When you’ve got an intense craving for creative writing, sometimes you have to take your lyrics to another dimension. Portland’s Russell Dizer Jr. (RuDi Devino) and Austin’s own Halston Brown (HBZ) have done just that in recent years with their boldest but far from first-ever collaboration, 5-D. Now both entering their second decade in the rap game, HBZ and RuDi initially crossed paths in 2010 shortly before co-founding five-piece hip-hop outfit SubKulture Patriots. In addition, RuDi’s lent his vocals to Retr0Grade and CAPYAC, while HBZ’s been heard alongside Sometimes A Legend and Sip Sip. And in light of some major maturation milestones (with HBZ entering fatherhood and RuDi quitting his day job to focus full-time on music) their uncouth camaraderie and aggressor-meets-slacker chemistry as 5-D continues to make for some infectious free-association tag-team rhyming schemes, heard once again on their third studio single.

5-D’s debut EP will be popping up on your radar in 2020 but you can stack up a combo of vigor, ferocity, seduction and humor right now with “Burger Cheese”!

–Jack Anderson

For years her keyboard talents helped make The Naked and Famous a staple of New Zealand’s synth-pop scene, but with an insatiable appetite to reflect on the modern world through song, Luna Shadows has found her footing in the solo spotlight. Beginning in 2016, a steady stream of indie-electro-inspired singles has illuminated Shadows’ highly emotive lyrics and ability to talk about life’s darker elements, all without getting too bleak for comfort.

This last year Luna Shadows has been teasing her upcoming debut album and signature subdued style with a handful of new tracks, including this one just released today, “practice”!

–Jack Anderson

Photo: Larsen Sotelo

What first began as a fraternal bond evolved over time into a jazz band camaraderie, and in 2019 multi-instrumentalist brothers Ryan and Joey Selan are aligned once again as The Lagoons. This L.A.-bred Austin-based duo takes the best bits from classic rock, pop, & funk and interjects those tones into the modern landscape not only as musicians, but waist-deep as producers and recording engineers as well.

Today The Lagoons break another barrier of time and genre with an inlet of ’70s-inspired sounds, heard here for the first time ever:  “Give It Up For Love”!

–Jack Anderson

It’s been almost a full decade since bassist Clemens Rehbein first linked up with guitarist Philipp Dausch in their one-time jazz quintet Flown Townes, but in those seven years since performing as Milky Chance, the group’s creativity is far from curdling. This Kassel, Germany-based duo primarily identifies their sound as “electronic folk” though you’ll hear elements of indie, reggae, dancehall, and alternative rock imbued across their eclectic arrangements.

And in light of Dausch & Rehbein’s newfound fatherhood statuses, Milky Chance has dedicated themselves to reducing waste and elevating environmental consciousness, a mission embodied in the title of their third LP Mind the Moon. Mind the Moon‘s dozen songs find Milky Chance frothing with greatness and lathering with high-calibre collaborators. Mind the Moon is out this Friday, and you can begin to get in phase with MC’s lactose probability with one of the album’s centerpieces, featuring Tash Sultana – “Daydreaming”!

–Jack Anderson

–Jack Anderson