Local Spotlight | 5 local songs out this week

Jacksonville artists are keeping us on our toes. We barely had time to reflect on the best local releases of 2021 before a new wave of great tunes come across our speakers. 

Here’s five quality tracks from local artists that’ve been bumping in our headphones of late. 

Leo Sun – “All Good”

The second single by Leo Sun, the moniker of Jacksonville native Matilda Phan, is a summer tune meant for blasting at full volume whilst driving to a beach picnic, replaying last night’s blissful encounter with your latest crush. With lines like “You’re everything I have asked for,” and “Get crazy with me on the dance floor,” “All Good” is likely to replace your breakfast with butterflies or at least remind you of a time when you ate butterflies for breakfast and the very sight of a new love was enough to make you want to break out into song.

Teal Peel – “Smello Coffee”

Multi-instrumentalist and producer Taylor Paul Neal assembled a band of frequent collaborators (Brian Lester-VRP, Bobby Kid; Caleb Hollan-Viewers like you; Daniel Hubert-Primary School; Landon Gay-Howdy) for his own project, Teal Peel. The band’s debut single “Smello Coffee” explores boredom and apathy, and is driven by a power-chord chug and painted with reverb-y guitar strums that wail into overdrive and watercolor smears of pedal steel, all of which is compressed tastefully into an artful, lo-fi presentation that smacks of ‘90s alt- and art-rock outfits like The Pixies, Pavement, and Guided By Voices. Read the full review.

Lost Club – “Alone”

The latest single “Alone” from Lost Club is indicative of Nick Garcia’s savvy, technical skills as a singer-songwriter, player, and producer (particularly as a guitarist)—not a universal commodity in the age of Bandcamp glut. “Alone” is hope and melancholy battling it out over the verse/chorus sonic plain; all contained in the hi-fi sheen. Read the full review.

Laney Tripp and Jacob Cummings – “Passing Sun” from Fishing From Heaven

Florida-bread, LA-based indie folkies Laney Tripp and Jacob Cummings have collaborated on a lush and dynamic collection of experimental folk called Fishing From Heaven. Anchored by Tripp’s acoustic guitar, deft vocal delivery and dreamy lyrics, and ornamented with an array of ambience compliments of Cummings, “Passing Sun” blows through like welcome on-shores on a sticky summer afternoon. Read about the duo’s album release show on Friday, July 16.

John Aloszka – “Tomorrow’s My Birthday” from I’ve Seen You Around

Singer-songwriter John Aloszka moonlights as the Creative Director of Jacksonville alternative news magazine Folio Weekly, and he flexes his creative muscle on a minimal and understated collection of experimental folk called I’ve Seen You Around. “Tomorrow’s My Birthday” is a showcase of Aloszka’s contemplative balladry, and his unique ability to spin a very specific yarn (in this case about approaching adulthood with naivete and skepticism) into a song with much deeper resonance.