Recommended Music

New Music From The Inbox – Monday Edition! (Mar 20, 2023): Captain Planet & Jimena Angel, Collapsing Scenery, Olivia Jean, and more!

Every week, we’re sent dozens if not hundreds of promotional emails from agents, PR firms, and hopeful artists containing the latest releases from around the world. From the biggest superstars to the ambitious self-starters we comb through it all to highlight to you what we’ve been digging, the tunes that caught our eye, and the recommended selections that make the notifications worth it. This is New Music From The Inbox! (Short on time? Listen to this article in playlist form!)

Artist: Captain Planet & Jimena Angel

Song: ‘Pambelé’

Album/EP: Single

Thumping bass, fiery brass stings, and a decidedly Latin spin on Afro beats make for a body grooving time on Captain Planet and Jimena Angel’s ‘Pambelé’. The pair’s first collaboration puts the Colombian singer’s sparkling delivery in a billowing swirl of earthy instrumentals – bongos, rattles, and a pairing of subtly searing guitar and bass seal the worldly deal.

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Artist: Collapsing Scenery

Song: ‘The Right to Life’

Album/EP: A Desert Called Peace

‘The Right to Life’ really plays it fast and loose with its time signature – as Collapsing Scenery’s extensive collection of synth forms and percussive elements play out, the assembly of its parts stumble and shift amongst beats in a simultaneously toe-tapping and vaguely disorientating fashion. An accurate tone to set for a synthwave post-punk tune commenting on the political struggles of the pandemic – heady stuff for a slightly head-muddling single.

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Artist: Olivia Jean

Song: ‘Trouble’

Album/EP: Raving Ghost

Stomping rock and roll energy with some rough and raw edges borrowed from the tones of early 00s garage, Olivia Jean flexes her hard-nosed Michigander pedigree in ‘Trouble’. String-bending guitar accents, curled lip lyrical delivery, and a measured-yet-battering beat make Jean fit in amongst her blue-collared Third Man Records label mates.

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Artist: Kristi Lane Sinclair

Song: ‘Heartbites’

Album/EP: Super Blood Wolf Moon

What’s the best kind of instrumentation to put under a song about dissatisfaction, abusive relationships, and longing for a lonelier past? Danceable and damn catchy 80s synthpop, naturally! Kristi Lane Sinclair drowns the darkness in just about as much glitzy keys, burbling bass, and brashly spitting vocals as you can stomach, with maybe my favourite delivery of “tear that shit to motherfucking pieces” ever put to tape.

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Artist: Stephen Dawes

Song: ‘Lose My Mind’

Album/EP: Single

I’ve got my issues with Tik Tok, but one thing I love about the addictive privacy-challenged clock app is its ability to launch artists into the spotlight. From a Katy Perry cover to his own record deal, New Yorker Stephen Dawes capitalizes on that grabbed attention with ‘Lose My Mind’. Dawes’ entrancing baritone, an earwormy chorus, and tightly splashy production make this pop tune a fresh online find.

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Mathew Kahansky

Once upon a time, Mat studied journalism. That's how he became Alan's one-time intern and current-time contributor, and the rest is ongoing history - get it? Mat also studied biology and music, so he has a strangely specific knowledge set that doesn't really apply anywhere other than useless fun facts. He currently works for a music tech start-up in Halifax, and is a big fan of the em dash.

Mathew Kahansky has 297 posts and counting. See all posts by Mathew Kahansky

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