This week on What’s Good, we’re revisiting some familiar faces from earlier in the year.

Paris Unltd – Lvl. 0 EP

Featured last month with his charming single ‘Right Guy’, a hidden gem just waiting to be discovered, the Toronto artist released his debut EP “Lvl. 0” at the beginning of April. A lighthearted perspective on hyper-pop, genre-neutrality, and queerness, Paril Unltd’s work is far bolder than you’d first believe, skillfully lulling you into a sense of familiarity with light-pop beats, before throwing down a stark contrast to these facades. Reggaeton influenced beats on ‘C2N’ clash with the acoustic-folk overtones of the track before a sudden burst of indie riffs take over. Similarly, on ‘Ill-Will’ indie-rock riffs blend together with R’n’B beats, creating a mixture of early Bloc Party together with Tom Tripp, before ‘Vomit’ provides the EP’s most chilled-out track, before “Lvl. 0” combines all of the styles shown throughout onto closing track ‘BREAK’. Paris Unltd skillfully twists genres together rather than simply forcing them to combine, crafting elevated pop music that sounds utterly enticing.

8/10

San Mei – I Can’t Sleep

The Australian artist delivers another belting, industrial-indie track with ‘I Can’t Sleep’. Restless and uncontrollable at times, San Mei’s latest focuses on sleepless nights where grey clouds roll over the mind, as fuzzed up guitars sound even more chaotic with Mei’s overly-reverbed vocals. Speaking about the track, San Mei explained: “Lyrically, it’s basically me talking to the voices inside my own head, the ones telling me I could be doing better, should be that better version of myself, I’m not stacking up, I’m not chasing my dreams hard enough. It’s hard to get to sleep sometimes with all that swirling around in your head. It would have been nice to come to some positive resolution in the song where I overcame all these thoughts, but sometimes it’s just nice to vent your feelings when they all build up too much, and that’s what this song is for me”. 

Maple Glider – Swimming

Announcing her debut LP “To Enjoy Is The Only Thing” (out June 25th on Partisan Records) alongside her latest track, Tori Ziestch’s (a.k.a Maple Glider) discusses love and loss on ‘Swimming’. Wrote during her time in Brighton and originally as a love song, Ziestch’s longing for her home nation tied in together with a breakup to create a  beautifully sombre ballad that transcends the boundaries of love and loss, allowing each listener to imprint themselves onto ‘Swimming’ whether they’re in the midst of love or recently out of a relationship. Zietsch says on the track: “I was trying to force myself to be happy and in love, but I was far from home, and really lonely. It made sense to record the song after the break-up. I kind of felt like I was able to handle the sincerity of it then.”

Wolf Alice – Smile

Following their lead single from their upcoming third LP “Blue Weekend”, the London four-piece throw together a blast of indie-rock on ‘Smile’. Never being ones to signal when crossing lanes instead opting for straight-up u-turns, Wolf Alice couldn’t have gone further away from ‘The Last Man On Earth’ in sound, pacing and every single aspect possible. BUT, praise be, Wolf Alice have finally found the sweet point between ‘punk’ and indie rock, that they so desperately were searching for on ‘Yuk Foo’. It’s a banger, simple as, so get it turned up!

Coach Party – I’m Sad

Taken from their recently released “After Party” EP, Isle Of Wight’s Coach Party deliver a trudged, grunge-inspired performance on ‘I’m Sad’. Sounding like the penultimate track from an intense show, ‘I’m Sad’ still brings Coach Party’s youthful charm and energy to the table, with the energy of ‘Everybody Hates Me’ lulled to a satisfying slow headbang instead of relentless jumping and dancing. The calming moment that you can still stomp your feet to, ‘I’m Sad’ is that golden area where those still full of energy and those needing a moment to catch their breath can come together and stomp away in harmony.