United Shapes: Fractalvision

From Austin’s oddball indie-pop duo United Shapes comes “Fractalvision,” another mind-bending invitation to their forthcoming “first-ever studio album” (but ninth album overall), Compound Shapes (out 16 October). “We didn’t want the album to be about the compound words in the titles in a literal sense,” singer/multi-instrumentalist Joseph Devens explains about the concept album in a statement. “We decided to let the word inspire the song …

Andy Bell: I Was Alone

A meditation on loneliness, with heady teases of psychedelia, Andy Bell’s “I Was Alone” follows up his debut solo single “Love Comes in Waves” from earlier this year. Both songs will appear on Bell’s debut solo album, The View From Halfway Down, out 9 October. Singer-songwriter and guitarist Bell, a founding member of the British shoegaze group Ride (and an Oasis bassist for several years), …

Pynkie: Love Theme

The second single from Pynkie’s album #37 (out 16 October), “Love Theme” tells the tale of wistful romance. Over subdued percussion, glittering synths and sporadic abstract sound effects, Pynkie (aka Lindsey Radice) sings breathily, “Some day you’ll give me the time and I’ll blow your mind / Some day you’ll give me the time and I’ll call you mine.” A hook consisting of pretty ad-libs …