Vinyl Williams – Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Similar artists: Toro y Moi, Morgan Delt, Neon Indian
Genre: Indie Rock
Vinyl Williams is suggesting to listeners a trip by rollercoaster to a dreamworld built from the ground up by the artist himself.
You’d expect that with all the technology we have lying around, music would sound dreamier than what it used to sound like. After all, back when psychedelic pop was just beginning to be recorded, producers would physically have to slice up tape, and singers would actually have to deliver their vocals on the right pitch. That’s quite an ask.
Modern production techniques, as well as new equipment, promises to relieve artists of these burdens. Still, many listeners will complain that the same kind of ethereal energy of classic records simply does not translate now that we’re in the digital era. What is required, perhaps, is musical artists who are constantly dreaming of those lands that exist in the imagination alone.
Vinyl Williams’ “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy” is a classic psych-pop tune helped out by all the bells and whistles of modern production. The sounds may be descriptive of a dreamworld, but this is a dynamic track as well, more akin to a fast-moving vehicle making its way through a jungle than to a balloon floating gently into space. Best of all, Vinyl Williams gives listeners a reason to believe that modern music can still soundtrack their fantasies.
Temple Island – Breathe The Night
Genre: Indie-pop
Temple Island brings a celestial quality to its brand of Nordic pop. This is music constructed using big vocal hooks and lush production.
Reality leaves plenty to be imagined. But, recently, many of the things that we’ve used to improve our reality have conspired against our predilection to dream. This didn’t seem like a big thing at first. Why dream up what could be when your phone or computer screen could just do it for you?
As time wore on, most people decided that such things left a lot to be desired. Just as the large cities that offer everything end up robbing people of their freedom, so does the technology that can replicate every possible aspect of reality. We’ve come back to art and creativity as a means to escape.
Temple Island’s “Breathe The Night” has one foot set in the pop music trends of Western music and one in the exploratory techniques of avant-pop. This is only natural considering that the trio is from Iceland, a volcanic island lying between Europa and the U.S., and never quite wanting to fit in either place. Temple Island makes danceable music. But their version of a disco includes no colored, electric-powered lights, just endless skies.
