[SONG OF THE DAY] Baby Ariel - "I Heart You"

photo credit: Brett Erickson

Rising pop powerhouse Baby Ariel perfectly timed the release of her brand new single, “I Heart You”, a perfectly poptastic song about the rollercoaster of emotions that is young love. Along with the single, the songstress also unveiled a lyric video that she produced, directed, and edited herself.

If you’re struggling to place where you’ve seen Baby Ariel before, you may have caught a glimpse of her while channel surfing if you happened to land on Nickelodeon during their original TV movie, Bixler High Private Eye. Born Ariel Martin, she’s been making the rounds on TV and YouTube for some time now and has now set her sights on a music career.

After entering the music scene in 2017 with her debut single, “Aww”, her new single, “I Heart You” follows last year’s, “Gucci On My Body”, “Say It”, and “Perf”.

Happy Valentines Day. 💖

[SONG OF THE DAY] Manics - "Eleven Eleven"

Bay Area bopmakers Manics released their latest track, “Eleven Eleven”, from their forthcoming debut EP, Binary, which drops on March 8th. The shimmering nu-disco melodies paired with their ethereal vocals result in a dreamy lovestruck haze of a song. I imagine this is what it would be like to sip a love potion or something comparable whilst in a discotheque. As the duo explained, the song is about, “seeing someone you know in a new light and being instantly infatuated.”

[SONG OF THE DAY] Trunky Juno - "Small Town"

Any fam of Summer Heart is fam of mine, so please get to know the soon to be homey Trunky Juno. His debut track, “Small Town” is very much in the aesthetic of the likes of Pizzagirl, Mac Demarco, MGMT, and obvi Summer Heart. His blend of catchy lo-fi bedroom indie synth-pop leaves behind traces of 80s nostalgia in all the right places.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Bedstudy - "s_M00n"

Friday cannot come quickly enough for y’all because you need Bedstudy’s debut EP dot wave in your life ASAP. Lucky for you, the Brooklyn-based trio have shared my favorite song on the EP, “s_M00n”, a dreamy little lo-fi love song that is a must-have in your playlist for your Valentine. Speaking of lovers, the accompanying video for the song leans into the vibe of the song, alternating between performance shots of the band and following around a pair of lovers.

dot wave drops this Friday, February 15th courtesy of Grand Jury Music.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Young & Sick - "Jet Black Heart"

On Friday, Los Angeles-based artist Young & Sick released their latest track, “Jet Black Heart”, which is about the kind of love that is so intense that it can be paralyzing. As project brainchild Nick Van Hofwegen explained, “[It’s the sort of love] that makes you lose it completely. It’s the love I feel for making music and art.”

The band is currently on tour with The Knocks in North America. Lookin like yer girl is gonna have to get her ass to Brooklyn Steel in a couple of weeks.

Speaking of tours, I’m just gonna throw this out into the universe, but I feel like a tour with Summer Heart and Blackbird Blackbird could be something really lovely for these guys. I am just sayinggggggg.

Off to get ready to keep up with my tradition of obnoxiously livetweeting The Grammys. :)

Feb 8 // Dallas, TX @ Dada Dallas
Feb 9 // Austin, TX @ Historic Scoot Inn
Feb 10 // Houston, TX @ Bronze Peacock Room
Feb 12 // St. Louis, MO @ The Ready Room
Feb 14 // Chicago, IL @ Concord Music Hall
Feb 15 // Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar
Feb 16 // Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
Feb 17 // Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Feb 20 // Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
Feb 21 // Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
Feb 23 // Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel

[SONG OF THE DAY] Anna Of The North - "Leaning On Myself"

Still taken from the “Leaning On Myself” music video

After dropping her debut album Lovers back in 2017, Scandinavian songstress Anna of the North has returned with a self-care anthem just in time for the weekend. “Leaning On Myself” marks a clean break from the past in this hazy melancholic sort of explanation of what she’s been up to.

The accompanying video sees our literal angel wandering through this ethereal and almost dreamlike world.

Tell you what, this song is #selfie as hell these days. Definitely needed this one.

Hope you’re taking good care of yourselves this weekend, fam. 💖

[SONG OF THE DAY] Dan D'Lion - "BETTERMAN"

IT’S VIBE O’CLOCK ON FRIDAYYYYYYY MY SWEETIES!!!

Hoxton’s fast-favorite of mine, Dan D’Lion has decided to show us a softer side of him this time around with his latest offering, “BETTERMAN”, which comes from his upcoming EP due later this spring. This more downtempo track was the perfect opportunity for Dan to really open himself up to his rapidly growing fanbase and he does not shy away from the chance in the slightest. It is not lost on me at all that after two singles featuring artwork that feature close-ups of his signature smile that we now zoom out and see Dan sitting confidently before us.

In addition to the level of prowess he wields with his production skills, I can’t get over how much I love his voice. I tend to stan for really unique voices that you could always identify regardless of the composition or collaboration. That falsetto of his man…..😍🤩

Exciting news for the alt-pop powerhouse in the making: he’s announced his debut headlining show at London nightclub Laylow on March 7th. Get this: it’s already sold out! Not bad, my guy. Not bad.

[SONG OF THE DAY] I Know Leopard - "Heather"

photo credit: Lisa Businovski

Folks who have seen my Tweetdeck setup often give me the side-eye like I’m a nutcase with all my different columns going, but my FOMO-driven nosiness on Twitter dot com is how I end up with absolute fucking gems like the latest from Sydney four-piece I Know Leopard. Given the level to which I love Slum Sociable’s songs so hard some days I’m afraid I might break them, this would lend you all to agree that I’d be more likely to trust their taste if they’re talking about music. One casual tweet from them, a few moments of digging around later, and I was HOOKED.

I’m still getting caught up on everything that makes this band amazing, but we’ll start with their brand new track, “Heather”. This earworm of a song is three minutes and twenty-four seconds of indie pop perfection. Taken from their forthcoming [apparently] highly anticipated debut full-length, Love Is A Landmine, the song is a totally #relatable love song, with frontman Luke O’Loughlin lamenting a lover who has obviously been playing some serious head games. The song follows lead single, “Landmine”, another infectious poptastic track about the perils of love. Actually according to O’Loughlin, "I'd be lying if I said it wasn't an album full of love songs, but not always in the classic romantic sense.” He adds, "It reflects on experiences where attempts at love are met with confusion, pain and alienation. The record also explores the importance of learning to love yourself before you can successfully love someone else."

Imma keep it 💯 with you guys, I would endure SXSW just for this band if the opportunity presented itself. If you’re going, you must see them. I will get more info as I get more acclimated to this hit factory of a band and share though, trust.

Love Is A Landmine is out on April 5th, because of course this is dropping during birthday month.