Roman Around The Thanks The Thanks is the latest single from Roman Around, the musical vehicle for Roman Rivera, and it swims in loose guitars, slow and off kilter bass and a spectral vocal that gives the song a distinctive, sun dazed aesthetic. It follows on from the hazy track DNT, as featured on BlackPlastic.co.uk back in 2022. There are traces of Animal Collective, Phoenix, and Kindness on display on The Thanks, all wound up in a tight little art-pop package. The song conveys a growing desperation in Roman’s heavy vocal performance, a sense of lethargy coming through as the performance de ..read more

Kacey Fifield Dream Girl Following on from her single Left Behind, featured on BlackPlastic back in March, and EP Nostalgia Haunts Me, NY-based musician Kacey Fifield is back with her latest single, Dream Girl. Retaining a similar affection for cinematic teen drama as Left Behind, Dream Girl is a depiction of internal yearning and insecurity. Regardless of age, we can all occasionally feel alienated as we try to slot ourselves into a particular mold, fitting a definition of what is deemed desirable and aspirational. Fifield sings of her own mental anguish as she desperately chases outside val ..read more

Late Guest At The Party Ecstasy (If You Want It) Following on from two previous releases featured on BlackPlastic, December’s Ramblin’, and January’s In Defense Of Time, European-American electro-dance outfit Late Guest At The Party are back with a hot new single for summer. In contrast to both Ramblin’’s taut, dubby, shuffling house, and In Defense Of Time’s slower, sun-cracked and electronic balladry, Ecstasy (If You Want It) pursues a more hedonistic sound. Whilst Ecstasy retains the tight, square bass tones of Ramblin’, it combines them with the kind of looped piano riff that sits somewhe ..read more

Caleb L’Etoile Lighter, Now! Having appeared on BlackPlastic.co.uk just two months ago with his distinctive garage-influenced track, Two More Years, Virginia artist and producer Caleb L’Etoile is back with his latest single. Where Two More Years was an experimental, grimy slice of melancholic electronic music, Lighter, Now! is something quite different. The lyrics here still deal with darkness, depicting abusive relationships, but in contrast to Two More Years, L’Etoile finds brightness here. Warm synth tones establish a reflective, hopeful sound as Caleb’s vocals tumble rapidly, a flowing st ..read more

Martin Oh Better Place About this time every year, I generally head to the Côte d’Azur for work purposes. The days are long, working with clients in the day, but fun, with social events in the evening. My favourite soundtrack for those trips is Phoenix, one of my favourite French acts, with the warm, sunny but wistful vibe they create forming the perfect backing for these trips. As I prep for my eighth such trip, Martin Oh’s Better Place slid into my inbox, and as a French indie artist based in Barcelona, it boasts a sunny European vibe, and more than a (French!) touch of Phoenix’s sound. Pro ..read more

Julia Logan Mirrors Having read the book, I recently found myself captivated by the Amazon Prime adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel, Daisy Jones & The Six. TV adaptations of books tend not to interest me, yet the music was described in such detail in Jenkins Reid’s book that I couldn’t help but want to hear it, brought to life for the show. The result didn’t disappoint, but as a result, I couldn’t help but long for actual musicians and bands focused on writing and producing the kind of rich, sophisticated folk-pop and rock the show embodied. Julia Logan feels like an answer to that ..read more

Jean Valery Drive Me Crazy Hailing from Belgium, Jean Valery brings together a loose and engaging blend of hip-hop, alternative rap and rock into a seamless sound with an effortless sense of cool. Having worked within the hip-hop duo Blackwave, Drive Me Crazy sees Valery unveil his debut solo single. Drive Me Crazy has a snappy sense of momentum to it, skittering along on rapid rhythms and fuzzy instrumentation. Jean’s performance slips between a percussive rap flow and sung vocals, giving the song a sense of dynamism, and creating a sense of it being constructed in-the-moment, in response to ..read more

Diatribes Lithify Hailing from San Francisco, Diatribes is the musical pseudonym for the Lead Designer in a well-known branding agency. As someone who also works in the world of branding and advertising, I know that the divide between your working and personal life, and the working hours themselves, can get blurry. With conceptual development and technical production work sometimes bleeding into the night, Diatribes’ musical work has become a form of escape, and a way to leverage his talent for a more personal form of output. With a musical style that draws on contemporary electronic stylings ..read more

Jenny Kern GIRLS! The new single from Canadian-born, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Jenny Kern, GIRLS! is a breathless tribute to the liberation of embracing your desires. Having garnered increasing attention since the release of her debut single, Slow Burn, Jenny has been refining an indie-dream-pop sound. Here on GIRLS!, we get to experience her journey of self-discovery, as she explains: ‘This song is probably my most exciting and empowering song to date. I had this moment in my head where I realized, omg, I think I like girls. This track marks the beginning of a huge journey of self-ex ..read more

SCHØØL N.S.M.L.Y.D. Formed late last year, SCHØØL are a Parisian four-piece with aspirations to become the band they dreamed of as teenagers. Inspired by shoegaze outfits from the 90s, including Swirlies and Drop Nineteens, SCHØØL’s sound feels like a wall of sound, chaotic yet buoyant. The slow, melodic dirge of N.S.M.L.Y.D reminds me of creative abundance that aligned with The Horrors’ sophomore album, Primary Colours. Primary Colours was, in and of itself, an effective reimagining of the intersection of Joy Division and German experimental rock outfit Can. On N.S.M.L.Y.D, SCHØØL position t ..read more