March has been a good month for new music. Maybe more sunny melodies in the list this time?
Here in Norway, some of us have got the good spring-feeling, while the northern part of the country still have tons of snow. Frustrating for some, lots of enjoyment for others. I am one of those who enjoy spring now, but I come from the north, so I have lots of sympathy for those who live there now.

On to the music:
Here is my summary of the releases I loved the most in MARCH.

The list is in no particular order. I love them all, but the ones I enjoyed the most are marked with a red ||.

A Spotify playlist with songs from this list can be found below or via this link.
Did you miss the other posts in this series? Click the link to view them. 

SINGLES I LOVED THIS MONTH

Golden Fable (Photo by Simon Bray)

Golden Fable – “Hold True”  On this beautiful new Golden Fable single, – their first release since 2017 , they have collaborated with an 11 piece Welsh orchestra, and together with Rebecca’s heavenly voice, the result is epic. (Spotify)

Blushh – “All my friends”  The song is one that makes me want to jump around, especially when the band-chant starts. Rough, catchy indiepop. (Spotify)

Teen Body – “Dreamo”  The Brooklyn band has been in these lists of mine earlier this year, because so far, I love everything I have heard by them. This is a super catchy, dreamy and maybe slightly melancholic sounding pop song. (Spotify)

Simen Mitlid – “Chaotic good”  Norwegian artist Simen Mitlid makes wonderful pop tunes, and this is one of them. A bright and lovely melody, acoustic guitars and a driving rhythm. Warning: You will hum this for hours after listening. Highly addictive. (Spotify)

FOAMMM – “Honey”  A big-sounding dream pop single from the Norwegian band FOAMMM. The vocals has a style similar of My Bloody Valentine’s “Loveless” album with a bit of Cocteau Twins added. (Spotify)

(more singles after the photo)

Frankie Cosmos (Photo by Loroto Productions)

Frankie Cosmos – “Haunted Items” #1 + #2 + #3  I am very in love with this new series from Frankie Cosmos. The songs in the series are very intimate, with only her voice and piano.  She will frequently release short songs as singles (2-3 songs on each release) and together they will form an album in the end. In early April the 4th came out. (Spotify #1 + #2 + #3 + #4)

AB001 + Avid Dancer – “Anything”  A beautiful dreamy track with psychedelic 60s vibes and a beautiful melody. (Spotify)

Bedouine – “When you’re gone”  Azniv Korkejian is Bedouine, and her new single sounds like something Joni Mitchell or Vashti Bunyan could make. Classic songwriting, a beautiful voice and just simply a good song. Modern artists like Aldous Harding, Big Thief and Julie Byrne are in the same musical area.  (Spotify)

Tugboat Captain – “Be strong, smoke less”  A refreshing and fun indiepop song from this London quartet. The upbeat song is made like a conversation (female/male) and it works so well. The Bandcamp version includes an extra song + you can also buy a lighter (!) with the single’s title printed on. (Spotify)

You will find even more of my other favourite singles in the Spotify list.

ALBUMS I LOVED THIS MONTH

Westkust (Photo by Hilda Randulv)

Westkust – Westkust || Fuzzy, shoegazy and melodic indiepop from Sweden. It starts strong and stays strong through the whole album. Brilliant songs! I usually don’t make “Albums of the year” lists, but if I did, this would probably be there. (Spotify)

Robert Forster – Inferno || Robert Forster was never my favourite songwriter in The Go-Betweens. I always loved Grant McLennan’s songs more. Forster’s later solo-albums have opened my eyes for his qualities, and listening back to his older songs have made me hear the songs in a new way. And this album? Yes, I like it!  (Spotify)

The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness – Dead calm || This is the debut from the half Spanish/half British duo, The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness, named after a song by The Feelies. It’s a very good album, with lovely harmonies and songs that wander in the same area as Big Star, Teenage Fanclub or Math and Physics Club. (Spotify)

Lomelda – M for Empathy || 11 amazing songs in a total of 16 minutes, – the longest 2:43 and the shortest 0:47. No, this is not a superfast punk album, but an album of very sensitive, gripping, sad, reflective, quiet, beautiful, fragile and powerful lo-fi bedroom folk ballads.  (Spotify)

(more releases after the photo)

CHAI

CHAI – Punk || Ok, this is a fun album. Full of energy and cuteness. The Japanese girl-band CHAI have a bit in common with The Go-Team or Confidence Man, with rhythmic power and sometimes raw fuzz combined with cute singing and sugary melodies sung in a mix of Japanese and English. (Spotify)

The Stroppies – Woosh || Jangly Australian pop from former members of Twerps, The Stevens, Dick Diver and Blank Statements. The band is inspired by the classic jangle pop from Flying Nun Records. Lots of good songs on this one. (Spotify)

Stella Donnelly – Beware of the Dogs || Perth-artist Stella Donnelly has made a very strong debut album. I love her voice, and the way she adds that tiny little vibrato at the end of sentences. The music is sweet and melodic, but the lyrics are razor-sharp and they often kick where a kick is needed. Refreshing! (Spotify)

Snapped Ankles – Stunning luxury || Snapped Ankles is a mysterious quartet who perform in weird costumes. Their music is full of energy and rhythm, – motorik beats, synths, fuzzy basslines, noise and vocals that spits out words in a similar way as Mark E. Smith of the Fall did it.  (Spotify)

(more releases after the photo)

SASAMI

SASAMI – SASAMI || SASAMI (Sasami Ashworth) has been an active musician for the last decade (keys/bass/guitar in Cherry Glazerr and Dirt Dress, contributing vocal/string/horn arrangements for Vagabon, Curtis Harding, Wild Nothing, and Hand Habits +++). Her debut as SASAMI is a wonderful listening-experience. It has a gentle, dreamy feeling over it, and at the same time a bit of sadness. Style? No idea. Definitely melodic, lots of synths, shoegaze elements, a Broadcast-feeling at times. (Spotify)

Die Heiterkeit – Was passiert ist || I don’t listen much to music sung in the German language, but I do listen quite a lot to Die Heiterkeit’s albums. This is their 4th. Singer/guitarist Stella Sommer’s distinctive dark, powerful voice is pretty unique, and the only one I can compare her to is Nico, but Sommer has a much stronger voice. All of their albums are good, including this. Very enjoyable indie/pop. (Spotify)

C Duncan – Health || Another artist with a unique sound is the Scottish composer and musician Christopher Duncan. This is his third album, and you can hear elements of both classical music, pop (both modern and 50s/60s/70s), folk, electronica and choral music. (Spotify)

(more releases after the photo)

Nanami Ozone

Nanami Ozone – NO || I really, really enjoy this one. Every song could have been a single. Rough, tight fuzzy guitars, a dreamy, atmospheric sound, two strong vocalists (male/female). Their bio says that their sound is “not quite pop, not quite punk, not quite shoegaze”, yet it is close to all of those. Kind of.  (Spotify)

Doggy – Radio TP || A refreshing and uplifting classic indiepop album from French band Doggy. The melodies are catchy with “indie-danceable” drums and sing-along choruses. My French-skills are limited to “un baguette, sil vous plait” and some dirty words, so I have no clue what they sing about, but I am sure it’s about sun and summer and love and fun. The album is released by the fine labels Kocliko Records and Jigsaw Records. (Spotify)

Rosie Tucker – Never not, never not, never not || Los Angeles based Rosie Tucker has released two albums, but this is the first I have heard. Their songs are powerful lyrically and musically. Lovely songs. Indie rock/singer-songwriter.  (Spotify)

(more releases after the photo)

These New Puritans

These New Puritans – Inside the rose || Twin brothers Jack and George Barnett have made some of my favourite albums, “Beat pyramid”, “Hidden” and “Field of Reeds”, and this new one is definitely up there among these great records. Cinematic, intricate, orchestrated music with hard drums and rhythms, beautiful strings and brass, electronic elements and interesting vocals. The closest comparison I can come up with is the music of Björk (who they also have worked with earlier). (Spotify)

Alcabean – Confessions || The Danish duo has made an impressive debut album with “Confessions”. I praised their marvellous single “Tsukuyomi” earlier this year, and this strong album continues in the dreamy, upbeat, catchy indiepop style. (Spotify)

German Error Message – Mend || These songs  are warm and intimate, with acoustic and electric guitars in front, but also drums, bass, atmospheric tape loops and synths. The warm vocals of Paul Kintzing and the music may remind of bands like Idaho, Songs:Ohia, American Analog Set and to some degree also Red House Painters
. Lovely! (Spotify)

(more releases after the photo)

I Was a King (photo by Donald Milne)

I Was a King – Slow Century || This new album is a perfect soundtrack for the warmer and more sunny season. Great songs, a warm sound, lovely harmonies and shiny melodies. It’s not easy to talk about I Was a King without mentioning the influence on their sound by Teenage Fanclub. This album is in fact produced by Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake. (Spotify)

We Show Up on Radar – Zanzibar Whip Coral || Nottingham based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Andy Wright is We Show Up on Radar. Fragile, sweet and maybe a bit whimsical indiepop songs with a clear uniqueness. The new album is easy to love, like most of his music is. Lovely music.  (Spotify)

Chris Cohen – Chris Cohen || Chris Cohen’s music has fascinated me for a long, long time, – in Deerhoof, in Cryptacize, in The Curtains and as a solo artist. He has a unique way of making his songs sound light and easy, but the arrangements are so unusual and complex. This album is one of my favourites of his solo work. He is one of the few artists that make me enjoy saxophone in music. (Spotify)

Mathilda Brink (Photo by Molly Browne)

Mathilda Brink – Maestro || This is a good one! Sorry again to my English speaking readers, – this is another one with Swedish lyrics. For some reason, I enjoy more listening to Swedish than my own language. It sounds more poetic, in a way. Mathilda Brink has a unique and expressive voice, and her music is somewhere between indie pop and folk and maybe something else too. On the second song on the album, she starts with full fuzzy noise and then goes to a clean guitar and vocals. I like this album a lot. (Spotify)

Shiny Times  – Can’t be depressed || This is the side project of Kim Weldin  from Tape Waves. This is a very strong jangly indiepop/bedroom pop album
. It’s pretty short, – 8 songs in 25 minutes, and I usually find myself listening to it two or three times in a row. (Spotify)

Edwyn Collins – Badbea || The Orange Juice frontman and co-founder of the legendary Postcard Records, is out with his 10th solo-album, “Badbea”. When you know that 14 years ago, he suffered two cerebral haemorrhages and could not speak, it is a impressive achievement to be able to keep a career going for so long. The album has good mix between the energetic and rough pop-songs, and the calmer, beautifully orchestrated songs. (Spotify)

EPs I LOVED THIS MONTH

Raketklubben (Photo by Nora Tysklind)

Raketklubben – Fuck dig, Fan för dig || This is an impressive EP from Sweden’s Raketklubben! It starts with the explosive and catchy indiepop-masterpiece “Nånting är fel”, continues with the emotional and at the same time powerful “Sen jag lämnade dig”. “Ångrar du dig” gives me a The Cure feeling, and I love the sweet feeling of the music and the the slightly contrasting lyrics. The upbeat ending “Industristad” is the perfect ending, and it leaves me with a feeling of “I want more! No, I NEED more!”. (The lyrics are in Swedish, but you will love it even if you don’t know the language. I can however recommend some good online language courses just for understanding the lyrics on these songs).  (Spotify)

Patio – Vile Bodies || I really enjoyed this 3 track EP by the New York trio Patio. They call their style “Minimal Post-punk” and are inspired by both classic UK post punk and the songwriting of Cate le Bon. On a song like “Boy Scout” there is also a hint of The Shangri-Las. (Spotify)

Bubblegum Lemonade – Our Mother’s House EP || Yes! He’s back!  3 great indiepop songs, all with Lawrence “Laz” McCluskey strong melodic trademark pop sound.  The nostalgic “Our Mother’s House” is the lead single from the forthcoming new album ‘Desperately Seeking Sunshine’.  (Spotify)

Papercuts – Kathleen Says || I love this. 2 beautiful new songs from San Fransisco based Jason Robert Quever aka Papercuts, and a lovely cover of Jackson C. Frank’s “Blues Run The Game”. Papercuts version is so good! Out on Slumberland Records.  (Spotify)

Lali Puna – Being Water || I doubt that Lali Puna can do anything wrong. They always make good records. This EP is one of those. Melodic electronic pop with lovely vocals.  (Spotify)

OTHER THINGS I ENJOYED THIS MONTH

Frankie Rose – Seventeen Seconds

Frankie Rose (ex Crystal Stilts, Dum Dum Girls, Vivian Girls, Beverly) has made a cover-album of the entire “Seventeen Seconds”-album by The Cure. The covers are pretty close to the originals. (Spotify)

Listen to the songs from this list on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/user/eardrumspop/playlist/5hdCn2ZtN83IwQZa7R5ZBJ