No Place Like Home

It’s not hard for me to feel alone, but I have heard there really is no place like home.

Commandeur’s “With Me”

Panama’s Tim Commandeur has recently launched his solo side-project under the name Commandeur, which is obviously his last name. Who would’ve have thought this percussionist was able to pull off a solid act with just his synths and drum kits?

Commandeur released his second track “With Me” a few days ago, and like his first single, it is just as beautiful and enchanting – picture a fairy just floating away in a mesmerizing forest, amazed at the beauty of her surroundings. The perfect blend of the male-female vocals also makes it sound very warm and romantic it makes you want to sing it to your special someone’s ear while all snuggled up under the covers.

The track was impeccably made. Commandeur was able to inject the accent sounds at the right time to make it more impactful. Each sample was carefully integrated in the song to make it sound like an airy, dreamy track made in synth-heaven. Who would have thought Commandeur came up with this gem of a track in just his home studio in Sydney?

I seriously cannot wait for his other releases. This guy sure has a bright and promising future ahead of him.

HONNE’s Over Lover (EP)

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London-based Andy and James, better known as HONNE, surely made one straight-up sexy EP with Over Lover. Andy’s effortlessly soulful vocals amplified with subtly groovy synths were perfectly blended to exude that sensual and seductive sound. The whole record was obviously well-thought of – all the songs sounded so cohesive and it was consistent with the sound HONNE is known for. I would recommend playing this record during those rainy nights with your special one.

The Shortlist Standout

You can pre-order their EP ‘Over Lover’ here, and check out the latest news about the band in their here.

Slumlord by Neon Indian

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Alan Palomo, aka chillwave’s synth lord Neon Indian, announced the release of his new album VEGA INTL. Night School after four years of going on hiatus. The new album, set for release on October 16th under Mom and Pop/Transgressive, was recorded and mixed in various studios all over the world.

Part of his announcement was also the release of a new single from this full-length album, Slumlord. Neon Indian has been known for this unique dazed electro disco-dance vibe that I myself first found confusing, but eventually got addicted to. This signature sound established Palomo as one of the founding fathers of the chillwave genre.

Unlike his previous songs, Slumlord sounds more organized, sleek, and well-polished making it very approachable and easy to listen to especially for the late-adopters and new listeners of the genre. The overall vibe of the song makes you feel like you’re in the 80s because of its heavily influenced old-school new wave sound, but eventually fast forwarding you to the future through the innovative and perfect blend of synths, bass, and drums that has been the trend in almost all songs these days.

If Slumlord, along with the earlier released single Annie, captures the overall vibe and sound of Neon Indian’s new record, I would highly recommend VEGA INTL Night School to be in your top albums of 2015.

Last Dinosaurs’ Wellness

Capture

It’s been three years since Brisbane-based Last Dinosaurs released their stellar debut LP In a Million Years, an album which I believe was able to perfectly marry dream pop and indie rock in order to capture a wider set of music audience. This was followed up just recently with the release of their more mature-sounding album, Wellness.

What’s good about this album is that the band was able to stick to the sound they are known for – upbeat, disco-sounding riffs that will make any listener both sing and dance to their songs. The album was well-made and thought of, won’t deny them that. There are a lot of promising tracks like ‘Evie’, ‘Apollo’, and ‘Purist’ as they sounded like the tracks in In a Million Years.  The instrumentals are impeccably made with its dancey guitar lines and catchy synths, partnered with Sean Caskey’s dreamy vocals. However, the whole vibe of this record seemed forced and flat. Unlike the first album, transitions to the next songs were not as smooth, and the tracks sounded disconnected to each other. Most of the songs were also forgettable as they all sounded the same. One would only be able to appreciate the album better if they listened to it more than once, with each time more intently and focused than the last one.

Wellness was a sophomore semi-slump. There was so much potential in this album because of the great attention to detail they put in each song. Unfortunately, they dwelled too much on the technicalities with the intention to sound more mature that they complete forgot the fun Last Dinosaurs essence that their audience fell in love with. It was easy to cherry-pick favorites and skip unmemorable ones, leaving them at the losing side of the spectrum. What’s good though is that they focused more on their song writing this time, making the album emotionally honest and closer to the listener. I’m looking forward to how these songs will be played live, and hopefully, they will be able to make it more exciting than the album-listening experience. It was hard to follow up In A Million Years. Hopefully, Last Dinosaurs will be able to learn so many lessons from this release; at least they would know exactly how to turn around future records, and that is by focusing more on their signature sound which will always be the first point of contact of the listeners to their material.

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