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😄 archangels / losers don’t cry review

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but first, the news

yes that’s right, news time! a short selection of links to all things going on in the music biz:

• new chappell roan out this week

• new hayley williams out → right now if you’ve got a code

• new my chemical romance → at some point maybe

more i’ve been listening to

tame impala / end of summer

ugh he’s done it again hasn’t he

samia / amelia

i want her to be my friend and tell me what she’s up to

babymetal, electric callboy / ratata

you can all get mad at me like a dad refusing to get a cat before falling in love with it

genre: folk, country
release date: 20/06/25
runtime: 3:31
video: no :(

contents

• 😄 archangels / losers don’t cry review

• but first, the news

• more i’ve been listening to

  • samia / amelia

  • babymetal, electric callboy / ratata

    • what i like

    • what i don't like

    • my drunk opinion

    • for fans of

    • should you listen to more

• next week is playlist week! c u on tuesday

promise made promise kept! thought things were getting a lil stale round here so let’s shake it up. this week, the vote was for a bit of country. next week? who knows! you do, when you vote, my allegience is to democracy, to the republic after all. although i did reserve the right to take some creative liberties here. you see, i also want to make sure it’s coming from the big ol db, a user submitted song. we’ve been on a run lately of bangers from in there, so i spent most of the day rolling through all the tracks you’ve submitted, aiming to find a live one, and find one i did. meet tom symmonds and nick byrne with their intenslely emotional and heartfelt number solstice sun. don’t like it? vote for a different genre for next week! i’ve heard some absolute tunes from across the genre spectrum, so try me.

this track had me in my feels man. it really really did like i was just absolutely gone listening to this. i think the vocals against the regular tempo of the guitar were what did me in. the gentleness is a kind of velvet glove as it comes along and gives you a slap up the head. the contrast between something sharp and sticatto verses a performance that is as lush and voicey as it is gentle and vibrant. i also really rate how this song builds and builds it’s way up while the whole time making each escalation feel normal and natural. there are some really great details of this, like the introduction of the harmony on the finger plucked guitar, taking an element we’re well familiar with and just dialling it in alongside everything else. the little synth and string moments that work their way in on the top and outside of the mix are also really great. just adding extra bits of detail and vibrancy to make the whole thing feel all the more vibrant.

there’s this guy on tiktok who makes these like, idk, corecore esque videos where he’s writing music for a film that doesn’t exist. the premise is super duper simple, it’s a wee text hook and he’s there int he video writing the wong and you hear it and you’re like oh cool. the hooks will be simple things like aliens are here but they’re friendly or whatever. i think for all the different hooks he plays the same music, it feels the same. so what i’m not saying here is i’m not saying oh be more tiktok, or anything like that. what this does so much better than that is it is a proper full throated song and piece of art as opposed to content. but what it could do with, which that does so well, is that sense of place. that song isn’t just a song you hear, it’s one you feel. this song is one you feel in many ways, but at no point do you really feel like you’re lost in it’s world as it says something.

i keep joking if i had a balcony i’d take up smoking and like, haha, just kidding, haha

this brought me back to a track after a bit of hunting called underwater by casey boles and underwater, which hits a lot of similar veins to this, and similarly wanting to drive offr into the sunset (sad)

i’ve been listening to a fair bit of these artists and lemme tell you they are pretty sick. there’s a lot to like, a lot to loive and a lot of talent on here. and they submitted a track and then we get to hear it and it’s all just people together doing stuff isn’t that neat. i do think it’s really neat actually, i think writing this thing is sick, i love sharing tracks like this and it means a lot that artists will share their songs with me and then us. that said, lads, if you’re reading, i need to have a word. this press pic. like i get it, imagery is hard to land, it’s weird being on camera, etc i get it i do i promise. but you guys sound cool, you sound great! but you gotta look good too. it’s the internet y’know, need that imagery to make it all pop. and don’t give me the whole ohh we’re like, not about that y’know, we’re like, too cool or whatever. not interested, get a decvent photographer, get some fun outfits and make yourselves look great because you sound it and you deserve it.

or better yet, reply to this email! what did you think of this song? have you been listening to anything good lately? any gems i’ve missed?

next week is playlist week! c u on tuesday