A Sunlit Walk in the Underground Forest - September 2025
Welcome to A Sunlit Walk in The Underground Forest - a series where we explore the luxurious, blooming depths of underground music ☀️
Featuring Zaska, shiv, Charlotte Rae, Alexei Shishkin, better joy, Laptop, Frog, No Lonesome, Emil Friis, Gina Zo & The Rabbit Council.
This edition features: a song that will make you feel like you are sitting in a national park, surrounded by mountains, pine trees and the night sky; a song that has a blissful Jack Johnson vibe to it, with lyrics that poke fun at the insatiable hunger for meat the human race possesses; a song that sounds like it is from the soundtrack of a movie set in a magical forest; a song that has some wonderful DIY pink pop vibes to it; and more!
A Sunlit Walk In The Underground Forest ☀️ Light Pop • Folk • Electronica • RnB
What we had - Zaska, shiv
A new Zaska song feels like the orange glow of the sun rising on an autumnal meadow - there is something at the core of all of Zaska’s music that reminds you of home, of good memories, of youth, of the beauty in everyday life.
This new song is a collaboration with Dublin based artist shiv. This song has a bit of a misty, night time vibe to it which I love (it kind of reminds me of the mysteriousness of Donna Lewis’ Harvest Moon) , shiv’s vocals are absolutely divine, flowing over the instrumental in a way that feels as natural as speaking or breathing.
This is wonderful.
Connect with Zaska
Website / Bandcamp / Facebook / Spotify / Instagram / X
Connect with shiv
Website / Instagram / YouTube
I Like To Sit In The Cold - Alexei Shishkin
Taken from the artist’s newly released album Good Times; the opening chords feel like the first droplets of snow on your face in Winter, as you go for a nice walk, where the noises are much softer and more muted than usual, there is a sense of peace, and of burrowing down for the Winter.
The first vocals don’t come in until 1:57, with the phrase, I like to sit in the cold. This also has a bit of a 1970s vibe to it (I watched The Holdovers recently, and I can imagine this fitting right into the mustard, wood-toned, snowy world that this movie takes place in.)
Connect with Alexei Shishkin
Bandcamp / Bluesky / Spotify / Instagram / X
Rollercoaster - charlotte rae
This has a really fun DIY pop vibe; it feels like the artist is playing the glimmering synths on a pink sticker-covered synthesizer in her room with a Lizzie McGuire poster behind her.
The vocals float over the instrumental like clouds, as the pads glitter like a themed lip gloss from the 1990s. You will love this.
Connect with charlotte rae
YouTube / Spotify / Instagram
better joy - plugged in
The plucked guitars in the opening of this will remind you slightly of The Temper Trap’s Sweet Disposition, before a grungey 1990s bassline comes in, sending it in another direction entirely. The vocals are gorgeous, the arrangement gently builds, with very light percussion.
On the song, better joy says, “for me, this song captures the moment of finally connecting with someone and understanding love for the very first time. Suddenly you see the world differently because you’ve unlocked another part of yourself, you’ve been ‘plugged in.”
Connect with better joy
Bandcamp / Instagram / Facebook
The Rabbit Council - Stars
This is a new song from The Rabbit Council (Lee Baber), the vocals in this remind me a little bit of The Beatles, the instrumental being a blend of warm folk & Americana.
This will make you feel like you are in a national park, surrounded by mountains, greenery, and pine trees, looking up at the sky, fully at peace.
Connect with The Rabbit Council
Facebook / Spotify / Instagram / YouTube
SPANISH ARMADA VAR. XV - Frog
Taken from the upcoming album THE COUNT; SPANISH ARMADA VAR. XV opens with the lyrics “She got drunk, the car keys were gone/ Took a long page from her mom/ You only get one (Yea yea)/ And you don’t get along”.
Although the music emanates a warm, indie-folk glow, the lyrics feel like they are from a drama that takes place in a wintery New England landscape, where the main character has to move back home, to a complicated familial dynamic, where no one ever mentions it.
The album itself interestingly sees Bateman assume the role of a mysterious NY figure named The Count, who performs these songs in an impromptu performance.
Connect with Frog
Bandcamp / Spotify / Instagram / X
No Lonesome - Falls Apart
No Lonesome is the DIY project of Chicago-based musician and producer, Jeb Backe. I love the kitsch, slightly psychedelic 1970s vibe of the music video for this new song (directed by Helen Gilley) of two characters planning a bank robbery in what looks to be the forest, before devolving into a bizarrely fun 1980s style ‘in the workplace/cult indoctrination’ aesthetic.
The song has a DIY analog vibe to it, with double-tracked vocals, it feels like a warm mug of a pumpkin adjacent tea in autumn - I love this.
Connect with No Lonesome
Bandcamp / Spotify / Instagram
Laptop - Additional Animals
Laptop, once a solo project, now consists of father-son duo Jesse Hartman & Charlie Hartman.
Additional Animals is a tongue-in-cheek song about the ‘extinction, meat, and the human urge for more.’ The music has a blissful, summer holiday vibe to it (in the way that Jack Johnson’s music does), making this blissful to listen to, while the lyrics cut through, detailing the never-ending, bloodthirsty hunger of the human race.
Connect with Laptop
Website / Bandcamp / Spotify / Instagram / X
Gina Zo - Fuck Me Then Leave Men
I have decided that Gina Zo is the queen of pop.
Fuck Me Then Leave Me reminds me of some of Taylor Swift’s most addictive songwriting (e.g, Blank Space, Wildest Dreams, etc) - Gina has an inherent understanding of songwriting, the kind that will result in a creating a classic that will last for decades to come; Fuck Me Then Leave Me has the all consuming power of a stadium pop song. Dirty Habits is another one you have to listen to.
On the song, the artist says it is "focused on the feeling of going back to someone over and over because you know that forbidden just tastes so damn good.”
Connect with Gina Zo
Website / YouTube / Spotify / Instagram
Like Leaves - Emil Friis
Taken from the new album Moving Images; this feels like a walk through a magical forest (I live in Ireland, so put this on while walking through, almost anywhere, and you will be fully immersed in the wonder of nature).
This will restore your sense of whimsy and wonder, Like Leaves shimmers with life, and will put you at ease.
Connect with Emil Friis
Bandcamp / Website / Spotify / Instagram / Facebook
Spotify Playlist
If you would like to be featured in the next edition please email eimear.o.sullivan@musicngear.com.
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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