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A Night Walk in The Underground Forest - New Synth Pop, Alt Pop + Electronic Music We Loved

Welcome to A Night Walk in The Underground Forest - a series where I hand-select new synth pop, alt pop, electronic, and alternative music I loved.

Featuring Locust, Cherry Bomb, Cooper Phillip, Ash Levi & Nali, Cassie Candles (feat. Jaew), Cry Club, CFCF, Cecile Believe, Essence Martins & Heliara.

By Eimear O SullivanMusicngear Editor

This edition features: a song with vocals that sound like they are floating through the night sky from somewhere in the sprawling concrete cityscape; a kitsch dream-pop song made in Linux, whose artistry will remind you that art is not beholden to the Meta algorithms; a cover of Alanis Morissette’s ‘You Oughta Know’ that sounds like it could be playing in a chic night club in the 1990s; a song that reminded me of the exact kind of music I loved as a teenager; a song sprinkled with bubblegum pop textures; a song that has the sunshine gentleness of Corinne Bailey Rae; a song that has has the slinky, night-time quality of early 00s RnB jams and more!

A Night Walk in The Underground Forest 🌙  Synth Pop  • Electronic Pop  •  Alt Pop & Electronic

Cassie Candles (feat. Jaew) - Donut Girl 

In one of my college courses, we learned to produce music on Logic Pro. When I graduated, I was looking for a free alternative to use for the summer on my laptop; FL Studio was far too much of a learning curve for me, so I found a free Linux DAW that had a very similar linear user interface to Logic. 

For years, I could not for the life of me remember what it was called, and was resigned to the fact that it was most likely lost to time, until yesterday. I came across this artist on Bandcamp, saw on her website that she uses a Linux software named Qtractor; I looked at the screenshots on the site and realized, after 10 years of not being able to find it, that was the software I had been using at the time!! Of note also, Cassie Candles (a Queer artist from Portland, Oregon) has a website that is up there with Sabrina The Teenage DJ’s in terms of cool design.

‘Donut Girl’ (co-produced by Jaew) is a new release taken from the upcoming album ‘Hat’. The opening of the song features layered vocals with a raw bassline; the vocals having a dash of indifference to them, these two factors blending together to give the whole thing a slightly dissonant quality, which makes it feel like the artist is just singing to herself somewhere down the hall.

The chorus is full-blown kitschy dream pop, with some light sci-fi sound effects every so often; as the song progresses, there are some elements that brought to mind Frost Children. There is something about the artistry of this song, and the artist’s website, that reminded me that engagement with art is not beholden to the Meta algorithms - you can create something of your own. 

Connect with Cassie Candles
Website | Instagram

Cherry Bomb - You Oughta Know

Photo Credit: Harrison Woodard

There is a whole segment of female artists that I was not fully aware of growing up - Alanis Morissette, Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, and others of that ilk. A whole, rich new world of self-expression would have been opened up for me, something that would have definitely benefited from as a teenager (the town where I attended school was essentially a conservative, cultural wasteland; the vast majority of music I was listening to depicted women as essentially nonsentient objects, something that, alongside the culture at the time, did a lot of damage). Upon discovering these artists as I got older, a whole new world and dimension of art was opened up for me. 

The above is a cover of the prolific Alanis Morissette song ‘You Oughta Know’ (which appeared in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, where Larry David keeps demanding to know who the song is about). It is a warm, house-pop cover by the LA-based artist Cherry Bomb (Mandy Lee).

The song still maintains its bite, flowing over the glowing backdrop, having an aloof, glamorous quality that makes it sound like it could be playing in a chic nightclub in the 1990s. 

“And I'm here to remind you
Of the mess you left when you went away”

Connect with Cherry Bomb
Instagram | Facebook

Locust - Long Distance Lover

The lead vocals in this (from Natasha Morrow) have a haunting, distant quality - like they are floating through the night air from somewhere in the sprawling concrete cityscape (kind of reminding me of ‘A Real Hero’). 

The music features guitars by Neil Halstead, with synthesizers & production by Locust (aka Mark Van Heon, who toured with Aphex Twin!!!). It is reminiscent of Tangerine Dream; bright and shimmering, yet with a melancholy that you can’t quite put your finger on. 

Speaking about the new song, Mark shares, “The music was recorded back in 2020 originally as a collab between Neil Halstead and I. It sat around for a few years, and I had the idea to send it to Natasha to see if it inspired anything vocally. She came up with the idea of long-distance phone calls between lovers. It struck a chord with me as I had experienced a couple of relationships like that. The idea of repeating these expressions of desire and longing over and over, because you are aching to be together. I had actually never met Natasha, and generally, I find that remote collabs don’t work because there’s a connection missing somehow. But in Natasha’s case, I had several long phone calls with her, and I think we connected that way. Not in any romantic sense, but as musical collaborators, which has its own particular need for a personal connection and understanding. I found it interesting that it related to the song’s lyrics in that she and I established a different kind of personal bond over the phone.”

Connect with Locust
Instagram

Connect with TODO RECORDS
Instagram

Connect with Natasha Morrow
Instagram

Ash Levi & Nali - Elev8

This was a YouTube discovery; the opening bars of this song felt like opening the window on a summer's evening, the blossom-scented air rushing in. The vocals are effortlessly smooth, the production is fantastic, featuring a mix of dreamy and hypnotic sounds, over which romantic strings soar for the chorus - this is a sonic world to get lost in.

Connect with Ash Levi
Instagram

Connect with Nali
Instagram

Cooper Phillip - Love Me Not

This is a new release from Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Cooper Phillip. A seductive groove breezes to your ears; sprinkled with bubblegum pop textures. The vocals are deliciously smooth; the chorus blooming into a dreamy tapestry, like the earworm hook of some of the best pop songs. 

On the track the artist shares, "I wanted to explore a very specific emotional space – the feeling of connecting to someone in your mind before anything has actually happened in real life. It's that in-between state where attraction, imagination, and possibility start to build a story that doesn't fully exist yet. There's a softness and uncertainty in that – when your thoughts begin to create meaning out of something undefined, and emotions feel real even without a real relationship taking shape. For me, the song lives in that space between imagination and reality, where feelings  can feel intense even before anything is confirmed or known."

Connect with Cooper Phillip
Instagram

Cry Club - Retaliate

This sounds like the kind of music that would have induced a moral panic in the 1980s or 1990s.

Taken from the album ‘High Voltage Anxiety’, ‘Retaliate’ reminds me of the opening of The Prodigy’s 1996 hit ‘Firestarter’. There is a raw fury saturated to the very core of this song, like it is electrocuting you to rise up and take action. The soundscape is absolutely massive, a steel, industrial wall of unforgiving textures - this would be incredible to experience live. 

Connect with Cry Club
Website | Instagram

CFCF & Cecile Believe - Bad Song

Slayyyter said something recently on a podcast when speaking about her new album ‘WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA’, that stuck with me. She said she was mostly interested in making music and visuals that she would have been obsessed with as a teenager. This is something that I realized informs quite a lot of my taste in music - CFCF and Cecile Believe’s new track ‘Bad Song’ and accompanying music video, being the exact kind of music I loved as a teenager, and I am so glad it is back in such capable hands.

I first came across Cecile Believe via her 2024 EP ‘Tender the Spark’ (‘The Pearl’ is so beautiful and haunting). This is a collaboration with Canadian musician and producer CCFC. There was something about this that immediately felt familiar, and on listening a few times, I realized that it reminded me of Basement Jaxx’s 2001 song ‘Romeo’ (one of my favorite songs of all time). I love the DIY vibe to the music video, which features shots of cosmetics on the dressing table, dancing in the bedroom in a thoroughly glamorous outfit, and more. 

Connect with CFCF
Instagram | Facebook | X

Connect with Cecile Believe
Instagram | X

Heliara - Obsession 

This is taken from the EP ‘Everything's a Love Song.’

‘Obsession’ has the slinky, night-time quality of early 00s RnB jams. The vocals are dreamy and captivating, sounding like they are coming to your ears from silhouettes formed in the midnight hours. It sounds like velvet, candlelit evenings, deep reds, and burgundy.

On the EP, the artist says, “I've learned that my creativity is limitless when I'm in alignment with myself. The lyrics come naturally without me asking them to. I tweak them to make the message more universal and pithy, but the essence of what I am communicating feels quite channeled in a way."

Connect with Heliara
Instagram | Facebook | X

Essence Martins - Can We All Slow Down

This has the sunshine gentleness of Corinne Bailey Rae. ‘Can We All Slow Down’ feels like a walk through the forest greenery pictured in the photo. After listening to this, you will feel your nervous system restored, less on edge, less like you have to be available every second of every day. (One thing I have realized is that every time you do stop and take a step back, the world continues without you, which serves as a reminder that a lot of this feeling we all have is manufactured.)

The harmonies in this are angelic; this is the perfect song to wind down to and ground yourself at the end of an intense day. 

On the song, the artist says, “I wrote 'Can We All Slow Down' about the pressure of constantly being perceived. We live in an age where we're always looking at screens, with endless information at our fingertips. It's not always a bad thing, but it can be overwhelming.”

I had a need to write something really honest. I just felt really drained that day in the studio, so I started with: "Smiling is an art form, I've got a master's degree,". Like most, I smile when I'm happy, but I know that I also smile when I'm nervous or uncomfortable. It's a common coping mechanism, and a skill I've had to master so others don't see how I really feel. Now more than ever, in the age of social media, it feels necessary to maintain a certain image. This song felt like writing in my diary, it kinda just fell out of me. It was the first song I'd ever written with producer Jay Flew and it was amazing to be able to be so vulnerable working with a new producer and I knew we'd make many more songs together. 

This song is about that constant pressure to keep up, to strive for the image of perfection, while knowing everything you do is being watched and judged online. Sometimes it feels like our worth as humans these days is tied to how we're perceived and we're all just playing roles in a digital world.  I often long for a time where life moved much slower and I noticed small things and I was curious about the physical world around me. I long for the version of me that would play outside for hours with nothing but my imagination, perhaps I'm just grieving childhood as I move into adulthood”

Connect with Essence Martins
Instagram

Spotify Playlist

About Eimear O Sullivan

Eimear Ann O Sullivan is a multi-genre music producer, audio engineer and vocalist. After receiving a Masters in Music Technology from the CIT Cork School of Music, she went on to operate as a producer under the name Blakkheart. Her releases have received critical acclaim from Ireland's biggest music publications, such as District Magazine and Nialler9, alongside receiving heavy commercial radio airplay. She currently works in Cork recording studio Flashpoint CC. Previous clients of hers include the likes of Comedy Central’s Dragony Aunt star Candy Warhol, rapper Darce and Outsider YP. (Photo credit @Fabian Boros)

Contact Eimear O Sullivan at eimear.o.sullivan@musicngear.com

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