This album is something like progressive shoe-gaze, less soaked in reverb, with a little more clarity, and really just a creatively free and fairly unique angle to it. Worth a listen if considerate and intentional songwriting draws you in – as well as delicately hard-hitting rock backdrops.

Lo-FiShoegazeTrip-Hop

Sandy’s lyrics on Nightsky appear as notably personal, intimate and uninhibited – addressing a significant other, in a manner that feels almost like a reading from a private letter. The breathy and gentle nature of the delivery, along with the simple ambiance surrounding it, helps really reinforce this honest and genuine approach.

PopRnBTrip-Hop

Norway’s SIENNÁ returns this year with a post-six-minute offering that is the ambient and conceptual What Matters. The song takes its time to work through the various ideas within – this appears as a necessary artistic process for the songwriter, rather than a simple attempt to gather an audience and entertain.

Alt PopAmbientTrip-Hop

Frans Krans keep high energy punk rock alive and well with this memorably titled album Moby Cock.They’re likely to win you over, whichever song you choose – though the album in full is where the real fun lies.

Punk RockRock

Facing Dullness is perhaps the best new song I’ve heard so far this year. It takes a moment to really kick in, the overall sound is fairly familiar – warm and indie-pop-like in nature, but once you really hear it; you can’t un-hear it. 

Indie-PopPop-Rock