Hassall – Out Of Date
Similar artists: Carla Geneve, Angie McMahon
Genre: Indie Rock
People are afraid of what they like and they should be. A better, more honest way to say this is that the current climate has made most people offer up a better image of themselves online, one that doesn’t carry over when you meet them in person.
Love songs have always been the principal theme of pop music and all of its wide varieties. Songs about falling in love, falling out of love, or being in love so much that you begin to hate a person, are what dominate your record collection or your preferred playlists.
However, the romance of an airplane ticket to romantic places or the cigarette stained with lipstick’s traces, however pretty it may sound, speaks of a different age. That was a time where people were forced to interact with each other or face living alone forever. Being savvy with a laptop and a Tinder profile far outweighs those romantic ideals nowadays.
It’s hard to be the first to write a song about an important topic, but Hassall’s Out Of Date gets very close to it. This might not be the very first time that someone has complained about the shallowness of modern dating in a song. But it’s certainly the first time that someone has done it so well. Blessed with an incredible singing voice and melodies that should keep a listener glued to their headphones, Hassall might have written a modern-day classic.
The Response – Over The Moon
Genre: Indietronica, Indie Rock, Indie Pop
Similar artists: Arcade Fire, Wet Leg, Mitski, Metronomy, Cage The Elephant
For a long time, music genres mixed about as well as Das Kapital admirers at a Republican Convention in the U.S. Potential fans were asked to make their choices carefully. Once they’ve picked, they wouldn’t be allowed to pick again.
What if they did? Well, not much would happen other than the fact that they’d lose any respect from their friends, families, and neighbors. Back in 1977, a long-haired rock fan caught in a disco could risk dismemberment from his own kind.
So, what changed? People just got tired of hiding the silly songs that they enjoyed or having to draw the shades when they fancied doing a stupid dance around their living room. It wasn’t just the fans that felt this way. It was the musicians too.
The Response are trendy indie-pop heads on Over The Moon. That, in itself, would hardly be remarkable. But their danceable, ear-pleasing tune contains some genuinely great grooves. Don’t worry, those are the kind of rhythms that your granny could dance around to, but they work great here.
