We all grow old, but quite a few pop/rock artists get stuck in their young age, the moment when they were at their prime and made it big.
To recapture that moment, they go away, come back, disband reunite (a few times), with no actual fire, inspiration or invention anywhere to be found.
On the other hand, others are still here with their ups or downs, but without a serious lack of creativity, growing old, slowly and graciously.
You can name quite a few of those, Dylan, McCartney, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, they all had their ups or downs, health issues, lapses in productivity whatever, but somehow, or for whatever reason, that spark of invention and quality remains after all those years.
Or, as Paul Simon, one of the artists that certainly falls in this category said once ’Still Crazy After All These Years.’ A paraphrase, of course, as it is a long way from ‘The Sound of Silence’ or ‘’The Boxer’ to ‘Seven Psalms,’ but even in the slowly failing voice and sparse musical background you can hear that quality even in something so timeless as spirituality.
The smallest Creature - Queen
Is this a good choice for a single? It leans towards good old prog rock, but then, so do Radiohead, and the accent here is on the good, so why not come up with goodies, damn the charts?
Skating Polly Tiger At The Drugstore
This Oklahoma trio like their baroque pop, and all for the right reasons, from the lush arrangement to some intricate movements. A great way to come back after five years.
Kitba - Peel Away The Rind
Rebecca Kitba Bryson El-Saleh is not exactly the shortest name for an emerging artist, so El-Saleh shortened it to just Kitba, but the focus should be on this harpist/singer-songwriter’s ability to craft subtle, intricate melodies.
Pale Blue Eyes - Hang Out
These guys roam the realms of both shoegaze and Brit-pop, a realm that can be as wide or as narrow as the artist’s imagination allows. These guys do have it, though.
Jenny Owen Youngs - Avalanche
It makes no difference whether an artist fits neatly in any of the ‘standard’ genres like singer-songwriter, and JOY, definitely does, but that category is anything but standard these days, and Youngs definitely brings that acronym of her full name - joy.
Astral Bakers - One More
The astral part of the name of this French quartet should be a giveaway, but they bring quite a few other things to their take on psych that make them an outfit to watch out for.
Orions Belte - Jai Ali
This Norwegian trio likes their side of psych with a little bit of funky beats on the side, or within their music to be more precise, and they are exactly that - precise. In a good way.
Vera Sola - Desire Path
Sola has that something special in her vocals, and the subtle strings and arrangement as such here truly complement it. Her PR says she has missed since her last outing in 2019. We can believe them.
Fieh - Supergud
Another Norwegian band, octet, no less, that likes their funk, but definitely in a more pure form that those Orion Belte guys. Oh, and they definitely have a feel for it.
Ari B. Ingber - Bear Lake
Tranquil, and languid are the first words that come to mind when listening to Ingber’s ‘Bear Lake’ that has such a natural flow that you get the feel that the bear is neatly stuck in some cave not able to frighten anybody.
Ghost Hounds - Last Train To Nowhere
This one has Nashville and roots rock all over it, and yes, it is quite something that can fit in the country and any other charts so easily as you say cake.
Party Nails - Somehow Somehow
Party Nails is one Elana Caroll who has that knack for melody that comes only naturally and a voice that can carry such melodies with ease, and rock at the same time. This one gives an ample example of that.
3lH - Blue Collar Blues
Rockabilly, surf guitars, Mexicali rhythms, it is all here from this Southern California guys, who have all those in their small fingers it seems, and these blue collars might work for them quite well.
Lydia Luce - Other Side
Luce might be a Florida girl working in Nashville, but on the basis of this one, her musical outlook is almost anywhere and everywhere, without making any kind of mess out of it, only some nifty sounds.
Mick Flannery - Goodtime Charlie
This Irish singer-songwriter with a rootsy outlook has some strong support here (Anais Mitchell, Valerie June) and for a good reason, as he has a sound that wanders all around the good places.
Moon Walker - APOCALYPTICISM
This guy from Brooklyn seems to have quite a few Queen, Boston, ELO records in his collection, but is also able to mix ’n’ match those in style and a refreshing one at that, even with the heavy theme this song brings.
Organ Morgan - I Just Pretended
Organ Morgan, aka Harris McMillan, maybe prefers an acoustic guitar more than the instrument named in his moniker, but his forte seems to be strong songwriting skills, quite exemplified here.
Arabrot - We Want Blood
Yes, the title is an indicator of a bit louder stuff here and this Norwegian duo sure loves their gothic rock stuff, but they surely know how to make it interesting.
Sandrayati, Olafur Arnalds, ANNA - Vast (ANNA Remix)
With Arnald’s name involved you immediately can take it as a sound of quality, but it is not only his lush orchestration that makes this one work, as both the quality of the vocals and an intricate remix that enrich it.
Elk City - You’re Not Alone
These guys have been around since the late nineties, never getting the full recognition they deserve. It has not detered them it seems, and they still come up with some nifty goodies.