and apart, the members of Diamondtown have decades of experience in the fertile underground rock scene of Nova Scotia. Alumni of Eric’s Trip, Dog Day, Century Egg, and countless other bands have now formed like a flannel-clad Voltron. The group fuses influences from ’80s goth and shoegaze with ’60s psychedelic pop for a melancholy, sun-bleached sound they call “dream-rock.”
New single, “Hide,” has an ethereal dream-pop vibe that creates a melancholic but uplifting soundscape for the listener to find solace in. Escapism is a very common topic in Diamondtown’s music in a world that can be so messed up and overwhelming.
For Steve Bays (Hot Hot Heat), Jeremy Ruzumna (Fitz and The Tantrums) and Erik Janson (Wildling), Left Field Messiah is their embrace of their internal calling: a rallying cry to document their impulsive, weird, eclectic and even ugly ideas. Their music teeters between soul and dark funk in one moment, and quickly disintegrates into howling rock on the next. In this age of endless distraction, we need to embrace our moments of internal rebellion and find a lane to express it. For Bays, Ruzumna and Janson, Left Field Messiah is that—their search for a way out.
Left Field Messiah’s new single, “Feels Like Summer,” is an atmospheric, hypnotic track with futuristic flourishes over a dreamy groove.
Willie Stratton picked up the guitar at 12 and started writing songs soon after. His previous releases have ranged from folk to roots to indie rock, so it comes as no surprise that he has landed firmly in the alt-country genre. It’s a shift that his fans are sure to embrace – an old time country vibe with strong contemporary lyrics and a smooth baritone vocal.
Willie just released a new single, “The Way She Holds Me,” a gritty, dark americana track. The title evokes a sweet love song, but as it goes on you realise it’s about a doomed relationship.
Surrey-based Asad Khan (aka Khanvict) is an escape artist. His love for lush strings, cinematic swells, and a West Coast bass music punch instantly transport the listener – conjuring visions of desert expanses and dense jungle paradises.
This year has been a big year for Khanvict, hitting his first million streams on Spotify. His recent release, the politically charged “Close,” has racked up over 1 million views on YouTube and garnered global press from Rolling Stone to Times of India to The Hindu.
Khanvict is now following this success with his second EP, Escape, which was inspired by a need for escape from the lockdown, the uncertainty, and into a feeling of freedom through music.
Focus track, “Impedance,” features lush chords juxtaposed by hard hitting bass lines and wobbles.
Shadow Monster is an angsty and loud two-piece from Bushwick, Brooklyn. Gillian Visco’s gritty, dissonant and desperate guitar riffs meet with John Swanson’s epic and explosive drumming style to form a raw and moody version of grunge rock. Lyrically, Shadow Monster explores themes of loss, depression and isolation. If you’re into Elliott Smith, Weakened Friends, Helium, and Kills Birds, your ears are going to love Shadow Monster.
Their new video “Kill Me Sweetie,” is the final release from their LP “Punching Bag,” which is an artful masterpiece from start to finish. Shadow Monsters sound is vibrant, captivating and bold as they bring a vision to the table that is truly their own. It’s hypnotic and smooth, yet raw, vibrant and dark. They bring the best of all worlds. The video perfectly encapsulates the essence of the duo, and goes above and beyond to impress your ears. We step inside of the video with Shadow Monster as they take us through the journey and process.
Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically?
Kill Me Sweetie is a song about going through the motions when everything you see makes you shake your head. It’s when you reach that point of being so over-it that you feel nothing. One day I was listening to the album mixes on the train and this song came on while I was going over the Williamsburg Bridge and I watched all the different lives passing as I remained in place, detached, and it was then that the seed was planted for a music video. At the time we already knew Punching Bag would be the first single so I just kept the idea on the backburner.
What was the inspiration behind this video(visuals, storyline, etc.)?
The vision for the music video was birthed from the lyric “…we’ll laugh and pat each other’s backs and walk back home to nothing.” The color palette and fly-on -the-wall feeling the one-shot provides, were an attempt to capture that window of time where late night bleeds into early morning, when the good-time buzz wears off and reality starts to resurface. And the dance is an interpretation of that walk home, catching the sunrise over the city when you feel completely alone in the world, a final exhale after holding it together for so long.
What was the process of making this video? My friend Cade Weidenhaft and I had discussed doing a music video together, so we met a few times over zoom (as this was shot in 2020) and mapped the whole thing out. I brought up the idea of a one-shot video and he was just as excited as I was by it. We discussed time stamps beforehand, and knew exactly where we had to be during pivotal moments in the song . We shot six takes over two hours on an early November morning while the sun was coming up. I don’t think a one-shot video would have been possible without Cade’s enthusiasm and commitment to make it work. It also helped that Cade’s friend and collaborator Sean Hart showed up to set so we had an extra set of hands and eyes to guide Cade while shooting.Open document settingsOpen publish panel
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Shadow Monster is an angsty and loud two-piece from Bushwick, Brooklyn. Gillian Visco’s gritty, dissonant and desperate guitar riffs meet with John Swanson’s epic and explosive drumming style to form a raw and moody version of grunge rock. Lyrically, Shadow Monster explores themes of loss, depression and isolation. If you’re into Elliott Smith, Weakened Friends, Helium, and Kills Birds, your ears are going to love Shadow Monster. Their new video “Kill Me Sweetie,” is the final release from their LP “Punching Bag,” which is an artful masterpiece from start to finish. Shadow Monsters sound is vibrant, captivating and bold as they bring a vision to the table that is truly their own. It’s hypnotic and smooth, yet raw, vibrant and dark. They bring the best of all worlds. The video perfectly encapsulates the essence of the duo, and goes above and beyond to impress your ears.
We step inside of the video with Shadow Monster
Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically?
Kill Me Sweetie is a song about going through the motions when everything you see makes you shake your head. It’s when you reach that point of being so over-it that you feel nothing. One day I was listening to the album mixes on the train and this song came on while I was going over the Williamsburg Bridge and I watched all the different lives passing as I remained in place, detached, and it was then that the seed was planted for a music video. At the time we already knew Punching Bag would be the first single so I just kept the idea on the backburner.
What was the inspiration behind this video(visuals, storyline, etc.)?
The vision for the music video was birthed from the lyric “…we’ll laugh and pat each other’s backs and walk back home to nothing.” The color palette and fly-on -the-wall feeling the one-shot provides, were an attempt to capture that window of time where late night bleeds into early morning, when the good-time buzz wears off and reality starts to resurface. And the dance is an interpretation of that walk home, catching the sunrise over the city when you feel completely alone in the world, a final exhale after holding it together for so long.
What was the process of making this video? My friend Cade Weidenhaft and I had discussed doing a music video together, so we met a few times over zoom (as this was shot in 2020) and mapped the whole thing out. I brought up the idea of a one-shot video and he was just as excited as I was by it. We discussed time stamps beforehand, and knew exactly where we had to be during pivotal moments in the song . We shot six takes over two hours on an early November morning while the sun was coming up. I don’t think a one-shot video would have been possible without Cade’s enthusiasm and commitment to make it work. It also helped that Cade’s friend and collaborator Sean Hart showed up to set so we had an extra set of hands and eyes to guide Cade while shooting.
Ámaris Wen, also known artistically as Ámaris, is one of only a few female music producers who combines genres such as R&B, electronic, and neo soul, defining her music as genre-defying. She got into EDM when attending drama school for her dance studies. After working for Sony Music as a playlist manager, she took her music towards the synthetic pop and R&B route. She is a creative person who uses music as her outlet. Her newest song, “Time Traveler,” is a song that beautifully blends genres and music into a unique sound that you won’t hear anywhere else. It’s a synthetic pop song that calls back to 80’s pop with R&B cohesively combined. It harks of Alicia Keys with some Madonna and Prince. She uses the electronic piano sounds to create a hypnotic beat and further uses it to create an echoing that vibrates throughout the song.
She creates a picture using music. Her use of the synthetic sound is unlike anything I’ve ever heard. She is able to show me color and art, a painting in my head as the song progresses, a masterpiece of sounds. Everytime the baseline makes a repetition is another stroke. Her voice adds the forefront. It’s soulful, powerful, moving, and gentle. It’s ambient and one of those voices that you could listen to for hours on end.
“Time Traveler” is a musical marvel and a must have on any playlist. She clearly knows what she’s doing and isn’t afraid to break barriers or genres. She does her own thing. You can tell by listening to her music, especially this song, that she enjoys music, it’s her passion; that creativity flows through her unlike any other artist. She understands music so well, it’s like she can hold it in her hand and mold it like clay. When she gives us music, we can hear her art.
Modern Mystery 
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