An indie playlist featuring the best Indie pop / rock tracks from 2022. Full playlist at www.birp.fm // Updated monthly, so save your favorites!  Indie, Bedroom Pop, Lofi, Surf Rock, etc.

Indie Playlist • BIRP! Best of 2022

Last of the Loving

Walk Away

A Spoonful Of Sugar

(from GINKGO by Field Guides — out June 24, 2022)

Pre-order here: https://fieldguides.bandcamp.com/album/ginkgo

Taylor Bergren-Chrisman: electric & upright bass
Julian Cubillos: electric guitar
Rachel Housle: drums, percussion
Benedict Kupstas: voice, nylon-string & electric guitars
Jesse Perlstein: voice, field recordings
Adam “Bones” Robinson: tenor saxophone
Aaron Rourk: saxophones
Alena Spanger: voice, keys

Music & words by Benedict Kupstas  /  Produced by Shannon Fields, Nico Hedley, & Benedict Kupstas  /  Arrangement by Benedict Kupstas, Nico Hedley, & Shannon Fields, with all the musicians  /  Engineered by Julian Cubillos  /  Additional remote recording by all the musicians  /  Mixed by Eli Crews at Spillway Sound in West Hurley, NY  /  Mastered by Carl Saff at Saff Mastering in Chicago, IL  /  Layout & design by Benedict Kupstas

Ginkgo

Field Guides - "Salmon Skin"

Jaguar Sun - One Day

Leeds quartet Crake have today announced their debut album, ‘Humans’ Worst Habits’. It arrives via Fika Recordings on April 8th. The band have also shared the album’s lead single, ‘Winter’s Song’. 

Led by enigmatic songwriter Rowan Sandle, Crake is driven by her endless curiosity. Armed with her gently cracking vocal, and inspiration from writers like Shirley Jackson and Nan Shepherd, she sings of crinoids, slime mould and pussy willow. When they supported Buck Meek at Brudenell Social Club, Buck found himself so beguiled by Sandle and her band that he invited them to support Big Thief on their UK and EU tour in 2019. Crake duly obliged and have been building towards their debut full-length ever since. 

Much of the forthcoming album revolves around the death of Sandle’s friend Anna, who died in Syria after being hit by a Turkish air strike. Anna was working for a woman’s liberation group in the war-stricken country when the tragedy took place. ‘Humans’ Worst Habits’ explores the grief that followed and the lessons learnt from dealing with such a significant loss. 

Sandle does, however, find space to explore more themes alongside this grief, such as cruelty and queer nature. On lead single ‘Winter’s Song’ she acknowledges the cruelty and coldness that exists within us all, and questions how we can continue to grow and love whilst remaining true to that. 

Speaking about the track, she said: “Winter’s Song is about the absolute mundane beauty of being fallible. It's a true story, I saw the moon rise but swore it was the sun setting. I think about this line a lot: “keep a little coldness in you, just wear it soft and gentle” Be soft, be kind, be honest. Being unremarkable has its own beauty.” 

Sandle’s love for queer nature is so fervent that it makes the experience of listening to Crake akin to that of stumbling on an entirely new world. Sandle believes that life isn’t as black and white as we’ve been taught, and thinks nature holds the key to revealing the true nature of human experience. The appearances of things like slime mould - single-celled organisms that form a single body when in search of food  - brittle starfish - a type of starfish whose awareness isn’t concentrated in one place - and other such oddities furnish ‘Humans’ Worst Habits’ with a folklore all of its own. 

‘Humans’ Worst Habits’ will send you down multiple rabbit holes and you’ll emerge from each with a newfound appreciation for the complexities of the world. Perhaps even more important than this though is the humanity that lies at the very heart of this debut full-length. Whether it’s in the sensitivity in how she portrays the loss of her friend, the depiction of our most base instincts - namely cruelty, passion and love - or the sincere, pure quality of the songwriting itself, it’s this that makes ‘Humans’ Worst Habits’ essential, and invaluable listening.

Winter's Song

Crake - Winter's Song

Find a Pleasure

Night Soup

Wilting Youth

Nova Tunes 4.3

Distant Calls (feat. Flore Benguigui)

All This Noise

CLOSE MY EYES (I’m With You) reimagines Leo Sayer’s 'When I Need You' as if it were reborn in a shadow-drenched, synthesized universe. 

What was once a tender pop ballad becomes a cold, pulsing darkwave confession, wrapped in icy pads, analog keys, and the neon melancholy of 1980's New Wave.
------
LYRICS:
------
When I need you
I just close my eyes 
And I'm with you
And all that I so wanna give you
It's only a heartbeat away

When I need love
I hold out my hands 
And I touch love

I never knew there was so much love
Keeping me warm night and day

Miles and miles 
Of empty space in between us
A telephone can't take the place 
Of your smile

But you know-
I won't be traveling forever
It's cold out
But hold out 
And do like I do...

Like I do

When I need you
I just close my eyes 
And I'm with you
And all that I so wanna give you, babe
It's only a heartbeat away

It's not easy when the road is your driver
Honey, that's a heavy load that we bear
But you know I won't be travelin' a lifetime
It's cold out-
But hold out 
And do like I do

Oh, 
I need you

When I need love
I hold out my hands 
And I touch love
I never knew there was so much love
Keeping me warm night and day

Mmm,
When I need you
I just close my eyes
And you're right here by my side
Keeping my warm - night and day

I just hold out my hands
I just hold out my hands
And I'm with you darlin'
Yes, I'm with you darlin'

All I wanna give you...
It's only a heartbeat away

Oh, I need you darlin' 

Oh, 
I want you.

----------









CLOSE MY EYES (I'm With You)

Written by Thomas James.

Performed by Lupine.

Recorded, mixed & mastered by Nick Herrera.

Tell-Tale Heart

Written and performed by The Golden Age of TV

Recorded and mixed by Greenmount Studios 
Mastered by Felix Davis at Metropolis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhuuVz9xrq4&t=3s&ab_channel=TheGoldenAgeOfTV

What I've Been Through

Tamaryn (Wherever I Am)

Dinosaur

I used to be afraid of my mind 
And being left alone with whatever I found
But now I’m more afraid of what I won’t find 
And all that’s left will end up letting you down
They say if you remain very still
And hold your breath for as long as you can
And by some miracle you don’t reveal
All the fear you’re holding where you stand

Dinosaur, Dinosaur
He wouldn’t know that I exist
I wish we were the same
Oh no, we’re just the opposite
I hide away again

I guess I’ll have to chase and corner it
If i wanna catch me some more self-esteem
I always thought you had to be born with it
But maybe that was just Maybelline

Dinosaur, Dinosaur
He wouldn’t know that I exist
I wish we were the same
Oh no, we’re just the opposite
I hide away again

I made the cage I’m in
I’m blinded by nothing
I’m tired of my skin

I made the cage I’m in
I’m blinded by nothing
I’m tired of my skin

I made the cage I’m in
I’m blinded by nothing
I’m tired of my skin

I made the cage I’m in
I’m blinded by nothing
I’m tired of my skin

A Spoonful Of Sugar

Conor Clements

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