indie underrated

Max Pope is back! “borderline” arrives as the indie rocker’s first release since 2022 and, let us tell you, it was well worth the wait. Pope reemerges with some of the same neo soul flair that can be heard in his earlier work, but he’s clearly headed in a new direction. 

There’s a little more grit on this track than what we’re used to from Max Pope and we think it suits him well. The mix between R&B and garage rock that he’s playing with reminds us of artists like Steve Lacy.

Of course we support artist hiatuses, but we certainly hope that we don’t have to wait long to hear more from Max Pope because we love this song!

We also love what we’re hearing in “Cloudless,” the newest single from Southend-On-Sea, Essex-based band Rounds. 

If some music can be compared to drawings or paintings, we might say this song is the sonic version of an abstract sculpture. By using a range of materials (vocals, electronics, live instruments) Rounds is able to shape a structure that looks as jagged and thought-provoking as it does unified and legible and we don’t want to look away. 

“Cloudless” has a motion to it. It provokes the listener to move, but the track also sounds like it’s moving. Like it’s a physical being in and of itself, moving around the available space of your speakers. 

We think this one is a sure thing for fans of indie electronic bands LCD Soundsystem and Chromatics, but there are some pretty funky guitar parts in here that we think rock fans would like as well.

We’re in limbo over “limbo,” the newest single from bedroom pop’s anou. This song’s title so accurately captures its weightlessness. The fragile, layered vocal arrangement floats over a soothing lo-fi backdrop to create a beautiful and captivating result. We can’t get enough of it. 

Because of the song’s vibey qualities, we were surprised to hear such a solid groove in its chorus. But we hear it and it’s accentuated by the rhythm of the catchy vocal melody. 

We definitely hear some Billie Eilish and Clairo influence in this song and we think it would fit seamlessly on a playlist with songs by those artists. 

Hear these songs and more on our All New Indie Pop playlist: