Picks Of The Week (16.03.24

1. Hybrid Minds - Tides [Hybrid Minds Music]

Recommended if you like: Etherwood, Fred V, Edlan

I probably don't even have to tell you why a new album from Josh White and Matt Lowe, better known as Hybrid Minds, is exciting news. By tirelessly pursuing their vision of songwriter-first hearstring-ripping liquid anthems, they have gone from two Jump Up fans trying to get a foot in the door (as you might remember from the last time we talked about them here), to millions upon millions of streams, headlining each and every single DnB festival there is (apart from maybe Darkshire) and selling out their massive show at London's Alexandra Palace in less than 24 hours. Not to mention the fact that it's been seven whole years since their last long player, Elements. I honestly thought they had given up on the album format altogether, but as a big Pendulum fan I had already learned to make my peace with that. I mean, as long as they were still putting out incredible pieces of art like Paint By Numbers, Supernova, Drowning In You and their whole Reflections EP, I was happy. You should've seen the intense hype on my face when I saw the album announcement.

So, without further ado, while the tides are high, let's dive into this newest extended work from them. Let's get washed away by the waves of emotions caused by Hybrid Minds's third album, Tides.

But wait, didn't they already release a tune called that, back in 2012, together with Shimon? Well, yeah. In fact, album opener and title track Tides is seemingly rather aware of it. Together with their good mate Fred V and his posse of vocalist friends, the wonderful Tudor and Lottie Jones, the duo crafted an intro that isn't just a straight-up vibe and a half, but, lyrically, also a declaration of love for this direction they've gone in. Back in the times of Tides V1, they've tried to steer their sound into other directions, dictated by trends or labels, but the current always brought them back to the sea of blissful liquid anthems, a field in which they are blossomed into one of the biggest artists around. With that out of the way, it's now time for our first trip on the rather rocky relation-ship the boys are so good at commanding: Fingerprints, with rather new, but already regular collaborator Grace Grundy. Initially connected through Grace's management, they have since become one of my favourite combinations in the liquid space, and this one is a great example why: Heartfelt lyricism about the messy emotional headspace that a love life full of lying, gaslighting and constant on-off fights can create, performed in such an emotionally honest way that you can't help but feel with her.

As if that wasn't tragic enough, we follow this up with the ode to a lost one that is If Love Could Have Saved You. With venbee, previously known as ER!ND and recently having risen to stardom via TikTok, giving it her all to inject the incredibly personal lyrics written by Charlotte Haining with enough cathartic energy to make any grown man cry, the already beautifully haunting arrangement of pianos, strings and explosive energy transcends into something absolutely heartbreaking, even on the twentieth listen. Next up, we've got another new shooting star on the horizon of DnB showing off her talents: Charlotte Plank! In a real full-circle moment, Charlotte went from covering Touch a few years ago, to now being the vocal force of nature behind the rave hymn Lights. Not only are we lyrically exploring the sheer ecstasy this escapistic hobby of ours can bring, with some rather hectic, breaky drums, some fast-paced vocal chops and a simple yet infectious melody the dynamic duo also managed to capture the visceral energy of it all on the instrumental side of things.

Another one of the more recent additions to the extended Hybrid Minds ensemble is the amazing Lily Denning, from Better Now fame, here returning to once more perform in the most incredible fashion on Stay. Once again, we find ourselves back on the infamous SS Romance Problems, as Lily gut-wrenchingly(ly) outlines the paradoxical struggle of the heart ignoring what the brain is saying, and, against better judgement, pursuing a course of action guaranteed to end in heartbreak, while the bois pile onto the mess with the most sad and catchy of pianos. On Maniac, the bois introduce yet another name we'll hopefully hear more from in the near future (actually very near if you continue reading): Dan Fable. Not only did he also recently experience his big break via TikTok, it was actually Low Down, his collaboration with venbee that hard-launched both of their careers basically! However, Dan had been posting snippets of his music there for ages already, and when Josh and Matt stumbled upon one particularly soulful, catchy and all-around intriguing song from a couple years back, about feeling like an outsider, they knew they had to put their own spin on it - soon enough, the most Indie-infused tunes of theirs was born, and man do I ever love it!

At the halfway point, the bois present one more new name: Brodie! Even though she just barely cracked the 18-year-old mark, her passion for all things Breakbeat and Jungle, paired with a most wonderful voice lead to her already making her mark with a signing to Best Label award winner Born On Road, and of course, the tune we are talking about here, Delete Our Love. Through a unique blend of well-flowing rap and heart-string-pulling singing on top of a heavily breaky base, the trio explore the anxieties that come with the early days of a relationship, when you don't quite yet know whether to trust the other, because, to quote Brodie, "men are cunts". Can't argue with that, to be fair. Before we start our final sprint, we take a dive into the stunning interlude Mariana, catching our breaths and preparing to go back to the shore, where the massive collaboration with British superstar and huge DnB guy Tom Walker, Castles, awaits us. Through his emotionally tormented, signature raspy performance, and the classic wombo combo of touching piano chords, uplifting synths and rolling drums, the gang gives us the mental energy to knock down the established bastions of old, and show the world what we got to offer.

Enough positivity, let's get sad in here again! On numero 10 on the tracklist, the amazing Lily Denning returns to once again lay out a whole 'nother way a relationship can be a miserable time: Burn Out. A flame that's lost its spark, be it due to lies and deception, secrets, games or drama, that not even the most desperate attempts to keep it alive seem to work anymore, leading to a slow decay and eventual downfall - all captured beautifully by a somehow even more incredible performance by Lily, wrapped up into yet another beauty of a tune. On the opposite end of the emotional spectrum, we've got the feel-good smile-inducing happy-goosebump anthem Kites, with Grace Grundy returning in a most glorious of fashion. As the most positively life-affirming, rose-tinted and loving tune on the album, it just fills your heart to the point it starts to hurt from too much loveliness. Even while writing that sentence just now, I got so distracted by the sheer senses-overwhelming beauty of it all, I completely lost my train of thought several times. There truly is nothing better.

As if they aim to drive me as far as down the emotional rabbit hole as possible, they follow this this up with Riga, featuring long-time collaborator and basically the voice of Hybrid Minds, Grimm. Somehow, even though he's been part of like half their discography, I still cannot get enough of this combo, and Riga is another excellent example why. In just a couple lines, the sheer weight of the inner turmoil that comes with losing a loved one, and the overwhelmed state of being once it all hits you, where you need to remind yourself to breathe, just comes crashing down on you, managing to bring me to the verge of tears every single time. Ugh. Lastly, we've got my Favourite Song of the album. Or at least one of them. With Dan Fable back on the mic, the trio infernale channel their inner Indie and early 2010s Chase & Status & Plan B fanbois to paint the picture of a troubled, broke, bri'ish 20-something, trying to drown their sorrows with booze, substances and hanging with the lads. One moment you're laughing at your mate's antics, the next, only the memory of them remains - brought back every time his favourite song comes on.

Effortlessly ebbing and flowing between heartbreaking and life-affirming, Liquid vibes and Indie Pop infused anthems, not just produced perfectly but also wonderfully delivered by both new and established vocalists. Especially that last stretch of songs is just impeccable in my eyes.

Other liquid from this week:

Motiv - Straight Forward EP
Aquario - Waiting For You
Archangel - Celos EP
Hiraeth, Bert H - Prisoners (Dustkey Remix)

2. Various Artists - WEAREHUMANS VOL.1 💎 [DIVIDID]

Recommended if you like: Camo & Krooked, MISSIN, Trinist

The merciless teasing has an end, it's finally time to talk about the outstanding WEAREHUMANS compilation, our Hidden Gem Of The Week™️!

In short: Almost every week, for a couple of years now, Tom Finster or his Donkongenial partner barking continues sit down on Twitch to listen to demo submissions, pointing out what flaws they can identify and how to remedy them, while drinking a Bierle or two. Over the years, the community surrounding this most marvellous idea has grown into a group of frankly ridiculously talented artists supporting each other, called WE ARE HUMANS. However, most of them have either not released any of their insane demos, or are still flying so far beneath the radar that we need a stronger word than underrated - that's why the hosts invited ABIS, label chief of DIVIDID, to the stream to see if any of them are good enough for the label. And man, did he find a real gold mine on there. Let's go through it!

We start with the Polish cinematic maestro himself, Lukher, who you might remember from me raving about him a couple weeks back, and another absolutely ludicrous (Lukhercrous?) banger of a tune, Victorious. An intro so beautiful and hype-inducing you can't help but start wobbling up and down, a mixdown so clean you keep wondering how this guy isn't signed to all the biggest labels yet, basses so heavy they rattle you to your core - mark my words, Lukher is going to be massive. Next, more experimental sound design wizardry, if not straight-up acts of god, from Swiss ominoūs multi-talent NOŪS (go refresh your memory if you forgot)! I Think You Should Go Now doesn't just feature what sounds like his very own vocals, processed so nicely and in so many different ways it's just ridiculoūs, delightfully playful little synth melodies and a whirlwind of lo-fi drums, it's also got a switchup so brain-ticklingly good my face just has to contort on impact. The opposite of monotonoūs.

As you can see I've done my due diligence and covered most of these names before, but there's one even the most loyal of readers will not be familiar with: Neezko! While this alias is a brand new 'un, Ramin has actually been trying his hand at this DnB ting since 2016, under the Impaler alias. Straight outta Schwäbisch Hall in Southern Germany, everything from Liquid, with Desert Road, to all-out Crossbreed, like on his entries for the Katharsys remix competition, was crossed off, but now that he's moved to that little village up north called Burlin or something, it was time for something new: techy madness! Want a taste? Just listen to Integrator, which rapidly, ruthlessly and relentlessly smashes your ears to pieces with the most quickest-firing bass stabs possible, while some mind-twisting bleeps and bloops push it over the top to straight-up crazy.

Of course, we've also got more known names though! On our penultimate stop, we've got none other than up-and-coming Schnitzelmaestro Moekel! As you might remember from me raving on and on about his album last year, he's got a real hand for all sorts of vibey, melodic, massive tunes - and the newest one, Ready For Love might be both his smoothest and biggest yet. A lovely vocal, mindbending sound design overtaking your senses, crashing onto you over and over - just so good! Speaking of cr3shing: Last, but absolutely not least, we've got a more uplifting switchup by Felix Schlenker aka cr3sh aka Not Fair, who we last saw self-releasing all sorts of wild loveliness. For this label debut, Felix asked himself, "Don't You Wanna crank up the super clean, piercing, melodic, unique catchiness of it all even further?", and then delivered in spades.

It really is not fair how heinoūsly underrated this lukherculean, neezkolourful Moekellection of talents is.

Other techy/weird things from this week:

Sleepnet - Lapse
LYLY - Fragments EP 💎
Howlan - stay a little longer
Dr. Apollo - Odin