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 Jangly Guitar-based Dream Pop Album by GRMLN GRMLN is the solo project of Korean/Japanese artist Yoodoo Park. The American/Australian based musician has released a number of albums over the past decade, the two most recent being his 2021 LP Laughing Shadow and his 2022 LP American Boy; both releases beautifully accomodated soft, echoed, ebuillent acoustic guitar work and patient, passionate narratives about heartache and memory.   However, Park’s 2022 LP Dark Moon proves that he is a jack-of-all-trades (and master of all); as the title suggests, the album is instead on the evocative, contemplative side, with oceanic vocal echo, experimental...

Orchid Mantis Evokes The Coveted Nostalgia Like That Of Old Photographs Orchid Mantis is the experimental bedroom pop project of Atlanta-based artist Thomas Howard. Since the project’s start in 2014, Howard’s now signature lo-fi sound has gracefully inhabited the space that separates ambient compositional structures and pop songwriting, frequently utilizing obscure samples and unique recording techniques; overall, his sound evokes the coveted nostalgia like that of old photographs and precious, irreplaceable mementos. Howard thoughtfully carves space for narratives detailing - as it says in his bandcamp bio - songs about “forgetting;” in other words, he brilliantly explores the elusive, fleeting...

Girlpool Drummer Releases Solo Indie Rock Album Total Heat is the lo-fi pop project of LA-based artist Ross Wallace Chait. With over fifteen years of experience as a drummer and formally trained in jazz, before beginning this solo project he toured/collaborated with artists like Girlpool; in that time, he was slowly building up a persona. In his bio on Bandcamp, there’s a few reminders for his listeners: “Total Heat is a ceremony / Total Heat is a light / Total Heat is for the spirits / Total Heat's alright.” In regards to Totally Real, Total Heat’s debut album, it’s the...

CASTLEBEAT Releases 11-Track Indie Dream Pop Album 'Half Life' CASTLEBEAT is the goth pop project of CA-based artist Josh Hwang. His third album Melodrama released back in 2020 was a divergence from his previously guitar-based approach in VHS as well as his self-titled debut, instead offering another facet of his nostalgia-heavy aesthetic wherein all was balanced delicately around the sounds of dream pop, hip hop, jangle pop, and everything in between. With CASTLEBEAT, there is a thoughtful emphasis on keeping that comforting warmth that comes with lo-fi production, and his fourth album Half Life, released in July 2022, is another example of this; written, recorded, and...

Manchester-based Dream Pop Duo's Debut Album 'Flora' atmos bloom is the pop project of Manchester, UK-based artists Curtis Paterson and Tilda Gratton. The project began as a way to escape a world in lockdown, but later became something special. Working thoughtfully in the lush, delicate margin between shoegaze and dream pop, the duo take influence from 90’s icons like My Bloody Valentine and Cocteau Twins, as well as modern day indie greats such as DIIV and Beach Fossils. These influences definitely come through in their sound, but more so it is clear that Paterson and Gratton operate inside a unique...