Soundscapes and Stories, Only at little chief

Review

“V.I.P.” by Exzenya

Exzenya flips the whole VIP thing on its head with this track, and it’s pretty clever, the talented artist delivered something unique and meaningful, and the beat hits hard while Exzenya spits bars about courtrooms and mandatory seminars like she’s recapping the world’s most uncomfortable field trip. She’s got this knack for taking crappy situations …

Review

“Far-Off Summer’s Night” by MAHUNA

MAHUNA, the Berlin-based Irish songwriter pulled this one straight from a dream, and honestly, it shows – there’s that hazy quality dreams have, where everything feels important but you can’t quite explain why. He keeps things simple here, just voice and folk instruments doing their thing without any fancy production tricks. You can tell it …

Review

“terminal” by Wotts

Ottawa’s indie pop duo Wotts digs back into their hip-hop past with “terminal”, a song about the weird limbo you get stuck in after a breakup. The beat hits with these lush synths that wrap around your head while keeping things bouncy enough to nod along to. Those Childish Gambino vibes come through in the …

Review

“Marzanna” by Marianne Nowottny

Marianne Nowottny’s covers album under her Marzanna alias takes on some serious heavyweights like Kate Bush, David Bowie, Joni Mitchell, Siouxsie and the Banshees and somehow makes them all sound like her own creations. After a brutal five-year recording process that included multiple hard drive crashes, she finally got this thing finished. Her voice is …

Review

“Something New” by Kaia Fincher

Kaia Fincher has crafted a debut that sneaks up on you with its quiet power, as “Something New” wraps listeners in warm synth textures and honest vocals that feel like late-night conversations with your best friend, and there’s a real sense that she’s sharing something personal without oversharing or being too precious about it. You …

Review

“Kissing Stacey” by Dreaming Soda

“Kissing Stacey” by Dreaming Soda came from watching some YouTube video about Barbie movies and queer theory, which honestly sounds like the most random source of inspiration ever. The production on this thing is really solid without being overdone, and you can tell they spent time getting it right at Hercules studios because every little …

Review

“Dark Charm” by Sugar Scars

The El Paso/Juarez duo knows how to build tension without getting too heavy-handed about it, layering in dance elements and shoegaze textures while keeping those gothic vibes running underneath everything. You can tell these guys learned a lot from their last album, “Rhythmic Body Reflexes” because they’re playing with sounds here that feel both experimental …

Review

“The Maine Thing” by Kevin Driscoll

Kevin Driscoll stumbled onto something good with his latest single. A guitar riff discovered while exploring Maine’s coast became the backbone of a song that sounds like it was recorded in your buddy’s living room – in the best possible way. The track runs on simplicity without being boring. Driscoll played everything himself except for …

Review

“Bad Dreams” by Katie Belle

The Atlanta singer-songwriter Katie Belle takes her real struggles with insomnia and wraps them up in synth-heavy beats that’ll get your head nodding whether you want it to or not. Her voice has this scratchy quality that works perfectly over the electronic layers, like she’s singing from that weird space between being awake and asleep. …