Showing 1 - 10 of 19
In Plain Language
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 07/06/2020
» "And that's fine/ I'm wasting away," vocalist Ian Devaney announces over nervy guitars on Tournament, the opening track to Nation of Language's debut album, Introduction, Presence. "I took the long road home/ And it never paid off for me."
Indie rock done right
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 09/02/2020
» "When I was 18/ Someone got stabbed in a church/ But I got used to it/ And forgave all the ways and the names/ It was so long ago, anyways," vocalist Jeremy Gaudet recounts on Murder In The Cathedral, the opening track to Kiwi Jr.'s debut album, Football Money. The vivid songwriting, buoyed by his bandmates' jangly instrumentation, is delivered with the kind of drawl that would have you thinking fondly of Pavement's Stephen Malkmus and The Strokes as well as the Modern Lovers' Jonathan Richman and Parquet Courts' Andrew Savage.
In Fine Style
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 12/01/2020
» Since the dissolution of One Direction in 2015, Harry Styles has been striving for the kind of self-reinvention that would set him apart from his peers. And if the success of his 2017 eponymous solo debut is any indication, he's on the right path towards a flourishing post-boy band career, careening down the highway of 70s-style rock stardom à la Mick Jagger and David Bowie. On his latest studio album Fine Line, these classic rock stylings make way for soaring power pop laced with folk-rock and psychedelia. And despite the record's overall heartbreak theme, Styles sounds more at ease with himself than ever.
Into Thin Air
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 05/01/2020
» Fwends' former guitarist Yuki Suwansopa has described his solo project Dimming Air as "a kind of atmosphere that will have an impact on anybody, anywhere, anytime". Evidenced by early singles like Good Morning and First Sat On The Beach, this broad-view approach now gets translated fully into his debut LP, Love Letters In The Sand. And as you may have guessed from its title, the eight-track full-length debut draws inspiration from beaches and, according to the artist himself, is "full of captured moments/memories from the ocean".
Off the leash
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 20/10/2019
» "Dogs whine to communicate their physical, mental and emotional states..." At first glance, Dogwhine's artist bio reads like the opening to a freshman's college essay. Then, out of the blue, what initially appears to be a direct quote from the dictionary turns into a sly jab at the absurd prohibition on political gatherings of five or more people imposed by the junta: "Not all whines are created equally. Sometimes dogs gather to whine in group. When they come together more than five, they often get chased or taken away." Like hip-hop firebrands Rap Against Dictatorship who brought us the brilliant anti-junta Prathet Ku Mee (What's My Country Got), this Bangkok five-piece are unapologetically political from the outset.
So long Hawaiian shirt, hello disco ball
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 25/08/2019
» The wait for and the painfully gradual lead-up to the release of Friendly Fires' third studio album, Inflorescent, have been a year-long affair, a process that began early last year with a quiet banger Love Like Waves. The way the album unfolds over the course of 15 months is perhaps not the most ideal in the age of music streaming where artists and labels have to appease elusive algorithms and metadata by constantly pumping out what they hope would be a next big smash.
Still hanging around
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 04/08/2019
» "Life is short, I can't spend any more time on an airplane playing in front of people who have no idea who I am. It doesn't feel spiritual anymore. I'm ready for a more intimate life," explains Swedish indie-pop songstress Lykke Li in her recent Vogue interview in which she was asked whether she was planning to retire like she'd previously mentioned on her social media post. As it turns out, not only is she not retiring, Li's co-organising the inaugural edition of YOLA DÍA, "a festival for people who hate music festivals" celebrating strong women in music set to take place in LA next Sunday.
Keeping them keen
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 02/06/2019
» In many ways, the enduring success of UK four-piece Keane is a curious phenomenon. Formed in 1995, the quartet of four rather ordinary-looking white lads from East Sussex rose to rock prominence with their debut album, 2004's Hopes And Fears. Thanks to the strength of radio-friendly singles like Somewhere Only We Know and Everybody's Changing, they were able to contend with a lot of their rock/indie contemporaries who were also just starting out then -- The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, The Futureheads, Razorlight and The Libertines. While some of those bands have lost their steam or even vanished in the aftermath of the indie-rock heyday, it seems that Keane are still alive and well despite the six-year hiatus following 2013's hits compilation, The Best Of Keane.
From Belize with love
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 26/05/2019
» Ariel Zetina may be best known as one of Chicago's fiercest DJs (the Mother of the Windy City Club Scene, as some have suitably appointed her), but she's more than meets the eye. Having come from a theatre and poetry background, the American-Belizean artist is well-versed in cutting-edge performance art. In fact, her first foray into music-making was born out of necessity, simply because she couldn't find a piece of music that would fit a show she was working on as part of collaborative performance art group Witch Hazel. After relocating to Chicago some years later, she finally found her place and essentially herself in the city's thriving queer/trans club scene, which provided her with the impetus to fuse house and techno sounds with her own multicultural flavours.
Roots awakening
Life, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 21/04/2019
» On her 2016’s breakout single, Muang Chut Dam, singer-songwriter Rasmee Wayrana sings vividly of her experience travelling to and performing for the first time in Paris.