Four new songs from Austin artists that we can’t get enough of.
By Taylor Wallace-Riegel
Jane Leo: “Wow”
After months of chomping at the bit for more, more, MORE!, Jane Leo has delivered in spades. As a fan of Jane Ellen Bryant’s solo work, I’m very familiar with her toy box of vocal tricks. And “Wow” pulls out all of the stops to showcase Bryant’s deft vocal chords, wrapped in the heart-thumping “party in a song” energy Bryant and Leopold have made their trademark. Coming in hot with a sharp new wave riff, Bryant’s vocals pierce right through Ting Tings-style with the great line, “My friends say they’re not communists even though it’s so damn obvious.” Whoa. The duo has taken their polished art-pop sound and infused it with punk prowess and bite.
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Harry Edohoukwa: “Zombie”
True to its name, Edohoukwa has resurrected this R&B anthem from its sleepy reverie two years ago to give the song the platform and attention it deserves. And while this isn’t a Cranberries cover, it does seem to follow the swelling shape of the 90s classic. The song starts like it’s being recorded deep in a dark, damp cave with a single light on the speaker, with Edoukwa pontificating on his power and those beneath him clamoring to tear it away. The testament then opens into an electric explosion of guitar riffs and a haunting choir. There’s an alchemy happening, turning the weight of their adversaries into the power to rise and remain above. The track continues to swell, leaving behind the energy of a hero’s regained vigor.
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A Giant Dog: “I Believe”
In the six years since A Giant Dog’s last album of original material, Toy, Andrew Cashen and Sabrina Ellis have spent a lot of time focused on their solo projects and collaborations with other artists. And on the group’s latest offering Bite. It’s an ambitious concept album about the journey towards self-identity in all of its forms, and Sabrina’s lyrics don’t stray from raw and deep. On “I Believe,” they’re connecting the dots of the universe, our role, and the freedom of choice we should be entitled to. With just this slice of the album’s journey, Bite is A Giant Dog’s most prodigious release to date.
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Sun June “Get Enough”
Harkening back to the golden days of Austin 2010’s indie-folk, Austin’s resident staples in this vein have returned with a trio of new tunes ahead of the upcoming Bad Dream Jaguar (out October 20th on Keeled Scales). Many of Sun June’s tracks are perfect for dusk on a lake, but “Get Enough” is all about the midday stretch of a road trip in the middle of a beautiful nowhere. Just when you start to become hypnotized by Laura Coldwell’s smooth vocals, it falls into a full-on descent of madness, consumed by the song’s theme of being wrapped-up in the mania of the present.
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