Song of the Day

Song of the Day > All Episodes

February 13, 2023

Damascan Daydreams: “Crown of Gold”

By: Jack Anderson

Whatever your NFL affiliations may be, most music lovers would agree who took home the crown last night…Rihanna. But just a couple days before the big Half Time show, us central Texans were treated to our own set of spectacular visuals, courtesy of Damascan Daydreams.

Faithful to her handle, multi-instrumenatlist-songwriter-producer Eman Tiba was born in Syria’s southwestern capital before a creative childhood in central Ohio, a PhD-education at OSU, another batch of songwriting salad days in South Carolina, and eventually residency here in Austin. Like a twisted, feminine Little Nemo for our current generation, Damascan Daydreams transports us across a collective subconscious of exotic, electronic pop-inspired sounds.

Last Friday Damascan Daydreams followed up her noir-y repertoire of singles (“Haunted Home”, “French Film”, and “Lights, Color, Dark”) with her creepiest offering to date. Cloaked in seductive minor-second chord changes, “Crown of Gold” (and its incredible music video) feels almost like an alternate American Horror Story title sequence. But thanks to straight-ahead trap-style drum programming, sinister synth tones, and Tiba’s spectral soprano, “Crown of Gold” will weigh you down from how much head-bobbing it elicits.


Episodes

May 9, 2025

e. artifact: “Rightly Timed”

Songwriter and instrumentalist David Alvarez walks among the echelon of Austin musicians whose personal musical and production diversity has afforded them space in nearly every corner of the city’s music scene. Blackchyl, Sun June, and Dorio make up some of their repertoire, but now Alvarez has turned to focus on their own project, e. artifact. […]

Listen

May 8, 2025

Cactus Lee: “Rabbit”

Austin’s Cactus Lee could be described as merely a country artist, but to be truly accurate, it’s Texas country. Frontman Kevin Dehan, a lifelong fanatic and student of the Lone Star State’s tenured history of folk and country, has dedicated his music career to being a concrete contributor. In late March, Cactus Lee released their […]

Listen

May 7, 2025

Girlpuppy: “I Just Do”

Atlanta indie rocker Becca Harvey AKA Girlpuppy has been through it, y’all. After getting off the break-up rollercoaster following a four-year relationship, she lays out her journey is an almost epistolary way, intimately detailing her process in a way that feels like she’s soundtracked her diary. But there’s plenty of resilience in her album Sweetness […]

Listen

May 6, 2025

Daily Worker: “Delmar Overload”

Despite only releasing music since 2019, Austin indie rock outfit Daily Worker seems to be taking a page from the Robert Pollard and King Gizzard book of prodigious releases. The group, helmed by Cotton Mather guitarist Harold Whit Williams, has released over a dozen album in just six years. Not surprising when you’re not only a musician, […]

Listen

May 5, 2025

Pendulum Hearts: “Cocaine Cowboy”

Austin duo Pendulum Hearts take over stages with their blend of Western Swing and rockabilly, filled-out by a rotating cast of characters to round out the rhythm section and sprinkle in soloists. The beat of Pendulum Hearts comes from guitarist and vocalist Chase Risinger and fiddle player Tony Perez. They’re sweat-inducing, boot-scooting live shows are […]

Listen

May 2, 2025

Penny & Sparrow: “Ketamine” (ft. Tobe Nwigwe)

UT Austin alums Andy Baxter and Andy Jahnke have been releasing music together as Penny & Sparrow for a decade. Revered for their poetic lyricism and ability to pull off acoustic gems and electronic meditations masterfully on the same album, Penny & Sparrow continue that tradition on their current album Lefty. An ambitious, twenty-song release […]

Listen

May 1, 2025

Melanie MacLaren: “Get It Back”

Nashville indie folk artist Melanie MacLaren has garnered praise for her music all across americana outlets. In just three years, she’s released dozens of songs and several EP’s and live tracks. Her warm, effortless vocals tend to be just one of the many patterns running through her tapestry of many orchestrated layers. Not shying away, […]

Listen

April 29, 2025

M. Ross Perkins: “Spiritual Kick”

Dayton, Ohio’s M. Ross Perkins has an affinity for blending 60’s British Invasion music with the sounds of American pop standards with just enough of a contemporary veneer to let you know the sound is an homage to the time, not a hint to its release date. His third album What’s the Matter, M Ross? […]

Listen