The Underground Forest - Volume 34
The last 2024 edition of The Underground Forest features: a song that will bring you into a surreal, glittering metropolis sprawling under a blue sky; a beautiful kitsch and cozy Christmas song; a song that fuses old musical theatre with Kesha levels of club fuelled 808 mania; a gentle lush electronic song that will remind you of sunlight and memory; and much more!
Featuring Glassio, Madelline, Party Nails, Frog, KIND HUMAN, Moonchild Sanelly, Bartees Strange, Anjimile, Kara Jackson & Annie-Dog.
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Wolf Like Me - Bartees Strange, Anjimile, Kara Jackson
Taken from the album TRAИƧA, presented by the arts, music and activist non-profit group Red Hot; TRAИƧA is a collection of music “spotlighting the gifts of many of the most daring, imaginative trans and non-binary artists working today.” You can find out more, and buy the album via Bandcamp here.
This is a wholly original take on TV On The Radios song Wolf Like Me; it retains the ferocity of the original while adding an organic, kaleidoscopic dimension to it; this sees Bartees Strange team up with Anjimile & Kara Jackson also.
The shimmering of the opening reminds you of the forestry and rain of the forest, or greenland area; the delivery is both hypnotic and cathartic; the music like a river, with a slightly mournful quality running throughout.
You hear this on the wind as you walk over a trail that has become overgrown with wildflowers and moss, this is a glorious work of art.
Connect with Bartees Strange
Bandcamp / Spotify / Instagram / Website
Atlantic City - Glassio
A take on Bruce Springsteen's Atlantic City; this shimmering electronic version immerses you under a huge blue sky that stretches out over a silver, glittering metropolis of glass and steel, the sunlight glinting off the skyscrapers, capturing the surreal beauty of the artificial landscape, the results being nothing short of utterly entrancing.
He confides, "This is my melancholy-disco take on Bruce Springsteen’s acoustically-produced track ‘Atlantic City,’ a song about desperation, and one last chance. I feel like many of us are feeling this way with the world at large. I wanted to realize this song with the modern day in mind.”
Connect with Glassio
YouTube / Spotify / Instagram / Website / X
DID SANTA COME - Frog
Chords from an old, beloved piano float to your ears from a cozy woodland barn; inviting you in from the cold winter air, to the warm orange glow with.
This is the new Christmas surprise from New York Indie duo Frog, and it is fun from start to finish. This sounds like it is from your favorite cult indie movie from the mid-00s; it is kitsch, it is warm, and it is so fun.
On the song Daniel Bateman says “This song is about my son when he was two years old at Christmas time. Every morning for 2-3 weeks after, he would wake up and ask, “Did Santa come?” Seeing the world through the eyes of your children makes it all very beautiful.”
Connect with Frog
Spotify / Instagram / Χ / Facebook
Uh Uh (Outside) - Madelline
We open with shimmering strings and some old musical theatre vibes (with some blues elements sprinkled here and there) before descending into full-on bass-fueled club anthem territory, a la Kesha, with some Gwen Stefani influences sprinkled throughout. It is absolutely wonderful.
On the song the artist shares, "This is a genre I affectionately refer to as ‘Mary Poppins core’. “Uh Uh (Outside)” blends whimsical elements of vintage musical theatre nostalgia I grew up on & bratty early 2000s pop a la the icons Gwen Stefani and Fergie. For the cover art I dressed up as Mary Poppins outside a club flying on my umbrella but with thigh high, lace up, 6 inch platform boots flashing out of my skirt."
Connect with Madelline
YouTube / Spotify / Instagram
Gwara Gwara - Moonchild Sanelly
You know from the moment this song begins that it is going to blow the roof off; this features earth-shattering 808s, vocals that will remain with you throughout the day, all crafted over a bed of thoroughly addictive sampling and instrumentation (some of it brought to mind MIA).
This is a wall-to-wall masterpiece/banger from start to finish.
Connect with Moonchild Sanelly
Spotify / Instagram / X / Facebook
Trigger Warning - Party Nails
Eerie noir electro-pop with vocals that will bring to mind The Weekend (think 2015/ 2016 era, The Hills, Starboy, etc) in which the vocals float to your ears from the darkest hour of the night.
This song from producer Party Nails deals with surviving an abusive relationship, going through the pain, and coming out the other side.
Connect with Party Nails
Spotify / Instagram / X
Dollhouse - KIND HUMAN
Uneasy, grunge-fueled, with a haunting vocal melody line, this will draw you in immediately. This has a cool DIY quality to it; one that makes the lyrics and music feel all the more personal and intriguing.
Connect with KIND HUMAN
Spotify / Instagram
Have I Been Living? - Annie -Dog
This feels like the sun breaking through the pink clouds in a surreal pastel sky.
The vocals are haunting, this bed of music, bewitching; this will draw you into its lush melancholy, electronic dreamworld.
Connect with Annie-Dog
Spotify / Instagram / X
Spotify Playlist
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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