Blood Moon | Imaginary Friends

The homies at Imaginary Friends recently launched their record label and like many of the independent labels nowadays, their goal is a respectable one:

“we started Imaginary Friends as a way to help up and coming independent artists and our friends get the attention we feel they deserve. Music these days, even on the independent level, is so unfortunately wrapped up in its own set of politics, numbers games and hype calculating. Imaginary Friends is our response to those things we’re tired of [. . .]. Our primary goal is to work with people and music we feel strongly about, nothing more and nothing less.”

To show they mean business, they’ve kicked off with the release of Brooklyn’s Blood Moon’s [Jesse Brickel] premiere track ‘Ghost’. 80’s-heavy synths and forlorn lyrics create the nostalgic, slightly melancholic, and definitely catchy indie-pop sound that we love. His debut EP, Cosmic Sands, comes out November 11. Pre-order it here.

blood moon – ghost

Honne | Soundcloud

Smooth R’n’B soul matched with skilled beat progression from British duo Honne looks to be the upper hemisphere’s answer to the Chet Faker and Flume combo – they’ve even got a beard of their own. Affectionate single, ‘Warm on a Cold Night’, has us clutching at passions of our own.

Their remix of Shura’s ‘Just Once’ shows a similarly intoxicating side of their production. We might be addicted and are most certainly warmed by the funky undertones.

Honne – Warm on a Cold Night

Shura – Just Once (Honne Remix)

Astre | Soundcloud

We can’t express in words how excited we are for Porter Robinson’s upcoming LP, Worlds. Today, we were graced with a remix of his recent single Flicker done by France’s Astre. It’s a cool take with some awesome samples [everybody run, its Gojira!] and an all around more upbeat vibe. All in all, it just makes us more and more excited for Porter’s upcoming show at the Shrine on Sept. 13. We’ll see you there!

Astre’s other tracks lean way more chill and fit surprisingly with the new Porter sounds we’ve heard thus far. There’s a certain triumphant feeling they give off too – perfect for moments of fruition. Check out his free EP!

Pepa Knight | Soundcloud

Jinja Safari‘s Pepa Knight went solo and wowed me a few months back with ‘Rahh!’. Since then he’s released ‘Clams’ which is equally impressive and expressive. His self brand of tipi pop/jam makes absolute sense when you listen to it. It’s got essences of ethnic instruments combined with indie-pop layering to create some downright feel-good free-spirit, triumphant soul, child-of-the-sun type stuff. My favourite.

A self-searching sabbatical to India is the inspiration for his upcoming album and the lyrics you hear in these two singles are evident of how life-changing it was. A tipi in his back yard: the studio.

What are you waiting for? What are you living for?

RAC | Buy Strangers

Andre Anjos has been building a name for himself as a remix artist extraordinaire. On top of all the skill he’s built over the years comes an LP that consists solely of his own work. Rife with the sprightly indie-pop instrumental goodness we love, Strangers also packs a tropical vocal punch from some of the biggest acts out there (to name a few: Alex Ebert, Tegan & Sara, and St. Lucia). Now, please excuse us while we take these catchy vibes out.

Come dance with us in Santa Ana on April 9th. An RAC live set is nothing short of stellar. Tickets are still on sale!

Tracklisting

1. Let Go (ft. Kele & MNDR)
2. Ello Ello (ft. Body Language)
3. Hollywood (ft. Penguin Prison)
4. Cells
5. Hard To Hold (ft. Tegan & Sara)
[audio:https://controlaltdelight.com/Music/rac%20strangers/05%20-%20Hard%20To%20Hold%20%28feat.%20Tegan%20and%20Sara%29.mp3]
6. Tourist (ft. Tokyo Police Club)
7. Tear You Down (ft. Alex Ebert)
[audio:https://controlaltdelight.com/Music/rac%20strangers/07%20-%20Tear%20You%20Down%20%28feat.%20Alex%20Ebert%29.mp3]
8. Sixteen
9. Seventeen (ft. Pink Feathers)
10. Repeating Motion (ft. Karl Kling)
11. All I Got (ft. Peter Morén)
12. I Should’ve Guessed (ft. Speak)
13. Ready For It (ft. St. Lucia)
14. 405 (ft. YACHT)
15. We Belong (ft. Katie Herzig)
16. Cheap Sunglasses (ft. Matthew Koma)
[audio:https://controlaltdelight.com/Music/rac%20strangers/09%20-%20Cheap%20Sunglasses%20%28ft.%20Matthew%20Koma%29.mp3]

Chromeo

Our favourite funkateers have been teasing us for quite some time with the release of their upcoming album White Women. Today, they birthed a big single featuring the ever-so-sultry vocals of Chaz Bundick (Toro Y Moi) to help calm our nerves. I don’t know why I didn’t consider this collab before, but it couldn’t be more perfect. We’re bringing in the new year of music right with a big thanks to this feel-good funky-soul track. Catch them on their tour!

HUSBANDS

At once sounding like Architecture in Helsinki with their pitchy vocals and chambered symphonics to dreamy dance-pop reminiscent of Hot Chip, Marseilles’ pop-trio HUSBANDS have burst on the scene with a musical range that makes them a choice option when you can’t figure out what to listen to (it’s a good thing). They’ve got 5 tracks out right now, and they’re all worth a listen. I can’t get enough.

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