Listen: Bruising by Lila Holler

The latest single from Liverpool, UK/Seattle, WA artist Lila Holler, Bruising builds slowly. Glassy vocals and muted guitars create a 90s-esque folk-pop sound as Holler rapidly weaves together a series of intimate lyrical couplets.

Bruising hits its stride in its chorus, a minute in, fuzzy bass guitar establishing a hooky bed for Holler’s vocals. Increasingly frustrated, she asserts that, ‘you love me like propane, it’s just what kept you going… oh it’s useless, and I can feel us bruising’. The song switches back to the saccharine stylings of the verse, staying there for a brief 30-second interlude, before suddenly pulling me back into that chorus.

This time Holler’s vocals are joined by a pulse racing soft cacophony — layered percussion, warm bass tones, guitars and overdubbed all vocals all tumble together to give me goosebumps. It feels like Holler has been holding back on us — deliberately dulling herself to match the dissatisfaction of her relationship. A bit of me feels cheated by that first chorus, which is fine enough, but doesn’t have the fucking fight that I now know Lila is capable of. But then, isn’t that the point? Bruising feels great precisely because it gets you there gradually, a lesson in the power of contrast, and of layering.

Taking inspiration from the likes of Phoebe Bridges, Clairo, and FKA Twigs, Lila has created a little nugget of pop perfection. It also acts as an analogue — a reflection of the three-dimensional depth all of us have and are capable of. Why should we be expected to reveal everything, to those around us, straight away?

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Watch: Take a Picture by Vitesse X

Having loved the heavenly progressive pop of her 2023 single, Right Now, I’m excited to have another jam from Vitesse X to feed my ears.

In the piece linked above, I mentioned how Right Now reminded me of the stuttering emotional electronics of BT. A group in a similar vein, who I haven’t thought about in years, are Swansea progressive breakbeat outfit Hybrid. Their orchestral breakbeat track Finished Symphony, and its accompanying album Wide Angle, sounded like the future when I was in my late-teens. In 2000, the group released a mixed album of Hybrid remixes, Entitled Remix and Additional Production by…, and on it was a remix of the rock band Filter’s Take A Picture. It was a crunchy piece that blended fractured beats with (ex-Nine Inch Nails guitarist) Richard Patrick’s surprisingly laid back and blissed out vocal.

It therefore feels like completing the circle to hear New York producer, vocalist, and DJ Vitesse X take on that same Filter track. She plots a journey that is much closer to Patrick’s original than Hybrid’s, her vocals imbuing the music with a similarly cracked performance, so close to Patrick’s delivery that it feels slightly uncanny. Where the original was all sunny grungy guitars and looping baggy drums, however, Vitesse X employs broken beats and soaring new age melodies, all whilst retaining a feeling of relaxed looseness.

When I asked, Vitesse X confirmed she wasn’t previously aware of the Hybrid remix of Take A Picture, and she only discovered track’s late 90s club remix history after recording her cover. The track has long sat on the edge of Filter’s catalogue, a little different to everything else Patrick released under that moniker. And Vitesse feels she was responding to the same elements that lead to others creating remixes — an underlying psychedelic atmosphere. She notes the way the song struck a chord with her, leading to the cover:

‘I was listening to Take a Picture in the car in the winter, deep in some heavy emotions. I was feeling really detached from the current state of music and exhausted by the demands of the modern world. When the song came on, I was immediately transported back to a feeling I had completely forgotten existed. A time where life felt tangible and simple and pure. It was honestly transcendental. I opened up my phone notes to remind myself to make a cover, and a month later it came to fruition.’

Check out Take a Picture below.

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Listen: Bitter by Maisy Kay

With muted, steely guitars, the new single from British-born, LA-based alt-pop artist Maisy Kay’s wears its heart on its sleeve from the beginning. Picking over the wreckage of a terminated relationship, Kay portrays herself as fragile, ‘Like a hummingbird trapped in a cage of porcelain’, and drinking again.

That muted guitar is gradually surrounded in a wrapping of deep bass and loose, textured percussion, much as Kay’s lyrics gradually strengthen her fragility with something resembling a skeletal strength. The chorus cements Kay’s position, overdubbed vocals reflecting an increasing stamina.

Bitter comes in at the point after a relationship where the determination to survive kicks in. Kay’s lyrics swing between a sense of heaviness, weighed by the lost hope of what a relationship could have been, and a resolve to heal and move on. Between a gradually building vocal and some deft instrumentation, Kay has created an emotive piece.

Born in Claverley in Shropshire, Maisy moved to Los Angeles at the young age of 16, the same year she won her first ASCAP award. She has since been gradually building her reputation as an indie pop artist. Check out her latest song, Bitter, below.

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Watch: Simple Like That by Malaika

With low slung bass and light vocals, the new single from Malaika is built around contrast.

On Simple Like That, the Dorset-raised, London-based artist brings together elements of grunge instrumentation with a dream-pop aesthetic. Beyond the kind of bass Kim Deal would be happy with, drums punch with the vinegar of a garage rock outfit. In contrast, pillowy soft synths bring a feeling of innocence, as Malaika’s angelic performance floats on the surface. The tension is right there in her performance, the delivery honey-sweet, yet the lyrics simmer with disappointment.

Simple Like That is taken from Malaika’s debut EP, Dye My Hair Dark In The Summer, a release that deals with the reality of becoming an adult, as the artist describes:

‘Dye My Hair Dark In The Summer is an EP that encapsulates the last six months of my life. It’s about being a girl in your 20s and finding the fun in this world despite its hardships.’

Check out Simple Like That below, and listen to the full album on your service of choice here.

In addition to listening in the post, you can find almost all the music BlackPlastic covers on the music player of your choice. Add the dedicated playlist below:

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Watch: Chalk by Antony Szmierek

Opening with a deadpan vocal and a low swagger of bass line, Chalk is the latest release from Antony Szmierek.

Depicting a game of 8-ball, there is a startling, poetic vividness to Szmierek’s description. Small references to a stack of 20ps (that’s twenty pence pieces, to non-Brits) and the line, ‘The chalk’s just there for comfort’ encapsulate perfectly the feeling of dingy pool and snooker halls.

The story telling is combined with a kind of electronic post-punk. Square 808s provide a pulse to Szmierek’s stress-inducing delivery as he says, ‘Everyone can face a crisis, but not everyone can make it home’. Akin to a moment of clarity, cool synths wash the song as our protagonist enters the zone, stating ‘I’m on the edge’. The song pings back into its darker origins, elastic bass bouncing like the balls on the table as he takes his shot.

Overall, Antony Szmierek has created one of the most cinematic yet naturalistic pieces of music I have heard in some time. It’s a thrilling and light stylised experience. Check it out below.

In addition to listening in the post, you can find almost all the music BlackPlastic covers on the music player of your choice. Add the dedicated playlist below:

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