Ichiko Aoba has a new single and – shock horror – it’s gorgeous and utterly spellbinding. Listen to it.

For those unfamiliar with Aoba, the usual deal is that you sit down and press play, and then she appears like a magical headphone fairy for an hour (give or take twenty minutes) with her excellent guitar and her excellent guitar technique and pretty much nothing else aside from her voice, with which she sings songs so pure and intimate that you’d feel like you were the only person in the world who could her them even if they were being broadcast at deafening volumes on loudspeakers in the middle of Shibuya Crossing or wherever.

“Seabed Eden” differs both significantly and subtly from the Aoba precedent. On an immediate level and in the softest of revolutions, Aoba has swapped her guitar, once her inseparable confidant, for an electric piano. It’s obviously striking that she’s literally playing a different instrument, but the greatest change here is the melancholy minor 7th-fest of a chord progression that she follows throughout; in a similar way to how her January single “Amuletum” was immediately evocative of classic Studio Ghibli soundtracks, this progression is unusual for Aoba that it immediately screams of a real world precedent outside of her own quiet universe (in this case, the wistful melodic jazz of Erroll Garner’s “Misty” and the fifty zillion descendent numbers you’ve heard with or without realising it). Ichiko Aoba hasn’t lost her magic touch – this track is…

Eesh, where do I start here? Let me open up by saying that after I had seen 3TEETH live back in 2018, all bets were off: in my estimation, these guys were to become imminent torchbearers of the industrial scene. Shutdown.exe was an imperfect experiment but, christ, the potential was written all over the wall. The album’s opening track ,”Divine Weapon”, was some of the heaviest shit I’d heard in 2017, but moreover the album collectively enveloped the vintage of industrial’s high points whilst modernising it with metalcore styled riffing and some heterogeneously applied electronics and vocal work. Again, it wasn’t a perfect offering by any means, but it displayed the gamut of their capabilities. Fast forward to 2019 and the aching anticipation I had for their third album, Metawar, was met with disappointment – not because it was a bad album, but because it failed to capitalise on that spark Shutdown.exe presented. Indeed, Metawar swapped the inimitable experimentation for a more candid chapter in their career; a commonly designed mainstream offering that did the job well, but ultimately subverted the high standards I had for this band.

Now Harry Potter has a new film coming out and 3TEETH have covered two flamboyant songs for it. At this point, the whole ‘look, this heavy metal band has covered the unexpected!’ is about as original as throwing a TV out of a hotel window, but, oh boy, Alexis and co. went all the way with this one – covering Dead or…

Track Review: Emaru – “よるのみち”

In August 2020, Sputnikmusic emerged from its longstanding morass of thesaurus metal and folk diarism, spurting to sufficient heights of credibility that it became possible to review unofficial Soundcloud demos without pulling the tier-Z faux pas of punching above our weight. Some would suggest becoming a not insufferable writer and “saving the w**k for the bathr**m fl**r” before exploiting this field of journalism, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. This is Sputnik’s biggest opportunity since sliced bread. In we go:

Better known as the vocalist for glitch pop/indietronica/post-anime/neo-alternative folktronica/dream pop group Macaroom, Emaru is an enigmatic lady who dances like a fucking weirdo, nailed whisper pop as an artform before Eilish apologists took out a loan on critical legitimacy, and runs a solo project on Soundcloud for obscure tracks and semi-developed drafts. Her new song “よるのみち” makes innovative and unconventional use of the platform by being a worthwhile piece of music released there in 2020.

It comes from an artistic mind so cutting edge that the majority of Americans will be flat-out incapable of understanding her, something I could tell immediately by the fact that she is wearing a mask in her profile picture. Her speaking a language that demands constant contextual awareness for basic comprehension absolutely in no way compounds this. Maybe this song will mark a renaissance for Soundcloud (it won’t). Does Soundcloud need a renaissance? I used to think it was going the way of MySpace, but then a girl…

Track Review: Deftones – “Ohms”

Four years. That’s how long it’s been since Gore dropped, and I can still remember the feeling of utter disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, Gore was good – great, even –  but how dare Deftones not fucking obliterate and hypnotize me at the same time with an indisputable album of the year? The nerve.

Needless to say, what’s bad for Deftones is still a career achievement for most other bands – but yeah, Gore didn’t leave much of an impression on me and I get the feeling that a lot of other fans felt the same way. It all just seemed so Deftones-by-numbers that it lacked any oomph or charisma. The songs began and ended and every time I was like, “Yup, that’s Deftones for ya” but then after each was done playing, I no longer cared (except for “Acid Hologram”, which still rules).

That’s why the on my very first spin of “Ohms”, I was already doing figurative cartwheels. The production is leaps and bounds ahead of Gore, and the shoegazey coating that has always suited them so well makes a return. Even the lyrics are better, achieving their trademark blend of romantic and ominous imagery: “So we slip into our hopeless sea of regret as I stare / Through the haunted maze in your eyes / Right through where I’ll remain for all time.” “Ohms” sounds immaculate and possesses an intense, fuzzed-out groove that any…

Track Review: Taylor Swift – “The Lakes”

“The Lakes” was highly anticipated, although by some more than others. A bonus track on Swift’s surprise album folklore, it was essentially a marketing ploy to get fans to pre-order a physical copy of the LP because it was being touted as “limited”. Even though the song would end up being released digitally before most fans received their CD/vinyl, the tactic worked. Swift now finds herself as the first artist to spend 40 weeks atop the Billboard Artist Chart thanks in large part to folklore‘s 3 week stretch – a streak that can be at least partially credited to continued intrigue over the delayed release of “The Lakes”.

So, marketing strategies aside, “The Lakes” is actually a very good song and arguably one of the best that Swift has ever penned (or half-penned, crediting Jack Antonoff’s omnipresence in nearly every pop production these days). Swift throws a lot of imagery at us in this string-swept ballad, which essentially boils down to a farewell: “Take me to the lakes where all the poets went to die…I’m setting off, but not without my muse.”  She seems disenchanted with society as a whole, from the controversy/cancel culture that tarnished her reputation circa her highly publicized conflict with Kanye West (“I’m not cut out for all these cynical clones / These hunters with cell phones”) to Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun, who dealed away Swift’s intellectual property giving her a chance to buy her…

Track Review: Carly Rae Jepsen – “Me And The Boys In The Band”

Carly Rae Jepsen has been very busy during quarantine. In May, she released a b-sides album from her acclaimed 2019 Dedicated LP, a piece that felt like a return to the upbeat, summery jams of Emotion. Now, she’s now gone on to release another absolute bop with “Me And The Boys In The Band.” It’s as if Jepsen knows exactly how to lift our spirits during these times, and she has a seemingly endless pool of optimism to tap into.

“Me And The Boys In The Band” is a funky, rhythmic ode to her bandmates and was created with the help of pop producer extraordinaire Jack Antonoff. The accompanying video features clips of each musician in their respective quarantines. Jepsen essentially sings about the good old days of live shows – driving to venues, exploring new cities, and partying afterwards. The longing nostalgia of the lyrics belie its upbeat, cheerful aura, especially when Carly sings, “So just take me to the stage / It’s been lit from the start / I need the summer fun.”

At least in the absence of actual summer fun, Jepsen has sent us all of the warm vibes that she possibly can. The ease with which she churns out these infectious, breezy, and carefree bangers is beginning to almost turn scary. Chalk another one up for the queen of pop music.

Track Score: 4.1