Midwife & Vyva Melinkolya - Orbweaving (2023)

Everyone who cares about ambient pop as a genre, knows who Midwife is. This time, Madeline Johnston brings on a cooperation between her and Vyva Melinkolya, a Pittsburgh-based band led by Johnston's friend, Angel Diaz. Together, they created an album that will become one of the icons of the genre (as basically anything Midwife does).

The two artists created their music in the middle of a desert in New Mexico and these spiritual vibes can be heard on the record as it talks about very spiritual themes of "hopelessness, calling on a higher power, being alone, and the sublime horror of the natural world" in the form of the ambient pop genre. The inclusion of the band means that there is more of the melodic structures in Midwife's music. While the vocals feel as utterly ethereal as always, the fuzzy, hazy backgrounds hide more of the traditional rock-like music (like in Hounds of Heaven). But the best parts are where the music comes back to the definite, ambient pop ballad areas with the single NMP and its beautiful, charming and very sad melody as well as psychedelically noisy finish.  

Orbweaving costs 8 USD.

Midwife - Prayer Hands (2018)

Check: NMP 

Country: New Mexico/Kentucky, US

Genre: ambient pop

Label: The Flenser

:bandcamp:

:facebook (Vyva Melinkolya):
:facebook (Midwife):

:instagram (Vyva Melinkolya):

:instagram (Midwife):

:spotify:

Milanku - À l'aube (2023)

Milanku, the Quebec representation on the world's post-metal scene, is around for over 15 years now. Their ever-growing discography has recently been expanded by a new album called À l'aube.

The band "strikes with its brutal character, both nostalgic and melancholy" as they describe their music on their Bandcamp page. And it is very true: while they come from the post-hardcore environment, it is not that obvious on the new album: there's more strictly melancholic, post-rock-like compositions that should appeal to those who seek this feeling of ethereal sadness in the heavy, guitar music. However, this doesn't mean that the post-hardcore elements are completely forgotten, quite the opposite in fact, they still appear in the compositions. They do so from time to time, making the effect even more striking: when you hear the desperate screams, you know that this is an important, monumental moment and you should pay attention (as it is in À l'aube; prêchant la mauvaise nouvelle).

This track, the title of which translates to "At dawn; preaching the bad news", is a good example of how poignant the shouted lyrics are ("On each of us/ The noose is tightening/ The very essence/ Of great sadness") and how well they cooperate with the pure guitar melancholia (and with the vocals in À l'aube; nous sommes disparus provided by the Swedish jazz singer, Erika Angell).

À l'aube costs 7 EUR (10 CAD).

Milanku - Monument du non​-​être & Mouvement du non​-​vivant (2018)

Check: À l'aube; nous sommes disparus

Country: Quebec, Canada

Genre: melancholic post-hardcore

Label: Folivora Records

:bandcamp:

:facebook:

:instagram:

:youtube:

:spotify:

Oceans - Dreamers in Dark Cities (2023)

The Australian Oceans, who are known for "fusing various genres together to create unique sonic landscapes inspired by ambient, new wave and 90s shoegaze", have appeared on my blog already when in 2022 they were part of the split release with the British band Wilt. And finally, they managed to release their debut album this year with Dreamers in Dark Cities being a fantastic take on the melodic shoegaze music.

This is the kind of music that fills a need for the atmospheric blessing and the melodic energy. The compositions are very much based on the distinct bass line that can be particularly fast while the heavy, fuzzy guitars around it give slower, more monumental vibes. This is, traditionally one can say, balanced by very ethereal and dreamy double, male and female, vocals (sometimes more uniquely sounding like in parts of Feels Like You, but usually following the genre's style guides). This balance is usually tilted in favour of the lighter, more melodic side of the project and it feels right for the band, although I'd be curious to hear them in heavier, more shoegazey compositions too (like in the final track of the album).

Dreamers in Dark Cities costs 7 USD.

Wilt & Oceans - Wilt (2022)

Check: Feels Like You

Country: Australia

Genre: atmospheric noise pop

Label: Shelflife

:bandcamp:

:facebook:
:official:

:instagram:

:spotify:

Elita - Dysania (2023)

Elita is a project led by Emma Harvey (also known as Elita Harkov) that combines modern, attractive electronica with heavy dream pop influences. The first album under this moniker, Dysania, was released back in March via Opposition.

The album is called after a condition that is defined as "a state of finding it hard to get out of bed in the morning" but unlike people who deal with it, the music here is fairly energetic. Elita joins the club of cute and creepy young artists who are painfully honest in what they do and who create music that is as atmospheric as it is catchy. But while some of them are all about glitchy experiments (like Yeule), here the music is pretty traditional: it's all about catchy melodies with synthy backgrounds and occasional sample that makes it even tastier. The level of catchiness in Elita's compositions is truly remarkable. Even ballads (like Summer Song) stay in your hand for a long time. Oh, right, and it's exceptionally steamy, from the beginning to the end.

Dysania costs 7 USD.

Check: Mentally Not Here

Country: Canada

Genre: dreamy electronic pop

Label: Opposition

:bandcamp:

:instagram:

:youtube:

:spotify:

Softcult - See You in the Dark (2023)

Mercedes and Phoenix Arn-Horn make music as Softcult. The Ontario-based artists haven't released a long-playing album yet, but See You in the Dark makes already their third EP. And it may well be the best one yet.

This is the kind of music that blends the energy and fun of indie rock with the expression of punk and the dreaminess of noise pop. Everything is very melodic, the pace is high and it makes you feel like dancing. Songs like Dress are real bangers that could be in the repertoire of the biggest indie rock bands. But there is also a hint of melancholia, some sadness in the compositions' dispersed vocals and hazey backgrounds. And the further the album goes, the more striking it is. The final songs are pure guitar haze with delicate vocals put on top: a music to feel and to shed a tear to (Love Song is sooo beautiful).

See You in the Dark costs 6 USD.

Check: Love Song 

Country: Canada

Genre: noise pop

Label: Easy Life Records

:bandcamp:

:facebook:
:official:

:instagram:

:soundcloud:

:youtube:

:spotify:

Great Cold Emptiness - Immaculate Hearts Will Triumph (2023)

The project led by the Maine-based Nathan Guerrette, Great Cold Emptiness, has recently released his third ever album and the final part of the "The Becoming of a Man" trilogy. Called Immaculate Hearts Will Triumph, the album is filled with heavy guitars and blackgaze vibes.

As he already managed to get us used to, Guerette creates a top-quality atmospheric black metal bordering with oneiric blackgaze. The compositions here are both dreamy and nightmarish, airy and heavy, soothing and enraging. There is some of black metal's riff racing and tons of angry vocals hidden somewhere under the haze of music. But the flow and the dispersed effects make it all extremely shoegaze-like. This whole powerful and inspiring atmosphere is needed on the album to talk about self-realization, the importance of friendship and "the triumph of the heart and overcoming the most difficult stages in a man's life: him finally leaving home". Nothing quite inspires awe just like a well-tailored blackgaze.

Immaculate Hearts Will Triumph costs 7 USD.

Great Cold Emptiness - Death Gifted a Bouquet (2020)

Check: With Friends Like This

Country: Maine, US

Genre: true blackgaze

:bandcamp:

:facebook:

:instagram:

:youtube:

:spotify:

Alpha du Centaure & unknown fault - Careless (2023)

Two bands: the French post-rockers of Alpha du Centaure and unknown fault, a duo from Germany joined their forces to release a split album filled with 

The split is opened by the "raw alloy of ethereal spleen and onirism" from Alpha du Centaure. The French are known for their consistently high-quality releasing history with two great albums in their discography. And their post-rock music here is certainly on pair with their previous albums. This one, however, starts with a galloping but smooth guitar avalanche that is enriched with, alternately, dreamy and angry vocals. Those are the elements added by Nadia and Urs from unknown fault. And this combination of thick, atmospheric post-rock with oneiric blackgaze works extremely well. And I genuinely wish the whole album was like that, it just feels great together. 

Instead, we have one more song by Alpha du Centaure and three songs from the German duo. And they are all great, don't get me wrong. The French kill with their heavy post-rock vibes and unknown fault enchants the audience with beautiful, magical vocals.

Careless costs 7 EUR.

Check: Sunray Inertia

Country: France

Genre: blackgaze post-rock

Label: Stellar Frequencies

:bandcamp:

:facebook (Alpha du Centaure):

:facebook (unknown fault):
:official (Alpha du Centaure):

:official (unknown fault):

:instagram (Alpha du Centaure):

:instagram (unknown fault):

:soundcloud (Alpha du Centaure):

:youtube (Alpha du Centaure):

The Lonely Bell - Ghost Town Burning (2023)

Coming from the very North of Scotland, from Isle of Lewis, The Lonely Bell brings with himself a beautiful and melancholic drone soundscape on his new album called Ghost Town Burning.

It's a calm and steady soundscape. It's not the winds and the ocean of the North, it's its grey weather and stillness. Nothing really moves and nothing really wants to. The drones form a sea of static, melancholic sounds that should hypnotize any one of you. If you can't go North and settle in a cozy hut on the ocean cliff, this album is "hypnotic, bewitching, and ultimately restorative", a real pause in the middle of your hectic life. 

Ghost Town Burning costs 5 EUR.

Check: Ghost Town Burning

Country: Scotland, UK

Genre: drone soundscape

Label: Blackjack Illuminist Records

:bandcamp:

:facebook:

:instagram:

:spotify:

Ben Haskins - Chimera Wakes (2023)

I'm a big fan of Ben Haskins' music. As you could notice, the artists releases at least one album every year recently and I just have to post about it. This year's Chimera Wakes is no exception as the album's bright magenta colors invite the audience into the mesmerizing post-rock music world from Canada. 

The main thing about Haskins' music is the fantastic flow that carries the instrumental compositions. It comes from the synthy backgrounds that everything here is based on: it's so beautiful in places like Under where the whole thing: the synths, the guitars and the keys come together into one, lively and exciting but also soothing and beautiful soundscape. And it's not the only one here: in fact, this is the main characteristic of the whole thing. The album sucks you in, mesmerizes you and then leaves you with an impression that it finished so quickly and almost no time has passed. 

Chimera Wakes costs 5 EUR (7 CAD).

Ben Haskins - Dinner Party (2022)

Ben Haskins - Oh Believers, Run! (2021)

Check: Under

Country: Canada

Genre: synthy post-rock

:bandcamp:

:facebook:

:instagram:

:youtube:

:spotify:

Rosa Vertov - Reflected In (2023)

The truest noisy dream pop band in Poland, Rosa Vertov have just released their new EP. It's been only two years since their second LP called Reflected In but a lot managed to change in the meantime, with the vital change in the band's line-up as the main thing..

As Olga Gniadzik left the band, it is now a trio and this fact reflects on the music they play. Now, their slow and melancholic music is more minimalist which makes it in turn more introvert and self-reflective. Particular elements of their music have more space and it's easy to focus on them separately, admiring the use of grunge'y guitar, noisy backgrounds and fantastic melodies. This is what I like about their music the most: while focusing on the tear-jerking atmosphere, they are perfectly able to smuggle some mindblowing melodies (like in Fading Out for example).

They say that their music "breaks dream pop dreaminess with a good dose of nightmarish unease and melancholy". The way the artists thick up the atmosphere with the use of backing vocals and organ-sounding keys is definitely top class. The album's finish in All We Have Must Be Enough makes the whole experience drastically heavier and more melancholic and I'm here for it.

Reflected In costs whatever you want to pay.

Rosa Vertov - Day In Day Out (2021)

Check: Fading Out

Country: Poland

Genre: slowcore dream rock

:bandcamp:

:facebook:

:instagram:

:soundcloud:

:youtube:

:spotify:

Svntax Error - The Vanishing Existence (2023)

Coming from Sydney, Australia, the "psychedelic post-rock for the apocalypse" from the band of Svntax Error brings some unexpected developments on the post-rock music front line. The band's new album, The Vanishing Existence, is the second in their discography and it proves that the artists feel more and more comfortable with the music they make.

The first thing one notices about their music is the synthy, psychedelic sound that exists besides the guitar and drums. This is actually theremin, one of the most mysterious instrument out there. It gives this mesmerizing, otherworldly taste to the compositions which, to make the effect more striking, are not very fast, the pace is steady and, in turn, hypnotizing. This is complimented with the melodic, indie rock-like vocals that transform some of the tracks into psychedelic rock gems.

The album is written to investigate the "themes of loss in all its myriad forms and the human, emotional and physical responses they inspire" which, with the overall sound of the album, makes a rather gloomy impression. The band is going to appear on this year's dunk!festival in Ghent and I can't wait to see them live there!

The Vanishing Existence costs 6 EUR (10 AUD).

Check: Backwards Through the Storm

Country: Australia

Genre: theremin psychedelic rock

:bandcamp:

:facebook:
:official:

:instagram:

:youtube:

:spotify:

Penelope Trappes - Heavenly Spheres (2023)

With her fourth album, Penelope Trappes, most probably the best ambient pop artist out there, continues with her ultimately ethereal way of creating music. Surprisingly NOT titled "Penelope Four", Heavenly Spheres 

The artist is a queen of combining extremely dark, gothic and post-industrial ambient soundscapes with extremely airy vocals. There melodies here are almost non-existent, but it's on purpose: vocals are yet another way of creating the unbelievably eerie atmosphere of the compositions. And it's a vital part as the album is kept in a very minimalist way: it was created with "only [the artist's] voice, an upright piano and an old German reel to reel tape deck". The result are even more unnerving then typically with her music. Even if there are field recordings of spring-inspired bird chirping, Penelope Trappes can still transform the ultimate symbol of life into moody darkness.

The album was created during  two-week residency for Britten Pears Arts that made it possible for the artist to embrace a particular way of creating her music. As she stated: "I immersed myself in solitude and often deafening silence, and coexisted with an enormous amount of history and books" and I feel like you can really hear it on this album.

Heavenly Spheres costs 8 EUR (7 GBP).

Penelope Trappes - Penelope Three (2021)

Check: A Seagull Learns to Sleep Alone

Country: Australia/UK

Genre: ambient pop

Label: Nite Hive

:bandcamp:

:facebook:

:instagram:

:youtube:

:spotify: