Singles & EPs Round Up - May 26th, 2022

Metavari - Páirc Sequence (Joyful Noise)

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There's some great production on this track and a cultured, adventurous arrangement, but what really sets it apart for me is the video. Ideally music should be listened to with your eyes closed, but don't forget the marriage of music and movement which, unless you want to have an accident or in this case miss the action, is usually best done with your eyes open so as to wonder at the grace, physicality and ingenuity on display.

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Dew Point - Ever So Gently (Self Release)

OK full disclosure, Dew Point is Ben McElroy - the TSMM artist, but my shameless bias aside it's a damn fine slice of ambient Neoclassical music, with Ben's strings cutting through Richard Smithson's grey swirling electronic clouds a treat. This apparently has been sitting on a hard drive for ages, and stems from a long running remote project (the two have never met) - well before such things became fashionable/essential during the pandemic.

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gone icon - tru spirit (Self released)

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I can't quite remember how I stumbled across gone icon -somewhere in the overgrown grass of the musical fringes I guess, but I'm more than happy to be acquainted with his off kilter futuristic dream pop, where he takes all sorts of familiar sounds, twists them into cool new shapes then threads his delicate yet somehow substantive vocals through them.

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Vraell - Flickr (Nettwerk)

I made a conscious effort a couple of years ago when I described something as "pop" and my learned, now sadly departed friend, Arnaud said, "I don't think you even know what pop is." On reflection he had a point. Since then I've made an effort to keep an eye on what the 99% is doing. This track from Vraell makes all the right noises & has a soft edged accessibility to it, but there is something about his voice and the melodic work here that sets it apart from the commercial competition. I'm filing this under guilty pleasures. Hear more of them on the Slow Pop playlist.

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