Flower Face – Spiracle

Genre: Alt-Pop

For all the revolutionary spirit that the bost pop stars are supposed to possess, there are few of them that zig when they could just as well zag. 

And, perhaps, this is the reason why the careers of most pop stars follow a similar path. Or, to put it bluntly, it is the reason why they release a small number of quality recordings. 

The obvious strategy, especially in rock is to try and outdo your opponents. This is why rock music has progressively become louder, faster, more aggressive, or employed more explosions. 

It takes a certain kind of visionary to strip pop music of what you’d expect to hear. Flower Face’s Spiracle is a melancholy, gothic-tinged pop number that is stripped to its very essence. What do you have left? An honesty and poetry that is almost frightening. It’s the kind of midnight confession that nobody can take lightly. 

Gemma Rogers – STOP

Similar artists: Wet Leg, Ian Dury, Patti Smith

Genre: Alternative Rock, Alt Pop

What would the wisecracking, great songwriters have talked about if their classic records were all made around 2022? There won’t be any songs about asking the operator to dial their baby’s number. And, probably, they won’t be able to write about going to the library to sneak a peek at their crush. 

Naturally, the idea of having the state have access to your every move, wouldn’t also appear like a hot-headed figment of the writer’s imagination either. Don’t even get me started on songs about super spies going through your garbage. I suppose the point is that all those things meant to frighten a regular person into constantly looking over their shoulder have happened. And, most of us are paying big money to ensure that the industry gets supported. The mystery of the world is just getting lost. 

Gemma Rogers’s STOP is a charming tune, sung in a London inflection, about the dangers of losing privacy in an era where people spend more time with their mobile phones than talking to their loved ones. It’s a clever number, with a great groove, and an almost pub-rock cadence. What would the likes of Ian Durry, or Joe Strummer think of this? I’d like to think that they’d work these topics into songs that would cause Apple stock to, at least, shake momentarily. As for Gemma Rogers, the singer’s stepping off the hamster wheel. Will this cut into acquiring subject matter for her songs? I’m certain that living in London will suffice in providing enough frustration worth singing about. 

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