Vancouver alt-pop group LUDIC‘s single ‘Judge Me,’ the first release off their debut EP out in April 2022, marks the first time that guitarist Ayla Tesler-Mabe has joined bassist/lead vocalist Max Cunningham on vocals, to create a velvety smooth duet.
The song was written about feeling lonely in a relationship and feeling like you can’t do anything right; the constant effort to try and change is not working and is instead being met with more criticism by the other half.
‘Judge Me’ is a step forward for Ludic – while it retains the quirky and offbeat sound of their previous releases, there is an undeniable maturity that permeates their new work.
Why not check out the (slightly) new musical direction below…
The ultimate “boy-next-door,” MARK AMBOR has captured the hearts of millions, emerging as one of pop music’s freshest voices. After the success of his recent single, ‘The Long Way’ (which received over 1.2 million streams in under a month), Mark returns with ‘Company’, a self-produced pop anthem gleaming with bright synths and live drums. His rapid ascent from unknown to breakout viral success places him on a trajectory with some of the most exciting names in rising pop music today.
Speaking on the inspiration behind “Company,” Ambor says, “I wrote this song during quarantine when I was missing everyone and everything that made me feel alive. I was talking to a girl that I was falling away from, I hadn’t seen my friends in a while and the whole idea of the song just flowed out of me over a piano riff one day. The idea is simple: life is better with each other. Which, for me, really highlights an important feeling I want to convey; realizing we’re not alone and celebrating ourselves, with one another, for all we’re worth.”
23-year-old New York native Mark Ambor is a self-taught guitarist, producer and vocalist who has been playing piano since the age of 7. While music has been a constant throughout his life, this past year has been the most defining for him as an artist. By sharing a variety of demos and covers on social media, he has rapidly captured the hearts of fans who are eager to hear more from him. In October 2020, he had just 2000 Instagram followers and he has now grown his audience to 235K on Instagram and 236K on TikTok.
His new release, ‘Company’ arrives on the heels of ‘The Long Way,’ is the first single he shared since his viral success. Why not check out the lyric video for the single below…
Hailing from New Jersey, JAI AGNISH‘s. His latest single, ‘Moment in Time,’ is drenched in atmospheric synths, drum machine beats, and subtle acoustic guitar. It calls to mind music by Air, Com Truise, and Sufjan Stevens.
Agnish wrote, performed, produced, and engineered the latest offering and teamed up with an old friend, Daniel Smith (Danielson, Sufjan Stevens), who mixed the song. The fellow Garden State dweller runs Familyre Studio and brought some psychedelia and smoothness to the project.
‘Moment in Time’ is the fourth single from Agnish since July and marks his continued foray into the world of DAWS and midi controllers. Lately, he has been constructing music from the synth up, which departs from earlier material that used the acoustic guitar as the primary compositional tool.
After being nominated as Best New Artist for ACAM Awards with his first three songs released in 2020, Costa Rica-based indie-pop singer JAVI JIMENEZ follows up with a rather melodically catchy tune titled, ‘Better Without U,’ a great introduction to his upcoming debut EP.
The singer worked alongside guitarist Alberto Álvarez, mixing their songwriting, guitar arrangements and production abilities to shape the songs into thought-out emotional pop songs that fit nicely in the libraries of fans of LANY or The 1975.
Speaking of the single, Javi says: “‘Better Without U’ is about that “fake it till you make it” attitude in getting over someone. When you’re in your most vulnerable and honest, at 3am, you admit you would do anything to get back to your loved one, but you feel like you could never show that, so you pretend you’re ok, you lie and say you’re better off. This lie escalates and, often, leads to harmful overcompensation trying to hook up constantly with whoever you can, ironically leaving you feeling even more alone in the end”
Why not check out the emotive yet catchy single below…
Bristol-based indie-pop / electronica artist HECTOR WHO LIVED‘s debut single, ‘Monkey’, was written when the first lockdown hit as an acknowledgement of one’s headspace being the first step towards self-help.
With sharp DIY production and earnestly self-aware lyrics, it’s a raw communication of mental struggles throughout lockdown and slipping into bad habits. Noise samples from a gameboy are sprinkled throughout to add texture to the track. ‘Monkey’ widens as it drops into the chorus where it sits atop a pulsing, funk-infused electronic bass. It reaches its pinnacle as it enters the final chorus; the vocals becoming stronger and more confident as they represent the willpower to get through bad mental states.
Hector has an array of musical achievements under his belt since his move to Bristol in 2017, having played venues such as The O2 Academy Oxford, The Bullingdon, Jericho Tavern and Truck Festival with his band ‘The Outside’. With his current band Try Me, Hector has a variety of festivals coming up this year including Dot To Dot. Hector has also featured on a charity album ‘Poland Has A Task’, alongside Lynks, Jessica Winter, Brodka and more; raising awareness for Women’s and Queer rights in Poland.
‘Monkey’ is now out on various digital music platforms. Why not have a peep at the accompanied 70s-inspired video below…
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