The Singles Jukebox

Aces of fashion though…

[Video]
[6.71]

Iain Mew: A lovingly detailed bit of historical genre recreation which nonetheless sounds full of life and, more importantly, feels like falling into an infinitely welcoming blanket of clouds.
[8]

Claire Biddles: The electronics are a little pastiche-cutesy but this is quite lovely, especially the hazy vocal harmonies in the chorus. Also while you listen, may I suggest a scroll through the absolute ’70s pattern-clash LOOKS this band are serving on their Instagram?
[6]

Alfred Soto: Lovely guitar parts and a yearning high vocal distinguish this Filipino act’s single. They even persuaded me to translate the lyrics, most of which are pretty good. 
[7]

Julian Axelrod: I’m a sucker for this very specific brand of synth-pop: a lush, gentle drift anchored by persistent drums and a forlorn falsetto. It’s a warped and hazy kind of beauty, like seeing a sunset through a city’s smog. And it’s refreshing to see IV of Spades put their own twist on a sound popularized by reedy white guys, supplying lush, yearning harmonies that far outclass the vocals you’d find on, say, a Washed Out record. I feel like its sprawl would be more effective if cut into manageable bites, but there are worse worlds to get lost in for five minutes.
[7]

Ryo Miyauchi: How IV of Spades takes to heart an older era of studio rock music as their repertoire reminds me of later Toro y Moi albums with their musical chops up to par with their love for the music that they channel. But while the slacker in Chaz still shows, this band clings on to more earnest, devotional records.
[6]

Jonathan Bradley: I’m not sure if Japan’s city-pop sound of the 1980s ever made it to the Philippines, but “Mundo” glides in that lounge-funk lineage. The shimmering clarity is something to behold, but at close to six minutes and with a tempo that crawls its way too deliberately through that runtime, the languor starts itching at me. A restrained but impressive guitar solo arrives half way through as a balm and a release.
[5]

Will Adams: Dreamy without being cloudy, sprawling without being overlong, and reverent of genres past without being pastiche, “Mundo” is a wonderful defense for restraint.
[8]