I don't think any song captures Stella Donnelly's unique blend of indie rock, folk, and pop as much as "How Was Your Day?" This new song has a charmingly upbeat sound with verses mostly spoken and verses sung. It's a little too quirky and occasionally noisy to be pop, far too dance friendly to be folk, but too pop to be indie rock. "How Was Your Day?" sits right in the middle of those genres refusing to decisively choose any particular one. This is a really lovely and fun song that anyone not afraid to enjoy a joyful song is going to love.
Stella Donnelly says of the new song:
“This is my attempt at building a song out of a very specific dynamic between two monogamously involved people. The verses are just excerpts from real conversations, fragments of what two people talk about when they both know they need to have a real talk but neither wants to be the one to bring it up. This song came out of lockdown and seeing a lot of friends break up or get married.”
You can watch the video for "How Was Your Day?" below. Flood is due out August 26 on Secretly Canadian. The album can be pre-ordered and pre-saved here. For more on Stella Donnelly, check out the artist's website. Upcoming tour dates are below the video.
Sun. Sept. 11 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah Mon. Sept. 12 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy Theatre Tue. Sept. 13 - San Francisco, CA @ Independent Thu. Sept. 15 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios Fri. Sept. 16 - Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret Sat. Sept. 17 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos Wed. Sept. 21 - Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Cafe Thu. Sept. 22 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall Fri. Sept. 23 - Detroit, MI @ Sanctuary Sat. Sept. 24 - Toronto, ON @ Longboat Hall Mon. Sept. 26 - Boston, MA @ Crystal Ballroom Wed. Sept. 28 - Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere Fri. Sept. 30 - Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live Sat. Oct. 1 - Washington, DC @ Songbyrd Tue. Nov. 1 - Leeds, UK @ Wardrobe Wed. Nov. 2 - Glasgow @ Mono Thu. Nov. 3 - Manchester @ Band On The Wall Fri. Nov. 4 - Dublin, IE @ Whelan's Sun. Nov. 6 - Liverpool, UK @ Zanzibar Tue. Nov. 8 Nottingham, UK @ Metronome Wed. Nov. 9 - Bristol, UK @ Thekla Thu. Nov. 10 - London, UK @ Electric Brixton Sat. Nov. 12 - Cardiff, UK @ The Gate Sun. Nov. 13 - Birmingham, UK @ Hare and Hounds Mon. Nov. 14 - Brighton, UK @ Komedia Wed. Nov. 16 - Paris, FR @ FMR Thu. Nov. 17 - Cologne, DE @ Artheatre Fri. Nov. 18 - Brussels, BE @ Rotonde - Botanique Sun. Nov. 20 - Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet Mon. Nov. 21 - Hamburg, DE @ Molotow Skybar Tue. Nov. 22 - Copenhagen, DK @ Hotel Cecil Thu. Nov. 24 - Berlin, DE @ Badehaus Fri. Nov. 25 - Munich, DE @ Strom ! ! w/ Julia Jacklin
Photo by Alexa Viscius This may be Liam Kazar's debut single, but the Chicago based musician already has an impressive resume, having worked with Jeff Tweedy, Chance the Rapper, Steve Gunn, Daniel Johnston, and others. "Shoes Too Tight" features childhood friend Spencer Tweedy on drums, Lane Beckstrom on bass, and Ohmme on vocals. It's an absurdly fun and groovy little song that is a party waiting to happen. What he gives us here is a timeless song that could truly have been released any time since the 1960's (ok... maybe not the 80's...) There are elements of classic rock, 60's crooners and R&B, indie rock, modern Americana... it's really just packed with everything in a cohesive song that maintains the vibe the entire way through. You can watch the video for "Shoes Too Tight" below. For more on Liam Kazar, check him out on Instagram and Twitter . He's also raising money on his Bandcamp for Constellation and The Hungry Brain. ...
Photo by Joanna Chattman I've been referring to Northampton, MA based Izzy Heltai's music as mainstream modern folk with just enough of a unique spin to keep it appealing to music snobs, too. His latest single, "Father," might be the perfect example of that. It's a quiet, deeply personal song that starts off painfully sparse but ever so slowly builds and builds as it goes on. It walks that line between accessible/mainstream and indie expertly. You can watch the video for "Father" below. Father , the upcoming debut album from Izzy Heltai, will be out October 9. You can pre-order a copy here . For more on Izzy Heltai, check out the artist's website .
Lex Leosis might be Toronto based, but she spent a lot of time in California's Bay Area working on her hip hop sound. She's also traveled all over the United States to collaborate with other artists. Her latest single, "Mind Your Business," has a strong 90's hip hop feel to it. It's dripping with attitude, and Leosis's flow is in full on attack mode. The 90's vibe could be because of the fact that there is no R&B chorus, keeping the song pure hip hop, which is rare these days. This reminds me a lot of Oompa's songs, which is a huge compliment coming from us. You can listen to "Mind Your Business" below. Mythologies , the upcoming album from Lex Leosis, will be out later this year. For more on Lex Leosis, check out her Facebook . Mind Your Business by Lex Leosis
