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OFM New Music: July 2021

OFM New Music: July 2021

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This month’s must-catch new releases from the artists you already love and the musicians you need to know. 

VIAL

Loudmouth

Photo by Bryson Christopher

The genre-defying quartet VIAL is taking indie punk and injecting it with open-hearted, fun-loving pop.

The Minneapolis-based band is bold, brooding, and  focused. With a mission of mixing their volatile nature with vulnerable lyricism, the tracks in LOUDMOUTH will grab your attention and keep you wanting more.

Indie rock, angsty punk, or Top 40 pop: take your pick in how you want to define VIAL, for the era of surfy, grungy anthems is upon us, and we’re here for it.

The unapologetically outspoken band reflect on their experience in the music industry, where boundaries were crossed, and the young band was taken advantage of. No longer willing to trade self-respect for accolades, we get the 12 tracks of LOUDMOUTH, which embody the anger, outrage, and reclamation of their love of music.

Tashaki Miyaki

Castaway

Songs circle themes of love, lament, dissatisfaction, and haunting memories, and the sophomore release from the L.A.-based trio captures a soothing dissonance. The timbres are melodious and mellow, while the lyricism delivers a yearning for provocation and elation. Failed love and unquenched emotion are both feared and felt in Castaway. While never falling into despair, the dreamy pop band Tashaki Miyaki explores the complexities of relationships and ruminates in the trials of triumphs of all the in-betweens.

Proud Father

The View of Earth From Mars

What happens when you get a musician who’s day job consists of traveling to Mars as an astronaut for NASA? Proud Father (aka Brendan Chamberlain). The artist takes his first-hand experience of space exploration and weaves it into shoe-gazing, bedroom-pop sensibilities. What once was a lofty dream, the reality of life on another planet made Chamberlain turn his journey inward. The record swirls with guitars and synthesizers, bringing a simultaneous pent-up tension and an emotional drift.   

Vân Scott

Almost Gone

In his debut LP, Vân Scott, aka Scott Oatley, has gone from Hollywood session singer to indie pop star in his own right. Unafraid to search the dark corners of his mind, Scott scours his personal experiences for sonic inspiration. His alternative take on relationships, identity, and growing up draws on obscure sounds to feature his emotive-yet-gentle vocal stylings alongside upbeat melodies and bright, percussive elements. Calm yet invigorating, Almost Gone is a summer gem. 

Anika

Change

The Berlin-based artist captures the sense of global anxiety and brings an intimate examination of the frustration and guarded optimism we all gleaned in the last year. Change offers skittering, austere, electronic backdrops and plays against Anika’s nico-esque and contemplative vocals. Basking in all that is change, the singer-songwriter reflects both inwardly and outwardly, looking at things we can alter within ourselves and those things that are outside of our control. The nine-track album is laden with emotions, anxieties, empowerment, and curiosities. 

Joel Culpepper

Sgt. Culpepper

Retro R&B, disco fever is being served with the debut album from Southeast London’s Joel Culpepper.  The two-year-long writing process for Sgt. Culpepper was met with an impressive list of collaborators who all worked under the same ethos: unification. Influences from the U.K. jazz and grime scenes collide in Motown, as this album is strong in identity, unique in storytelling, and abundent in funk. The 70s meet the 20s as we eagerdly dive into the soulful sounds of unforgettable beats meet smooth, natural, effortless pop.

King Woman

Celestial Blues

The theatrical, doom-gloom outfit King Woman, led by frontwoman Kristina Esfandiari, channels the rebellion of the biblical archetypes in which she was raised in. With a penchant, punching purpose, Celestial Blues captures the emotional turmoil of letting go of the things that once used to haunt us. Heavy guitars, droning drum beats, and layered, emotive lyrical repetition drive home the everlasting allure of look back, letting go, and moving on. Hard rock has been reinvented. 

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