NEW INDIE MUSIC – WEEK 28

Hi hipsters! Nauseous?! Full of regret?! Taste like something died in your mouth?! Then it sounds as though you had an awesome Fourth of July! If you went overboard on the PBRs on Saturday and are currently nursing a Post-Independence Day hangover, then I have just the thing for you! Simply curl up on your sofa with your most-loved blanket and let the following new indie music from Crystal Castles, Gallant, Portugal. The Man, Awolnation, Wolf Alice and more cure you of all ills!

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CRYSTAL CASTLES – DEICIDE

Alice Glass is Queen but I can dig this girl Edith! As we previously heard on “Frail,” her voice is less aggressive than her predecessor's, which is a perfect match for the more ethereal vibes Ethan Kath has opted for on “Deicide.” Not that it doesn't bang. It does – very fucking hard! That four-on-the-floor beat and those pulsating synths are giving me life!

GALLANT – WEIGHT IN GOLD

Having been a fan of Gallant for years, I couldn't help but burst with pride when I heard his latest single, the dazzling “Weight in Gold,” premiere on Zane Lowe's first ever Beats 1 broadcast on Tuesday. The R&B powerhouse has long deserved mainstream success, and going on the 350,000 plays this song has already clocked up on SoundCloud, that might not be too far off at all. Dat. Voice.

PORTUGAL. THE MAN – HEAD IS A FLAME (COOL WITH IT)

Some classic Portugal. The Man, anyone?! “Head Is a Flame (Cool With It)” is lifted from the Alaskan band's 2011 LP, In the Mountain in the Cloud. That's right, 2011! Can you believe this song is four years old?! The likes of Tame Impala are only just starting to catch up with this sort of languid psychedelic groove! If you have a spare 45 minutes, then I definitely recommend you stream the rest of the album over at SoundCloud!

AWOLNATION – I AM

If you think AWOLNATION were done overtaking your airwaves, think again! The Los Angeles band return this summer with the indietronica anthem “I Am” and – in the vein of “Sail” two years ago – it's no doubt going to be soundtracking every movie trailer, car commercial and video game imaginable for months to come. Prepare your ears for the inevitable by checking out the video, which finds frontman Aaron Bruno in the midst of a contemporary dance routine, above!

B. MILES – NINE MATCHES

B. Miles enchanted me from the off with her debut single, the soulful “Nine Matches,” and the Los Angeles chanteuse continues to captivate with the video. “I wanted this to be something the audience would watch and then say, 'What?'” Miles told AltSounds, and to say she has achieved her goal is an understatement! Bringing together a melange of images such as Miles holding a baby goat and being poured in some sort of syrup, it's both hypnotic and completely WTF?!

ROSEAU – NEW GLASS

Ahead of the release of her debut album Salt in September, London producer Roseau gives us “a little snippet of what city life can be like” on her latest single “New Glass.” Applying a layering technique called “vocal blending” and cross-cutting genres such as future bass, grime and industrial, the Big Dada signee manages to create a soundscape that captures both the unbridled chaos and pure effervescence of The Big Smoke.

WOLF ALICE – FLUFFY (LIVE AT VEVO LIFT UK)

If you needed further proof that Wolf Alice are the best fucking band on the planet, then get a load of this exclusive performance at The Monarch in Camden for Vevo LIFT UK! Here they rip through live favorite “Fluffy” to a sea of headbangers and perspiring teenagers, who together helped the grunge four-piece's debut album, My Love is Cool, reach Number Two on the British chart the other day. And they say guitar music is dead!

THE ACID – RA (OLAF STUUT REMIX)

This isn't the first remix of The Acid's “Ra” to be featured by yours truly, but it's not everyday I get to share an eight minute opus by Olaf Stuut. The Dutch producer turns the vibes up to eleven on this reinterpretation of the Liminal cut, his dark and murky beats providing a perfect backdrop over which frontman RY X's haunting vocals are free to roam.

CLEOPOLD – DOWN IN FLAMES

Damn! Breakups have never sounded so catchy as they do on Australian crooner Cleopold's debut single “Down in Flames.” The off-kilter ode to unrequited love is part Chet Faker – which probably explains why the “Talk is Cheap” singer recently signed him to his label Detail Co. – and part P. Diddy. No, really, that guitar remind you of anything?!

LEWIS DEL MAR – LOUD (Y)

“Can you please sit the fuck down?!” I need to after listening to “Loud(y)!” The bold debut single from New York duo Lewis Del Mar – which recently hit Number One on Hype Machine – can only be described as a folktronica symphony. Hurtling through several movements, each as frenetic and energetic as the last, it's one of those kind of songs you have to play over five times to truly appreciate. Think Alt-J if they had better sex lives!

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Thanks for listening hipsters! Until next time, stay off the PBRs! x

“Comfy Couch Nook” by Laura D'Alessandro is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized).

About Jess Grant

When Jess Grant isn't writing on music, she can be found playing it – on her guitar, on her ukulele, and on her recently acquired mandolin. Playing it hideously, she ought to add. Jess also studies. She studies the English language, to be precise. Jess is currently on her way to a degree in the subject, and enjoys starting and never finishing novels, screenplays, and poetry in her spare time. She also likes dogs. Lots of dogs.