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Posted: 13 Sep 2013 01:13 PM PDT
Front page photo by Jesse Riggins
It feels like hardly a minute has passed since DIY pop-punk quartet Swearin' released their self-titled debut last August, yet here comes "Watered Down," the first single from their sophomore effort Surfing Strange ( out November 5 through Salinas Records and via Wichita in the UK). The band, now relocated from Philadelphia to Brooklyn, has become more of a team effort this time around, with members Allison Crutchfield, Kyle Gilbride and Keith Spencer (who also plays with Allison's twin sister Katie in Waxahatchee) sharing writing credits throughout the album. Featuring Gilbride on lead vocals, "Watered Down" is a characteristically simple three-minute bit that doesn't stray too far from the band's introspectively rebellious past, but it does showcase Swearin's evolution toward a more defined 1990s-alt-rock drawl as it chronicles the end of a relationship, one that's been decaying slowly from avoidance and growth in different directions. Swearin': "Watered Down" on SoundCloud.  |
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Posted: 13 Sep 2013 09:40 AM PDT
 There are immediate visual similarities between the clips for Blood Orange's "Chamakay", the lead single from his upcoming record Cupid Deluxe, and Solange's "Losing You", one of the songs that shot Dev Hynes to a new level of prominence as a songwriter and producer: international settings, idiosyncratic fashions, plenty of dancing. But instead of running back the latter's bubbly, sun-dappled 1980s pop-R&B and South African backdrop, Hynes enlisted Chairlift vocalist Caroline Polachek and decamped to his ancestral home of Guyana for a beautifully produced, overcast duet. It's up to Hynes and Polachek to bear much of the song's melodic weight-- they're supported by the odd hazy synth wash and some movement in the bass, and not much else-- and they do so capably, their interplay lending emotional heft to Hynes' lyrics. He layers Polachek's featherlight voice to build choruses and lingering, misty waves and shows off his keen ear for space, leaving a chasm between their vocals and a rich bass line. Taken together, his choices render "Chamakay" a weightless mid-tempo glide, a stark gem from an artist who's ready for a star turn.  |
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