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A Sunlit Walk in The Underground Forest: New Pop, Folk , Rock and Indie Music We Loved

Welcome to A Sunlit Walk in the Underground Forest: a series where I hand-pick music I love.

Featuring frances mistry, Crimson99, The Male Pattern, Sparks, The Reds, Pinks & Purples, Kendall Street Company, zeelle, Daniel Gayden, Molly Willis and the booyah! kids.

By Eimear O SullivanMusicngear Editor

Featuring: a song that deals with disillusionment that unfolds against a soundscape that has a bit of an enchanted fairy-tale vibe; a song that sounds like the acceptance of being out on the open road; a new single from the satirical figure of The Male Pattern (a Facebook Uncle who you really don’t want to end up in your comments section); a song that is a soulful plea into the void; a song that feels like breathing in mountain air on a day when the sun is shining; a song that sounds like a previously undiscovered song from the 1980s that you came across in a thrift shop behind some pastel pink lampshades; a delightfully dreamy, kitsch cover of Drake’s ‘passionfruit’ that sounds like kids toys were used to record it, and more!

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A Sunlit Walk In The Underground Forest ☀️ Light Pop  •  Folk   • Electronica  •  Calm

frances mistry - whydoitry?

I started to seriously doubt the abilities of a lot of music industry types in 2019. This arose after seeing a music producer post some feedback he got from one of the large-label A&Rs, which specified for him to make the song he was working on “sound more Spotify.” It is worth knowing that most of these people won’t take a chance on anything that doesn’t vaguely sound like something else, which causes art to stagnate and leaves the responsibility to push the frontiers of art forward to others (who are most likely getting paid way less).

‘Whydoitry?’ deals with “feeling insignificant within the music industry and feeling taken advantage of from industry people who promise you great things but then mess you around” which ties in with my strong feelings detailed in the above, and also with “being a woman in music and playing gigs surrounded by men who don't listen or who act like you're not meant to be there.”

The song is beautifully strange and off-kilter in a way I can’t fully put my finger on. There is something enchanting and vaguely eerie about it, something detached, almost like the feeling of dissociation that arises from constantly being put into the situations that inspired its creation, all unfolding across a soundscape that has a bit of a fairytale vibe to it.

“why do i try?

i don’t mean anything to you, just someone they can admire

i won’t take another lie

you talk to me like i don’t understand the things about this life”

The world needs more art like this. 

This is taken from the EP ‘leave myself behind ’, which you can purchase on Bandcamp here. 

Connect with frances mistry
Instagram | X

Crimson99 - Open Up Your Heart 

Photo credit: Guillaume Landry

This is taken from the Montreal-based singer/songwriter’s upcoming EP ‘Daredevil’ (which you can pre-save here). I loved this; it feels like the acceptance of being out on the open road, passing motels and gas stations and roadside attractions, emotions thrown to the wind, feeling a little less all-consuming, as you truly understand for the first time that what you are feeling will pass. The vocals are fantastic in this.

On the song the artist shares, “‘Open Up Your Heart’ is about the desire to backslide. It’s about missing things from your past that never truly served you but felt good in the moment. This song is also a reminder that, as the great Sam Cooke said: “A change gon’ come, oh yes it will.” You won’t always be hurting, and you won’t always feel alone, but often, if not always, the only way out is through, and you need the right attitude to make it to the other side.”

Connect with Crimson99
Bandcamp | Instagram
 

The Male Pattern - Charlie (The Robbery)

I would love it if more singles were this interesting. In fact, I would love it if there were more satirical concept albums exploring characters like this, full stop. 

‘Charlie (The Robbery)’ is a single from the satirical creation The Male Pattern (a Facebook Uncle who you really don’t want to end up in your comments section) which features our poor, misfortunate soldier who, while trying to rob a drug dealer and remember a line from ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, ends up shooting the drug dealer in the head by mistake. This unfolds like a Springsteen ballad, featuring piano from the one and only Daniel Bateman from Frog. 

Initially, I actually started to feel slightly sorry for this difficult customer, as there is a hint of tragedy to the beginning of the song, but this came to a swift end with the razor-sharp lyrics:

“But I bought a .45

It feels good at my side

It’s my God-given right

And I'm just dying for the moment for somebody to test me

I got some bad-ass lines memorized at the ready”

This is satire so good that there's a chance the group it is poking fun of might think it’s real and feel very Seen and Heard. 

On the song, the artist shares, “Our guy robs a small-time drug dealer. He only wants to scare him with his gun, but ends up screwing the job up while trying to remember a bad-ass line from The Dark Knight Rises and, in a moment of confusion, blasts the poor guy's head off. My stab at a Bruce Springsteen ballad, but with little less tragic yearning and a little more blood spatter. Featuring Danny Bateman from Frog on piano."

Connect with The Male Pattern
Instagram

Connect with Audio Antihero (Press Contact)
Instagram / X

Connect with Frog
Facebook / X / Instagram

Sparks - Please Don't Fuck Up My World (Live On The Moon)

This live version of ‘Please Don't Fuck Up My World’ is a soulful plea into the void. A plea to those whose greed knows no bounds and who are hell-bent on destroying the world for the rest of us (not themselves). I hope this reaches the people who feel apathetic about all of this; those who hope by looking away and turning their brains off that it will stop. I hope that this song wakes them up before it's too late. This rendition is so beautiful; I think it just might. 

For me personally, I feel like the music industry feels rather bleak at the moment - with nepo babies essentially taking over and slop working its way to the top and burying anything with quality underneath it.  However, every time I listen to a Sparks’ song, I feel like there is hope. I am reminded of the fact that artists who make you feel something with the sheer unbridled imagination and creativity in their music can succeed and make the world a better place. 

This is taken from ‘Live On The Moon’, which has a physical release available now. 

“Please don't fuck up my world

All that you are pursuing

Please don't fuck up my world

Can't you see what you're doing?”

Connect with Sparks
Instagram | Facebook | X

The Reds, Pinks & Purples - Every Shade of Blue 

Some songs make you feel something immediately - ‘Every Shade of Blue’ is one of those songs.  The vocals are laced with a melancholy I can’t quite describe; the song itself induced an emotional reaction in me that I found to be almost overwhelming. 

On the song, the artist shares, "This is an older song, and the first song I made that I thought could be a signpost towards the future sound of Acknowledge Kindness. I wanted to bring out more of a folk feeling without sounding traditional at all. Steven R. Smith, a good friend from high school and a maker of dark solo instrumental music, added some atmospheres on this, as well as contributing to quite a few other tracks in the last year or so. I am always editing my work as I go, but this is one of the few songs where I feel like the words are truly finished."

This is taken from the EP ‘True Love Daydream’ which is out September 25, 2026.

Connect with The Reds, Pinks & Purples
Instagram | Bluesky

Kendall Street Company - Don't Wanna Be Gone  

Photo Credit: Aspen DeRosa

The vocals in this reminded me of the prolific Daniel Bateman (from the NY band Frog); in fact, I had to do a quick Google search to confirm that it was not him.

This new single from the Virginia band is taken from their upcoming album ‘Yodeling Astroman’, which is a series of folktales from the aforementioned Yodeling Astroman. The song fuses the feeling of being gone and missing out on certain things while being on tour, with other things unfolding on both a worldwide and personal scale (e.g climate change, existence itself, battles with substances, etc). 

Although it does deal with some dark elements, ' Don't Wanna Be Gone’ honestly feels like breathing in mountain air on a day when the sun is shining; I felt a blast of pure unadulterated optimism after listening to it. 

On the song, the band’s frontman and songwriter Louis Smith shares, “It’s a song about wanting to stay in the present moment despite everything happening all the time.”

Connect with Kendall Street Company
Instagram | Facebook | Χ

Zeelle - Kiss About It

This is the newest song from Edmonton-based artist Zeelle. This feels like alt-pop being made in the attic by a ghost-like figure who loved the alt 1990s scene, a quality that makes it delightfully haunting. The vocal melody is addictive, with verses that feature some seriously skilled melodic crafting.

On the song, the artist says, "This was the first song I wrote completely from scratch with my producers/cowriters written in one weekend. It's inspired by Renee Rapp and Olivia Rodrigo with shimmery guitars, a funky baseline, and this awesome bridge breakdown into a chorus fake out. I feel like I've cracked the sound I've been chasing with this eerie pop-rock vibe."

Connect with Zeelle
Instagram | Facebook

Daniel Gayden - Always Been You 

This is taken from the Chicago, Illinois artist’s upcoming EP 'Lost In Translation' ( which is out October 9, 2026).

‘Always Been You’ feels like a previously undiscovered song from the 1980s that you came across in a thrift shop behind some pastel pink lampshades. The chorus feels like it was the soundtrack to many a 1980s prom night. The production in this is fantastic, as it lends the song the unbridled charm of a demo, a quality I love.

Connect with Daniel Gayden
Instagram | Χ

Molly Willis - Hypocentre

This is taken from the debut album ‘Horror Movie’ by Norwich, UK artist Molly Willis.

‘Hypocentre’ is my favourite song from the album, possibly as I have an affinity for anything that sounds like it is from a Western. The vocals are eerily beautiful, making you feel like you heard them on the wind one night standing out the front of your wooden cabin, leaving you feeling both moved and haunted.

“September can do one

There’s no fun, this autumn

I’m clean now, serene now

This whole month is a comedown”

Connect with Molly Willis
Instagram | Facebook

the booyah! kids - passionfruit 

This is a delightfully dreamy, kitsch cover of Drake’s ‘passionfruit’ from three-piece New York indie outfit the booyah!kids (who, it should be noted, have comedian Nikki Glaser amongst their fans). There is something so magical about this, it kind of sounds like kids' toys were used to record it, which sets it apart from the avalanche of other covers and makes it a magical listening experience. The booyah! kids are doing something special. 

Connect with the booyah! kids
Instagram

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About Eimear O Sullivan

Eimear Ann O Sullivan is a multi-genre music producer, audio engineer and vocalist. After receiving a Masters in Music Technology from the CIT Cork School of Music, she went on to operate as a producer under the name Blakkheart. Her releases have received critical acclaim from Ireland's biggest music publications, such as District Magazine and Nialler9, alongside receiving heavy commercial radio airplay. She currently works in Cork recording studio Flashpoint CC. Previous clients of hers include the likes of Comedy Central’s Dragony Aunt star Candy Warhol, rapper Darce and Outsider YP. (Photo credit @Fabian Boros)

Contact Eimear O Sullivan at eimear.o.sullivan@musicngear.com

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