New Indie Music Discovery: “Fastracks” 24

Sanz Mantra is the project name for Mark Hughes, a songwriter and producer based in Melbourne’s inner north. Hughes honed his musicianship over many years gigging around Victoria as a singer and guitarist. During that time Hughes learned how to produce and arrange music in commercial studios, and now works from his own home studio producing rock, funk and classic singer/songwriter influenced jams.

Sanz Mantra’s debut release, ‘The Silent Crowd’, beautifully addresses the sobering, timeless questions which often appear during moments of self-examination and personal reflection. Familiar emotions echo loudly throughout this song.

Summed up by Hughes below:

“The Silent Crowd came to me in a period of my life when I was feeling adrift and let down by people around me. Writing ‘The Silent Crowd’ was a cathartic experience, helping me realize what was really going on in my life. I hope listeners connect with it in their own meaningful way.” – Mark Hughes

Los Angeles based KEANA is a multi-talented pop meets electronic music producer, audio engineer, vocalist, and sound designer who envisions a dream world constructed out of melancholic vocals, lush synth landscapes and hard-hitting beats. Having studied jazz music as a teen, KEANA’s vocals reflect a soft and airy, yet sultry tone. With strong mystic lyrics, her production styles range from alternative-electronic dream pop to melodramatic trip hop.

Her original focus was to be a vocalist and songwriter, but she quickly became intrigued on diving deeper and learning electronic production to create her sonic world. KEANA found it difficult to have her vision translated sonically through other producers. This is when she took interest in producing her own music and having full control, creatively speaking.

Once KEANA discovered her sound, it was like everything fell perfectly into place and she knew her life’s purpose, which is to make people tune into their emotions by having an experience and then connecting with themselves on a deeper, intuitive level. This connection deepens every time she expresses herself musically. “Music is a healing gift, a chance for people to connect with others, to think, to feel, to let go, to escape,” confides KEANA.

Her upcoming single “Teardrops” is a song that reinforces the importance of self-love in relationships. The immersive track features poetic lyricism, dreamy vocals, and dynamic synth-infused production complete with a prominent beat that creates a unique push pull effect for the listener. KEANA confides, ” ‘Teardrops’ speaks about realizing someone can only love you as much as they love themselves. The story is about being in a relationship with a “Fixer-upper,” this person seems put together on the outside but deep down they’re filled with insecurity and fear which often gets taken out on the partner. Eventually I take comfort in feeling my emotions and wish the other person would do the same.”

KEANA’s influences include Lana Del Rey, Grimes, Portishead, Massive Attack, and Bjork. KEANA never fails to deliver her ethereal signature sound.

Sitting somewhere between arena rock and the classic sound of 1960’s soul singers, Philadelphia based band PHNTMS creates music bursting with vast soundscapes and colliding instrumentation. Together, Alyssa Gambino, Adam Jessamine, and Mikal Smith are bringing back rock music while simultaneously putting their own unique stamp on it.

Inspired by everyday situations, relationships, and growing up, the band aims to create a feeling with which listeners can easily identify. Gambino reveals, “I think as songwriters, we try to capture these moments and make them as detailed as possible. We’ll always be fascinated by the fact we can freeze these moments…”

With the lead singer of the band identifying as queer, PHNTMS also hope to reach out to and support the LGBTQA+ community.

PHNTMS has seen success having performed opening spots for such acts as Kings of Leon, The 1975, Bastille, Fitz & The Tantrums, Empire of the Sun, Pale Waves, Emarosa, and Half Noise.

This is a re-release of the song, mixed and mastered with tape machine by engineer Manuel Mata (Mesa, AZ, USA). “Keep” is the first single from The Daily Spreadsheets’ first album “A Thing Again”, to be released next January 2022.

Written, produced and recorded by Henrique Neves. Drums by Guille Gardeazábal (Instagram @guillegardeazabal)

The Daily Spreadsheets is the musical alias of 40-something Brazilian Henrique Neves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL6Dk3bIoGE

Though traditionally known for her solo-acoustic style, for the last handful of years she has dedicated her time and passion to learning the ins-and-outs of self production in her humble home studio. The fruit of her labors is made abundantly apparent with the kaleidoscopic release of “Thought Form” – a transcendental and psychedelic sonic experience that reaches for the stars while still remaining grounded in it’s core message.

Previously limited by the classic bare-bones approach of the acoustic singer-songwriter act, Arielle’s intense and witty songwriting style has only been enhanced through her new electronic medium. Her infamously poetic and personal lyrics delivered through powerful vocals now meld with haunting harmonies, divinely deep bass and squelching synths to create more of a psychedelic pop version of her classic sound.