Welcome back to Release Radar, where we compile our favourite releases from the week alongside our monthly favourites playlist!
Another set of fabulous releases this week, here's what we've found...
ORNATE
Ornate has released his second single'Get Up!' following on from his debut single 'Heartland' earlier this year.
Listen to the track HERE
SODAPOP
'Looking Like That' is SODAPOP's third single, following on from the success of his first two singles that were featured on Spotify's Fresh Finds.
"While I was living in Thailand honing my skills as a songwriter, I adopted this mindset that I felt a lot of the locals had, perhaps as a result of the Buddhist influence. For me it’s the idea of not letting negative outcomes in your life affect you too much emotionally. After leaving that beautiful country, I felt that mentality start slip away. This song is mostly a reminder to myself to not worry too much about the past (or the future). You hear that all the time, but the catharsis of writing this song helped me really reestablish that frame of mind."
Listen to the track HERE
ROYT X SHAHFEEL X ZACHARY
'Rewind' is the third release from Royt’s and Shahfeel’s 'Impulse' EP, which relives the journey of falling for someone and riding the highs and lows of that experience as it unfolds.
"We wrote Rewind as a retrospective song questioning whether someone special felt the same way you did about the moments you shared. Do they think those stories were worth telling? Because they’re worth it to you and it’s hard to let go, so you let the moments rewind you back to that time."
Listen to the track HERE
Instagram: @roytsounds | @shahfeel.music | @zacharystaines
DJANGO STEWART
Meet Django Stewart, the emerging face of heartbreak-pop, who this week has revealed the kaleidoscopic music video for his debut single ‘Burning Bridges (For Your Love)’ - directed by the renowned Sophie Muller, who’s produced videos for the very best, including Beyonce, Rihanna & more, and co-produced by Douglas Hart from The Jesus and Mary Chain.
Laden with infectious melodies and driven by a palpable beat from the get go, this debut offering firmly asserts Django’s arrival as a future one to watch. Directed by Muller, and steeped in neon visuals, the video features Django under the lights, recounting the highs and lows of love and heartbreak, cut with exquisite choreography, all wrapped up in an uplifting disco pop sound.
Django comments;
“The track is about being in a relationship that’s dying, and subsequently falling in love with someone else. I was in the Bahamas when I was sent the beat. Me and Tyler, who features on the track, danced around talking about crushes and wrote the whole thing in a heartbeat. I ended up working with Sophie as she raised me from time to time while mum was working. I grew up binging on her videos and we would watch cult classics together and I’d feel smart for studying movies like ‘Carrie’ or ‘Psycho’. I wanted to ask her to work with me when the time was right. We shot this video on a super low budget.”
With the world emerging from lockdown, ‘Burning Bridges (For Your Love)’ is primed and ready to be a feel-good hit of the summer.
Listen to the track HERE
PORT CITIES
The nature of a seaport is one of constant transformation, as an influx of influences from all over
the map congregates at a point of connection. For Halifax-based songwriters Dylan Guthro and
Carleton Stone, that meeting place is their sleek and soulful pop outfit, Port Cities. The end of
2019 marked the amicable departure of beloved founding member Breagh McKinnon, and 2020
signals the beginning of a new Port Cities - one that will build on the long-running spirit of
collaboration Guthro and Stone have fostered over the past few years.
The first of many connections to make landfall with the new dynamic is Emma-Lee. The
Toronto-based merchant of bright, dreamy pop lends her vocal stylings to 'I Still See You at
Parties' a bubbly jam with earthy acoustic touches that captures the heartache of running into a lover you’re not quite over yet.
Listen to the track HERE
ELISE GO feat. JACOBI
After amassing over 50k streams across all platforms for her single 'Good Company', Elise Go is back with a duet with up and coming artist, Jacobi. Inspired by the likes of Brandy & Kehlani, 'TALK2U' pays homage to iconic 90s R&B duets with its sensual songwriting and performance.
Listen to the track HERE
Make sure to follow our MONTHLY SPOTIFY PLAYLIST to listen to many more new releases from this month.