NEW TRACKS - WINTER 2021
Keep your winter playlists fresh with these new releases from up+coming singer/songwriters in the sunbow community!
LOVE AND WAR - ELLE MITCHELL
Elle Mitchell, who just released her debut single “Love and War” is a 16-year-old singer/songwriter from Boston, Massachusetts. With musical influences like Lana Del Rey and Coldplay, Elle combines dreamy, raspy vocals with upbeat yet soothing instrumentals to house this track’s introspective narrative. The song’s lyrical inspiration comes from Elle’s observations of her parents’ marriage as well as the experiences of her friends; its lyrics incorporate reflective questions like “I used to know you, but it is me who has changed?” and, in the chorus, “what is it for, in love and war?” The track is a must-listen from an up-and-coming artist! Connect with Elle on instagram at @ellemitchellmusic.
-Ella Bailey
Listen to “Love and War” here
HOW DO YOU FEEL? - BRIANNA KNIGHT
How Do You Feel? At first was a beat I spontaneously made after speaking with another producer about drill beats. I've never written a song to a pure hip-hop/trap beat so I was excited to expand my skill set. When writing the lyrics it came from an angry place. Prior to posting a freestyle on my instagram, two guys from my hometown basically tried to tell me it wasn't my place to rap or produce. Instead of insulting them, I blocked them and finished the song, and put my energy where it needed to be. I'm just diving into hip-hop but I know that I have stories to tell whether angry or sad. I'm more than just an R&B artist, I'm an artist. I also feel the song came from me wanting to do something out of the box. Before I dropped this song, I hated people boxing me in. I enjoy good music, I don't care about the genre. I can sing, I can rap, I can produce and I can play just like everyone else but because I'm a black woman I have to prove these things which I think is unfair. I give passion and emotion to everything I do, I am enough and that message is received by people that understand as well as vibe with my music.
The music video came from me wanting to emulate one of my inspirations, Missy Elliot. The beat felt too fun to try to tell a story so I decided to stick with really fun visuals. My friend, A1Trilogy, when discussing the video knew we had to add some colorful, vibrant and almost psychedelic material to it. He chose the edits with me laughing and acting goofy. We had so much fun editing and shooting the video, we wanted to emulate that to everyone. Although the lyrics are coming from an angry place, they were still said in a way that made it feel light to digest. I can't stay angry for long, it's not my thing. Moving forward, I hope my songs can continue to explore emotions in an eye and ear grabbing way.
-Brianna
Listen to “How Do You Feel?” here
SATURDAY NIGHT - BARBARA TERESA
18-year-old singer/songwriter Barbara Teresa’s recent release, “saturday night,” is a dreamy heartbreak track that is a must-listen to any fans of Sasha Sloan, Olivia Rodrigo, and Julia Michaels. In speaking of her inspiration for the song, Barbara explains, “I wrote it about a guy who clearly got over me before I got over him, and the frustration of being the one who ‘had it worse’ post-breakup. We told each other we’d stay friends, but it didn’t work out, and that’s what inspired me to write this song.” The track, which was produced by Danny Balentine and written by Barbara herself, fits perfectly into today’s pop landscape. The “saturday night” music video was released earlier this week and can be found here.
-Ella Bailey
Listen to “saturday night” here
BEND OVER BACKWARDS- LILLY BIDWELL
Hi, I'm Lilly Bidwell, and I make alt-pop music for professional eye-rollers who live in Tim Burton films.
I'm a singer-songwriter, producer, photographer, and art director, but my favorite part of the music-making process is melding melodies, lyrics, and vocalizations to comment on the strangeness of the world around me. Sometimes I speak from the depths of my consciousness, but I often write from the perspectives of invented characters as I find that these made-up people help me uncover new facets of myself. I try to create a sound that is at once dream-like and inescapably bound to reality, as if stuck halfway between this dimension and the Twilight Zone.
My latest release, a single called "Bend Over Backwards", is composed, performed, and produced by me with assistant production by Brendan Canty (Fugazi). The single and accompanying music video explore the struggles of a concerned friend of a substance abuser, portraying the feeling of helplessness in a relationship destroyed by addiction. A darker take on Lewis Carroll’s “Alice In Wonderland'', the film sheds light on the dangers of psychoactive drugs as it constantly blurs the line between fantasy and reality.
-Lilly
Listen to “Bend Over Backwards” here and check out the music video here
012121 - YAZIDA
“012121” is a bedroom pop song named after the day it was created and later posted. That day, while browsing my computer I found a voice memo of mine of what seemed like a melancholic guitar sample, followed by very rough vocals of a 16-year-old at the time. I figured it would be interesting to turn into a little tune. And while the inspiration for the overall song rhythm came to me quickly, the lyrics were a blur. I thus decided to talk about what I know best: unrequited love while somehow “breaking the fourth wall” in music and discussing how I turned this song into a better version of what it was in 2016.
Compared to what I normally do, I took a different take on the song-making process when it came to “012121.” Firstly, because—no matter how simple—I never finish a song within a day. Then, I usually pay a lot of attention to lyrics, rather than the melody, which wasn’t the case for this song.
-Yazida
Listen to “012121” here
