Here’s our indie pop playlist for July 2021, featuring the best in independent pop and alt music:
As always, I have a few songs which I want to draw some extra attention to in this indie pop playlist for July 2021:
Nice Guy (courtship.) – Just a great pop song to kick off the first full month of summer. And you know what? It IS hard to be the nice guy.
Glow in the Dark (Night Flowers) – That opening earwormy riff provides the anchor for this track which has a very cool floating and airy vibe throughout.
Thick Skin (Bellows) – Just an interesting song with interesting changes and production, this one definitely stands out from the first plucks of the harpsichord like piano.
Don’t Say It – Bedroom (PARTYBABY) – PARTYBABY gives us a completely different look than their normal, heavier indie pop rock sound. They completely makeover their original version of Don’t Say It, this time with a beautifully wistful, stripped down re-imagining of it (which I would argue it was always meant to sound like) with acoustic guitars and toy pianos. Layering some audio from childhood home videos at some apt moments and overdubbing some touching voicemails at the fadeout of the song, they elicit some of the most powerful feelings of nostalgia I’ve ever felt through music. It’s truly become one of my favorite songs of all time.
Lightning Look (Rebel and a Basketcase) – Another track which always catches my ear because it’s just so damn interesting and stands out in any playlist. The verses are so smooth and feel like some indie pop adult contemporary fusion. Then we get into that angsty, hard hitting chorus before relaxing back into that verse again.
Sunn (Radical Face) – Radical Face’s “Sunn” starts out gradually with a moving piano bit before settling into a slow beat with some of the best lyrics in this entire collection. My favorite line: “and I used to wish my blood would travel, that my genetic line it wouldn’t end with me. But in the light of all that’s built me, I see that some dead ends, are probably for the best.” Good lord that line hits hard, especially as the music holds back at the end of it to allow that chorus to come crashing down on top of it with the next line “Come find these thoughts and pull them out of me”. A beautiful track to close out this playlist.