New Artist Alert: Stereoboy - Naked

Introducing electro indie pop artist Stereoboy, a Portugese duo with an agenda to create an all new kind of interesting pop with electronic vibes and guitar fuzz, to help reinstate and inspire the ideal of real garage bands and home tape-recording.

Stereoboy's debut album is set for release in April this year via PAD, and the band's first single, Naked, is available for download now. Naked is a free-floating slow-burner of a track, introduced delicately with an affected guitar-led ostinato before an electro groove helps the listener finds their feet. The track builds progressively across just over four minutes of music, as an unnerving chord change signifies the introduction of the sparse, dual-layered vocals. Musically it's rather repetitive but effectively so; it's a late-night lose-yourself sort of song signifying the transition at the party from chaos to calm. As it says on the tin, fuzz-guitar takes us into the thickest part of the track towards the end, still building cacophonially, before the music reaches a peak and everything falls over the edge of the waterfall and we're left with a quick-fade of a revisit to the intro section.

Have a listen to the track for yourselves below, and be sure to download the album when it's released. For now, keep up to date with all things Stereoboy by visiting the band's Facebook page. Enjoy :)

New Artist Alert: Shout Out Louds - 'Walking In Your Footsteps'

Announcing! Shout Out Louds, indie-rockers from Stockholm, are gearing up for the release of their latest album Optica, which dropped only yesterday. Having racked up a career of ten years in the industry, and a whistle-stop tour of plenty of sounds within that time, the quintet have settled on their most ambitious sound to date with Optica, which is finally released after over a year and a half in the making.


Walking In Your Footsteps is taken from Optica, and has a great indie feel with a little dance/electronic pop dusted over it for good measure. And any track that sets the tone with pan-pipes and a vibraslap is fine by me!

The video for the track, which is available below, takes us on a journey through light and dark; colour and shade, with a real dream-like quality that suits the song perfectly in its ambient, feel-good state. Staccato piano chords and choked cymbals raise the curtain, before classic indie-feel vocals settle the listener into the track.  A delicate female-harmony brightens the mix as the song progresses, whilst the chorus shyly sidles in unannounced; it's gentle and doesn't lift the song much but this works to the artist's credit as the listener ebbs along pleasantly. In short, it's simple but effective on the surface, yet hidden beneath are layers and layers of snatches of ideas and phrases, that all build subconsciously, taking the listener on a whimsical musical journey before placing them gently, and with two, steady hands, back on the ground.

Shout Out Louds have a US-tour planned for the Spring and, though I don't know when they'll be across the pond, be sure to keep up to date with the band via their official website. And of course, if you do live in the UK, at the very least you can get your hands on a copy of Optica, which is available through Merge Records. Enjoy :)

New Artist Alert: XSARA

When We Were Beautiful is proud to introduce XSARA, a singer/songwriter who is based in London and draws from her wealth of worldy experience and heritage to create a fabulous and funky fusion of pop, blues, and cabaret sounds. XSARA, of Egyptian and Swedish descent, grew up in Mississippi and draws heavily on a childhood richly soaked in the blues when performing with her 7-piece that is all about the experience rather than just the music.

XSARA is enjoying critical acclaim thanks to performances on BBC Introducing, who describe the act as "distinctive and gutsy", and has also featured on Emerging Icons and Q radio. You can view the live video for 'The Scriptwriter' which is a progressive and quirky jazz-riddled pop song that is only fully justified when enjoyed visually as well as audibly. XSARA showcases her great vocal range before brass swells and a soloing-harmonica bring the track to life, atop a grooving rhythm section. It's a real top-tapper and one I'm sure is just as suited in a dark and dingy jazz-cellar as it would be in a bright, sassy burlesque club.

The new album 'Are There Dragons in your Heart?' is set for release on the 22nd May, so be sure to keep up to date with XSARA on Facebook or her official website so you don't miss details of the launch. In the meantime, if your appetite is whetted, you can head over to iTunes and get yourself a copy of 6-track EP 'Are You Living in a Paradox?' which features The Scriptwriter. Enjoy :)

New Artist Alert: Seasfire

Introducing Seasfire, the Bristol-based quintet who bring an eclectic mix of pop and electronic vibes to the table with their debut offering 'Falling', for which you can see the video below.

Featuring ex-players from The Joe Public, this piano-led ballad tinged with slight unnerving electro outbursts easily ebbs about the shore, driven along by some nice guitar work towards the end of the track. It's a great pop-vocal that fronts the mix, as the track drifts pleasantly in and out of my consciousness, but I can't help feeling that although this is perfectly suited to some late-night easy listening, there's a certain substance lacking that fails to maintain my interest as a listener. There's no doubting it's a well-crafted and professionally-sounding song, I just wonder if the intensity peaked a little more, offering greater dynamic contours within the track, for which there is a lot of room to do so, it would serve itself as a great stand-alone song rather than something that might be better suited as background music. That said, there is clearly a market for what the guys are doing, which I'll be the first to admit I'm not one of, so my opinion may differ from yours and I urge to have a listen for yourself and make your own minds up.

You can check out Seasfire at their Facebook page and watch the video for Falling below.