It is the final full week before we reach a long awaited, but inevitably different type of Christmas day. But with the sheer amount of amazing new tunes we have covered throughout 2020, we have one final batch of completely fresh tracks to round this year off with. Consider it an early Xmas present.
Without any more delay, let’s go through our final 9 top picks of New Music Sunday for 2020.
Track of the Week
Kyns » The End
Kyns manages to build the foundations for a productive 2021, with her amazing sophomore single. With an elite level of depth and utterly beautiful vocals.
indie top 39
After LA singer, songwriter, and producer Kyns was able to effortlessly introduce an immensely deep and spellbinding sound through her debut single, her follow-up, ‘The End’, very much follows suit. With Kyns going forward with the approach of independently producing and releasing her music towards the closure of 2020, Kyns manages to build the foundations for a productive 2021, in which she plans to release her debut EP Static. And with ‘The End’ being a masterful continuation of Kyns’ elite level of depth and immersion in her production, as well as her utterly beautiful vocals, 2021 is already shaping up to be a very promising musical year, and we cannot wait to be blessed with whatever she has in store for the upcoming year.
Apollo Love » Video Sex
‘Video Sex’ covers both an interesting and relevant topic in its lyrics; the idea of finding intimacy online, and Apollo Love reflects this perfectly with his luminous sound.
indie top 39
‘Video Sex’ is the sophomore single release from Italy born electro-pop artist Apollo Love, who had no trouble establishing his unique persona and luminous sound in the UK with his engagingly glistening debut single ‘Limelight’. But ‘Video Sex’ covers an interesting and relevant topic in its lyrics; the idea of resorting to finding intimacy online, seen as we have bare been able to do so naturally this year. It reflects upon the surrealism of the situation, which compliments the futuristic and accessible sounding production. This sophomore single does brilliantly to further solidify Apollo Love as a voice for the queer community, and a very exciting artist with bags of potential.
CSK & The Jones Project » Rock N Roller
The sounds that both musical projects have championed, come together comfortably and effectively in this collaborative track.
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Following the amazing 2020 single ‘Sojourn’, that we at Indie Top 39 really enjoyed for its flowing progression and musical depth, this week sees the solo project of David Brown, named CSK, collaborate with a fellow solo project, The Jones Project, to create this brand new track. ‘Rock N Roller’ arguably stands as a track with an even cleaner sense of progression than ‘Sojourn’. Starting off with a combination of soft bells, guitar, and bass, ‘Rock N Roller’ sets a nostalgically gritty tone right away. The sounds of both artists meld together perfectly on this track, and do brilliantly to not go too overboard with the sense of depth. This is an undeniably well-crafted and enjoyable musical experience.
Graywave » Like Heaven
‘Like Heaven’ stands as Graywave’s most effective track at bringing ambient indie, and hard rock sounds together.
indie top 39
The most glaring quality we picked up from Graywave’s newest track ‘Like Heaven’ is the insanely well fused combination of atmospheric, cavernous indie sounds, and gritty hard rock elements. This solo project of singer and musician Jess Webberly has shown to lean towards both styles before, yet it was clear to us that ‘Like Heaven’ has been the most effective at bringing the two together out of all of the tracks in Graywave’s current discography. Along with this, ‘Like Heaven’ is the first track to tease an upcoming EP from Greywave, which we are incredibly excited for, thanks to this track, and we most definitely hope this darker and heavier approach is pursued.
HANSSØN » No Drama Llama
The newest instalment of HANSSØN’s “PHASES” project, ‘No Drama Llama’ brilliantly reflects our efforts to find peace but also feeling alienated in 2020.
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As part of a project which she has titled “PHASES”, pop singer HANSSØN had made it her lockdown goal to release a new track for every full moon and every new moon. The newest of these tracks ‘No Drama Llama’ reflects upon our efforts to find peace during this unusual time, while feeling distant and alien as a result. We were definitely able to notice just how well this tracks cosmically ambient production managed to reflect that idea of feeling alien. It also feels like a brilliant improvement upon the preceding single ‘Monotony’ in regards to carrying a much more engaging and accessible pop production. Being one of the most cleanly produced tracks from HANSSØN thus far, ‘No Drama Llama’ shows swift growth.
Jaro » Call It
‘Call It’ engaged us instantly with its steady beat, and mystifying electronic melodies. It reflects Jaro’s influences well, while being completely unique on its own.
indie top 39
‘Call It’ is the debut single from Amsterdam-based producer Jaro, an artist whose ambition is to give listeners a new flavour of indie. And by taking influences such as Tame Impala, Radiohead, and Gorillaz, and using them to establish his own distinct and unique musical style, it all translates brilliantly onto this initial single. ‘Call It’ engaged us instantly with its steady and textured beat, along with some mystifying electronic melodies. And while the Tame Impala influence in particular felt very apparent on this track, ‘Call It’ truly stands as its own experience which sets a unique mood. ‘Call It’ is an incredibly promising debut track, when it comes to how Jaro can expertly create a brilliantly deep and enigmatic sound.
Kid Violet » Be Happy
Kid Violet blesses us with a joyful, positive, and Britpop inspired atmosphere, which is sure to come in handy for many of us at this time.
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While it initially seemed as if London-based indie-rock five-piece Kid Violet would equal the number of tracks they had released in 2019, it turned out that they had one more trick up their sleeve, to ultimately one-up themselves this year. Their fourth single release of 2020, ‘Be Happy’ uses elements of Britpop to create a very joyful and positive atmosphere, which is certainly a vibe that will come in handy for those who needed it. Along with this, ‘Be Happy’ feels extremely warm and festival-ready, which comes naturally as a result of its more apparent Britpop inspiration. With hopes of a better year ahead, what better representative of that, than a track like this one?
Lotta St Joan » Those Arms
‘Those Arms’ is proof that Lotta St Joan truly knows how to use simplicity and fragility as her most effective weapons of choice.
indie top 39
Sometimes, simplicity can be the most effective weapon of choice, as shown by the Berlin-based singer, songwriter, and musician Lotta St Joan, with her sophomore single ‘Those Arms’. The artist’s signature sense of fragile intimacy was perfectly established through her debut single ‘Oh Boy’, which came to us in the March of 2020. Now with the year coming to a close, Lotta St Joan ends the year off with one more single release, which further elevates every aspect of Lotta St Joan’s serenity and heavenly minimalism. Her vocal harmonies absolutely fill the senses of the listener, and paired with the gorgeous instrumental, we were in awe of just how beautiful this track sounded. With her debut album HANDS not too far away, we are phenomenally excited to hear it.
Thomas LaVine & Luna Keller » By the Coast
‘By the Coast’ perfectly compliments the signature styles of both Thomas LaVine and Luna Keller, and does well to reflect both artists’ mutual love for music.
indie top 39
This week saw the virtual collaboration between American singer-songwriter Thomas LaVine and Spanish singer-songwriter Luna Keller, on this brand new track, titled ‘By The Coast’. From the very get-go, it was easy for us to see that this track does incredibly well to blend the signature styles of each artist together, in an ambient and calming ballad with a strong folk feel. This clean stylistic fusion perfectly reflected the two artists immediate connection through their mutual love for music. With ‘By the Coast’ telling us a story about opening yourself up to those you love and care about, it manages to reflect our adapted ways of connecting with others in this peculiar year.
Below you can find all of the 39 awesome songs that were released this week. Don’t be shy to give us a cheeky follow and spread the indie music vibe with others!
