Listen Up
From a goth-pop remix to a soulful piano-led ballad, new music from the week
Jordi Up Late: Same Moon
Not only does LA-based recording artist Jordi Up Late entrance with her pensive new electro-pop track, “Same Moon,” she also directed, animated and edited its official music video. “Same Moon is about cosmic energy tying us to people in our future who we are destined to love but have yet to meet,” Jordi tells us. “I’ve never really been in love, only in like or in lust. I get anxious about wanting to feel that sensation, but in the end I’m patient and OK with waiting—not forcing emotions that aren’t there. The song is about having faith in the nature of the unknown.” In the music video, she “explores a collection of meditative spaces and life forms which evolve and reveal matter to the pulse of the void and the cosmic map.” It’s a rumination on the path between anticipation and loneliness—and it’s magnetic, too.
Madison McFerrin: Hindsight
Madison McFerrin’s “Hindsight” begins as a seemingly simple piano ballad before her layered vocals and soft percussion (from Louis Cato) lead it into a textured, synth-speckled piece. Written, performed (except the aforementioned drums) and produced by McFerrin, the languid, reflective song is “a love letter to Bernie Sanders” that she composed in May. The overall message of the lyrics remains universal, and she explains, “It’s a song about heartbreak—wishing you could change the past, knowing you have to continue forward regardless.”
Patriarchy: Burn The Witch (Drab Majesty Remix)
From LA-based goth-pop act Patriarchy’s debut remix LP, Reverse Circumcision, Drab Majesty’s rework of “Burn The Witch” glitters and glows through a macabre haze. The forthcoming LP reimagines tracks from last year’s Patriarchy (aka Actually Huizenga) debut, Asking For It. Huizenga directed the evocative music video—which nods to Drab Majesty member Deb DeMure. “I texted, emailed or DM’d them,” Huizenga tells us of how she got in touch with all her collaborators. “I am acquainted with these people personally through work and/or play. Working with them was sort of like the feeling you get when a crush (who never seemed to notice you) suddenly gives you a flattering amount of attention. That, but in an artistic quarantine way. These interactions have been very fairytale fantastical for me (in both light and dark ways).” Today, Huizenga will host the “Patriarchy’s Bottom of the Pops” live stream on Dublab (4PM to 6PM EST) to perform four remixes, too.
Q: Alone
South Florida R&B recording artist Q (aka Q Marsden) contrasts a soft falsetto with rigid drums and distorted bass on his self-produced single, “Alone,” which is set to appear on his major label debut, The Shave Experiment, out this month via Columbia Records. Beneath the haze, “Alone” addresses anxiety, pain and isolation, intertwining current emotions and moments of reflection. Altogether, it’s a sonic departure from his previous single, “Take Me Where Your Heart Is,” a lovestruck pop song brimming with bright spots. It’s Marsden’s vocals that thread the two releases together.
Listen Up is published every Sunday and rounds up the new music we found throughout the week. Hear the year so far on our Spotify channel. Hero image courtesy of Q / Columbia Records
