Just Rolled In: Young Dreams - "Of The City" [psychedelic / orchestral pop / electronic / tropicalia]

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Bergen, Norway's Young Dreams has just released new material for the first time since their excellent 2012 debut album Between Places in the form of the fully imagined psych-pop single "Of The City". With production chops recalling the sleek expansiveness of Tame Impala's Currents, this upbeat single stays true to the psychedelic leanings of their debut and sports one hell of a string arrangement and bongo-heavy percussion section.

As the story goes, Young Dreams began work on their sophomore effort immediately after releasing their debut, but after three years of work on this "requiem for God", it was scrapped because the producer/composer/singer-songwriter behind it all, Matias Tellez, feared the album was "blasphemous and too conceptual" for anyone to like. However, the new track "Of The City" is actually a reincarnation of one of the songs from that discarded album, and boy, are we lucky that it made it to see the light of day! It just makes me wonder what the rest of that album would've sounded like. Nevertheless, Young Dreams has finished a different album that will be released in 2017, and if this song is any evidence, it's going to be amazing.

"Of The City" sees an official release August 26 via Blanca Records but can be streamed now on SoundCloud.

Artist Making Waves: Szymon [indie rock / folktronica]

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Szymon Borzestowski was a talented young singer/songwriter/musician from Newcastle, Australia who lost his battle with depression at age 23. When he was 19 years old he struck a deal with EMI but never got to release his music, so following his tragic passing his family got together with some record industry people to see that the music he had recorded in his home studio got released. More often than not, tragic backstories such as this one tend to be what carries posthumous works of art to a certain level of success or notoriety, but Szymon's debut LP Tigersapp speaks for itself, seeing as I was hooked on the album before ever hearing anything about the artist.

Drawing from the indie rock, folk, and electronica genres, Szymon employs his smooth vocal harmonies, intricate guitar melodies, ambient electronics, and catchy songwriting to make Tigersapp a truly unique album that is sure to live on, both as a celebration of an artist's life and talents, and as an extraordinary record in and of itself.

Listen to two of Tigersapp's singles below, the upbeat "Medusa" and dreamy "Golden", and order the full album here.

Swell Album: Macajey - Let's Go [electronic / folktronica / chillwave / beats]

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Estonia-based California native Jeremy Macachor, aka Macajey, has just released his latest record entitled Let's Go. The young solo musician/producer uses his experience as a guitarist and recording/mix engineer to bring us a full sound that is as much organic as it is electronic, tracking live drums, electric guitar, and original vocals (by Elle Leatham and sister, Ashley Macachor) throughout the complex array of digital sonics.

Macajey lists Bonobo, Four Tet, Slow Magic, and Gold Panda as influences, and it's evident in his music, throwing together Slow Magic's energy and danceability, Four Tet's use of organic sounds, the smooth jazziness of Bonobo, and the Gold Panda's glitchy production style. This concoction of musical tendencies allows him to generate a sound of his own that is just as likely to make you hit the dance floor as it is to make you plop down on the couch and trace the imaginary constellations on your ceiling with your eyes.

Stream Macajey's beautifully produced album Let's Go below and follow the link in the Bandcamp player to buy yourself a copy. You can also listen to and download (pay what you want) his two previous EPs here and here.

Just Rolled In: Froyo Ma - "I Live All Alone (Abby Diamond's Figure Remix)" [electronic / r&b / beats]

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New Orleans beatmaker Zack Villere, a.k.a. Froyo Ma, has made a name for himself for his complex electronic soundscapes littered with glitchy harmonies, obscure and retooled vocal sampling, and complementary guitar embellishments. This signature style of his is evident on last November's offering "I Live All Alone (feat. Bill Murray)" , which recently underwent the remix treatment by another New Orleans musician, singer-songwriter Abby Diamond.

Unlike most remixes, the music for the track itself remains the same and Abby's sensual vocals are simply layered over top, which, as you can imagine, yields an even better song. Having heard the remix first, the original track (featuring dialogue between Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray from Lost in Translation) just sounds like an instrumental version to me. This all goes to say that Abby Diamond fits flawlessly into Froyo Ma's already beloved track.

Aside from Abby Diamond's alluring R&B presence, what really impresses me on this track is how Villere manages to take an easygoing (and super pretty) contemplation-inducing loop and then turn it into a trip hop banger halfway through with the flip of a switch. It's gotta be the best "drop" in a non-dubstep song ever.

Enjoy the remix below and check out more music from Froyo Ma and Abby Diamond on their SoundCloud pages.

Artist Making Waves: Cannons [electronic / dream pop / r&b]

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Cannons is a blossoming three-piece electronic outfit based in Los Angeles that draws from funk, R&B, and darkwave to brew up their own futuristic brand of electropop that's equal parts groovy, sexy, and dreamy, so I can see why they've decided just to go with "future boogie".

South Florida native Michelle Joy is front and center on the keys, drawing the listener in with her chilled-out hypnotic vocals while bandmates Ryan Clapham and Paul Davis lay down the funky guitar riffs, ominous melodies, danceable beats, and slick electronic production. The fact that it all comes together so beautifully and that they've been pushing out singles every month or so for over a year goes to show that Cannons know what they're doing and that they're here to stay, and more importantly, to make you dance.

Cannons' debut four-song Up All Night EP can be download on iTunes or BandCamp for just a few dollars. Check out the recent tracks "Evening Star", "Night Verses", and "Spells" plus two of my favorites from the EP and hop on over to their SoundCloud page to hear a bunch more!

Swell Album: Jape - This Chemical Sea [electropop, synthpop] *FULL ALBUM STREAM*

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Dublin native and current Malmö, Sweden resident Richie Egan and his bandmate Glenn Keating are back with their fifth album This Chemical Sea as Jape, this year's follow-up to 2011's Meteor Choice Music Prize-winning Ocean of Frequency. While most of their discography has been tagged with the subgenre 'folktronica' for its unique blend of acoustic guitars and synths, what we hear on This Chemical Sea is pure electropop, leaving the acoustic component out of the final mix and focusing more on the rich electronic production. Catchier, smoother, and groovier than ever before, This Chemical Sea is, hands down, Jape's greatest and most tenacious effort to date. Stream its 10 tracks below and purchase yourself a copy if you like what you hear.

Artist Making Waves: LOW ROAR [dream folk / electronic / ambient pop] ***UPDATED (album stream added)***

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I've been listening to LOW ROAR's new singles a lot in the past few months and it's taken me this long to look deep enough into the band to find out that the man behind it all, Ryan Karazija, was the frontman of Oakland, CA's now defunct indie rock band Audrye Sessions. I saw them about 5 years ago in St. Petersburg, FL opening up for Manchester Orchestra with then-overlooked Fun and was really impressed by the band's eerie explosiveness, Ryan Karazija's soaring falsetto, and the way he played the guitar with a cello bow. While Audrye Sessions reminded me of Radiohead's energetic rock songs, LOW ROAR seems to derive influence from their slower, more expansive tracks, creating a dreamy brand of ambient electronic music with orchestral and post-rock elements.

I suppose when I saw that LOW ROAR was a band from Reykjavík, Iceland I simply deduced that its members must also be Icelandic, which was partly correct. Apart from California-native Karazija (pictured above in the center), there are two members from Iceland, and listed as a member on their Facebook page, but not pictured above, is American Grammy-winning producer Andrew Scheps, who contributed keys and programming on LOW ROAR's 2011 self-titled debut album, so it's safe to say he plays a similar role on their upcoming sophomore release entitled 0 (yes, that's a zero).

Moving to Iceland after the dissolution of his previous band, Karazija hoped to find inspiration similar to that of which most Icelandic musicians seem to feed off on the majestic Nordic island, and I'd say he's found it. Its awe-inspiring landscapes have made their way into LOW ROAR's vastly beautiful arrangements enough to have comparisons be drawn to Icelandic post-rock giants, Sigur Rós. Apparently, you don't have to be from Iceland to sound like you're from Iceland; you just have to live there.

Enjoy three dreamy tracks from LOW ROAR's sophomore release 0 below Stream LOW ROAR's new album 0 below, stream the debut album here, and be sure to pick up your own copy of 0 on July 8th.