Welcome back to East of 8th’s roundup of new music added to our Spotify playlist! We are excited to report that the playlist’s following is continuing to grow. If you like the music we’re sharing, please consider giving the playlist a “like” so that more people can discover it. And as always, make sure to like and follow the artists we share!
morgen (feat. merci, mercy): “SECOND”
With the recent release of her second EP, BRAVADO, indie-pop artist morgen blends smooth vocals with catchy beats. The single, “Second” is easily the most laidback track on the new EP, demonstrating how up-tempo the album is overall. However, it’s also one of those tracks that instantly gets embedded in your mind and you find yourself humming along to it—even when no music is really playing. Teaming up with fellow rising indie-pop song maker merci, mercy, morgen gives us a track with an infectiously head-nodding beat and a dreamy air that pairs well with basking in the sun on these warming days. About her EP release, morgen tells us that “’BRAVADO’ to me is about putting up a confident front while internally freaking out…settling into the unknown. While I was making this EP, I was going through the utter chaos of self-discovery of becoming an adult.”
Connect with morgen:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | TIKTOK | APPLE MUSIC
CHARLIE & MARGOT: “lonely”
Citing to genre-spanning influences such as Jason Isbell and Dr. Dog, Charlie & Margot, the musical project of Matteo DeBenedetti, is preparing for the release of his debut album Joyride on April 7th. As an early sample of what we can expect from the record, Charlie & Margot give us the single, “lonely.” The song feels like a blend of old school indie rock with hints of alternative thanks to its healthy dose of real electric guitar and drums—a trait often missing in today’s synthesized world. About the track DeBenedetti shares: “‘lonely’ is written about self-evaluation during a time of intense isolation, in this instance, during the quarantine and subsequent months. It has a lot to do with managing my insecurities, and creating a healthy perception of how I see myself vs how others see me in the world, and managing expectations between life partners while growing to try to understand each other.”
Connect with Charlie & Margot:
TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | TIKTOK | BANDCAMP | SOUNDCLOUD
JESSICA WOODLEE: “BY NOW”
We’ll admit that we were fully prepared to dismiss yet another melancholic and angsty acoustic-guitar-pop song simply because we’ve shared so many recently. However, we found ourselves two minutes into “By Now,” the latest single from Bereklee College of Music student Jessica Woodlee, with our finger still hovering over the “next” button with zero intention to hit it. Woodlee’s vocals are more than enough to grab any listener’s attention as she sings with an emotional inflection and clarity that would fill many prime roles in musical theater. A swelling track, Woodlee describes “By Now” as “a bitter-sweet acoustic pop ballad about the realities of growing up.” She cites to Maggie Rogers, Maisie Peters and Taylor Swift as influences, all of which are noticeable on the single, as she sings with the enate vulnerability we often credit to those artists.
Connect with Jessica Woodlee:
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK |INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY
LAUREN LAKIS: “TAKE MY HAND”
We simply don’t get enough shoe gaze around here anymore—especially the kind that warrants repeat listens. Enter singer/songwriter/actress Lauren Lakis with her latest single “Take My Hand.” On the track, the Baltimore native balances dark, heavy, layered guitar-filled instrumentation with her haunting vocals. It’s actually those vocals that will hook you: the music catches your attention, her voice keeps it. The song feels big—its real rock music; however, it never tips over that line into hard rock, allowing it to feel deep and angsty, yet never oppressive. Lakis shares that “Take My Hand” is about “forgetting what you thought you knew, letting go, bravely opening your mind to something radically different[.]”
Connect with Lauren Lakis:
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | BANDCAMP
PAGE MCCONNELL & TREY ANASTASIO: “DANCING IN MIDAIR”
January, the much-anticipated new album from Phish bandmates, Page McConnell and Trey Anastasio, hit the shelves and streaming services earlier this month. If you were expecting a Phish clone on this album, you’re in for a surprise. While the album does have a few “jam” moments in it, the record feels cinematic overall—making it more approachable to fans across many indie genres. One of the highlights is the single, “Dancing In Midair,” which is decisively not jam. Instead, the contemplative track inspires a clash of emotion as the listener tries to decide whether the song’s lyrics are truly tender or bittersweet. Like all of the tracks on January, “Dancing in Midair” has enough depth that it requires a few listens just to settle on how each song hits your emotions—a journey that’s well worth the time.
Connect with Page McConnell:
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | APPLE MUSIC
Connect with Trey Anastasio:
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY
Listen to the East of 8th Spotify Playlist now:
