photo credit: Anders Rhedin

Dinner, the project from Danish multi-instrumentalist Anders Rhedin, premieres the Annabel Van Royen-directed music video for “Connection,” (featuring vocals from Molly Burch) the second single from Dinner’s new album Dream Work, due for release October 22nd on Captured Tracks. 

The track opens with an organic-sounding, lightly-phased synth pad that evokes hazy rays of morning sun breaking through an overcast sky, before arpeggiated guitar, drum and bass enter to support it. Rhedin’s baritone voice is not the most flashy instrument, but it carries an authentic vibe, as if your good friend or someone at an open mic were singing sincerely and intimately to you. The chorus, where Rhedin is joined by both a heavily-vibratoed lead guitar and the subtly ethereal backing vocals of Burch, is a pleasing, satisfying climax with a vibe halfway between 60s “groovy” and 2020s sheen. Rhedin walks a fine line here but the warm, three-dimensional production and the unfussy arrangement meld seamlessly.

The music video, meanwhile, goes for even more understated. Shot in a single location—a gently smoke-filled midcentury modern building in a sun-lit wood, a young woman in contemporary clothing alternately paces, plays with herself as if she’s a puppet, and flashes smiles for short moments before reverting to an expressionless visage. Regarding the video, director van Royen explains: "The video is a portrait of a young person expressing themselves with their body in the space and through connection with the viewer." Adds Rhedin: "I had many long talks with Annabel, the director. I thought I was going to be very involved with this video. But in the end, I just had to let go, and trust Annabel’s ideas and her vision. Let her creativity take over. I’m very glad that I did. To me the video is about a liminal state between reality and something else." Gabe Hernandez

photo credit: Liam Dillon and ALL BITE

L.A.-based, east coast indie-punk/emo inspired band ALL BITE (the trio of drummer Noah Shearer, bassist Emily Tomasi and guitarist Jeremy Coppola) officially announces the December 3rd release of their new LP, Get Well Soon and shares a ferocious new single, the Jack Shirley-produced  “If You’re Like Me,” out today. 

In grand punk tradition, the track bursts out of the gates on all cylinders, with Tomasi’s lead vocal alternating between a half-shouting punk melodicism and ear-splitting Riot Grrl wails, with the rest of the band chanting the title between nearly every line of the lyric, giving them a sound much larger than their three members. At less than 70 seconds in length, it’s nonetheless an addictive tune, and indicative of the solid song craft and promise these twenty-somethings are showing on their first full-length. Here’s to hoping ALL BITE continues barking up the right tree. Gabe Hernandez

photo credit: Ariel Fish

IAN SWEET is the quirky name of Los Angeles-based artist Jillian Medford’s musical project, and she’s just dropped new synthpop-tinged single “f*ckthat” via Polyvinyl, along with a music video to support it. 

The track (produced by Canadian duo deadmen) begins with delicate plinking piano and underwater wordless swoons, before Medford’s lead vocal—sometimes weightlessly breathy, sometimes pleasingly piercing and assertive—enters alongside taut drums, bass, and spacey synths. Medford’s lyrics focus on the exasperation the narrator feels for a relationship that feels one-sided, lacking the reciprocation of affection and emotional investment that the narrator themself has put in. 

“We’ve been on the phone all night long / I’m singin’ you the words to your favorite song / You wouldn’t do the same for me / If I called you up at 3 / You’d probably see my number and just let it ring”

The song’s mildly profane title arrives right at the explosion of the chorus, fittingly evoking the narrator’s frustration and venting in the way that only a person who has a sense of self-worth can. Why put up with a love that doesn’t love you back, or bother to follow through on the little things that, in the end, mean so much between two people? It’s a deep topic for such a seemingly effortless pop confection, but it’s pulled off with finesse, and shows that IAN SWEET is a name to remember. 

The IAN SWEET-directed video, meanwhile, finds the artist in a semi-psychedelic call center, complete with boring powder-blue landline phone, shocking pink hair, and a computer monitor that goes wacky with the kind of spiral video feedback that 80s kids remember from pointing their parents’ camcorder at a TV screen. Kudos has to be given for making the most of the little gear and location the crew had. The video never feels repetitive, as the rapid but not distracting editing keeps things visually interesting, and Medford’s indie style and charisma keeps things compelling. 

IAN SWEET takes to the road in the spring on next year in support of her new album, Show Me How You Disappear, with tickets going on sale Friday Oct. 10th. Gabe Hernandez