Welcome to our monthly series on new Colorado music. Every month we highlight five local musicians, five local music videos and five local songs. Go here to check out previous entries to the series. Are you a Denver artist with fresh music you would like us to check out? Send to Mariah.Hansen@303Magazine.com for consideration.
As we shake off the last of Colorado’s cold winter chill and head into the warmth of spring, we’re infusing our playlist with music from local artists in a wide variety of genres. This month sees a rising local act incorporate a bit of Black girl magic into ’60s glam-inspired R&B, a familiar favorite delight with a powerful new album that drips with disco and a glimpse at an exciting upcoming release for local metal fans.
Be sure to check out their playlist below and don’t forget to follow 303 Magazine and like our New Colorado Music playlist on Spotify.
Five Up and Coming Local Acts
Jaiel
Listen if you like Beyonce
Local R&B artist Jaiel quietly released her six-track debut EP, Black Girl Songs, in 2018. Since then, she has remained silent. At least, she was quiet until the release of the ’60s glam-infused doo-wop, “Sunshine Lovin'” — a single off her follow-up EP release, The Magical World Of Black Girlhood, which was released just last month.
Comet Lenny
Listen if you like Peach Pit
As the guitarist for the now-defunct The Mazlows, Colton Kooker led the charge with relentless guitar riffs that would have fit snugly on an early 2000’s pop-punk album. But his latest project, Comet Lenny, finds the multi-instrumentalist slowing things down to craft songs with a flavor of ’90s alternative indie.
Hoverfly
Listen if you like Audioslave
Hoverfly started as a duo made up of two cousins — guitarist Chris Golias and drummer Tony Strayer — who turned their focus to music during 2020’s pandemic lockdown. The alternative duo quickly doubled in size with the additions of bassist Carl Mease and vocalist Andy Rimer. Since then, the local quartet has released three singles, the latest of which is “Sonder and Starlight,” which takes on the band’s optimistic perspective found in spite of the pandemic’s uncertainty, with grunge-rock driven guitar riffs that build until the crescendo collapses into entrancing rhythms that give way for Rimer’s vocals to take over.
Sauce.K
Listen if you like Yelawolf
At just 21 years old, Greeley-based hip-hop artist D’Angelo Garza, who performs under the name Sauce.K, has already gained an impressive following, with more than 250,000 streams across platforms like Spotify and Soundcloud, and a reputation bolstered by a slew of local awards, including NoCo Style’s Best Musician of 2021. After spending three years focused on the production side of music, Sauce.K shifted his focus to try his hand at rapping, leading to collaborations with artists from around the world that result in a unique sound that will feel right at home on any hip-hop lover’s playlist.
Olivia Komahcheet
Listen if you like Daughter
A recent transplant to Denver, Olivia Komahcheet — also known as Liv the Artist — is an experienced new addition to the local music scene. With almost a decade of experience performing live and a proven track record as an educator working with indigenous youth, the multi-instrumentalist will certainly be one to watch as she makes her presence known in the local scene.
Five New Local Songs
Primitive Man – “Cage Intimacy”
Listen if you like Cult Leader
Local doom and sludge fans, the wait is finally over. Two years after the release of Immersion, Primitive Man has announced their new EP, Insurmountable, due for release on May 13. Clocking in at just over 11 minutes, the relentlessly heavy single “Cage Intimacy” gives fans a taste of what they can expect on the upcoming EP. Starting off with two slow minutes of sludgy doom, “Cage Intimacy” explodes into black metal cacophony before dropping back down into a demonic and doomy slog that calls out to you from the depths and drags you closer with its gnarled claws.
moodlighting – “Pretend my friends are waiting for me”
Listen if you like Ichiko Aoba
Following last year’s coupling of singles, local outfit moodlighting released their pandemic-recorded debut album, Boy wonder, last month. The album’s 11 shoegaze-driven tracks total just under 30 minutes, beginning with the gentle, two-minute opener “Intro: Weatherman,” which layers soft soprano vocals over a low murmur that sounds like an indistinguishable conversation. The album concludes with the folky “Pretend my friends are waiting for me,” which starts off slow, but quickly builds with tension as the guitar tempo changes and the lyrics take on a questioning tone.
READ: moodlighting Delivers Comfort and Ease In Shoegaze Style
crêpe girl – “Someone, Someone Real”
Listen if you like LANY
Dueting with Chicago-based indie artist Nick Wagen, Colorado’s crêpe girl shines on the indie single, “Someone, Someone Real.” Surf-rock-driven guitar licks open the track, then Wagen’s vocals take the wheel as the instrumentals take a brief break from driving, before crêpe girl’s enchanting voice joins the chorus and guides the song to its zenith.
Hollow Head – “Sober”
Listen if you like Caamp
A trio of solo artists and long-time friends, Jim Adame, Elliott Miller and Ian Gerrard make up the local indie-folk outfit Hollow Head. Teaming up to release their first single, “If I Linger,” in 2021, the trio has quietly released a total of four tracks, the most recent of which is “Sober,” which comes ahead of their 10-track debut album, due for release later this month.
Neoma – “Go With The Flow”
Listen if you like Sea Lemon
Two years after her debut on the local scene, electro-pop star Neoma released her sophomore album, Hyperreal. An album that was inspired by a feeling so powerful it quite literally woke the artist from her sleep, it shows a new side of the local favorite, with faster tempos and greater depth than her debut Real. Hyperreal showcases a strong sense of the artist’s identity, seeing Neoma push back against societal ideals while drawing inspiration from Swedish pop icons ABBA.
READ: Neoma’s “Hyperreal” Is Caught Between Dreams and Technology, Love and Contemplation
Five New Local Music Videos
Hellgrammites – “Escargot”
Listen if you like ’68
Discombobulated instrumentals provide the soundtrack to an eery scene, featuring a housewife frosting a cake in Hellgrammites newest music video — but the scene is quickly cut short by frenzied guitar and screaming vocals that flash with images of a snail that creeps along the knife’s edge, surrounded by chaos and danger. At just under two minutes, the relentless video for “Escargot” is an experimental bomb — be ready for it to go off.
BEEEBE – “Make Me Light”
Listen if you like Rhye
With the help of Sustain Music and Nature to facilitate partnerships with five organizations focused on environmental protections — United States Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, United States Forest Service – pop artist BEEBEE‘s latest music video is a tribute to the Green River that aims to encourage viewers to consider their own environmental responsibility. Filmed by National Geographic’s Corey Robinson, the video showcases the beauty of the landscapes that inspired the song.
Plainspoke – “Happy Dividends”
Listen if you like Grieves
Plainspoke‘s latest music video is equal parts surrealist absurdism and nightmare. The single, “Happy Dividends,” comes from Plainspoke’s upcoming EP, Boxes. In the video, fragmented scenes flash on the screen, showing a world where non-threatening inanimate objects take on a terrifying life of their own.
Fi Sullivan – “Shades of Forest”
Listen if you like Washed Out
Denver-native Fi Sullivan creates ethereal electro-soundscapes that summon forth images of the the Rocky Mountains. In her latest music video, “Shades of Forest,” Sullivan leaves the comfort of her cabin to wander the wilderness, as a symphony slowly builds, layer by layer, to provide the soundtrack for the adventure into nature that unfolds on screen.
People Like Me – “DOP”
Listen if you like Beach Bunny
“DOP” finds local band People Like Me returning to the classroom, baring their emotions to the class without a shred of support. Taking difficulty with a smile, the underdogs prevail in the end when a friendly game of dodgeball acts as the ultimate showdown.