats album released 15th March this year via Tokyo label PROGRESSIVE FOrM. It is possible to purchase it online.

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☟ Super Magic Hats Internet Presence ☟
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🐣 HOÀNG THUỲ LINH – BÁNH TRÔI NƯỚC (WOMAN)

Here's a little something heard whilst watching MTV Vietnam, the latest song from Hoàng Thùy Linh, a Vietnamese singer who is "well known", according to Wikipedia, for her sex tape. She was at that point starring in an interactive sitcom called Vàng Anh’s Diary, but this was cancelled essentially because of said sex tape, the last episode that was aired (2007) being a pre-recorded talk show with Thùy Linh in which she apologised for her actions. Very harsh, we say.

Fast-forward 9 years and here we are in 2016. The song in question, 'Bánh Trôi Nước (Woman)', is a spacious whirlwind of whooshing sounds, glittering synth and fresh forested percussion, Thùy Linh's voice stretching into the distance, crooning and acrobatic, sampled throughout for elastic ad-lib firings. It's based on a poem called "The Floating Cake" (the meaning of 'Bánh Trôi Nước', and an actual dessert) by female poet Hồ Xuân Hương (1772–1822). The song's producer, Long Halo, creates an atmosphere of far-off wanderings and half-forgotten echoes, jungles leaning in to listen and whisper with the percussive shiverings and clangings, rapid-fire clip-cloppings giving way to a sludgy, punchy dubstep beat towards the end.

The mystique of this song, the clean snares, the drip-drop clicking percussion, the syncopated chords, the general luscious atmosphere fogged with reverb, the vocals flowing long and liquid, heaping sounds into an intense explosive storm of sound, it's a surprise and we welcome those with open arms.

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• 'Bánh Trôi Nước' is taken from the S.I.X EP, a 6 track collaboration between Thùy Linh (4 tracks) and Triple D (2 tracks). You can purchase that or any of its songs on iTunes if you like.

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☟ Hoàng Thùy Linh Internet Presence ☟
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CUUSHE – TIE

Mayuko Hitotsuyanagi aka Cuushe is back in town or back in the music world with news of a new and upcoming release. Having lent her voice to a few other artists, notably appearing on Kidkanevil's album My Little Ghost, and releasing a track via Ryan Hemsworth's Secret Songs towards the end of last year, she'll be releasing a new EP called Night Lines. It arrives after her 2013 album Butterfly Case, which sounds pretty much as close to dreaming whilst awake as you could even hope to get, so delicate and floaty were the sounds. What's interesting about this one is that it's not just going to be released on her Tokyo-based label home flau, but also on supercool NY-London label, CASCINE, maximising the world's exposure to this wonderful artist.

Whilst we wait for these new songs from the Japanese singer there is one new song readily and already available. It's called 'Tie' and rather than being produced by Cuushe herself it features production from producer and flau label boss, aus (Yasuhiko Fukuzono). He provides a swaying beat perforated by lightning needles as glistening waterfall chords swathe and swirl with the rich whisper of Cuushe's voice.

Caramel bass crawls groovesome through the icy diamond-drop synth plink-plink melody, things become more cosmic, the pings of electronica seem to be arriving directly from the far reaches of a patch of night sky, somewhere out in the outskirts of your own mind; the beat skiffles more and more, tick-tocks in double time, Cuushe sounds beautiful, her vocals slow and considered, providing a wonderful contrast to the frantic pulchritude of aus' production: she sings a breeze through glittering gem-encrusted walls of a dreamt-up canyon on a wondrous imagined world.

This is one of four tracks that will be on Night Lines and I dunno about you but I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of it. Pre-order details are here.

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• I did a Q&A with Cuushe once, check it out – it's Lazy Interview #14.
• And if you are interested, the devastatingly cute/beautiful artwork (top) is by Yoko Kuno.

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☟ Cuushe Social Media Presence ☟
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LAZY INTERVIEW #16: SAMUEL

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← #15: ARISTOPHANES 貍貓 #17: BOTANY →

Here's a thing. It's time. Time for another Lazy Interview. The series is coming along nicely now. Sure is. You could, if you wanted to, actually have a flick back through past Q&As in the series - you can do that literally by just clicking where it says "INTERVIEWS" above. That's only if you want to. No one is forcing you. Hmmm.

So anyway yeah this is the latest one. It was a relatively quick turnaround. From pitching this guy to Dummy, getting a glowing green-light, writing about his Falling Star EP for them, and then writing about it for me (here), and then actually sending him the below questions, it's been a week since I first heard Samuel's music. Who is he? Well, this no-surnamed enigma of a man is a singer who recently released an EP, co-produced by Okzharp, that not only pushed boundaries musically - with a super smooth intergalactic post-R&B feel - but that also acted as a showcase for Samuel's voice; it has dynamic fluidity and capacity for expression that feels fresh at all times.

In any case, let us read.

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Who are you? Where are you from? What do you do?
I am Samuel and I make music bits. I live in Lewisham, from the green shores of Ireland.

Why did you decide to start creating music?
Just to feel better, really. Sadder, funn-er, detached-er-er, hopefuller. Lovinger. All the er's.

How would you describe your sound? What makes you and your style stand out?
I find it hard to process many things at once. I am loyal. I like clear bits. To hear fucking beautiful sounds and not want to overcrowd that beauty. Space to let the bits breathe. Milky. Milk with edge. Gangsta milk. Um, I don't know that it stands out. I don't know that it's good. I know that I am in it and that I feel that it is probably me within it, by the time I get to you hearing it.

Is there a perfect time and place for listening to your music?
At night. When your body settles and your mind starts to close out, in a field with a scotch egg and folk that you love.

What inspires you most when writing a song?
Love.

What is your most memorable musical experience?
Growing up in catholic convents, singing to the Jesus doll. If you allow yourself to believe in him, singing to him can blow your fucking heart out.

What are your favourite three songs at the moment?
Tramp and Tom Waits - Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet
The Abyssinian Baptist Choir - I Want To Ride That Glory Train
+ I really gotta settle on the third coz the finality of this is making me palpitate.

Who do you most admire in the music world?
I try to keep my blinkers in place. I guess music for me is glued into a therapeutic need/want/mess. I make it because I need to. I don't need to share it or have it dazzle out my ego but I do need it. So I find it hard to listen to other peoples music. I would like to have music friends but I can't. Ha! It's painful, doll.

In your opinion, what is the future of music?
I don't care to know this. Who could care? If I could know the face of my first born froglette, I'd probably just wait. Or the day to die. Yea, some things should be care-less.

What's the future of your music - what do you hope to do next?
I hope to keep making it. Maybe I could share it, or perform it to folk who like it. To keep making music.

What, aside from music, is most important to you?
Hair. I know a day will come when it shall leave me and that makes me sad. But then, there are sadder things to feel sad about.

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Samuel seems to have appeared from nowhere, with nothing but the beautiful Falling Star EP under his belt - a mystery as much as he is a talent. The above at least sheds a little more light on him. A little more. He seems genuine - wanting to create music to enhance everything: to "feel better" in every respect. In some ways, excluding himself from the current music world by keeping his "blinkers" in place, it not only allows him to concentrate on his own development as an artist, but it also allows his sound to be unpolluted by anything as fickle as fashion, the transient trends in music not affecting his sound.

And what about his sound? Well, you'd better check out the EP if you haven't done so already. Then you'll see that he pretty much sticks to what he says about not wanting to overcrowd beauty - it is a stark collection of sounds, something that allows each note to breathe, each element of each song never goes too far, never suffocates other elements, everything growing organically together in stunning simplicity. All he is concentrated on is his sound, his music, or rather the process of making music, being able to leave part of himself behind in each song without worrying too much about the result, or even the future at large - doing things in the moment. He said it best: "I make it because I need to." When something is this necessary to a person, no real influence can be made on it. It's pure.

Losing one's hair is also a sobering thought.

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← #15: ARISTOPHANES 貍貓 #17: BOTANY → - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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TARA CAROSIELLI DISCO LIGHTS

Here's something. Well, usually there's always something, but here is actually something. What does that even mean? I don't know. But what I can be sure of is that it is a good song that deserves a little more recognition. It's the kind of thing that could be very easily played on the radio all day every day for a long while and that is not a bad thing cause generally that means that it's a) a good song, and/or b) catering to popular tastes of the day. That's kind of exactly what 'Disco Lights' by London singer-songwriter Tara Carosielli is. Yep it's got this delicious feel to it that's not only catchy but danceable too.

I stumbled across this by chance, as with most things, but what I found out just now is that, despite this being the only song on her SoundCloud, Tara also has also uploaded a number of other R&B-flavoured jams that include the played-quite-a-lot 'Resistance', which is very nice indeed. For me, she's kinda come out of nowhere but I suppose she has to have come from somewhere, and from that somewhere she has been releasing music all the time. All of it is characterised by her own smoky soulful voice, an element in her music that is lilting with melody and the tinge of a London accent: quite beautiful.

Co-written and produced by Seton Daunt (a songwriter + producer for Sony/ATV - sorry if I'm wrong) the song is a futuristic post-R&B vehicle for Tara Carosielli's wonderful voice, which here seems to have its own special spotlight, picked out in all its clarity. Her vocals are also layered at some points with a low-register version - an added treat that brings a late-night dance feel to the song. Her voice decorates the song in other ways, reverbing after the chorus and providing part-of-the-music ornamentations of "Mmm-mm-mmmm", all of it dripping with attitude.

Essentially it's a pop song, but with its leanings toward garage and perhaps moreso drumstep - thanks to the bustling beat pummeling out a slow rhythm, the subby gloss of simplistic bass and waves of distorted cyclical synth - it's a pop song with a nocturnal attitudinal edge and a lovely hook: "Why are you so cruel to me?" - it's pretty sumptuous. There are a number of reasons why this could become a big success and the talent of Tara Carosielli is certainly one of the most crucial.

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