Look, we know we throw a lot of new music at you. We also know that not everyone who comes to this site has the time to be as involved with or informed about the local scene as maybe they’d like to be. So for those casual readers who either can’t or have no interest in keeping up with the parade of artists we try to cover, who may not know the difference between Bitter and Biters, we have created our TRIPLE THREAT feature. The premise is simple: Our writers will put their heads together and come up with three tracks that grabbed our attention over the pastt week. Then we tell you why the songs are great and worth listening to. That’s it. Maybe some weeks we’ll have a guest commentator come in and share their favorites, but the format will always remain the same: three songs, some words, and we out. Enjoy.
Red Sea – “I’m You”
From the forthcoming LP, Sugar & Spice
Much like the ornate cover art from their upcoming album Sugar & Spice, the newest single from Red Sea is a delicate expression of fragility. The ode to empathy and identity is delivered via a brother-sister duet, but the tenderness of “I’m You” is inescapably linked to a pop-radio sensibility. The glittering manufactured ballads of the ‘90s always filled me with a vertigo-inducing sense of dread and emptiness, but here it’s this very precipice that the band balance as ersatz chimes and superfluous harmonies swirl below them. – Russell Rockwell
Sugar & Spice is due out Feb. 22 via Truly Bald Records. Pre-orders are available here.
Red Sea will celebrate the release of Sugar & Spice on Sat., Feb. 23 at 529 alongside Locate S,1 and Paradise Montage. Doors open at 9 p.m. Admission is $8 in advance or $10 at the door. 21+ to enter.
More Info
Web: redseamusic.com
Bandcamp: redsea.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @redseamusicatl
Instagram: @redseamobileapp
Twitter: @redseamusic
Deep State – “Son”
From the forthcoming LP, The Path to Fast Oblivion
I’ll admit, I haven’t thought too much about Athens’ ragtag gang Deep State lately. Colleagues of mine said I missed a trick in the blokes’ last scrappy outing Thought Garden—and maybe I did, but I’m more keen to sweep the past under the rug and look ahead with clear, unclouded eyes. I’d like to think the protagonist in Deep State’s latest video for “Son” is doing the same. It’s funny, really. I suspect our boys are poking under the skin of patriarchy, maybe even xenophobic nationalism if you wanna go abstract, and how inheriting those roots can be so easy, so comfy, even as you annihilate any sort of unique self with a yawn. Yet, I’m watching this guy stare out at the ocean with clenched fists, hopefully thinking about what could be different, and I think about my own shadow days, when my mom bought us the same shirts and shoes. When I realized that a pulsing new world existed outside my family’s household, I felt like I was in a constant rush to catch up, break out, make contact. “Son” feels like that hopeful surge, just before the revelation. – Lee Adcock
The Path to Fast Oblivion is out Feb. 1 through Friendship Fever. Pre-orders are available here.
Deep State will celebrate the release of The Path to Fast Oblivion on Thur., Feb. 7 at the EARL alongside Curt Castle (Record Release) and Grand Vapids (Record Release). Doors open at 9 p.m. Admission is $8. 21+ to enter.
More Info
Basecamp: deepstate.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @deepstatega
Instagram: @deeepstate
SoundCloud: @deeepstate
Hanzo – “SUPERBLOODWOLFMOON”
From the standalone single
It’s a mystery to me why Hanzo hasn’t yet broken out to wider audiences, but if he keeps turning out massive bops like “SUPERBLOODWOLFMOON,” the accolades are sure to follow. Beyond the track’s euphoric groove and magnetic hooks, there’s a vulnerability here that’s striking. It’s not the saccharine love-me-forever sentiment that persists in a lot of R&B, but an open-hearted honesty that feels far more authentic and emotionally resonant. In others words, press play for the indelible melodies and glossy production, but stick around for the cathartic outpouring. – Avery Shepherd
More Info
Instagram: @holdmyhanzo
SoundCloud: @itsahanzo
Twitter: @hanzo