The Underground Forest - Volume 26
This month's edition of The Underground Forest features; a song that feels like it is casting a spell on you, transporting you to a magical garden that sits somewhere between reality and imagination; an epic synth fuelled cover of a Shania Twain hit; a 13-minute long glamorous dark house adventure; a song that feels like it is from a dream; a song that could be in an A24 horror movie, and more!
Featuring Brother Valiant, Camille Schmidt, Bambina, DJ Suzy, DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ, Coolgirl, Kcik and Being Sarah
Follow The Underground Forest playlist on Spotify
C’est La Vie - Brother Valiant
This newest release from Brother Valiant shimmers and sparkles over your ears, with Cat Stevens levels of magic. The vocals flow the ocean of twinkling instruments, everything coming together to form a soundscape that is alive with emotion and imagination.
On the song the artist confides, "Mostly, I found it overwhelming to the point where I'd fall back into old habits and behaviors. The premise of the song is accepting that deep down, to an extent, we are always going to have certain qualities and quirks that we cannot change about ourselves. However, despite faltering when trying to change certain negative aspects, I believe expressing feelings of love, compassion, and acceptance through action is still paramount on the journey towards being a good person."
Connect with Brother Valiant
Spotify / Instagram / Website
Your Game - Camille Schmidt
This is taken from the debut EP Good Person, from queer Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Camille Schmidt. After putting this on, I was immediately in - as there is something warm and familiar (and kind of cozy) about this song. The lyrics are much more barbed e.g “Chewing gum so I don’t have to talk/Listening to you and your best friends go off” (love it). The vocals are lush and hypnotic; this feels like it plays in a wooden cabin in autumn, and it is just an all around good time.
She confides, "This EP is very much about struggle, about process – specifically the process of becoming. And looking back at all the things you’ve been through in your childhood, looking back on the different versions of yourself you’ve been in friendships and relationships, the different fake versions of self you’ve presented to the world (as well as looking directly at the f*cked up things happening in the world) and then sort of asking with a real honest earnest hope, is there something else? And then betting with your life that there is."
Connect with Camille Schmidt
Spotify / Instagram
You’re Still The One - Bambina
A cover of the prolific Shania Twain hit; with a synth fuelled twist on it. The pads in this are all-encompassing; the sound effects very experimental 1970s art pop band; the heavenly vocals floating over the imposing, rising bassline, with crystal-like keys bursting in every so often. This is gorgeous.
Connect with Bambina
Spotify / Instagram / Twitter / Facebook
spells - DJ Suzy
The newest release from Swedish artist DJ Suzy is a potion of bubbling warm electronics, space-like sound effects, surreal vocals which at times have an early 90s R&b vibe to them (obsessed); the results being a tapestry of sound that is a soothing, yet unusual listen. This feels like sitting in a secret garden, one that is half in this world, half in the world of imagination, where everything shimmers and colors are kaleidoscopic, this is just divine.
Connect with DJ Suzy
Spotify / Instagram
Deep Down - DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ
The newest release from the almighty DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ is 13 minutes long, and every second is precious. It is a dark, glamorous blend of dark house and electronics (with some lofi house elements). This plays under the purple glow of velvet curtains in a candlelit warehouse in the 1990s, dive in,
Connect with DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ
Spotify / Instagram / Website / Twitter
Road Closures - Coolgirl
Unsettling and uneasy; this plays in the shadows, in the woods, under the night sky, a night where something is not quite right. The soundscape in Road Closures form rich visuals in your mind (I could see this in a surreal A24 horror movie). Taken from the album Road Closures, which you can listen to in full here.
Connect with Coolgirl
Spotify / Twitter / Instagram / Bandcamp
34 (Take Me At Midnight) - Kcik
Taken from the EP The Best of Kcik; a warm bed of jazz floats to meet your ears; Jazz one that feels like it plays to you from a warm evening in the 1970s, from a velour apartment buried in a silhouetted alleyway; before a house beat kicks in. This is honestly so gorgeous and so fun to listen to, put this on and float away into the night sky.
Connect with Kcik
Spotify / Instagram / Bandcamp / Facebook
Oceanic Dream - Being Sarah
I stumbled across this on Spotify, and my God it is so, so good. This has the surreal quality of a dream; the pads feel like they play to you from another dimension, the whole thing has a bit of a psychedelic vibe. This is smooth, it is hypnotic, the ambient sounds used through make a dense, lush tapestry of sound that takes over all of your senses.
Connect with Being Sarah
Spotify / 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
In this blog section we host new music releases, artist features and handpicked playlists by the Musicngear staff.
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