Undertone. A blog about music.
-
Atta Boy: Big Heart Manners review – a demoaralising slump
I like to think of Atta Boy as one of indie pop’s greatest legends. I’m exaggerating of course, but that’s the impression I got when I looked at their Spotify page before the release of their new album, Big Heart Manners. Before last month, Atta Boy had released just one, 40-minute album back in 2012.…
-
Parcels: Live Vol. 1 review – Magnificent, subtle reinvention
Parcels are not a raw, roughly-cut band. At least that’s what I thought before hearing Live Vol. 1. Their excellent 2018 self-titled debut album was full of creamy-smooth grooves and airy falsetto, with lyrics musing paradise and self-acceptance. They end up sounding like a Vulfpeck that’s taken a breather, calmed themselves down and grown up…
-
Beach Bunny: Honeymoon review – slick and stylish indie pop in bitesize packages
It would have to take a particularly hotly-anticipated album to bring me back to Undertone, and Beach Bunny’s debut album, Honeymoon, is just that. The first I heard of the album (and indeed Lili Trifilio’s hugely successful project in Beach Bunny) was back in November, when they released the single Dream Boy. The song is…
-
Undertone’s best songs of 2019
It’s been a while since I last wrote about music on Undertone but with the year drawing to a close, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to look back on my music listening throughout 2019 in special edition of Undertone reviews. Whether I’ll continue posting in the new year is undecided, but for now I’m just…
-
Ida Maria’s 2000s belter and Phony Ppl’s enthralling debut full-length
Aside from a new Catfish and the Bottlemen song as well as an exciting new single from Rex Orange County after a two year break, there wasn’t much in the way of new releases from my favourite artists this month. Instead, I discovered a load of new artists, from electro-pop group BETWEEN FRIENDS to the…
-
The walking meme making hit after hit
With the big releases of Vulfpeck’s Hill Climber and the scintillating Still Woozy single Habit filling my December listening, January has been a relatively quiet month in terms of new music discoveries. As with shows like ‘Bojack Horseman’, ‘Dear White People’ and ‘Easy’, Netflix has once again helped ease the new music drought by introducing…
-
Undertone Best of 2018 – The Albums (Part 2)
With any great Netflix show comes some equally great songs. When Doc Robinson’s Break My Fall closed an episode of Bojack Horseman I was instantly sent on an urgent hunt for my phone and Shazam. Whilst proving to be a highlight of its album, the songs that accompany Break My Fall in Deep End are…
-
Undertone Best of 2018 – The Albums (Part 1)
In many ways, 2018 was the year I discovered the album. As my love for music intensified, I realised that more often than not artists display their most meaningful messages in the scope of a 40 minute album, rather than a three minute song. With plenty of time to listen (especially during revision periods in…
-
Undertone Best of 2018 – The EPs
With 2018 drawing to a close, it’s time to look back on all the incredible pieces of music that have filled my life this year. In the first episode of this year’s review, I’ll be looking at the very best short albums, or EPs, that I’ve discovered this year.
-
Vulfpeck: Hill Climber review – Christmas comes early
Happy Vulfpeck Day! In honour of the 2014 Vulf classic 1612, the unofficial Vulfpeck day has been set to the 16th December, conveniently a few weeks after the band’s fourth album release. Whilst this year is the first time I’ve celebrated Vulfpeck Day, I’ve been following the Michigan funksters’ activities for several years, having quickly…
-
Still Woozy: Habit review – three minutes of heaven, again
It’s a mid-week evening in June and I’m enjoying another great binge session of the Netflix show ‘Dear White People’. I had quickly discovered from watching the show that it wouldn’t just be the storyline or acting that I’d enjoy – it turned out the producers had amazing music taste. Of all the songs that…
-
The Greeting Committee: This Is It review – a slice of Autumnal gold
Maybe it’s the album cover’s colour theme, or simply the time of year it was released, but there’s something distinctly autumnal about The Greeting Committee’s This Is It. Following the release of their debut EP, It’s Not All That Bad, the Kansas City indie pop group saw their career begin to flourish, signing with (appropriately…
Want to support independent music journalism?
Undertone 