On the surface, “Always” is a pained tale of loss and rejection. Songs of Llore, aka Amanda Collins, sings “You said you loved me / Wanted to be by my side / But you lied” over top of lush, contemplative, ethereal arrangements. It’s a painful and familiar feeling expressed with quiet grace and a little defeat… but then there’s an absolutely triumphant turn. “Always” unfurls into a shoegaze influenced declaration of power:

I don’t need a man
To tell me who the fuck i am.
I am always gonna be me
And I don’t care if you don’t see.

The track is taken from a forthcoming Fall 2023 release entitled Late Bloomer that we can only hope contains more impressively self-empowered mantras.

Synthesis is hard. An artist will inevitably be influenced by the music they consume; from how to layer harmonies or how to intensify feedback, Everything is a Remix. The real trick is to take those influences and synthesize them into something new. With Easily Excited!, the debut from Thee Kave Crickets, there’s an instantly recognizable vibe to the work being presented but it’s not a derivative pastiche of sounds. Tracks like “Too Much Love” feel reminiscent of the Elephant 6 collective, title track “Easily Excited” has a Ominous 60’s Jangle and “One That Stays” is 80s Sax Powerballad through a Phil Spector lens. And therein lies the appeal of Thee Kave Crickets; you can pluck familiar and comfortable references for each of these tracks but none of them fit nicely into a mold for any one specific things. They’ve managed to find the right balance of each of ingredient in their particular recipe for a rather tasty treat; aurally speaking. Easily Excited! is a delightful romp, a grinning dance party and freshly familiar good time. Hard to ask for more than that.

During Record Store 2023, I had the great pleasure of seeing Love Montage perform on the indoor stage of Vinyl Tap. Lyrically, his music has always touched on relationships, love and sex; delivered with an optimistic shine. Seeing them live, it all burst forth with even more exuberance. The band was full of legitimate swagger and brought a full-on good time with them. With that context, the latest single Inglewood Shandy is ratcheted up a notch. It’s already a shiny slice of summer on its own but imagining a band of beaming smiles delivering it makes it that much more endearing.

Cloudmouth has always been an interesting band. For evidence of this bold claim, watch their “Drunk on What” and “Nice Looking Mountain” videos – both different styles visually and aurally but nonetheless gripping. By my count, they have not received the recognition they deserve for their unique combination of styles, songwriting, delivery and presentation.

However, with “Take Me To a Lake,” it’s possible that may change. The first single from the band’s forthcoming new album has a decidedly new spirit to it. The underlying rock band is still there but something more grandiose, more space-y and more free flowing emerges about 90 seconds in. It sprawls out into the void before returning into an explosive rumination that loops right back into the sprawl. It’s a cyclical treat that ebbs and flows like waves on the shore.

Hopefully more to hear soon because this is an incredibly promising first listen from a band that was already worth knowing.

Over on Instagram, Gardening, Not Architecture (aka Sarah Saturday) recently revealed that they were the recipient of the TN Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship for 2024. If you’re not familiar with the fellowship, it’s a conduit for the government to enable artists across a variety of categories such as Visual Arts, Media, Dance, Music, Theater, Interdisciplinary Performing Arts and more. If you’re unfamiliar with the works of Gardening, Not Architecture, I can enthusiastically inform you that she manages to create art in every single one of those categories; exemplified by her latest multimedia show Voyage.

Combining live music, pre-recorded short films (with collaborator Dycee Wildman), choreography (by Joi Ware), spoken word and more, Voyage has a little bit of everything all woven together as a singular piece. GNA will perform the entire experience at the Darkhorse Theater on August 3rd through the 5th and we highly recommend attending. We were fortunate enough to catch a pre-show exhibition of the show and can confirm it is a compelling sight worth seeing.

Along with the live performances in August, the accompanying album – Voyage – will be released on August 4th. The seven tracks contained on the release are a prominent element of the live show but stand on their own as a collection of infectious, vulnerable, pop songs. The latest single, “Like You,” opens as a sparse and hypnotic rumination before unfurling into a cathartic and joyous dance anthem (with just a pinch of melancholy). The accompanying video, taken from Voyage, captures GNA in a single shot running towards the camera, dropping her burdensome coat and exhaustively sparkling in her newly revealed jumpsuit. It’s an excellent slice of the entirety of Voyage because the metaphor clearly works on it own but takes on greater meaning within the context of the whole.

The work involved to put together an album, a series of short films and a choreographed routine that all works together seamlessly is difficult to comprehend but GNA has executed an impressive confluence of crafts. Get your tickets to Voyage, listen to the latest single and follow along on Instagram. The 2024 fellowship will fuel the fires of the next project but, fortunate for us, there’s a ton of GNA to indulge in right now.