No Country for New Nashville recently premiered the latest track from Smart Objects and I thought it wise to share it here as well.

“Run Your Own Way” is the second single to emerge from Benjamin Harper’s latest project and clearly builds on the work of his previous releases under different monikers. The track takes on a slightly darker tone than anything he’s put out there previously – including the first Smart Object’s single “The Autumn Man” – but it shows that Smart Objects is willing to explore new territories. Fortunately, those new explorations still keep the heart of what makes the band so enjoyable – serving up pop songs with densely layered instrumentation and surprising flourishes.

See the band perform the song live and celebrate the tracks release into the world over at The 5 Spot tonight, May 25th.

According to the liner notes for the debut release from The Schwa, these three songs were recorded at the MTSU Studio D – presumably as part of the Recording Industry degree that Murfreesboro is known for. It also means we can assume that the band was born roughly 18-20 years ago (okay, maybe that’s a leap). Assuming that’s true, it’s remarkable to hear the result of songwriting written by a group potentially influenced heavily by the late 90’s, mid 2000’s barrage of BritRock bands.

They do a great job of capturing that frantic energy without losing sight of catchy hooks, layered vocals and some interesting guitar play. It’s only three songs to go off of but I’d vote to get them back into Studio D as soon as possible.

The official video for Sundaes latest release, “Pretty Wife“, showcases a snow-filled landscape of choreographed dance (courtesy of Amanda Hameline) overlaid with dreamy splashes of color and sparkling outfits.

It’s a visual spectacle but the real reward here is the song itself. The plodding bass line, textured keyboards and touches of guitar feel directly influenced by the likes of Depeche Mode and The Cure, from their heyday. That’s not to set your expectations inappropriately but it gives you an idea of the influence seeping through. The whispered vocals augmented by the occasional vocoder are an excellent delivery method for a message that’s either a hopeful prayer or a subtly depraved desire. Maybe both.

The track is also available on Bandcamp and Spotify, should you want to partake in it outside of Youtube.

The plants1 EP from daliah is a very ambient undertaking filled with drawn out sounds and a calming nature. It’s a great piece to put on in the mornings and help slowly draw you into your day.

Listening to this, I can’t help but be reminded of one of my all-time favorite, weird, records entitled Plantasia, a collection of songs intended to promote house plant growth born from the mind of Moog pioneer Mort Garson.

Musically, there’s very little comparison of the two (and why would there be?) but I like to believe they both create environments that promote healthy, calm environments for whatever organism spends time with them.

The second full-length from Cloudmouth, Dark Energy, was released today and is coupled with a show over at The East Room featuring a host of great bands. We debuted the track “Nice Looking Mountain” on Episode 107 of the WOTT Music podcast and we’re happy to report that the entire album stands up as a worthwhile listening endeavor.

To be clear, Cloudmouth is fighting an uphill battle. Lead vocalist Kyle Numann has somewhat of a baritone vocal delivery and the band mixes a lot of styles together. You’re just as likely to find an accordion backing a funeral dirge as you are a synthesizer underlying a whipping acoustic guitar. This makes for an enjoyably diverse listen but it can be a hurdle for a new listener as there’s no directly digestable genre to toss them into.

Tracks like “Shall Not Be Named” and the aforementioned “Nice Looking Mountain” are good entry points for the more accessible pop-rock style songs but it’d be a shame to skip over “Don’t Make Me Watch“, a song ostensibly about death told via bopping 70’s style and riffing bass, or “Tree Song“, a downright pleasant contemplation on.. death.

While there’s a lot to digest here stylistically and lyrically, it’s clearly a band that has refined and expanded their sound. Sit with this one for a bit and be pleased.

Leveraging context clues, I’m going to say that le skunk is a new band just getting their feet wet. There’s a total of six songs available from them and zero additional information – no Facebook, no Twitter, nothing. Maybe this is intentional or maybe they’re still getting it together.

However, that shouldn’t be read as a condemnation but, rather, as an exciting prospect for what they’ve got in store. Their latest (and technically first) EP, Putter, starts off like a lost AC/DC track but quickly reveals itself as a brilliant dose of pop rock with garage sensibilities. Both “Nothing to Lose” and “One of a Kind” are catchy as hell with their subtle keyboards, call-and-response chorus and constant driving guitars.

It may just be six songs so far but the track record is impressive. Let’s hope we hear a lot more from this outfit, whoever they may be.

Makeup and Vanity Set puts out a great deal of music; as of November 2017 he launched a subscription service that offers no less than seven full-length albums of content. That’s a lot of albums for six months. This fact that can often lead to the assumption that the quality of output does match the quantity. Fortunately that is not the case here.

PRIS, the latest offering to emerge from the subscription as a non-exclusive is largely dark and foreboding (as MAVS releases tend to be) but there’s a tone that is much less Horror Film and more Troubled Sci-Fi. The track Lover(s) exemplifies this subtle shift as it carries an overall lighter, almost optimistic, vibe that gets undercut by a sense of imbalance.

In general, original instrumental music can be tough to nail down when it’s not directly tied to a visual narrative because you’re literally relying on the sounds to tell you a story. Taking cues from the song titles and the change in vibe, there’s certainly a story being told with PRIS, it’s just up to you to unearth it.