Blonde Redhead, Lucy's Delirium, Veranda Liv and More: Also Cool's Playlist Refresh

Blonde Redhead by Charles Billot  

It's summertime, you need new music, and we have lots, so we put together an exceptionally long Playlist Refresh. Whether it's for sunny park hangs or for when you're walking home from the show, thinking about how sweet life can be, we've got you covered. Let's get into it.

Listen along to our Playlist Refresh series on Spotify.

Veranda Liv by Seren Pritchard-Bland

First up, we're throwing it back to 2018-era Montreal, when post-punk bands reigned supreme in the DIY scene. Our lovely friends from across the pond, Veranda Liv, have finally released their first single "Your Life In the City", which will soon be followed by a few more releases.

Veranda Liv's Tristan Petsola and Miguel Nyberg began playing music together in Helsinki before relocating to Montreal in 2014. Having met up with Tom Gould (previously of Pottery and Bodywash), they entered the Montreal live scene for a couple of years with a revolving cast of band members until Visa issues forced them apart and out of Canada.

Now reunited and reformed in London, Veranda Liv make up for lost time with their first single, "Your Life In The City”. The track explores atomization and shielding yourself from the surroundings of the modern world by constructing veneers. Melodic drums wed mooring bass lines to form the foundation on which discordant guitars build a sonic world, often holding a return to home ransom in favour of basking in consternation, like holding off texting someone back when it's been too long.

Veranda Liv

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Blonde Redhead have gifted us with "Snowman”, their first release in nine years. The lead single is lush and melodic, introducing us to their forthcoming album Sit Down for Dinner. The title refers to a passage Kazu Makino read in Joan Didion's The Year Of Magical Thinking, regarding Didion watching her husband die at the dinner table. The album is set to be released via Section1 on September 29th.

"'Snowman' is about how it can be a blessing or a curse to be invisible and undetectable, and how it's something we all feel and desire at times," Amadeo Pace writes. "I got inspired to write a song that only had two chords and a melody that would live and float between them."

Blonde Redhead

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Returning to Montreal's music scene, Helena Deland welcomes the warm season with "Spring Bug". A gentle offering, ushering us into a season of bug bites, burnt skin, and shy feelings.

In Helena's own words,

"Spring sun and spring rain make past selves sprout out of the ground. The question of whether or not to leave this town becomes the background on which they wreak havoc. But it's like Joan Didion says, ‘we are well-advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not. Otherwise they turn up unannounced and surprise us, come hammering on the mind's door at 4am on a bad night and demand to know who deserted them, who betrayed them, who is going to make amends.' 'Spring Bug' is the wave of a hand trying to shoo off a noisy flying creature, and the creature is me! Thank you for listening."

Helena Deland

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Lucy’s Delirium by Malaika Astorga

After playing almost every cool Montreal show this winter/spring, Lucy's Delirium have finally released their debut single, "Mr Tv”.

"Mr Tv" came about during a basement practice when Franky started free-styling on a bass line with the words "Ruin me like I ruined you." The phrase set the tone for the track, encapsulating the hypnotizing and obsessive feeling of the relationship between people and technology. The lyrics personify a television through the perspective of someone dependent and craving distraction. Despite the instant gratification, it remains an escape from their reality, leaving them with a false sense of fulfillment. 

"We see this behaviour a lot in ourselves and the world around us, and we were inspired to convey this experience as we believe it is a shared one." - Lucy's Delirium

Lucy's Delirium is a four-piece femme/non-binary band that began in a Montreal basement in 2022. Lila, Hanako, Franky and Addie merge their creativity to create a sound that expresses their friendship and connection. Constantly stepping out of their comfort zone, the band has evolved through the growing pains of being DIY musicians, like learning to work with small garage spaces and angry neighbours. For fans of Alex G, early Frankie Cosmos, Fog Lake, and Cryogeyser, "Mr Tv" will easily find a place on your playlists. 

Lucy's Delirium

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Switching over to evening tunes for a moment, Seraphine Noir has shared their jazzy new release, "Eclipse". It's the perfect soundtrack for a late-night walk to contemplate your thoughts while stopping to say hi to the alley cats and collecting flowers along the way. Alternatively, if you're not so into late-night walks, it serves as a great base for Tiktok anime edits.

Seraphine Noir is a modern experimental alternative jazz fusion artist hailing from Lebanon, now based in Montreal. They draw inspiration from esteemed artists such as Robert Glasper, Nujabes, Uyama Hiroto, Chick Corea, Coltrane and Sungazer. Stay tuned for future releases from the artist, including experimentations with jazz breakcore and more. 

Seraphine Noir

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Alice Phoebe Lou by Lexi Hide

Next up is Alice Phoebe Lou's "Lose My Head", a funky and tender tune, perfect for dancing around your kitchen while wondering what your crush is doing tonight. Alice Phoebe Lou is an independent artist from Cape Town, and is currently living in Berlin where she began her music career as a busker in 2013. 

"It's about loving and wanting, as well as the push and pull of passion," Alice shares. "I continually strive to show people the beauty of being vulnerable and feeling all their feelings..."

Alice Phoebe Lou
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Although not a new release, we absolutely love koleżanka's latest album, "Alone with the Sound the Mind Makes", which is out via Bar/None. Read our interview with the artist here, where she shared stories of the many places she's called home, her favourite memories and dreams, and more. 

"Alone with the Sound the Mind Makes" expands her koleżanka's world, leading us with tracks like "Cheers!" and "City Summer Sweat". The album is whimsical, slightly psychedelic, and draws on her polka-inspired musical history. 

koleżanka

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Sorry Girls have danced out of the darkness into the light with the release of their second album, Bravo! (out via Arbutus Records). The sparkling new album explores self-acceptance, self-affirmation, personal freedom and letting go. 

Also Cool favourites include "Prettier Things", a breakup track that's "about honesty, not lying to yourself, and hiding behind prettier things," says Heather Kirkpatrick. "You can allow yourself to move on to better things, if that's what you need."

Sorry Girls

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Related Articles

Sounds Cool 2021 (Also Cool’s Top Albums)

Illustration by Malaika Astorga

Once again, music has unsurprisingly gotten us through the year. Throughout the whirlwind of 2021, we here at Also Cool were lucky enough to discover a range of compelling releases across a spectrum of genres. What unites these projects is their radiance, their ability to captivate us through trials and triumphs and be a constant when seemingly nothing else was. In no particular order (except alphabetical), we’ve compiled a mix of stand-outs from our 2021 favourites. 

If you haven’t been introduced to these artists via our music section or radio shows on N10.AS and FSR, take a listen to our year in review. There’s something here for everyone, and maybe you’ll see one of your friends here, too – spread the love and send them this article to tell them that they are indeed also cool.  

We’d like to extend our gratitude to all the artists on this list for keeping us company through the last year. Our listening habits have been elevated and comforted by these selections, and we’re looking forward to what’s in store from here and beyond in 2022.

Whether experienced in-person during the brief resurgence of live music, or in solitude weathering out your headphones, here’s to music for filling the void in the best way possible. 

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Sounds Cool 2021 (Also Cool’s Top Albums)

Ada Lea - one hand on the steering wheel, the other sewing a garden (Next Door Records / Saddle Creek)

Interview with Ada Lea by Malaika Astorga (October 21st, 2021) 

“The introspective folk/pop songs walk with you through the process of finding your identity and losing it again to someone who's not worth it, daydreaming about life in other cities, and wondering when to go home again.”

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BACKXWASH - I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES (Ugly Hag Records)

Interview with Backxwash by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter and Rebecca L. Judd (June 20th, 2021)

“With I Lie Here, BACKXWASH claims her title as contemporary hip-hop’s greatest force to be reckoned with, and we are celebrating her reign.”

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Bnny - Everything (Fire Talk)

Interview with Bnny by Malaika Astorga (August 20th, 2021)

“Written in sessions that span several years by singer Jess Viscius as she processed the death of her partner, the album is a chronicle of love at its most complex and loss at its most persistent.”

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Clairo - Sling (FADER)

“On her second album, reluctant Gen Z ambassador Clairo turns back the clock, embracing classic touchstones of 1970s folk.” — Cat Zhang, Pitchfork

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Das Beat - Identität (Arbutus Records)

Interview with Das Beat by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (June 3rd, 2021) 

“In four flawless tracks outfitted with celestial atmospheres and pulsating undercurrents, Identität offers a dioramic perspective of the couple’s intimate creative dynamics, backdropped with the essence of Berlin’s esoteric nightlife.”

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Dish Pit - DIPSHIT (Self-Released)

“Following the sudden closure of their record label, Montreal-based DISHPIT's long-delayed debut album is finally seeing the light of day as the band begins working on the follow-up. DIPSHIT — recorded with veteran producer Steve Albini — unleashes a devastation of post-punk and lo-fi grunge upon the world.” — Matt Owczarz, Exclaim!

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Dorothea Paas - Anything Can’t Happen (Telephone Explosion)

Interview with Dorothea Pass by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (May 7th, 2021)

“On her new LP Anything Can’t Happen, Paas illuminates how she came to define success as encountering and reconciling self-discovery through her work, all while establishing growth on her own terms.”

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Ducks Ltd. - Modern Fiction (Royal Mountain)

Interview with Ducks Ltd. by Malaika Astorga (August 17th, 2021) 

“Toronto's Ducks Ltd.'s new single How Lonely Are You? is the perfect soundtrack for your mildly existential end-of-summer playlist.”

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Hildegard - Hildegard (Chivi Chivi / Section1)

Interview with Hildegard by Malaika Astorga (June 8th, 2021)

“Their debut record has been described as the result of merging their identities, coupled with a complete loss of ego. The result is a beautiful and experimental eight-track experience, documenting the creative bond they share.”

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Jane Inc. - Number One (Telephone Explosion)

Interview with Jane Inc. by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter 

“Building off samples, break-beats and Ableton tutorials, Jane Inc.’s debut Number One serves as a reminder that Bezic is no one-trick-pony.”

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Kekko - Dreaming Life (Spirit Goth Records) 
Interview with Kekko by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter

“If not already evident by the band’s namesake —which combines the last names of the husband and wife duo, Tim Kek and Cherie Ko— Kek’s lush atmospherics intertwined with Ko’s ethereal vocals manifest a radiance unique to a soulmate connection.”

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kolenżanka - Place Is (Bar/None)

Interview with kolenżanka by Malaika Astorga (June 16th, 2021)

“To leave an old life behind and begin a new one is an anxiety-inducing and transformative process that Phoenix-born and NYC-based singer kolenżanka has mastered.”

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L’Impératrice - Tako Tsubo (microqlima)

Interview with L’Impératrice by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (May 22nd, 2021)

“L’Impératrice’s latest venture is a shimmering think-piece on life’s ever-perplexing phenomenon of broken-heart syndrome, which derived from the name Tako Tsubo (meaning “octopus trap” in Japanese).”

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Magi Merlin - Drug Music (Self-Released)

Magi Merlin “Mock Meat” review by Malaika Astorga (February 23rd, 2021) 

“A little spooky, a little bit sultry, Magi Merlin's "Mock Meat" draws you in with textured sounds and silky vocals.”

Magi Merlin Drug Music premiere by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (March 5th, 2021) 

“Throughout Drug Music, Magi Merlin owns her truth between entrancing beats and smokey basslines, while getting hot and heavy with lush vocal harmonies and a playful raspiness.”

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May Rio - Easy Bammer (Dots Per Inch)

Interview with May Rio by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (June 22nd, 2021) 

“Much like its origin story, May Rio’s Easy Bammer documents and celebrates the romantic unexpectedness of everyday life.”

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Motorists - Surrounded (Bobo Integral / We Are Time / Debt Offensive)

Interview with Motorists by Malaika Astorga (September 16th, 2021) 

“Comparable to various eras of punk, jangle rock, and mid-2000s Canadian indie rock, Motorists express their struggles with isolation by pairing a post-punk vocal tone with optimistic and upbeat melodies.”

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New Chance - Real Time (We Are Time) 
Interview with New Chance by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (July 28th, 2021) 

“On her latest offering Real Time, Cheong brings her reflections on nature’s abstract cycles to the forefront, between spellbinding textures and an eclectic sampling of everything from Calypso percussion to a sunrise rooster crow.”

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Ouri - Frame of a Fauna (Born Twice / Lighter Than Air) 
Interview with Ouri by Rebecca L. Judd (October 30th, 2021) 

“Marking the latest notch in Ouri’s belt, Frame of a Fauna carefully wields experimental and classical curiosities to seek deeper truths between the bars.”

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Oxford Drama - What’s The Deal With Time? (Self-Released)

Interview with Oxford Drama by Rebecca L. Judd (July 7th, 2021)

“Inspired by the never-ending mazes of modern technology and society, the duo – consisting of Małgorzata Dryjanska and Marcin Mrówka – transforms crushing emotions and uncertainties into a musical experience that transcends the turmoil.”

Oxford Drama “Too Busy” video premiere by Malaika Astorga (December 9th, 2021)

“Although it may seem like everyone else has their lives together, they're probably just good at keeping a curated online presence. Our Polish pals Oxford Drama encapsulate this chaos energy perfectly in their music video for “Too Busy”, a single off their recent album What's The Deal With Time?”

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PACKS - Take The Cake (Royal Mountain / Fire Talk) 

Interview with PACKS by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (May 17th, 2021) 

“Toronto’s PACKS are filling an indie-rock void with their sound that is equal parts laid-back and jangly, while also sophisticatedly pensive and bright.”

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PinkPantheress - to hell with it (Parlophone) 

“The 20-year-old UK producer broke out on TikTok with snippet-sized songs that ache with nostalgia for the recent past. Her intimate, lived-in music succeeds where cheaper imitations fail.” — Arielle Gordon, Pitchfork

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Yves Tumor - The Asymptotical World (Warp Records) 

“Even on a brief EP, Yves Tumor’s prismatic world seems to get bigger as it mutates into certain conventions of goth rock, dream pop, and shoegaze.” — Sasha Geffen, Pitchfork

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Listen to our year in review below!

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Related Articles

NYC's koleżanka Releases Video for "In A Meeting" & Shares Stories of Phoenix, Polka Clubs & Favourite Memories

koleżanka by Michael Fuller

How do you find a sense of home in a new city? To leave an old life behind and begin a new one is an anxiety-inducing and transformative process that Phoenix-born and NYC-based singer koleżanka has mastered.

Today she shares her new video for In A Meeting off of her upcoming LP Place Is, which is set to be released via Bar/None on July 30th. The track deals with the all too familiar feeling of what to do when your social anxiety becomes your inner monologue.

We spoke with koleżanka about the many places she’s called home, her favourite memories and dreams, and more.

Malaika Astorga for Also Cool: Hi Kristina, it's nice to e-meet you. Can you tell us a bit about the place you currently call home and what you love most about it?

Kristina: Nice to e-meet you! I currently live in Brooklyn and have been here for about three years now. I love New York City as a home for the reasons why I think many people do - good food everywhere and so many places to go see. The things I love most about it are its opposites to where I grew up in Arizona. While AZ is landlocked, here, I am surrounded by rivers and the ocean. There are four distinct seasons, each with its own unique smells and sites and feelings conjured upon their arrival. I prefer to travel on foot rather than drive to each destination. It helps me slow down (though I am actually an impossibly fast walker) and makes me feel like an actual fixture in space. 

Also Cool: How did music enter your life? What kind of music did you listen to growing up, and how did that transform into your own music-making?

K: Neither of my parents were musical though my mom is an excellent dancer. But my mom's dad and his whole family are very musically and artistically inclined. When I was about five, we lived with him for a short time. When he'd babysit us, he would have my brother and I sing on his karaoke machine. I think things just evolved from there. I ended up singing "Frosty the Snowman" that year for his Polka club's Christmas party, and my mom eventually signed me up for piano lessons. 

I picked up his grandfather's accordion right after high school and taught myself how to play. A lot of the 3/4 waltz-time signatures employed by Polka and by the stylings of learning the accordion that way informed my writing and still does today.

I started getting into punk around the end of middle school and into high school. It was important for me to see women in my favourite bands like The Cramps, Bikini Kill, and Vice Squad. Even Gwen Stefani in early No Doubt revealed the possibilities of power to me and how I could harness my own. 

AC: I'm always interested in local music / creative scenes. Was there a scene in the different places you lived? What was it like?

K: I started playing some shows and busking in a folk-punk band in Phoenix when I was 19, then moved to Omaha for about a year. When I returned, the music scene in Phoenix felt electrified. I was living in Tempe going to college at the time, and there were house shows abound and dance parties in backyards. Unfortunately, there weren't many medium-sized venues to play, so most things centred around DIY spaces downtown, makeshift house venues or strange bars throughout the metropolitan area. 

We would spend every weekend at Long Wong's in Tempe for whatever friend had a monthly residency. The Trunk Space was the apex of the arts community in Phoenix, a haven for all. For the most part, I felt the scene was supportive, not very competitive throughout the years. It was rare to me that you'd see a band trying to "be" anything. A lot of folks just came as they were, and in my opinion, some of the best bands I've ever seen were Phoenix bands. Being surrounded by the desolation of heat, endless space, and depressing track home developments only encourages a thriving community of wonderfully weird and innovative makers. They are all trying to reinvent their space out of necessity and find safety in their expression. 

AC: I love how you describe your memories. I really relate to having an in-between existence, and I also hold on to vivid memories after struggling with PTSD-related disassociation. One of my favourite things is to think of special moments, similar to how you described 7th ave, Darlings and Barton Springs. Can you tell us a bit more about each one of those memories and why you chose to focus on those moments in particular?

K: Thank you for sharing! I think it's so important to develop those tools for grounding. 

I wrote the lyrics while back in Phoenix the last Christmas before the pandemic hit. I was walking from 7th st to 7th ave on Roosevelt, home to an essential and transformative Phoenix arts community that has slowly been displaced to foreign-invested luxury development. I was walking and thinking about all the times I had walked or driven through there for the past fifteen years. It felt familiar even though so much had changed. I started thinking about "place" and "home," and the other two memories mentioned felt most determining in parcelling out definitions. 

I have a memory of going to Darlings after getting off work serving in Tribeca. I had just settled into the first few months of really living in NYC without touring and visiting Phoenix and found myself overwhelmed by the brevity of time and all the places I had been that past year. Without even thinking, I found myself fully sprinting home, this new home, like it was the only way to expel that energy. 

The other memory of Barton Springs was this beautiful day on tour, serendipitously running into another band we had previously toured with and going down to the water together. A rope was tied to the top of a tree, and people were trying to see how high they could climb before swinging back into the water. I have gone to the springs almost every time I am in Austin on tour, and therefore it feels constant to me during those periods of constantly moving. 

AC: How have you been able to find a sense of home throughout all of the different places and spaces you've experienced?

K: My instinct is to say "time and familiarity," but I don't necessarily think that's always true. There are many unfamiliarities while travelling that I find exciting and even comforting, and that feel like a home place. There is a discovery of home in people I feel safe with and establishing a home within myself. This has been the most important place for me recently. Maybe that is how I find a sense of home elsewhere if that makes sense. 

AC: Who are you listening to right now? Any local artists or friends who you think deserve more recognition?

K: So a thing about me…I don't actually listen to music that often. I know it sounds silly, but I feel really easily overwhelmed by music sometimes. I can be too stimulating, emotionally or otherwise. I used to listen a lot while driving or on the train, but now I don't travel like that as much. I tend to enjoy the sounds of the city while walking. I like when you can hear overtones and harmonies between dissonant or ambiguous city sounds. 

BUT there are a ton of artists I wish one million people could hear; I really don't know where to begin! My bandmate Ark is a wild multi-instrumentalist and plays as Like Diamonds. They write about sci-fi, technology, and time and are so exciting to see live. Herbert Walker's Francis Bartolomeo is one of the best writers I think I have ever heard; that band is a true gem. Alassane creates compositions that will blow your mind; I don't know how he does it. Gabi Jr. is a favourite. They just put out a song a month or two ago that I listened to incessantly as I was driving around Phoenix during my first visit back since being vaccinated. I think it captures so much of the sentiment of cruising around when it first starts getting warm after spring. They are also a sometimes member of the koleżanka live band in Phx. Anna See also makes appearances as the koleżanka bassist. They are one of my favourite guitar players (and bassists); I truly cannot wait to see what they make next. There are new bands/artists out of Phoenix now that are so cool, like Glixen and Veronica Everheart. Also not an AZ or NYC local, but I do listen to RNIE quite often. Lamont makes music I can comfortably do just about anything (or nothing at all) to and feels both moving and soothing.

AC: Tell us a bit about your upcoming album and what you have planned for 2021.

K: When I started this iteration of solo work in 2016, a lot of writing was centred around personal musings and catharsis, or deep and sometimes painful exploration of parts of self as a genesis for music. I was also exploring creatively what I wanted and enjoyed about instruments that were fairly new to me, like guitar and drum machines. 

I started writing some of the earliest material for this new record in December 2018 after coming off a tour. Ark and I finished almost everything for it in March of 2020, right before the pandemic hit. This record is a divergence in that I was feeling more confident as a musician and ready to truly just have some fun and push myself into more sonic exploration.

I'm just so excited for the record to live in the world after all this time! But, I'm not sure what the rest of 2021 will hold. It was so amazing to tour again. I absolutely love touring, but that still feels like such a difficult thing to navigate. After last year, a part of me wants to wait to allow things to happen rather than forcing the hand. 

AC: Last but not least, can you share one of your favourite memories or dreams with us?

K: There was a dream I had some years ago that I can still remember vividly. There was a channel of water running underneath a canopy of trees that arched over it. There were houses with gardens that faced the water on one side of the channel, and an ocean sat on the other side. I was soaring over the channel and underneath the canopy, slowly shifting downward to touch the water, then floating back up again. I suppose I felt like a bird, but I don't remember anything about my body in the dream, or maybe my body was never actualized. All I remember was feeling wholly calm. I thought of nothing, just repeating the motion of touching the water and rising again, and the world around me felt very serene. It is one of my favourite dreams.

Watch “In A Meeting” below

koleżanka

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Malaika Astorga is the co-founder of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and communications specialist currently based in Montreal.