Tracks Of The Week, 30.11.15

Swim conspire to make music for late evenings, precious moments of solitude, drives along the beach, and the last throbbing hour on the dance floor; as impossible as this may seem, they’ve done it. Their debut single ‘Next To Me’ takes their own brand of electronic pop and injects it with an RnB feel – difficult to pin down, but beautifully easy to listen to.

Having met online – a producer’s desire to meet a compatible voice bringing them together – the Swedish duo (Erika and Carl) combined years of touring, record producing and songwriting to create their vision: dark, almost intimidating but bizarrely warm and comfortable. With their emotion-fuelled vocals and looming basses this track has the potential to be purely hard-hitting, but is given a dash of light with the melodic synths. It’s an odd concoction, but one that works so wonderfully, it would be silly to question it.

Swim’s debut EP Next To Me is out 11 December.

If you were on the look out for the perfect bunch of charmingly imperfect misfits to add a bit of noise to your music collection, So Pitted will no doubt do the trick. New track ‘rot in hell’ is but a brief insight into the band that are “louder than Nirvana”: it’s proof that these Seattle punks are more than their quirks. It’s fuzzy, driven and downright cool.

As for the band themselves, there are no rules. Or rather the one rule is that, as they put it, “it’s everyone’s band”. Made up of Liam Downey, Nathan Rodriguez and Jeannine Koewler, the two guys regularly swap instruments, whilst Koewler plays her guitar through a bass amp. No one person is more important than the others, and whilst their music may have an aggression to it, the band themselves are about helping each other. It’s punk, sure, but almost more genuine than you’ve ever seen it. And it’s great.

So Pitted’s album neo is available to pre-order now.  

Aside from the adorably romantic story behind Flowers (vocalist Rachel Kenedy and guitarist Sam Ayres met after he posted an ad looking for a singer and now live together, restoring vintage musical equipment), they – along with drummer Jordan Hockley – make gorgeously quirky pop songs.

It’s almost impossible to think that first single ‘Pull My Arm’ almost didn’t make it onto their latest album. It’s everything a pop song should be – catchy, Madonna-esque – with an added layer of power. Imagine pop vocals over the textured guitars of something far heavier, but pieced together in such a way that they compliment each other perfectly. It’s carefree, but sincere, and very lovely.

The new album Everybody’s Dying To Meet You is set for release on 12 February 2016.

Sometimes songs take a while to sound perfect, and as The Tapestry’s ‘We Talk’ proves, patience is a virtue. It may have taken 12 months, but what has come from the evolving of ‘We Talk’ is a fantastic pop song, and it’s a true representation of the band’s ability and sound. It’s got disco influenced drums and bass, though maintains their signature vocals and underlying indie vibes. Just like everything they write, it’s endlessly fun.

To make things better, The Tapestry are giving away the track for free. Explaining the decision, drummer Zara said: “It’s our way of saying thanks for all the support. We have some some truly dedicated followers and wanted to give something back to them.”

‘We Talk’ is available now as a free download. Just sign up to the band’s mailing list. 

Melissa Svensen
@MelYeaahh

Melissa Svensen

Melissa Svensen

Melissa, 22. Editor. Student, music journalist, probably talking about Blur or Bowie