Taste Test, Edition #2: Amigo the Devil, Jordan Prince, Yelle & more

Welcome to Taste Test, a review wrangling of SubmitHub-only gemstones.

“Cocaine and Abel” by Amigo the Devil

The strings and guitar crackle and snap underneath the cutting tutelage of Amigo the Devil frontman Danny Kirano’s blood-soaked attack. He’s fossilized in the kind of ancient misery that continues to rip our world apart bit-by-bit, and we might lose in the end, but we at least gave it a valiant effort. “Cocaine and Abel” simmers in steady time, but when the emotion curdles into his throat like cottage cheese, he explodes and refuses life’s cruelty in such barbed ticks that the world comes to an end as we know it.

“Most Famous Surprise” by Jordan Prince

Jordan Prince’s “Most Famous Surprise” is brimming with emotion, the kind that makes your heart soar and ache, but filters that emotion through a serene symphony of acoustic guitars and strings. Built around the complicated love that exists in a long distance relationship, the third single off Prince’s new album ’12 Songs for 12 Friends’ perfectly encapsulates the quiet warmth and gentle loneliness that comes from knowing that wherever you are, there’s someone hundreds of miles away that holds your heart. – Chris Will

“OMG!!!” by Yelle

Lip trills and hand percussion tap-dance across the eardrums. Your heartbeat begins to race, and French provocateur Yelle takes her perfectly-moisturized hand in yours and leads you out onto the dance floor, which flows with electrified bodies and glitter and spinning neon and a notion that life is never better than when you are really, truly, actually free. Yelle zips and zags into the spacey yonder, her voice flippant but weighty and biting, dipping in and out of various planetary orbits. But you remain grounded, breathing in the smell of the dive bar, and all you can do is smile.

“Promise” by Warhola

There’s a visible tension in the steely harmonies and shuffling groove in Warhola’s “Promise,” the crooner wading his way through what could be a blooming romance, if it weren’t riddled with either party’s detachment. Though his voice sounds robotic and the production around him sounds ready to swallow him whole, there’s a distant longing and sadness in Warhola’s voice that keeps the song grounded. A perfect ode to the end of summer, and the complications that come with those summer flings that may or may not be meant to last into the colder months. – Chris Will

“Heading for Something” by Andy Rozz, featuring Jidborn

You look yourself in the mirror, but you don’t recognize the person staring back at you. You’ve had a breakthrough moment, and while the eyes look familiar, an eerie presence creeps onto your skin. Andy Rozz’s “Heading for Something” unleashes that effervescent burst of bubble, rubbery elastic popping across your fast, in slinky runway struts, and all you can do is dance it out…for now. “Wanna let it go / Beneath the stars I’ll be finding peace alone,” sings Jidborn, crystalline and unwavering. His confidence is born of the dreamy, gaseous forms pulsating in the song’s rope-like fibers.

“Conquerer” by Wolf Saga

Have you ever gone on a long walk on a clear, cool night, letting the muted sounds of the world around you melt into your self-reflection – and in that walk, come to a realization that gives you the strength you need to strive forward? That’s what Wolf Saga’s “Conqueror” sounds like, the star-lit synthesizers and thundering percussion sweeping you away in their unbridled optimism. Standing in the midst of the thrumming synth-pop majesty, Wolf Saga looks to his idols and predecessors and uses their battles as inspiration to move into a better future. – Chris Will

“Don’t Rush” by WAJU, featuring AIYA

The R&B elixir is blended with AIYA’s mellow but even-keeled timbre. “Don’t Rush,” an underpinning of WAJU bouncing between the underground and the jet-blue skies overhead, skitters into the smoldering blacktop. Even when the drops babble like a brooke in springtime, it’s never at a cost of urgency, stemming from the life coursing in their swollen veins. The adrenaline rush buzzes to the tongue and then to the brain, rattling the nervous system in its wake. It’s a lethargic injection of subtly, and we’re totally here for it. Don’t rush, baby doll.

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