BEST NEW ARTIST: LAOISE

There may not be very many artists purveying the genre of “depression pop” (a phrase coined in a 1991 Morrissey Interview. I think, or I just made it up) but may LAOISE be their new queen. From the sounds of it, this Dublin singer is poised to lead the morose millennial masses to overcome their feelings of loneliness and inadequacy through dark pop intended more to help you wallow in the darkness rather than find your way out of it. Her songs may be the perfect Yin to modern pop’s schmaltzy Yang. Laoise takes cues from BANKS and Lana Del Rey without ever coming close enough to either to warrant a significant comparison. No, she is a beast all of her own and may the world get ready for simple, haunting tunes so uniquely her.

Plus, according to Laoise’s key art, goth girls can wear pink now too. So there’s that for ya.

SHOOTING

"Shooting" is a stripped-down tune with some gentle piano and featherlight drums backing the sorrowful belting of something raw and real, without any filters or fancy tricks of the trade. This is some honest songwriting, really allowing the space for the true voice to exist as nature intended. An utterly rare gem of pop candor. I can feel the pain of existence coming right through my headphones.

YOU

While "Shooting" exists as a more stripped-down tune, "You" has got some more flair to it. Laoise opens up that bag of tricks and takes a couple of them out. Trap Drums pop out of the middle of nowhere to highlight the hauntingly dark chorus and differentiate between the familiar slow and murky verses. And then there are the creepy whispers that start this track off and appear again in the middle. There’s nothing stripped down here, just a fully thought out experimental journey into the mind of Laoise and her world of “depression pop.” She calls it Electropop, but I like my (I mean Morrissey’s) term better.

Together, "Shooting" and "You" make up half of Laoise’s Halfway EP available on digital streaming platforms everywhere. If you like these why not listen to the other two? Her new single "Rich" is out now as well, check it out why don’t ya?

Curated by my dear friend Beca. Now let’s all thank her each and individually. Please direct all snail mail c/o We Are: The Guard at 1200 Bitcandy Lane, Hollywood CA 86534.

From deep within the murky depths of the Los Angeles River emerged a creature: 50% raver, 50% comedian, 10% Robotcop. Kurt Kroeber doesn’t own a dog, operates Soundbleed (the world’s only dance party comedy talk show rave), and is down to party with you. Come up some time and say “Hey dude!” But definitely make sure to casually drop the secret Illuminati password.