If anyone else is FREAKING THE FUCK OUT over what is going on with the world, and grasping for any layer of normalcy, then here you are lads and lasses: a quintessential Left Bank playlist that will make you feel like life is … manageable? Ok that might be asking for a lot. This playlist will make you feel like life is, OK, for now.
Some playlist highlights
Christine and the Queens – “People, I’ve been sad”
Christine and the Queens sing about FOMO like only they can. French star Christine and the Queens (or just Chris) charms her way through a glorious performance of previously unreleased single ‘People, I’ve been sad’.
Dunebug – “Alone Like Me”
No other song describes the quest of the quarantine journey quite like Dunebug’s “Alone Like Me.” The solo project of Manchester-born Chi Limpiroj, you can hear her musical influences of Cat Power, Feist, Beach House, Soccer Mommy, and Japanese Breakfast in her tunes.
Her debut self-titled EP echoes her feelings of love, loss, and everything in between, a sound that has matured alongside her as a person since the Chi & the Twelfth Wall days. Following the break-up of the first band, Chi had a five-year fall out with music until one day after moving down to London, Dunebug was born after picking up guitar for the first time in years, and we are glad she did.
Stark – Trumpets (feat. Kestra)
I hope you all have really nice speakers in your house, because you’re going to need them for this next track. Reminiscent of early Mark Ronson, Stark has produced a tune that hits you in the feels … and potentially elsewhere.
Formerly producing under the moniker Boston Building, the East London creative now designs, produces and writes as Stark. Releasing his debut track under this pseudonym, “Trumpets” is a dark slice of orchestral pop from the talented young producer.
What I love about this tune is that it is full of orchestral layers but there isn’t anything pompous or overdone about this tune; it’s easy listening even when everything else is mayhem outside, Stark has organized chaos in a way that is soothing.
Mount Sharp “Ordinary”
Featuring the bittersweet, poetic songwriting of Swood (Sarah Wood) paired with Bryan Bruchman’s noisy, chaotic tendencies, the band is nothing but a blast of unbridled energy, excitement, and confusion. The band, now with Sal Garro and Jonathan Pilkington Kahnt firmly holding down the drums and bass, has matured, and the songs are maybe a little more serious, maybe a little more reflective, but no less cutting and catchy. Taking inspiration from the cosmos, sci fi tv, and the messed up state of the world, Mount Sharp puts all the feels into song.
Listen to their new album in full here (tip: do it, it’s worth it).
The Shakin’ Nightmares – “(I’ve Got) The Shakin’ Nightmare’s”
Based in Redcar, north east England, the members of The Shakin’ Nightmares make a living by day working for the chemical plants, hydrocarbon stores and diggers of the earth that dominate the Tees Valley. At night they emerge from the dark and the filth to make music that tells the tales of the good and the bad in human life as they try to resist the over-stimulation brought on by the constant shower of 21st century information, disinformation and lies.
Reminiscent of The Cramps, The Shakin’ Nightmares have perhaps made the anthem for 2020.
Neighbours Burning Neighbours – “Softly“
Full of all of that angst that we are feeling on a visceral level, Neighbours Burning Neighbours has put our emotions into a track with their tune “Softly.”
Rotterdam-based quartet Neighbours Burning Neighbours is unfazed by chaos. In fact, the band’s music could be considered something of a safe space for the more chaotic skirmishes; a formidable, malformed brand of noise-pop that pierces through the void, achieving a joyous harmony within even the starkest of discord.
“When we write music together the four of us collectively discuss what’s going on. And though our opinions tend to differ on certain matters, our conviction is that it can all coexist within the same space. I noticed there’s a very conversational element to our music.”
Breton Ferrer
Dad – “Fresher”
“Broke as fuck but I’m still fresher than all my ex’s” – Dad has put out the ultimate banger with her tune “Fresher”. The 19-year-old songstress released her first demos “Alligator” and “Smash Bros” at the end of last year, which earned her comparisons to Clairo and Beabadoobie by PAPER Magazine (not too shabby).
The single is her first collaboration—she joined forces with Grammy-nominated Austrian producer, artist and pianist Yakob for this single girl in quarantine anthem.