News: BlackPlastic.co.uk, now on your music streaming platform of choice

BlackPlastic.co.uk has been running for over 20-years now, and in that time, I’ve resisted doing too much to change the formula. This is, first and foremost, a blog focused on describing music I love using written words.

At the same time, the way we all consume music has changed massively in that time. A enduring change is the rise of playlists - something I was embracing back when they were still burnt onto CDs, or recorded onto MiniDiscs (I still miss my MiniDisc player).

I’ve long wanted to have a way to access the music I cover on BlackPlastic in one place, with links that endure longer than Soundcloud embeds often do. With that in mind, I created a playlist, featuring the songs covered on the site, and realised I could also share those with my readers.

I currently have playlists for Apple Music and Spotify - if you enjoy BlackPlastic, please add those playlists to your streaming services of choice, as it actually helps the site. If there is interest in having playlists for other platforms, let me know, and I will potentially look into creating them.

Right now it mostly covers my latest tracks, with a few from last year, but over time I will add anything findable on the relevant streaming services for posts moving forwards. At some point I may remove some older songs, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Watch: Take a Look at the Flowers by Glassio Feat. Madge

On BlackPlastic.co.uk again following his recent single, Off the Cuff, Glassio is back, and this time he has brought company.

On his new song, Take a Look at the Flowers, Glassio has teamed up with avant-pop artist Madge. The song is resplendently produced, filled with warm colours and soft, layered synths.

As mentioned last time I covered Glassio, his new album, The Imposter, which is released today, is concerned with identity and authenticity. The album has moments of doubt, questioning one’s purpose and sense of self, and Take a Look at the Flowers represents the culmination of the full-length release. As a result, it reflects a softening of the anxiety — a realisation that our sense of self is always there, it is sometimes just a little hidden beneath the surface.

Describing the song, Glassio (real name Sam) says:

‘For a time, I lost my sense of self … I’d been performing roles — for people, for the industry, for an idea of who I thought I was supposed to be. This album was me stripping all that away and finding the real voice underneath.’

For an album about the self, it feels revelatory to end on something so authentically personal. It is a beautiful kaleidoscopic hug of a song, Madge’s vocal performance feels so pure-hearted that I can’t help but find it reassuring.

Check out Take a Look at the Flowers below, and look out for The Imposter, out now.

Listen: Bad by Oleyada

Described as Lily Allen meets The OC soundtrack meets David Lynch, Bad is the latest single from Canadian artist Oleyada.

With distinctive West Coast vibes, Bad was written in Los Angeles with Grammy-nominated product Rodrigo Martins. Whilst the song rides syrupy, laid-back melodies, the sweetness is deceptive, with lyrics that betray LA’s more sinister side. The dreams of celebrity and success may be alluring, but Oleyada hints at something darker, hence those references to The OC and Lynch. The easy-going atmosphere of Bad is what draws me in, but it is the biting lyrics that gives the song some depth.

Recording music in her bedroom studio, the Uruguayan descended artist’s musical craft was self-taught. Rather than pursuing classical theory, Oleyada chases sounds she feels instinctively, even if she can’t fully explain them.

Check out Bad below:

Listen: How I Do by V!ctoria

Based in New York, singer, songwriter, and musician V!ctoria has just unveiled How I Do, a heartfelt single that rides a wave of gentle instrumentation and emotive vocals.

Having spent the best part of six years making music professionally, V!ctoria recently took a step back to refine her craft and artistic vision. Resisting the urge to be pigeonholed, she has actively embraced a style that spans genres, from R&B to indie and alternative, her sound is fluid and evolving.

On How I Do, this manifests in a stripped back sound that centres on a steely guitar riff, as V!ctoria’s vocals ask for a moment, and for the space to express herself. Written, recorded and produced in her bedroom, How I Do has a disarming depth, taking inspiration from the experience of ‘doing something out of character just to feel close to someone you’ve lost’.

Set atop an upbeat dance-influenced melody, the core of the song remains emotionally resonant. Vocals grasp at fragments that feel like rituals — ‘I grind my teeth on cigarettes, just to taste your lips again’ — partly a way of processing, but also maybe an attempt to shift reality and influence outcomes. The result is vulnerable and honest, and just a little courageous.

Listen: Eyes First by Sad Alex feat. Grayson Foster

Arriving with the kind of upbeat percussion and soft synth pads that quicken my pulse, Eyes First is a song about falling head over heels for someone from the first moment you see them.

Eyes First is the latest single from new artist Sad Alex. Pursuing her art through not just her music, but also through drawing, Sad Alex has taken to producing the artwork for her releases by her own hand. Together with Grayson Foster, Sad Alex has turned in a song that bubbles with the excitement and energy of a kind of irresistible attraction. It is the kind of obsession where the more you get to know someone, the more it feels like they are the perfect match for you.

Embracing a kind of 80s plastic sheen, I can’t help but feel buoyed by Eyes First’s desperate affection, where even the pain it describes only exists because of how wonderful something feels it could be. Together, Foster and Sad Alex have made a pretty great little pop song, and I’m here for it.