Happy to premiere the brand new video for “Beats Me” from Full Mood off of their upcoming Cold Lunch Recordings release. If you’re unfamiliar, Full Mood crafts slow-burning, lush indie pop songs that somehow manage to carry a hefty dose of melancholy and optimism.

“Beats Me” captures that essence perfectly. The slow burning video features the two primary band members stoically passing the time playing cards, chess, video games or board games. It’s a visual lament on the doldrums of suburban living and, if you’re a fan of lyrics, an open-to-interpretation tale of relationship upkeep or the literal costs of staying together.

The real fire of the track ignites about two minutes in as it unfurls with a full-on Lynchian twist. The suburban settings remain but the band members are lost in their own world, a spotlight appears, a green fog creeps in from under the door and if Laura Palmer appeared with The Man From Another Place you would not be the least bit surprised. It’s haunting, foreboding and just the right amount of weird to make it fully intriguing.

The later half of the video transitions into a proper performance video but manages to maintain the mystery set in place beforehand. Is the band now stuck in a nether world between reality and The Other? Have they transitioned into a this realms equivalent of The White Lodge? These questions can never be answered but simply posing them in the first place makes for a wonderful discussion piece.

Full Mood continues to establish themselves as an actual full mood; encompassing the complex, the mysterious and the intriguing all at once. The forthcoming EP is sure to be one not to miss.

Taking a look at the Instagram account of SONATORE, you’re greeted with a grid of beautiful Polaroid images capturing people, places and things all with a keen eye for framing, color and emotional impact. There’s an instant nostalgia that comes with Polaroid that often evokes an affection and longing for times past. Melancholy, if you will.

Feeling that, it’s quite interesting that the artists official press release states “Remember, nostalgia is ultimately a liar.” It’s a worthwhile notion to consider; do you feel that affection because times were actually better or because the weight of the present is generally more pressing than that of the past? We don’t have the answer but it’s worth a thought or three.

The official video for “2 A.M.” plays on all of those foundations. The video is simple but well framed. The artist is shown wearing a black veil, a visually creative choice that evokes Aldous Harding (or locals The Mute Group). It’s steeped in melancholy performance. The track itself is a simple acoustic guitar often swept up by light strings, carrying the baritone vocals as they lament a lost relationship.

But is the pain of that lost relationship nostalgia or true pain? Fortunately, the answer doesn’t have to be a straightforward choice one way or the other. It can be, and is, both.

Slow songs and ballads can be difficult to get coverage (especially on this site) but Sonatore has crafted a landscape that is delicate and contemplative while clearly being intentional in its presentation. This isn’t your run of the mill sad song, this is a full-on introspection from all angles and we appreciate it greatly.

Over the course of the last fourteen months, plenty of artists have taken to livestreaming to fill the hole of being unable to attend live shows but few have done it as well as Ttotals have done here. Recorded back in November of 2020, this Live at the 5 Spot set is 35 minutes of immersive psych-rock augmented by a mind-boggling projection show from Flooded Sun Liquid Light Show.

No one would prefer that we have a global pandemic but since we did have one, we might as well speak to some of the silver linings it brought along with it. It’s entirely possible that you never would have found yourself at a Ttotals show at the 5 spot. Moreso, its possible that Ttotals wouldn’t have been able to get Flooded Sun to provide visuals and it’s incredibly unlikely that the whole thing would have been recorded and posted to Youtube for posterity.

It’s a fantastic set of music that showcases a side of Nashville that doesn’t get seen nearly as often as it should. The songs are solid, the performance is stellar and the visuals elevate the whole thing to an experience rather than just a show. We all hate the impetus behind this existing but it’s impossible not to appreciate now that it’s here.