Indie Pop

Dayglow: “Medicine” (KUTX Pop-Up)

With the sun out and about and temperatures hitting nearly triple digits this week, it might not be a bad idea to just simmer in the sweat and embrace the Dayglow. Austin multi-instrumentalist Sloan Struble blew us away in 2019 with Dayglow‘s debut album, Fuzzybrain, and invited us to get a little more intimate with his indie pop project even more recently through his sophomore LP, Harmony House.

Dayglow plays this Friday at Stubb’s but if you’re still iffy on going out, the Studio 1A veteran was kind enough to let our multi-media team stop by for a four-song video set, featuring two tracks from Fuzzybrain and Harmony House. Either way, you’re going to want a Dayglow-prescribed dose of “Medicine”…

Foxtales: “Oceans of Time”

For the past few years Austin multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Fox has built up a repertoire of indie pop under the handle Foxtales. And though he already totes a robust coat of colors, Foxtales ventures even further into the realm of chillwave with a more synth-reliant sound on his upcoming fourth record, Perfect Landing.

Perfect Landing touches down on September 17th, and the next day promises a full five-piece release show performance at Swan Dive that you won’t want to miss. For today though, you can ride the tide out of the weekend and ease back into the 9-to-5 mindset with the EP’s just-released, brilliantly-mellow single (and music video), “Oceans of Time“!

Slomo Drags: “Pepsi Cola Addict”

Big news from Austin’s Slomo Drags this morning; the indie-glam-pop-rock group just announced their new EP, Twin Absorber. The record is co-produced by Danny Reisch (whose work has helped elevate the likes of fellow Studio 1A veterans Shearwater, Bright Light Social Hour, Tele Novella, and Erika Wennerstrom) and Quiet Company contributor Matt Parmenter, so you know Twin Absorber‘s gonna come out of its womb in optimal shape.

Twin Absorber drops next Spring, and today you can indulge in life’s more saccharine, caffeinated substances for an extra sparkly start to your weekend with the album’s bubbly lead single, “Pepsi Cola Addict”!

School of X: “Race For Caress”

Like hundreds of other international musicians, rising Copenhagen-based producer-drummer Rasmus Littauer was eager to showcase his music during SXSW 2020…but you know what happened. So instead of putting his debut album as School of X, Armlock, on display in the Live Music Capital, the pandemic allowed Littauer to tap deep into his own psyche and begin shaping School of X’s sophomore curriculum.

Aptly-titled Dancing Through the Void, School of X’s new LP totes an even more refined sound than its predecessor and further proves Littauer’s competence as a principal of indie pop. Dancing Through the Void drops September 24th, and with classes back in session any day now (at least here in the states) it’s best to check the syllabus early with School of X’s latest single, “Race For Caress”!

Danilo: “All I Want”

Born in Brazil but transplanted into the Live Music Capital early on, singer Danilo Riggs was stunned and won over by Western music, eating up ’80s pop icons like Prince and Michael Jackson before graduating to Jeff Buckley. Going mononymously by Danilo, Riggs has fused the traditional Latin music of his youth with the modern electricity of genre giants like The Weeknd and Bruno Mars for an intoxicating intercontinental sound.

On July 16th Danilo drops his debut EP All I Want, five falsetto-spiced appetizers that give us a taste of Danilo’s dynamics, structured out shower thoughts, and detailed dreams. Danilo performs Saturday July 17th at Far Out Lounge along with our November 2017 Artist of the Month Kalu and the Electric Joint and August 2015 Artist of the Month David Ramirez, so you’re guaranteed some good company in mid-July. Til then you can tide yourself over with the ’60s-psych-tinged title track, “All I Want”!

Boyish: “Your Best Friend”

First meeting at Berklee College of Music over a collaborative demo, singer India Shore and guitarist Claire Altendahl began exploring realms of alt-country as The Blue and released Carnation in 2018. But despite considerable acclaim over The Blue’s debut, the duo opted for a do-over after graduating the following year and rebranded themselves Boyish.

Boyish charmed us last Valentine’s Day with Garden Spider, championing the two’s inherently queer identities over an enthralling lo-fi blend of dream pop and indie. And next Friday the Brooklynites share We’re all gonna die, but here’s my contribution, a half-8-track that serves up a realistic coming-of-age aesthetic, balanced between the optimism of youth and pessimism after painful adult experiences, perhaps heard best on the EP’s lead single, “Your Best Friend”.

Dorio: “Robot Friends”

For many musicians natural, acoustic, and/or analog is the sole way to go. But Austin songwriter-producer Chad Doriocourt couldn’t feel more at home in a room filled with electronic instruments, all with somewhat pre-programmed minds of their own.

Last year Doriocourt made his studio debut under the abbreviated mononym Dorio with Yesterday The Sky Was Blue, and today, almost exactly one year later, his sophomore installation under the abbreviated mononym is finally out! The four tracks on Dorio’s Robot Friends work together like cogs, giving the EP a nice sense of pacing, but there’s no denying that the standout single is the indie-psych-pop album opener and (near) title track, “Robot Friends”!

Indoor Creature: “American Dream” [PREMIERE]

Almost a full year after COVID-19 shut us all into quarantine, we’ve all become somewhat of adjusted to a largely-interior lifestyle. But if there’s one Austin group that’s sure to stave off cabin fever (even in the name alone), it’s Indoor Creature. What started off as a duo in 2015 has evolved into a slick six-piece, whose jazz-inspired indie-pop sound has continued to expand with each passing season.

Indoor Creature is set to share their third full-length, Living in Darkness, in May, and after a long first month of hefty politics, the band’s re-aligning their prospects for 2021 with the album’s infectiously chill lead single, “American Dream”!

Julietta: “Not Today”

It feels like just yesterday that then-New Yorker Julietta was being hailed in the indie pop-ulace for her 2018 debut album Smooth Sailing. But now that she’s well acclimated to a new coast out in L.A., this singer’s spirits are ascending even further with each bold new single.

Julietta’s set to share six new tracks within the next month, forming a cube of indie-pop audacity with her upcoming EP, Levitate. Levitate reaches its optimal altitude on February 5th, and get her listeners’ heads pointed skyward, today Julietta dropped the record’s infectious first offering, “Not Today”!

This Song: Moving Panoramas Return

Moving Panoramas have a new record out called “In Two.” Listen as vocalist and instrumentalist Cara Tillman describes the joy that Elton John’s “Burn Down the Mission” brings her, followed by guitarist Rosie Castoe who explores her life long love of Peter Gabriel’s “Steam.” And lead singer and songwriter Leslie Sisson explains why “Some Song” by Elliot Smith made her feel less alone, and all the “happy accidents” that led to the band’s latest sound.

Listen to this episode of This Song

Moving Panoramas is KUTX’s Artist of the Month for March.

Listen to Moving Panoramas new record In Two

See the Moving Panoramas Tour Dates

Check out all the things KUTX is doing at SXSW this year

Check out the first Moving Panorama’s early This Song episode

Listen to Songs from this episode of This Song