Trentemøller on “In the Gloaming,” “Dead or Alive,” and His New Post-Punk Sound
(Photo by Karen Rosetzsky) There have always been post-punk influences in Trentemøller’s music, but two of the singles preceding his upcoming Memoria really bring them to the forefront. While the Danish musician started out making dark, Knife-esque electronic music, his ear for repetition and textures brought to mind certain gothic rock groups: the foreboding, jagged […]
“Count to Four” by Ollie West & The Wildflowers: A Poignant, Understated Breakup Narrative
Breakups aren’t always dramatic. They don’t always involve cheating, or fighting, or Adam Driver punching a hole through the wall. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of two people coming together a while before drifting back apart. And sometimes, that hurts worse than blowing a relationship to pieces in an acrimonious fight. It’s one thing to […]
“Blue November” by Cuchulain and Shawn Barry: A Warm, Collaborative Spirit
Before we talk about “Blue November”, we should talk about the circumstances of FEAT. Created in the midst of the 2020 pandemic, Cuchulain Kelly sat down to create the music and lyrics for each song on the album, and would ship out the demos to each artist featuring on the track. The entire album has […]
“Touchstarved” by SugarSeaFoam Grapples with Deep Self-Loathing
Sometimes, I don’t like myself very much. I’m feeling pretty good at the moment, but even now I can rattle off an exhaustive list of my personal and physical flaws (here’s a sample platter: my fear of confrontation that manifests as passive-aggression, my tendency to procrastinate, my self-seriousness, my oily skin, my nail-biting habit, etc.) […]
Father John Misty Returns With the Beautiful, Underhanded “Funny Girl”
When Pitchfork listed Father John Misty’s “Bored in the USA” as the 84th best song of 2014, they made a prediction about the then-upcoming I Love You, Honeybear that serves as a neat summary of Josh Tillman’s career as a whole: “It will either profoundly move your soul or profoundly annoy the shit out of […]
“Time Machine” by Jana Horn Perfectly Embodies an In-Between State
Something I’ve come to enjoy about the new year is the peculiar aimlessness of its first few weeks. The old year is always firmly relegated to the past through retrospectives and year-end celebrations, but for a little while–until Martin Luther King Day at the earliest, Valentine’s Day at the latest–it doesn’t feel like a new […]
Two Story Melody’s Favorite Songs of 2021
2021 was better than 2020. There were, of course, a litany of disappointments. For a moment, the pandemic seemed like it might have been vaccinated into submission, but it struck back with two absurdly contagious variants. This was made possible by an ecosystem of far-right misinformation, which encouraged millions to offer a hearty “let’s go […]
Vaca Sagrada on “Border Song,” Cormac MacCarthy, and Their Cinematic Sound
The Western genre runs deep in American musical culture. Countless artists in various g genres have been influenced by classic Western iconography. Vaca Sagrada draws on these traditions to create the evocative images of “border song”. The partnership of David Brooks and Jeff Wiederschall come together to write songs for a Western tragedy. Inspired by […]
“Heaven” by Begonia: A Breezy Song about Afterlife Uncertainty
I think about death too often. I don’t like dwelling on it, but the thoughts come all the same, popping up in quiet moments and poking me like a bratty kid. Hey! Hey, you! You’re gonna die someday, y’know that? You’re gonna die, and you’ve got no idea what happens next, do ya? Do ya?! […]
Lack the Low on “The Sharpest Knife” and the Yin-ward Lean of Her New Album
Lack the Low, an experimental music project led by Kat Hunter, drenches the world in an iridescent sheen with their new song “The Sharpest Knife.” Lack the Low lives in the deliciously strange in-between, dissolving musical and artistic boundaries with sheer force of will. “The Sharpest Knife” glows in a pulsing membrane between realities: between […]
