Well, here we are again. The apparent day of love is upon us once more and even though this might be the most atypical one you’ve had (or the best, if you enjoy staying more than 6 feet away from people anyway), we’ve had the pleasure of listening to some fantastic new songs to match your mood for this year – and we’ve even done you the favour of combining them into a pretty awesome Spotify playlist!
1. For the ‘friends with benefits’ brigade
Pavit Sanghera – Fake Love
We begin our trip down Love Lane with the deliciously deep Fake Love from Pavit Sanghera, and right from the opening vocalisations, you can tell this is going to be something special, and stemming from a powerful place.
Fake Love is 100% sultry soulfulness, driven in a large part by Sanghera’s sensationally strong vocal, carrying the weight of an interesting but increasingly common narrative (“our bodies intertwining, but our hearts are still retracting, baby”). These are combined with some gorgeous guitar work underpinning them, which is contrasted wonderfully with sampled elements that take these organic neo-soul vibes and pull them into a much more r’n’b direction. If that’s not enough, we loved the little cultural twist, with the important premise from the hook of the song also being translated into Punjabi.
2. For the traditionalists
YOJI – Old Fashioned
For the second song on our list, we’ve got a song that does pretty much what it says on the tin. Eschewing any semblance of sampling, we’re plunged into the glorious natural stylings of a good-old neo-soul banger, and boy does it feel good to hear the delightful piano, drum, bass, and sax tones that are intricately layered to form this tune.
Sitting atop of these are YOJI’s absolutely stunning vocals, which manage to dance and meander in a wonderful marriage of effortlessness and evocativeness. While the lyrical content on show in Old Fashioned may not be to the taste of those with more egalitarian sensibilities, YOJI’s singing here is an absolute treat to listen to, and her last note (at around 3:27) had this reviewer reaching for his asthma pump – because it simply took his breath away!
3. For the one that’s always the bridesmaid, never the bride
Alyssa Caroline – Not The One
Song 3 on our list begins in a wonderfully impish fashion – with a saccharine sweet vocal line and some sparse ukulele, you can almost sense in the air that something’s about to explode into life.
And you’d be right – that resulting explosion is a beautifully composed bop about waking up and realising that the romantic situation you’re in isn’t quite the fairytale you had written for yourself. There’s no venom or vitriol here, just the stark and innocent recognition that things aren’t working out. In a world where knights in shining armour, more often then not, end up being twits in tinfoil, Not The One does well to not fall into the trap of being a lament, and ends up being a rather empowering song to pick yourself up and dust yourself down to, with a reminder that the right romance will find you eventually.
4. For the ‘it’s complicated’ crew.
Pacific – Puzzle
As soon as the opening notes of this song ring out, you’d be forgiven for doing a double take and staring at the track information on your phone. No: you aren’t listening to a secret side project by the members of Muse, but the delightful sounds of Pacific. Hailing from Manchester, UK, these guys are already making waves with airplay on BBC Radio 1 and support from Apple Music.
We in TempoTempo towers have selected the “it’s complicated” option on Facebook often enough for the chorus of this song (particularly “you’re a puzzle, making my head go round”) to be almost painfully relevant to love and Valentine’s. Despite the instrumentation on Puzzle predominantly being based around some stunning quasi-cinematic piano work and some larger-than-life drum production, we also really enjoyed the delightful balance between synth tones and guitar work involved in the mix here. All told, this song verges on the theatrical and when the world opens up again, we know everyone will be singing along with the stickier-than-superglue chorus.
5. For the senders / receivers of d*ck pics
Brothers of Song – Pictures of My Junk
Okay, okay. We’ve put this one in because the minute we saw it, we were laughing riotously. But alongside what is a stonkingly side-splitting concept for a song, are some pretty intriguing reggae vibes that we couldn’t say no to!
According to some research out there, the amount of, err, “n00dz” sent during the lockdown has skyrocketed, and if you need something to laugh away the pixelated pain of it all, this song is bound to do the trick. The self-effacing lyrics to Pictures of My Junk are absolutely hilarious, and combined with some instrumental work that will definitely get you grooving in your seat, this is the perfect palate cleanser (not literally, thankfully…) to a lot of the drama and devotion out there.
(N.B: we were going to say something about how the guitar player must have played their part using dick-picks [CAUTION: NSFW], but we’ll let you make that joke yourselves…)
6. For the ones who let ‘the one’ get away
Crawford Mack – The Art of Losing You
Here’s a bit of a stark and sobering gear change for song 6 on the list. Gut-wrenching from the get-go, Crawford Mack has achieved utter brilliance with his new release of The Art of Losing You.
We’ve all been through those situations where we’ve adored someone but left our feelings unheard, swallowing our secrets whole and feeling them painfully slide down our throat while we watch them walking away with someone else, and Crawford Mack has managed to capture each one of those feelings in an incredibly detailed manner within The Art of Losing You. We were stunned by the poignance, sharp honesty and relevance that drips off of each and every lyric within this song and perfectly compliments the emotionality of each and every instrument on show here. The production in this song is truly something to behold, with builds and breakdowns in exactly the right places, and a final section that is beautifully layered and, to us, signified that, even with a dangerously wounded heart, there will always be hope.
(N.B. The Art Of Losing You isn’t released on streaming platforms until 19/02/21 – click here to pre-save it on your platform of choice!)
7. For the ones who prefer actions, not words
Willi Leinen – Romance
We’re going to take a little break from lyrics that look at love from different angles, and immerse ourselves into the splendour of Willi Leinen’s fantastic instrumental piece of Romance for track 7.
There’s no pretence or overproduction here – it’s a beautifully raw and natural recording of Leinen and a Spanish guitar. Listen closely, and you’re able to hear him breathe at points in the recording. Despite this being an instrumental piece, this is a beautiful representation of love, and it’s absolutely astonishing how the depth, the nuances, the twists and the turns have all been distilled, captured, and then communicated by nothing but 6 strings.
We initially pictured Romance as the perfect tune to be playing in the background whilst cooking up a Valentine’s meal for a loved one this evening, but there is so much to be digested and appreciated within this tune, that we would highly recommend taking the time to shut your eyes and absorbing all the beauty and emotion on show here.
8. For the ones who definitely aren’t over it but are ready to be civil.
Lydia Evangeline – Raw
For track eight, we’ve got another ‘does what it says on the tin’ number, and the candour is on show right from the off, with the beautiful and no-holds-barred beginning line of “I think you owe me an apology”.
Lydia Evangeline shows her mastery at being able to carry a stripped-back track – instrumentation is at a complete minimum throughout Raw, and the shining light throughout the composition is undoubtedly her voice and the wounded narrative, woven by recent heartbreak. The gorgeous honesty that we spoke of at the beginning is spread liberally throughout the song, and we couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle at the acknowledgement that, in true musician style, Evangeline would probably process these emotions by writing songs about the situation. The words also do incredibly well to capture the convolution and complexity of endings, as the singer frantically questions what was really going on with her estranged lover in a bridge section that is hauntingly desperate.
9. For the ones who definitely aren’t over it and might not quite be ready to be civil
Estella Dawn – Petty
Let’s face it: while keeping a level head and acting completely rationally when things run their course is almost an impossibility, there aren’t many people who would be honest enough to confront that fact head on – but Estella Dawn says it how it is with Petty.
What begins as a mournful ballad full to the brim with sorrow and sadness becomes slightly more impetuous and scornful as rhythmic choices help the song find another gear in the choruses and keep it driving forward. Each lyric becomes laced with increasing levels of saltiness throughout the tune in tandem with the increase in energy, and make no bones about it, this song is a metaphorical z-click that screams: “I’m sad that this is over, but I know my worth and I know that I’m better than whatever we had.”
In a world that’s becoming increasingly ‘celebrified’ and where there’s a part of us that always wants to scream from the rooftops (i.e. Instagram) after being on the receiving end of a broken heart, let this tune assure you that you’re not alone in wanting to act a little grudgingly and provide you with the catharsis you need.
10. For the ones who miss someone
Sam MacPherson – Routine
This is going to sound all kinds of pretentious, but there are some songs that transcend being pieces of music, and almost become films with the images and depth that they are able to conjure, and Routine is undoubtedly one of them.
I’m quite reluctant to say anything about this song, because in many ways it speaks volumes for itself. What I will say, though, is that it paints a picture with such strength that each and every time I have listened to this – be it for this article or on other occasions – I’ve found myself welling up. Of course, the romance being described in the lyrics here is MacPherson’s, but I defy you to listen to this and not get lost in memories of previous picture-perfect loves you’ve had in such a vivid manner that you’d say you were right back in those moments again. Of course, this song is all in the past tense and the sense of loss that accompanies it almost becomes bone-crushingly difficult to deal with – but therein lies the beauty of this song: you can feel each goodbye you’ve ever delivered queuing up to greet you and remind you of what used to be.
11. For Henry VIII (and literally everybody else).
THEO – Church & State
Okay, historical ‘separation of church and state in the context of the United Kingdom’ jokes aside, this is not only a gorgeous composition, but an incredibly important one to see us out. Following the previous track on the list, that got us all up in our feels and bawling at all our rose-tinted memories, it’s only right that we end on a note where we get to celebrate our own strength – and THEO delivers that flawlessly with Church & State.
What starts off as a reflection on helplessness in the context of love, and reliance on someone else, becomes a rallying cry for independence and self-love. Soulful, strong, and stirring, this song a brilliant reminder that it’s okay to be on your own, and definitely okay to concentrate on yourself for a while. Remember, kids, you can’t really love and look after anyone else if you don’t love and look after yourself, and this is the perfect pick-me-up to remind you of just that.
You can check out all of the songs on your streaming platform of choice by clicking the titles above, or listen to them together in this nifty Spotify playlist our intern put together. Even if you’re not in the mood for romance this year, independent music definitely is the food of love – so make sure it plays on!
And while you’re here… If you’re keen to hear more about the latest and greatest independent artists, make sure you give us a follow on our Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook pages! We love sharing new sounds with you, and would love to hear your recommendations, too!
