“Thrilling - marked by a mood of ramshackle invention at odds with the studied, polished air of a lot of current alt-rock.” — The Guardian
“Come for the urgent, wistful guitars, and stay for the heart-wrenching harmonies.” — Stereogum
“Rapidly climbing the rungs and notching up the wins, Westside Cowboy are the buzzy Britainicana newcomers determined to let down the ladder behind them.”— DIY
“One of the new acts heralding a gloriously ramshackle new era of ’90s-styled slacker rock.” — NME
“Sag is about this dreaded ‘Allston to Bushwick’ pipeline we have in Boston. A lot of musicians end up using Boston to cut their teeth before heading off to New York or LA to pursue their music careers. I wrote ‘Sag’ when I was really playing the ‘comparison game’ in my head and asking myself what role I wanted music to play in my life. It was the first in a batch about looking at yourself in relation to the others around you and trying to decipher who you are without that context.“ – Brendan Wright (they/them)
"Meshing confessional songwriting with effervescent beats, 'Talk Me Down' strikes the right balance with its earnest lyrics and playful sound." - Paste, check out the exclusive here
“[Emily Yacina] effortlessly capture[s] a feeling or a mood that the English language can't.” - The FADER
“Yacina[‘s music] carries the intensity of emotion and poignant vulnerability.” - Document Journal
There's plenty of curious timing in Samia's Tiny Desk debut. For starters, this was the final Tiny Desk concert produced by Bob Boilen — he came in for one last Monday to accommodate the performance — which meant the singer-songwriter had to endure the reluctant tributes paid to Bob as she waited patiently to perform. Then there's the timing of Samia's song selection: All five of these tracks appeared on her terrific debut album (2020's The Baby) and not this year's equally magnificent Honey. Which is saying nothing of the fact that Samia is actress Kathy Najimy's daughter, yet we opted to run this performance a full week after the conclusion of Hocus Pocus Season! What were we thinking?
Fortunately, Samia's set nevertheless provides a stunning showcase for her charisma, vocal talent and deftly detailed lyricism. She possesses a remarkable knack for specificity in her songwriting, which finds her name-dropping her favorite bands, recounting conversations in devastating detail and even shining a light on songwriting itself. ("I only write songs about things that I'm scared of," she sings in "Is There Something in the Movies?" before adding, "So here, now you're deathless in art.")
Taking advantage of the Tiny Desk's quietude, Samia and her band chose to focus on the more subdued side of their sound, even deploying the sample of her grandmother that opens "Pool." As a result, it's easier and more rewarding than ever to hang on her every word.
Today Teethe share “Push You Forever,” the final single from their lush new record Magic Of The Sale. On the new track, pedal steel sighs beneath honeyed vocals and drifting drums; it’s a hangdog hymn about being caught in the illusions we create about our past and present. The track arrives with an equally beautiful animated video by Rosa Sawyers. The full record arrives on August 8th and is now available to pre-order on Purple Dusk vinyl, cassette tape, and CD.
Ada Lea—the moniker of Montreal-based musician Alexandra Levy— releases “midnight magic,” the third single/video from her new album, when i paint my masterpiece, out August 8th via Saddle Creek. Following last month’s meditation on love, “something in the wind,” “midnight magic” is set firmly in a shimmering dreamworld that could have been summoned by Judee Sill.
“Nyxy Nyx’s music strikes on a personal level few artists hit.”
- POST-TRASH
“Dense and richly textured, but with a sense of weightlessness in its use of open space and shimmering guitar tones… Nyxy Nyx are it; let these songs get under your skin.”
- TREBLE ZINE
“Haunting beauty and lo-fi, sonic palette is coupled with sometimes heartachingly beautiful lyrics.”
The first single is “Highway,” and it’s a nearly-six-minute trek through climactic slowcore, twangy slide guitar, and an explosive wall-of-sound grunge coda that shares DNA with anything from Codeine to Songs: Ohia to MJ Lenderman to Dinosaur Jr. - Brooklyn Vegan
“Highway” is sweeping and melodramatic, deploying a healthy amount of pedal steel over a slowcore chug that gradually builds into a full-on electric guitar cacophony. - Stereogum
It’s a sublime mix of slowcore, post-rock, alt-country, ’90s alt-rock and emo that deftly pivots styles, often within one song, making it all seem natural and clearly coming from one creative point of view. We hear Neil Young, Sunny Day Real Estate, Acetone, Hum, Red House Painters & more. - Brooklyn Vegan
Self-identified “raw West Texas dirtgaze” band Shallowater make nods to first generation slowcore and post-everything guitar rock on There Is A Well, a solid-stone debut that extracts the twang and dramatic vastness of their home terrain. - New Commute
Today, Whitney have announced their new album, Small Talk will be released November 7th on AWAL. Small Talk is the Chicago duo’s fourth and unequivocally best and most affecting album. To mark the occasion, they’ve released a new single, “Dandelions,” a mid-summer sparkler with lead-singer Julien Ehrlich’s lamenting falsetto scaffolded by horns, sweeping string arrangements and plaintive slide guitar from Max Kakacek. The single follows album track “Darling,” released at the top of the summer and hinting at their return. Now fans can listen to their new song “Dandelions” HERE and pre-order Small Talk HERE.
White Lies approached their seventh album, Night Light, with a fresh method: mastering the songs live before recording them. Inspired by the 1970s live-performance TV show The Midnight Special, the trio decided to rehearse and refine the tracks together in a room before entering the studio – a reversal of the process of finding the true spirit of songs only after touring them.
Winnipeg indie rock heavyweights Living Hour are back with their fourth full-length album, Internal Drone Infinity set for October 17 via newly signing with Paper Bag Records in Canada and via Keeled Scales + Beloved Records in the rest of the world. Known for their lush fusion of dream-pop and shoegaze, on Internal Drone Infinity, Living Hour transforms the passage of time into something both urgent and sacred. Anchored by Sam Sarty’s vivid lyricism, shaped by years as a projectionist conjuring stories in a dark theatre, the band explores the quiet magic hidden in everyday life. Their fourth album drifts between dreamy noise rock, folky slowcore, and fuzzy indie-pop, coining a genre all their own: “yearn-core.” With wistful vocals, textural distortion,and poetic detail, Living Hour capture the ache of memory, the mess of feeling, and the beauty in what remains. PRE-ORDER/PRE-SAVE the record HERE.
Center of Affection is the debut album from Wilby, set for release on October 10 via Hit The North Records. The indie-rock project of songwriter and artist Maria Crawford, Wilby’s debut collection features 12 songs of unflinching vulnerability and cut-throat honesty, intimate revelations after years of emotional reflection and self-acceptance. Previous singles “Pleaser”, “Spin” and “Experiments” feature on the album, which have seen support from FLOOD Magazine, Northern Transmissions, WNXP, KEXP and more.
Today, Queens, NY-based indie/jangle pop singer-songwriter and twee extraordinaire Majorette sharesthe light-hearted tune "Steaks" out now, where she ponders the worst case scenario over a twinkling melody and the warm strings of a violin. Its accompanying music video, starring Majorette as both a magician and their assistant, is shot on 16mm and styled in the form of black-and-white Méliès silent films. Tonight, Majorette will celebrate the new music live with a variety show at NYC's The Slipper Room with a real magician, a ventriloquist, an aerialist and Philly's TheNoisy with tickets here.
„I’m sure everyone has felt this way at a certain point in life. I wrote the guitar and melody first while sitting on the beach with a close friend who was going through the emotions that life can sometimes bring. As I was playing the guitar and melody she sang and wrote the first line “Sit in the sun and my feet are burning” the rest of the song just sort of came to me after that.“ - Dave Helgi Johan
Philadelphia’s Flatwaves is back with its unique amalgam of ’90s shoegaze haze, which is mixed with the raw energy of rock ‘n’ roll, and the psychedelic swirl of fuzzed-out garage rock. The band’s latest, delivers searing guitars and a driving rhythm section, which is sure to leave the listener with impressions of scorched earth and Lynch-ian dream sequences.
Matt Gallaway’s creative journey unfolds like a carefully crafted album—each chapter a different sound or mood, yet all tied together by a thread of honest self-expression. From basement jam sessions in Brooklyn to publishing acclaimed novels, Matt’s story is a powerful reminder of how art can shape, and be shaped by, personal transformation.
In our conversation, Matt shares how Saturnine came together almost by accident. He had moved to New York, supposedly for law school, but really to chase the city’s music scene. He lucked into a Brooklyn apartment with a basement perfect for band rehearsals, and soon after, Saturnine was born. They’d go on to record a handful of under-the-radar but beloved indie albums. Matt still lights up when talking about their first show at Brownies, booked by the legendary Karen Edlitz, and an unforgettable rooftop gig on a sweltering July 4th in Chinatown.
What really sets Matt’s story apart is how deeply intertwined his art is with his personal life. Listening back to Saturnine’s albums—especially Mid the Green Fields—he can now hear the hidden struggle he was going through. “I listen to that record and I’m just like, ‘this is about wanting to kill myself,’” he says, half-laughing, half-sighing. It’s raw, but honest—and a reflection of what it meant to grow up gay in a time when role models were few and far between.
Matt didn’t leave music behind; he just found a new way to tell his story. Writing novels like The Metropolis Case and #gods let him explore identity and emotion in a more direct way. “A song takes me a few weeks,” he says. “A novel takes years.” But both are cut from the same creative cloth.
Now, with his latest project Death Culture at Sea, Matt is circling back to songwriting—this time with a broader view and a deeper well to draw from. Last summer, he teamed up with former bandmate Mike D’Onofrio and Matt Kadane of Bedhead/The New Year for recording sessions in Vermont, and there’s more music to come.
Want to hear what this journey sounds like? Head to Matt's blog for a playlist of his latest work with Death Culture at Sea.
“Matthew Gallaway’s storytelling manages to be both dreamy and serious; lean and luxurious. His words carry an incantatory power of mythic storytelling where beauty and savagery wrap around each other like bright threads in a gorgeous tapestry.” —Natasha Vargas-Cooper, author of Mad Men Unbuttoned: A Romp Through 1960s America
