I was sixteen when I first listened to The Bilinda Butchers. During a bleak streak in December, I found a few of their early demos and held them close. Now, five years later, I still find a sense of warmth and familiarity in each of their releases. Since putting out two EPs, Michal and Adam have added a third member to the project as they worked on their debut full length. Heaven soundtracks the diary of Nakajima Ume— a story that follows a trail of catastrophically romantic movements towards self-realization and a lost lover. Read more about the album’s backstory and the Edo period on the band’s website. Heaven is out July 15 on Orchid Tapes.

Maksim and Darya are two seventeen year olds that spend their days crafting dream pop gems in the Russian city of Novosibirsk. Their music, recorded under the name Heatherwood, is a product of their loves: 80’s scandinavian aesthetics, old analogue synths, japanese toy keyboards, and each other. Their bedrooms have echoed dreamy melodies since the beginning of 2012. The young couple’s debut EP, FYR (meaning light in Swedish), brims with the pair’s youthful candor. The four-track EP was released today through my new pop label Trade Winds. Now, the future of Heatherwood, and perhaps the pair’s relationship, lays in doubt; today, Maksim leaves to spend four years studying in Finland. However, for Maksim and Darya, this EP serves as a record of all the emotions and memories that filled their last few months together in Novosibirsk. Heatherwood’s FYR EP was born in shadowed bedrooms. A lovely, drawn-out process, the recording took months— preoccupied, their days together slowly passed and faded away.

You can go ahead and download the EP for free here.

"Show me your São Paulo."

Mountain peaks. Dark streets. Lost in a maze of crisscrossing roads in some misty South American city, Trails and Ways brings us upbeat rhythms and lyrics that relive late-night Brazilian escapades. Far from these hazy memories and the stories in which they dwell, the four-piece finds its home in Oakland, California. You can download Trails and Ways’ latest release, a collection of singles entitled Trilingual, over at the band’s bandcamp. Think Jorge Ben Jor having a little night out in Malmö with The Radio Dept. Well, not quite— but I can dream. dream nova.

"I wanna tell you how you’ll understand—I will;

nunca nunca.

te esconder, desaparecer.” 

"I lost you in Jericoacoara. I lost you in Floresta Tijuca. I lost you in every part of the country."

Madràs is a place far away— a place that no longer exists on maps but the city’s name alone evokes strong memories (‘childhood innocence, railway stations, being in an auto rickshaw, wisdom from simple people’) for Jeevan and Mathew Antony. The two brothers were born Madràs, now known as Chennai, in southern India and much of their music under the name Madràs is a product of their nostalgia for the place. Last week they released their beautiful debut album thingscanchange, which you pick up at their bandcamp. I’ve spent the past few days entranced by the thirteen-track release. I was so impressed by the effort that got in touch with Jeevan to see if he’d answer a few questions about Madràs, the album and future of the project— he said yes. Check out his words below.

• Several of the tracks on the album deal with issues of time, its passage and a longing for a there and then (‘older,’ ‘thingscanchange,’ ‘will wait’)— could you describe not the time that you were writing about, but the time when you first started recording songs as Madràs? How did it all come about?

I had another band with my brother, and a friend, called Fou. We were busy recording Fou’s debut record, but I had these ideas that didnt feel Fou-ish. I had just graduated from university, and was still coming to terms with other personal changes in my life; it was a weird/difficult time for me- I guess I have trouble with letting go. I recorded “Older”, and showed it to my brother around May of last year. We’re usually hard to please when it comes to our own material, but he really connected with the song, and encouraged me to explore it further. With that, everything just came out very easy.

• So I know that things started as a solo project. With such personal music grounded in nostalgia, did another person’s input change things? How did your brother’s inclusion affect the recording process?

To be honest, writing music without my brother inevitably feels unnatural, and/or incomplete. We come from a very close-knit family; we all know each other inside out. I think having my brother help me write/finish songs made the whole process easier; he knew where I was coming from and what we were trying to express. 

• What kind of moments or scenes do you think are most fitting for your music. Also, what sorts of images were you envisioning as you worked on the album?

Love, loss, water, rain, winter, fog, sincerity, humility, intimacy, passion, vulnerability, betrayal. 

When working on the album I would often imagine walking through railway stations in India/travelling around India by train, or picture the backwaters of my father’s hometown. 

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Vancouver’s Teen Daze has emerged with a new album from his side project Little Chords. A beautifully laid-back set of ethereal lo-fi jams, Afterlife, presents a care-free middle ground between Jamison’s Teen Daze and Two Bicycle projects. The release comes at an exciting time for Jamison as he’s set to embark on European tour in April and his debut Teen Daze LP, All Of Us, Together, is set to drop May 22nd on Lefse. Check out a couple tracks from Afterlife below— you can stream and buy the whole thing here. 

Little Chords - Always/Never

Little Chords - Remember

Stockholm-based dream pop trio Postiljonen has yet to disappoint. For months, behind frosted windows they recorded utopian dream-laced ballads. New motivation arrived as spring emerged from the depths of winter. More sits ahead for these three. Talk of a proper release casually creeps into conversation. But for now, a new track, ‘Dit bara drömmar når’ rises with a well-rested sun.

where only dreams reach

lyssna.

It’s been over a year of waiting. Last January, Cascine gave us our first glimpse of Swedish dream pop trio World Tour with their single Sparks. I was dying for more. I scoured the interwebs. I unearthed some old relics—from the time before WT—when they were a duo called I Always Wanted A Pony (I just checked their old soundcloud page and they’ve recently upload two dance-oriented tracks under their old name). World Tour came back in October with a beautiful Karl X Johan cover.

Winter came quickly. World Tour waited. Indulged by demos, I thought I knew what was coming. They mixed. They mastered. Now they’re set to deliver a four-track set of songs. World Tour’s Believe EP is out April 10th on Cascine— the stork of all sonic goodness. Each track an expansive dreamscape, the EP brims with memories of luscious summer wanderings watching the sun slip back, beyond the hills. This EP belongs in the woods on clear night where stars shine on, trickling down. Supple melodies and hushed romances are sprinkled throughout, their texts faded by the sun— yellow pages curled and crinkled. Listen to Believe.

Algodón Egipcio (aka Ezequiel ”Cheky” Bertho— one half of Venezuelan duo Jóvenes y Sexys) released his debut album La Lucha Constante last year on Lefse. After a year of touring around Venezuela, Portugal and Spain (he’s trying to get a US visa), Cheky’s back with a new single off a limited run split 7” with Spanish band El Faro from the Canary Islands, it’s out now on Club Social. Stream Algodón Egipcio’s pair of dreamy jams off the single below.

At the beginning of the year Russian dream-poppers Galway released a couple of demos that left me yearning for more. They’ve spent the past few months recording their first album and developing a collective of like-minded musicians in Moscow. With a frustratingly small community of musicians the city, they say it’s hard to be distant from other artists (they’re tight with my first Russian dream-pop obsession White Wishes). Now, just as winter’s shadow begins to drape over the early afternoon, I’m ready to sit down settle down and get cosy with something new from my favorite Russians. Last night they sent over their their debut album entitled Mria. The twelve-track release includes crisp re-recording of their earlier jams as well as a host of new gorgeously spaced-out tunes. Infectious guitar riffs, atmospheric sonar pings, invigorated drums and lofty vocals drift through out Mria. Pay what you’d like for Mria over at Galway’s bandcamp.

Galway - Justine

Galway - Sunrise 1991

una niña capitan de un submarino

Buenos Aires’ Paula Garcia has been recording self-described ‘watery music’ under the moniker Sobrenadar ('float’) for nearly a year. She blends together reverby beats, electronic elements, guitar, and her floating Spanish vocals to create wonderfully expansive and emotional dream pop tunes. At the end of last year she released her debut EP, which you can download here. Check out her most recent work over at her soundcloud. burbujeante.

Sobrenadar - Campo Estelar

Sobrenadar - Esmerilado

Sobrenadar - Sommeil Paradoxal