This edition of LITM Singer-Songwriter Picks brings with it quietly existential, ethereal, folk tunes, featuring Natalie Bouloudis, Laurence León, and Danny Hammons.
1. Natalie Bouloudis – Spinning Planet
With her powerful and confident vocals, Natalie Bouloudis sings of fragility, renewal, and the longing for change and exploration on Spinning Planet. Her voice is the centrepiece, and though it carries emotional weight, it doesn’t sink: instead, it floats with an ethereal quality that seems to come to her with ease. She builds intensity slowly, with restraint and control that comes only from knowing her own music and style intimately. The minimal arrangement and instrumentals only contribute to this, as they rise with patience and intention. Spinning Planet is calming, the kind to send you into a trance, yet simultaneously restless and ominous, and Bouloudis has managed to strike this balance with perfection.
2. Laurence León – Jellyfish
Driven by its acoustic, open nature, Jellyfish is a masterclass in indie folk. It’s best described as expansive, atmospheric: you can imagine León strumming and singing on the floor of an empty, echoing room. Mixed to allow León’s vocals to shine, Jellyfish sounds like he’s singing right next to you – every intake of breath, rasp, break of voice nestles itself into your ears and snuggles up there. With delicate yet upbeat guitar, the track is imbued with a warm energy; it fades in with ease, like it’s always been there, and leaves you the same way, lingering in your body, and that warmth is unlikely to leave any time soon.
3. Danny Hammons – shooting stars
shooting stars’ beauty lies in its simple storytelling; without any extra embellishments, Hammons weaves an existential narrative about insignificance, transience, and simplicity. Dealing with human fragility against the ever-present cosmos, the indie folk track could easily have rambled into age-old pretentiousness, but Hammons’ restraint makes the difference between condescending nihilism and comfort. It’s unhurried, with long instrumental sections between each poetic verse, because this is a message that needs its own sweet time to sink in. It’s a mature and measured production, with the arrangement present only to further the song and its message. In its cohesiveness and minimalism, shooting stars is deceptively complex, and will undoubtedly stay with you long after its final notes.
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