BlackPlastic.co.uk: The alternative music blog.
Antony Szmierek Flight Simulator Following on from his distinctive and cinematic piece, Chalk , featured on BlackPlastic in March , British electronic producer Antony Szmierek is back with new single Flight Simulator . Szmierek was working as an English teacher at a college for children with developmental needs as his combination of spoken word and cinematic electronic production took off. Initial…
Nice Boat Sick With a propulsive beat and grungy bass guitar, Nice Boat’s new single subverts typical genre categorisation. With a minimal sound that is constructed around a small number of components, Sick reminds me of Death From Above 1979, with a bit of post-punk darkness, and some added garage rock grime. Deadpan vocals and a propulsive drum beat create something threatening and yet also…
Following on from my recent post about the BlackPlastic hosted club on Sound Club, I wanted to share the write-up that accompanies the current album I'm featuring there. That album is the Juan Maclean's Less Than Human . Check out my write-up below, and head over to Sound Club to listen to the album and join in any discussion. Coming out relatively early on in a run of what was arguably a golden…
About 18-months ago I made a commitment to myself to spend more time listening to full albums — both new, and old. The nature of BlackPlastic.co.uk is that I naturally spend a lot of time listening to singles. If I’m not careful, this can lead to me missing out on the widescreen scope of a great album, and so I made a pact to myself — every week I would try to commit to listening to an album, at…
Carolina Chase On My Mind Somewhat unbelievably, On My Mind , is the product of an artist who is just 15-years-old. Hailing from Los Angeles, Carolina Chase began writing songs at the age of nine, before releasing her first collection of music by the age of 12. This latest release comes ahead of Chase’s debut album, Warwick . On My Mind is an emotive piece of indie pop that sits at the…
Atmos Bloom It’s Enough Opening with low slung bass and bright guitars, the latest song from duo Atmos Bloom sits somewhere between post punk and shoegaze. Atmos Bloom is the product of Tilda Gratton and Curtis Paterson. The pair met when Gratton auditioned to play bass in Paterson’s band at university in Manchester. What started as a musical journey, channeling the likes of Sonic Youth and…
Banyan Ether Having appeared on BlackPlastic with their 2023 song, More to Say , Banyan are back with a new slice of blissed-out electronic music in the form of new single Ether . Whilst both Ether and More to Say channel the same rounded, soft synth sound, this new release has a driven feel to the percussion. The result is a song perfectly suited to the moment where the sun touches the…
Tricky FM Sugar in my Drink Opening with a dialling tone, one-sided snapshots of a phone call and warm, widescreen synths, Trick FM’s new single evokes a kind of late ‘90s / early ‘00s electronica. Fractured drum beats and ambient found sounds create an assembled sound that evokes urban Britain. What is surprising is that Tricky FM is the musical pseudonym of Hana Freed, based in San Francisco.…
Adrobski IDWTC Pulling together elements of electronic production, with heavy synths and fractured distortion, with traces of alternative rock, Adrobski creates a kind of beautiful noise on IDWTC . The individual pieces glisten, like an explosion of broken glass in slow motion, whilst garage rock elements act like gravity and keep the overall sound grounded. Feedback swirls, bit crushed vocals…
Steve Stout Waitin on Mine Steve Stout’s Waitin on Mine opens with a simple instruction, a disembodied voice calls ‘Hit it!’, and the band leap into life. Every time I hear it over my headphones, it makes me jump — the voice seemingly right there. The sound that follows envelopes the listener, slightly steely guitars strum as a piano, played by Walker Igleheart, gently wanders through my mind.…
Tears Before Bedtime I Can’t Stand the Silence The new single from Tears Before Bedtime makes its intentions clear from the moment you hear its haunted, dark vocals and the thumping drum track that punctuates them… This is a track that is done lying down. I Can’t Stand the Silence blends Tears Before Bedtime’s influences — which include Joy Division and New Order, and more modern influences in…
Judah & the Lion Miracle Describing their new single, Judah & the Lion band member Judah Akers says Miracle embodies the concept that ‘life doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you’. With a vocal that streaks across the skies of my mind like some kind of rainbow-coloured revelation, there is a staggering humanity and warmth to what Akers and bandmate Brian Macdonald have created here. With…
Olive Wreath Cold Warm Green Blue Opening with layered instrumentation, Cold Warm Green Blue unfolds like a collage. Percussion and guitars are roughly assembled with overlapping edges. From this textured picture emerges Olive Wreath’s gently processed vocal. Like a forgotten photograph fluttering out of a well thumbed paperback, it lands in our laps. It feels like a memory we had forgotten, yet…
Penny Lover, You Should’ve Come Over UK artist Penny blends indie influences and alt pop to create a distinctive and emotional sound. Originally from Huddersfield, she released her debut EP, My Secret Powers , in 2022, introducing her bedroom pop aesthetic. With her new EP, entitled Prom? and released today, Penny has looked to deliver the most fully realised version of her vision. Regularly…
Blumi Jaguar Entering with the kind of bass line that threatens to chin you, Jaguar is Blumi’s first release for Capitane Records, and provides a preview into her forthcoming debut LP, Steady Heart . The tension at Jaguar ’s core is concerned with the dichotomy between the individual and society — our need for space and solitude, combined with the desire for connection. That cool bass line is…
Frau Truth Coming from Nashville-born, Brooklyn-based alt pop newcomer Frau, Truth is the second single taken from her forthcoming debut album, Flutter . Anchored around a dream-like vocal, Truth leverages glitchy vocal techniques to accentuate Frau’s extended overdubbed harmonies, her vocal pulsing as they mutate into additional layers of instrumentation. Synth pads surround those vocals,…
Maddie Regent See Me Toronto-native but LA-based, Maddie Regents is an indie pop artist, crafting songs at the intersection of romance, anxiety, fantasy, and heartbreak. Here on new single See Me , she explores the sense of vulnerability and connection that comes from opening up and being fully known by someone else. Opening with crisp synths and gentle guitar, See Me evokes the kind of clear-eyed…
Aaron Title Crave Hailing from Washington DC, Aaron Title is a singer-songwriter, focused on creating lo-fi alt pop, R&B and electronic music. Aaron previously appeared on BlackPlastic back in 2023 , with his song New Moon (Riptide) . Here on Crave he has a piece of music, written and produced in his bedroom, that combines introspection and an upbeat feeling of momentum. Crave stands out for its…
Billet Doux Maybe Tokyo Hailing from France, Billet Doux take their name from the 17th-century expression, meaning ‘secret love letter’. The duo apply that emotionally charged feeling into their music, creating a tender intensity. The latest single from their forthcoming album Superbloom is Here Again , Maybe Tokyo is a song about escape and uncertainty. Opening with a strummed guitar and tight…
Lila Holler Braising The latest single from Liverpool, UK/Seattle, WA artist Lila Holler, Bruising builds slowly. Glassy vocals and muted guitars create a 90s-esque folk-pop sound as Holler rapidly weaves together a series of intimate lyrical couplets. Bruising hits its stride in its chorus, a minute in, fuzzy bass guitar establishing a hooky bed for Holler’s vocals. Increasingly frustrated, she…