Back again with more of the best from Berlin. Autumn is getting into full swing now – days are shorter, the air is crisper, and the windows foggier. Exciting for some and less so for others, but however this season makes you feel, getting cozy is essential, and you’re going to need some musical company to add romance, mystery, and spark.
Whether it’s extra motivation in the mornings, help relaxing at the end of a particularly stressful day, or just plain escaping to another world, we all need music when our lives just aren’t going how we said they definitely would go a week ago. Take the artists and releases we’ve gathered as sonic SAD lamps. Have a browse and get comfortable.
Novaa – The Futurist [Novalty]
Novaa channels big ideas into moving, intimate songs on her sophomore album, ‘The Futurist’. Delivering sleek, electronic pop from the heart, she tackles the omnipresence of technology in our modern-day lives, how it affects our relationships, and what the future may hold. Her warm and inviting vocals take these big questions and make them feel as natural as a meandering conversation with a friend, while her sparse but comforting beats envelop you in their own detailed landscape. Moving forward in the spirit of Lorde and Clairo, Novaa is carving her own lane into the future.
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Logic1000 – Perfume [Therapy]
Logic1000 has returned with the follow up to her acclaimed 2019 EP, continuing her commitment to deep, joyful techno. ‘Perfume’ launches into a groove with an intricate whirl of crispy, tactile percussion that is undeniably felt in the body first, before becoming whole with a soulful call and response vocal that is just begging for a tuneless sing-along from a packed dance floor. Though it’s sad that this track won’t be getting the club audience it deserves just yet, Logic1000 taps into a timeless energy that is just as euphoric and inspiring at 11:30 am on a Wednesday in October.
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Pierce With Arrow – For Electra [Dais Records]
Pierce With Arrow is the brand new duo formed by Troy Pierce, American techno innovator, and Poison Arrow, Colombian interdisciplinary artist. This is their inaugural single, but the project already feels fully formed. Their heavy mix of foggy, droning ambient, and Arrow’s delicate spoken word feels completely natural, like a portal into its own world. ‘For Electra’ is not only a single, but also arrives as a scent, created by Mark Buxton for Folie à Plusieurs, and part of all proceeds are being donated to Colombia’s Indigenous Trans Embera Women.
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rRoxymore – Forward Flamingo [Don’t Be Afraid Recordings]
rRoxymore cemented her unique take on house and techno in 2019 with her debut album ‘Face to Phase’, and now is expanding the mutant joys of that album with an EP of remixes for standout track, ‘Forward Flamingo’. The original track, like much of rRoxymore’s output, takes traditional club sounds and picks them apart, twisting and rebuilding them into strange, new worlds that are still connected to the dance floor. All five remixes continue in the same vein, with a percussive and electric contribution from DJ Plead, and a typically wonky and vibrant effort from Joe.
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Joensuu 1685 – ÖB [Kieku Records]
We love a good comeback. Long-delayed, ‘ÖB’ is Joensuu 1685’s sophomore album. They began recording in 2009 before they took a short break that then developed into an eight-year break. Now, after years of solo and side projects, they’re back to pick up where they left off. ‘ÖB’ was half-written in 2009 and finished in 2019, but you wouldn’t know it. Anthemic to its core, the album layers swirling keys, cavernous drums, and soaring, heartfelt vocals under a tasteful amount of fuzz and scuzz. A sweet and uplifting listen all the way through, perfect for warming a grey Autumn morning.
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Eveline – Lay Next To You [Self-Released]
This brand new single from Eveline has everything you’re looking for in a pop song; it’s saccharine sweet, instantly danceable, and lands with real emotion. Eveline’s voice is buttery smooth and delivers the earworm chorus with a satisfying weight reminiscent of Dua Lipa. She sounds completely at home over the bouncing and shimmering beat. The heart of the song is the genuine yearning it carries, and the full character with which Eveline delivers it. One made for excessive replays, shower karaoke, and lipsyncing on the S-Bahn.
To hear these records and more follow LOLA on Spotify.