Councilor At-Large | Hannah Robinson | A.P. Michaels
Ahhh, Sundays… Finally a moment to sift through the submissions and find some new favorites, as well as hear from some familiar faces.
Alex Leombruno, aka Councilor At-Large, is an LA-based queer musician and filmmaker. They immediately caught our attention with the track, “Love Bomb,” which comes from their debut EP, set into motion after the disbandment of Leombruno’s previous project, Mirella, who called it quits earlier this year. “Love Bomb” is a track about a painful breakup that involved betrayal, which is familiar subject matter for many-an-artist, but Leombruno possesses a firm grasp on the craft of songwriting and this one is bound to become a fast favorite of all who listen:
November also marked the return of one of our favorite Gateshead-based dream pop songwriters, Hannah Robinson. Robinson is no stranger at UpToHear, as some might recall us featuring her previous banger, “Nineteen,” a track about trying to fit in while falling apart inside. Her new track, “Hypnotised,” is about “the romanticised idea of a person, a relationship and about being lost in your own mind. It’s about fear of loss and rejection, and about being absorbed by a situation and not being able to think straight. You are constantly thinking about a person, and dreaming of what could have been, while the other person no longer cares and wants to just walk away.” Most of us have been there, so this track not only provides us with another stellar performance from Robinson, but also some much needed empathy in a world that is, at times, severely lacking.
And, finally, A.P. Michaels won us over a couple months back with “Neon Love,” which dealt with the frustration one often finds in romantic pursuits. But he’s come back at us with “Communicate.,” a song in which he yearns “for vulnerability lost in a sea of disingenuous behavior.” Michaels describes the reason for writing the track: “to explore my relationship with someone as I felt it crumbling. Perhaps a loved one, perhaps even myself. It's deliberately simple in its approach, but deeply open at the same time. It's everything I'd want a song of this subject matter to be.” If you feel like getting lost inside of lovely and soulful vocal performance, press play on this thing:
-TM