The summertime is usually quiet in the music industry, and there are few new releases. I managed to find a good bunch of records that I enjoyed this month anyway. So, here is my summary of the releases I loved the most in JUNE.

A Spotify playlist with songs from this list can be found below or via this link
.
If you want ALL the good stuff from 2019, there is a huge list for that too.
Did you miss the other posts in this series? Click the link to view them. 

SINGLES I LOVED THIS MONTH

Smaller Hearts (Photo by Meg Yoshida)

From the singles this month, I especially liked the new songs from:

Smaller Hearts – “Circuitry”  This Canadian electronic pop duo have been featured on these lists before, and I am think I am even more a fan of their music now. This is a really good synthpop song, where everything works
. (Spotify)

Snail Mail – “The 2nd most beautiful girl in the world”  As a musician myself, I sometimes hear a song that good that I get envious and wish I had written it myself. This is one of those. (Spotify)

Stone Irr – “All we want anymore”  Warm and lovely, with a Beatles-like structure, and an amazing ending with strings and horns. (Spotify)

Fashion Brigade – “First sunny day of the year/ Middle C”  These two songs are amazing, – one short and sweet and one kind of 80s janglepop. This is a very special project led by singer-songwriter-producer Elia Einhorn, formerly of the brilliant  Scotland Yard Gospel Choir. In their bio, they write “This is a collaborative project featuring Frankie Cosmos; Shamir; X’s Exene Cervenka; Thor Harris; and members of LCD Soundsystem, Dirty Projectors, Icy Demons, Prince Rama, Phosphorescent, and loads of other artists. Every song has at least one collaborator, some a handful”.
I love the lyrics for the very short “Middle C”, with Frankie Cosmos on vocals:

“me without you
or you without me
is like a piano
without a middle c
and who wants to play an instrument like that
if we don’t need to?”
(Spotify)

(more singles after the video)

Jesca Hoop feat
. Kate Stables and Justis – “Outside of Eden”  I am a huge fan of Jesca Hoop’s unique songs. On this one, she performs togerther with Kate Stables of This is the Kit and her young nephew Justis Hoop Garza. It’s a beautiful song. Her new album is out as I write this (in July) and after a few listens, I love the album so much too. (Spotify)

Skytone – “Here and now”  A sunshiny popsong from the Ottawa duo Skytone. In 2017, they released an album called JangleWaves, and this is a good mix between jangly guitars and a wavy surf-pop sound. This is a song that fits the sunny days perfectly. (Spotify)

Odina – “About you now”  Her voice is very unique, and even if she had sung a superhappy song, I would have had tears in my eyes after listening. She sings with so much emotion, and her songs are so beautiful. This one definitely is. (Spotify)

Operator Music Band – Slim Spin  The electronic art pop duo has become a recurring favourite on these lists. The new single is  a brilliant upbeat track, with vocals by both members (male/female), and a style that kind of reminds of Broadcast and Stereolab. (Spotify)

Imperial Teen – “Walkaway”  This band has been around since 1994, and strangely enough, they are led by former Faith No More  keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and former Hole drummer Patty Schemel has been a touring member of the band. They don’t sound anything like either Faith No More or Hole, but maybe more like Stars or The New Pornographers. This is a great song. Tight, upbeat, warm, melodic.  (Spotify)

Nataly Dawn – “Huckeberry”  This was not an immediate favourite when I first heard it, but wow how it has grown. I am so in love with calm and beautiful gem. (Spotify)

– An honorable mention goes to WW2 veteran Jim Radford, who at the age of 91 released a song this month about the horrors he experienced at the shores of Normandy. The song is beautiful, and it is a strong and emotional experience to listen to this. 

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

ALBUMS I LOVED THIS MONTH

No Aloha

No Aloha – Okay Alone || I think this is the debut album from Portland band No Aloha, and it is definitely a good debut. 12 gorgeous indiepop songs, with lovely melodies, arrangements and atmospheres. (Spotify)

Palehound – Black Friday || This album has grown and grown on me, and I love it so much. This is the project of Ellen Kempner, and she sings with so much feeling in her voice. Really good songs and lyrics, with a little bit of the good kind of roughness.  (Spotify)

The Catenary Wires – Til the morning || Former members of indiepop bands Heavenly, Tender Trap, Marine Research and Sportique, Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey are now The Catenary Wires. This is their second album as The Catenary Wires. I have always liked Amelia Fletcher’s voice and songs and I definitely still do, but Rob Pursey’s dark and warm vocals are also so good to hear, especially when he gets the main focus. (Spotify)

Froth – Duress || Pretty jangly, pretty rough, pretty lo-fi, pretty fragile, and at the same time, pretty beautiful. Froth started as a “fake band”, – as a joke -, where the members sent out cool press releases, publicity photos and exciting photos from their tours, without having performed a note
. They even made an LP with 20 minutes of silence, just to take the joke even further. I am very happy that they finally decided to be a real band. (Spotify)

(more releases after the photo)

Golden Fable (Photo by Simon Bray)

Golden Fable – Alchemy || On their new album, – as always -, Golden Fable deliver very good music, and Rebecca Joy’s heavenly voice is so beautiful, This time they have collaborated with the eleven-member strong NEW Sinfonia ensemble. A wonderful album. (Spotify)

Younghusband – Swimmers || The band’s name sounds like it belongs to a hip hop artist, but this is very fine, breezy indiepop, with lovely melodies and harmonies
. The album is their third, and it is a good one.  (Spotify)

Vanishing Twin – The Age of Immunology || Cathy Lucas, previously of Eardrums-favourites Fanfarlo and My Sad Captains, leads the experimental pop ensemble Vanishing Twin. The closest comparisons I can come up with are early Broadcast and Stereolab, but Vanishing Twin has something very special and unique in their sound. Amazing! (Spotify)

Thom Yorke – ANIMA || Thom Yorke has a new solo album out, and I actually like it. I am in deep shock. I didn’t mean to. Please send help. (Spotify)

(more releases after the photo)

Jeanines

Jeanines – Jeanines || Jangly, classic indiepop that reminds of bands like Heavenly, Tiger Trap and Talulah Gosh. This is a really strong and impressive debut from Jeanines. Brilliant songs! They even sneak in a very nice cover of The Lucksmiths’ “Falling off of my feet again”.  (Spotify)

Meursault – Crow Hill || This is an intensely beautiful and emotional album. The style of it goes from energetic and huge indierock/pop via quiet, almost folky songs to full noise to almost silence to more experimental, weird stuff. His voice is so expressive and beautiful. I love it.  (Spotify)

Butcher the Bar – lll || Butcher the Bar’s music makes my heart beat faster, or maybe calmer, because his (Joel Nicholson’s) music has a calming effect on me. His new album is more fully orchestrated and there are more upbeat songs than on the previous ones. I love this one too. His voice is so beautiful and the songs are good all through the album. (Spotify)

Kate Tempest – The Book of Traps and Less0ns || Kate Tempest from South-East London is both an author, a playwright, a poet and a rapper. On her albums, she usually reads rhythmic, dark poetry – or stories – accompanied by music you normally would compare to alternative hiphop or electronica. I have been a fan for several years, both of her written poetry and her music. A very interesting album.  (Spotify)

(more releases after the photo)

Keel Her (Photo by Ned Botwood)

Keel Her – With Kindness || This album is amazing, and so is a lot of the other music Rose Keeler-Schaffeler makes. I say “a lot of”, because I have only heard some of it. Her Bandcamp has at the moment 26 (!) releases, and I have only heard the two albums, which I love. This album has a beautiful and very special sound, and Keel Her does most or everything on the album, from playing to recording on her own. Listen. (Spotify)

Fresh – Withdraw || Well, yeah, their name fits their music, and their music is very nice to listen to. They have been compared to bands like Diet Cig, American Football and Joyce Manor, and I especially hear the Diet Cig comparison here. Very energetic indie pop, with very noisy, fuzzy parts and lovely vocals and lyrics. The vocals kind of remind me of Elizabeth Morris Innset from Allo’ Darlin’/Elva, but only “kind of”. It’s a really good album.   (Spotify)

Hatchie – Keepsake || This is an album that will make you happy. Upbeat pop with irresistible melodies, and Hatchie’s gorgeously airy vocals. If this was played in an indie club, you would want to dance. Here you have songs that remind of both Cocteau Twins from the “Heaven or Las Vegas” era, via dancy pop with an industrial touch to jagged guitar pop, – all styles are equally catchy in Hatchie’s music, and everything sounds like Hatchie. The Cocteau Twins inspiration is also easy to see on her releases. On the single “Sure”, there is a mix done by Robin Guthrie of the Cocteaus. (Spotify)

Tunng – This is Tunng… Magpie bites and other cuts || I rarely share compilations here, but this is Tunng, and I like Tunng. The compilation is of “obscurities, gems and deep cuts”, as the band writes on their Facebook. The band continues: “This is a nice time capsule of the stranger moments of the past 15 years. Some of these tracks were surprisingly difficult to track down and eventually turned up on dusty hard drives or lone copies of old vinyl in basement boxes. It’s nice to hear these tunes together in one place. We’d forgotten some of them existed!” (Spotify)

(more releases after the photo)

Nicole Yun

Nicole Yun – Paper Suit || Nicole Yun is the singer, guitarist and songwriter in Eternal Summers, – a band I like a lot. This is her first solo-album, and after releasing some wonderful singles earlier this year, I was really excited to hear it. No disappointment here. Definitely not. Lovely, powerful, melodic and just really good indie rock/pop songs. (Spotify)

Bedouine – Bird Songs of a Killjoy || Bedouine has slowly crept into my heart, and her folky, orchestral pop is so beautiful. She reminds me a bit of another favourite of mine, Vashti Bunyan. Listen to great songs like “When you’re gone”, “One more time” or “Sunshine Sometimes”, and I am sure you will love her music as well. (Spotify)

Azure Blue – Images of You || I have followed Tobias Isaksson and his music from his early days in the folk-ish Laurel Music and the sweet and summery indiepop band Irene on Labrador Records, and now with Azure Blue and his space-disco side-project Nite Flights
. My favourites are definitely Irene and the synth-pop project Azure Blue. The new album is out on Matinee recordings, and it is fine collection of songs. (Spotify)

(more releases after the photo)

Rat Fancy (Photo by Joey Tobin)

Rat Fancy – Stay Cool || This album is this month’s “this album makes me want to jump around and dance”-release. It is full of energy and wonderful songs. Their style is a rough upbeat kind of punky, melodic indiepop. The album is recorded by David Newton of one of my favourite indiepop bands of the 80s, The Mighty Lemon Drops, and released by one of my favourite labels, Happy Happy Birthday to Me. And I am deeply in love with Diana Barraza’s voice and singing style. Listen to this! (Spotify)

Peak Twins – Beloved || Melbourne based duo Peak Twins’s name is, as you probably see, a homage to David Lynch’s series Twin Peaks, and some of the songs could have been from a Lynch-film. Not because they are scary or weird or especially cinematic, but some of them feel like the perfect songs to play on the jukebox in Norma Jennings’ café. I fell in love with their music via their great single “Beloved”, and I have found many new favourites here. (Spotify)

Yohuna – Mirroring || Another really good release from Yohuna, aka Johanne Swanson. There are some wonderful songs here, like the amazing “Fades to blue” or “Dead to me” and many others. The main instruments are guitars and vocals, but this time she has used flute, harp, trombone, cello and drums too. It adds warmth and lots of power to the songs. (Spotify)

EPs I LOVED THIS MONTH

Girl Friday (Photo by Kylie Shaffer)

Girl Friday – Fashion Conman || A very cool EP by LA quartet Girl Friday. Rough and punky pop, with great melodies and lots of attitude.  Their instrumentation is classic, with two guitars, bass and drums, but all the four girls in the band take turn on doing the vocals, which is quite unusual, I guess, but it works so well here.  (Spotify)

Featherfin – Fan Fiction (cover EP) || Just because I can, I want to tell you about my own new release as Featherfin. It’s a cover EP with quite different versions of songs by The Jesus and Mary Chain, Tullycraft, Primal Scream and Psychic TV. Is it good? Oh yes, definitely. 🙂  (Spotify)

Hibou – As Always|| The 5 songs on this EP are all lovely, and very much recommended. Dreampop. (Spotify)

Flying Fish Cove – En Garde EP || One of my favourite indiepop bands at the moment. They are inspired by Heavenly, The Pastels and Teenage Fanclub, and on this EP they give us some great popsongs with jangly guitars and nice vocals.  (Spotify)

Slaughter Beach, Dog – One down/Good ones/Heart attack || This 3-track EP has grown and grown on me, and I love it so much now. The only band I can say that this reminds me of, is The Decemberists, who are also a favourite of mine. The songs and lyrics are great!  (Spotify)

Holy Now – It will all end in tears || As you probably know by now, I like the Swedish band Holy Now a lot. On this 3 track EP I love 2 songs and get in skip-mode on one song. Especially “All the time” is among their best, – a wonderful pop song. The title track is also a really good song. What really, really annoys me, is the cover they have done of Chuck Berry’s “You never can tell”. The song doesn’t suit them at all, and it is painful to listen to… Sorry Holy Now and Chuck Berry! 🙂  (Spotify)

Listen to most of the songs from this list on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3d7eSwQQTIdnVRYElYThgk?si=opChSezRQdqDnN3VmugY_A