[SONG OF THE DAY] Oscar Scheller - "1% (feat. Lily Allen)"

image lovingly lifted from Oscar Scheller’s Instagram

It’s been a little over 3 years since I was fortunate enough to catch London songwriter Oscar Scheller at Baby’s All Right. He was just celebrating the release of his debut full-length, Cut & Paste, which featured cuts like, “Daffodil Days”, “Sometimes”, and “Breaking My Phone”, which I still reach for to this day. He’s been gradually rolling out singles over the course of the past year and from the looks of it my dude has been doing hella networking when he’s not crafting really fun future-forward pop productions. I’m struggling to think of a single UK artist that I’ve come in contact with in recent memory who *isn’t* a mutual follow of Oscar’s on Instagram. His first track back on the scene was with Sarah from Kero Kero Bonito, which got a solid remix from the Husky hunnies. It’s been more of the same since. It seems like the sky’s the limit in terms of who he could be working with next and this is no exaggeration.

His latest single, “1%”, is a collaboration with none other than Sheezus herself. The song is a call and response between the two who are trying to settle a dispute of a romantic nature via text, with the catch here being that Oscar’s phone is about to die because the battery is at 1%. As a person who gets stressed out when people post screenshots with the battery % in the 30s, I can only imagine the level of urgency of trying to diffuse a disagreement as that low battery sound (shudder) chimes in. Also the casual mention of the notorious "read receipt”, that depending on the situation can be a blessing or a curse, furthers the snapshot of anxiety involved with having a fight over text.

The track comes from his forthcoming sophomore full-length, HTTP404, which is slated for release on September 6th. The album further showcases his networking abilities as it includes a slew of stellar features, just have a glance at the tracklisting below and you’ll see what I mean.

If you’re fortunate enough to be on the other side of the pond, please live your best life and get to Omeara on Friday (7/12). The homey has a lineup of friends coming to perform with him so it’s sure to be a great night of music.

HTTP404

release date: September 6, 2019

Tracklist:

1. 1UP (f. Sarah Bonito)
2. Picture Perfect (f. Haveloc)
3. Interstellar Disco (f. PAWWS)
4. 1% (f. Lily Allen)
5. Confidence (f. Ashnikko)
6. Estate of Mind (f. Jevon & Miraa May)
7. Runaway
8. Go
9. Happy Meal (f. Mathilda Homer)
10. Tidal Waves" (f. Vera Hotsauc)
11. Young (f. Tyrer)

[SONG OF THE DAY] Timi Temple - "Tomorrow Is Yesterday"

My most favorite find in recent memory, Sydney’s Timi Temple has returned with another spunky single. “Tomorrow Is Yesterday” is Timi’s response to being pressured by his family to get a “real job”. Gonna be honest, I’m not surprised that the same fellow who I came to know through his single, “2PM For Breakfast”, wherein he pokes fun at his friends who have to get up to go to work every day while he blissfully sleeps in did not take too kindly with the bombardment of questions he received at a family dinner turned intervention. “You can imagine the crushing anxiety that came with it,” he shares, “A line resonated with me after I had left frustrated from dinner... It was, ‘you’re not just a kid anymore’. This ended up being the first line of the chorus."

As he’s continued to carve out his signature sound, I continue to be impressed with how polished his songs are with how somewhat fresh out of the gate he is. He’s got that timeless alt-indie rock sound down pat, where it’s clear he’s been influenced by some legendary acts, but it also feels like he’s been around cranking out hits for at least like 15 years and having a fucking blast the whole time.

For the record, I’m having so much fun from this side of the planet to see some wonderful opportunities pop up for my the Sydney sweetie. Someone’s been getting some airplay for “Tomorrow Is Yesterday” on triple j’s ‘Home and Hosed’ show. FBi radio also said some super wonderful things about the track on their Under The Bridge show. Very fucking polite! Much deserved on this one for sure.

Fun side note: also had a glance at the top 5 cities where folks are checking him out on Spotify…NYC fam you makin’ me real proud over here. KEEP 👏🏻 IT 👏🏻UP 👏🏻.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Neon Valley - "Dancin'"

Montreal duo Neon Valley have returned with a followup to their previous single, “The Look In Your Eyes”, which was my personal gateway drug to the funk infused synth-pop. This new single, “Dancin’” sounds like it could be a distant younger cousin of something on Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories. It’s got that like not quite completely Los Angeles 70s disco but enough of a nostalgic vibe that I would sooner get them to open for Chromeo than I would someone like Yung Bae who’s going full future funk. Either way, I fully intend on keeping tabs on these guys. Always looking for more ways to get funky.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Miami Horror - "Restless"

photo credit: Leo Volcy​​​​​​​

oooo this summer just keeps getting steamier by the minute y’all!

Melbourne indie rockers Miami Horror have returned after a two year break with a new track, “Restless” along with an accompanying music video. The guys are trying on this like sultry lo-fi 70s vibe and if someone would be so kind as to point me where to get my hair feathered and pick up my shorty shorts so I can just live in this moment for as long as I can hold onto it that would be greeeaaatttt, mkay?

The music video for the song fits well with the 70s vibe as we follow along with some folks from all walks of life coming together in an attempt to learn to play tennis. Obviously there’s some crushing going on between a pair of students that gradually intensifies because this song is def about to be the soundtrack to future makeouts far and wide.

No word on if this is a set up to a full-length or a follow up EP to The Shapes, which has me feeling a little…..restless (sorry), but I have a feeling this won’t be the last we hear from Miami Horror this summer which pleases me greatly.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Cobrayama x Gibbz - "I Don't Want To Live Without You"

Feeling nuttin’ but love for my borough right now! Nice to see some locals cranking out some quality jams and the latest from Brooklyn producer Cobrayama with the help of crooner extraordinaire Gibbz on vocals is just so smoooove I’m convinced you won’t want to live without, “I Don’t Want To Live Without You” for another second. This is the followup single from their upcoming collaborative full-length after sharing “Letting You Go” as the first taste of the project. The effects on Gibbz’ vocals is a bit of a departure from what I’ve grown to become accustomed to with him. If their intention was for Gibbz *casuals* to go back and memorize his vocal range before returning back to this project…..IT’S WORKING.

More on a release date, etc. as I come across it. For now, enjoy the smoove groove.

[SONG OF THE DAY] LEFTI - "Get Right"

VIBE

OCLOCK

FRIDAYYYYYY

OH GOD I’M SO EXHAUSTED BUT WE STILL COMMITTED TO THE GROOVE TODAY HANGOVER AND ECLIPSE + NEW MOON ENERGY BE DAMNED!

Brooklyn bopmaker LEFTI has dropped a brand new track today, “Get Right” and it’s the perfect way to keep the party going on this long holiday weekend. The track features vocals from Los Angeles singer Jane Holiday, who LEFTI co-wrote the track with.

If you happen to know what’s good in the hood, then you’ve already RSVP’d to go hang while he spins at the Cruel Summer party tomorrow at Brooklyn Beer Garden in Bushwick. The plan is to swing by when I get out of work and dance it out a bit, but we shall see.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Close Counters - "HEY!!!"

Melbourne duo Close Counters are prepping to follow up their debut full-length SOULACOSTA with an EP fairly soon. In the meantime the guys have shared another cut from said EP, this one with a fun little story behind it. While creating “HEY!!!” the guys were challenged by friends to set a timer for 20 minutes and to assemble something by completely relying on the visuals from the waveforms and never listening to the sounds. You’d think that this would end up being a big mess, but the result is the fun main loop, which obviously the track is titled from.

So fun, right? Probably not as fun as the final product, but still!

[SONG OF THE DAY] BENEE - "Glitter"

photo credit: Some Kind of Awesome

On Friday Auckland alt-pop angel BENEE dropped her debut EP, FIRE ON MARZZ, which features a collection of songs that yours truly got to witness in the flesh a couple of weeks ago at Mercury Lounge. I remember as I went over the bridge on the J train that evening shooting “Evil Spider” over to a friend accompanied by the following text, “I’m heading into the city to check out this singer right now. I need to confirm that she’s real.”

Gonna be honest, I was completely blown away by BENEE. Not only is her soul-soaked voice 1000% authentically just her and not a ton of tweaking in a studio, but she’s so effortless with this set of pipes she’s got that she just skips and dances playfully around stage, having the time of her life. Without a doubt this is one of the most fun shows I’ve been to in awhile. In addition to delivering a stellar energetic performance, she’s also so down to earth and personable on stage that you go from casually interested to completely invested in between songs.

I really admire her ability to write really compelling and catchy songs about all sorts of wonderfully random things. One unreleased song, “Monster”, is about her moving out of her parents house and being convinced that a monster was lurking somewhere while she as alone in her new place. Another song, “Afterlife” is a diss track to someone who tried to kill her in her dreams. My favorite story, which would come to no surprise to anyone who follows me on Twitter or Instagram, was the one for “Glitter”, which was inspired by a night out at a gay bar in downtown Auckland where she came across a big thing of glitter and proceeded to dump it all over herself. Definitely ✨my aesthetic✨.

Definitely give LIFE ON MARZZ a whirl if you haven’t already, it’s 20 minutes of glittering pop perfection.

Pics from the set at Mercury Lounge below. SHE WAS SO MUCH FUN TO SHOOT IT WAS HARD TO NOT POST LIKE 100 OF THESE FOR REAL.