ELECTRONIC
GLASGOW sextet The Insomniac Project worked with Prides drummer Lewis Gardiner for their debut single In and Out (Of My Head) and there’s no doubt that his imprint can be discerned very clearly.
Though the band profess to a love of disco, the group’s retro sound is just as much indebted to 00’s French house. That’s not to say they’re full on Daft Punk – although their debut single does see them combine live instrumentation with digital elements – but there is a healthy emphasis on huge synthesised hooks.
You can enjoy the band launch the single at a special show on September 4 at Nice’N’Sleazy in Glasgow.
POP
AT SEVENTEEN, acoustic singer-songwriter Gus Harrower is one of the youngest artists to be featured in this column. Despite his Edinburgh residence, there’s a rustic feel to his debut EP Mystery that feels surprisingly authentic. The EP’s eponymous lead track particularly belies Harrower’s age as he assuredly avoids many of the pitfalls that many young artists walk into.
His vocals are natural, his storytelling is captivating and he keeps the cheesy metaphors to a bare minimum.
His proclivity towards subtle arrangement and vocal harmonies suggest that Harrower has listened to a chunk of Bon Iver in his time, but Mystery is a good introduction to his pop sensibilities first and foremost.
METAL
FOR all it’s a cliché that heavy bands can play incredibly technical riffs and rhythms at lightning speed, the fact remains that some of the most impressive metal bands are the slowest.
Perhaps it’s strange to refer to 22-minute drone-fest Empathy For The Wicked as a “single” – if anything, such a term does Glasgow doom merchants Ommadon a disservice.
This is slow, dark, foreboding music for metalheads who prefer mood over energy. When you consider this was recorded in the Highlands entirely by only two people, it’s even more impressive how much is accomplished.
ALTERNATIVE
FOLLOWERS of Song, By Toad Records will verify that virtually everything released on the label is of a very high quality. The fact that its roster now includes Adam Stafford, previous frontman of Falkirk cult heroes Y’all Is Fantasy Island, is further reason to take notice.
Edinburgh fans will have no doubt heard Atheist Money, the magnificent lead single from his upcoming new album, when he played Henry’s Cellar last Saturday.
It’s easily one of the finest tracks he’s written, splattering a range of ideas onto the canvas. Obscure percussion and repetitive guitar phrases slowly morph into a soaring harmonious extravaganza of sorts, becoming more dense as the song progresses.
ROCK
WITH the notable exception of long-running Glasgow podcast/blog Podcart, who made it their song of the day, the new single from noisy rock veterans Black International seems to have passed most people by.
Their new single A Fence To Keep People Out sees the band move away from a rigidly post-punk sound towards something more tastefully dramatic.
The album Lesson in Repression drops on October 30 via Good Grief Records.
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