Rituals of Mine - Burst

Rituals of Mine is a duo made up of songwriter/vocalist Terra Lopez and percussionist Adam Pierce. They have a new single “Burst”, which comes with a powerful video.

Lopez is a protean songwriter, continuously reinventing herself. Her electronic pop is moody, it is glitch-y; it is best classified with terms that denote change, like ‘volatile’ and ‘experimental’. If there is one thing you can expect when you listen Lopez, it is to be surprised. Even her stage name has gone through multiple changes, from ‘Silent and Clementine’, to ‘Sister Crayon’, and finally, ‘Rituals of Mine’.

This track leans more heavily into the R&B influences that also appeared on their latest album, Devoted (released 2016). This song is about growth - more specifically, about Lopez confronting her past. The music video, shot and edited in a sort of 90’s horror aesthetic, sees Lopez take on (and crush) a team of masked zombified basketball players. She explained to Billboard, “the opponents all represent obstacles I've had to face being a queer woman of color in this industry ... this video was a way for me to confront both my childhood traumas and adulthood obstacles through the activity that has always grounded me.”

If the metaphor seems heavy-handed, that was the intention: “I made a promise to myself that I'm no longer going to play small or hide behind metaphors, that I'm going to really lean into self-confidence, self-reliance and take up space.” Lopez has no problem taking up space here, performing with a swagger that calls to mind Princess Nokia.

The rest of the three-track EP will be released on October 4, via Carpark Records. I can’t wait to see Lopez take up more space, and continue to push her limits.

KAZU - "Salty" and "Meo"

Kazu Makino has been the singer of New York indie band since 1993. Now she is trying her hand at a solo album. But "solo" is something of a misnomer. Her first single "Salty" salty saw her collaborating with talents like percussionist Mauro Refosco and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Experimental, layered vocals intermingle with rapidly-cycling loops. Soft, upbeat electronic percussion trips and flutters underneath the surface.

In the recently released second single "Meo", she brings Blonde Redhead bandmate Amadeo Pace on board. Atop New Agey synths and pointillist embellishments on keys, Kazu's cries asymmetrically, almost conversationally, lyrics that seem designed to unsettle: "Don't say it's different/Don't say it's fine/Don't say she needs you". Enter a surprise cinematic string section, courtesy of the Budapest Art Orchestra. You will have to make up your own mind about these tracks, but they are nothing if not original and experimental, and I for one am compelled - it will be fascinating to watch Kazu tread further into this undiscovered territory.

The album is Adult Baby and it will be released on September 13. It will be accompanied by a narrative film, shot on the Italian island of Elba (the few shots we have from the film look gorgeous).

Yeule - Pretty Bones

Yeule's mega-talent has been out in the open for awhile. While her releases haven't been as frequent as fans might hope - she's studying for a bachelors of fine arts, gosh - The Singaporean London-based producer has been quietly releasing - synth-heavy, shoegazey, often atmospheric - art-pop (enough descriptors?) for several years. Okay, one more - "witch house" (self-ascribed).

In 2017, The Fader called her "Coma" EP "dream pop perfection." More recently, she made it onto one of Grimes Spotify playlists!¡ She's getting recognized, that's the point. With her latest track, I hope more recognition is headed her way.

The music video for her newest song "Pretty Bones" (released on Bayonet Records) is out. Directed by Joy Song, the video explores self-identity, artificiality, and decay. Sundry luxuriant items, artificial and natural, are interspersed, heaped together on an exquisite banquet table: bowls of raspberries topped with glitter; shiny rose petals; shinier lip gloss; a bejeweled octopus. Then things dissolve, scatter, get destroyed. A pomegranate is torn apart; an engraved knife stabs a slab of raw beef; overfull bowls of fruit rot in half a second, are resurrected, and then rot again. It's miraculous. The whole thing brought to mind a quote from the end of Strindberg's A Dream Play (ahem): "Time and space do not exist. Upon an insignificant background of real life events the imagination spins and weaves new patterns."

One more thing: check out this interview by Milk Magazine. 

Highlights:
"Who are you, yeule? 

yeule is my reflection, your reflection, your friend, your enemy, a cut in dimensional fabric, a disappearing space..."
"How do you balance attending university while maintaining your career and artistry?This is a very good question, Gabriella — I’m a shapeshifter...."

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