Linying

Linying

2020's - current
alternative indie
first song that reeled me in: "Donovan" DONOVAN single, 2024

A voice: sultry yet undeniably cool. Would be described as buttery if not for that perfect little chalky edge around each word. A St. Vincent-esque electric sound fills your headphones. It's like a dance beat, but not like those tired tracks played at a club. The ones where nobody can recollect the artist's name, but the buzz keeps them moving. The bass feels perfectly grounded while the scratchy sound effects perk your ears and keep you higher. By the time the hook comes, the vocals hit sounds signature of Grimes' - an unexpected delight. There's beauty to it. There's groove. There's mischief. There's something cinematic about it - not quite epic, but full and curated, while still keeping it casual. 

You save the track for later, hoping beyond hope you remember to revisit the artist and that if you don't: the track will emerge from the ocean of other saved songs at just the right moment. 


THERE COULD BE WRECKAGE HERE (2022)
After no less than eight singles/LPs and nine album features, I am brought to the two full albums this artist has created. The first: a eight-track collection that starts you off easy. "This Time Tomorrow" is far more buttery than the track that brought me to this artist. I honestly don't think I would give it the time of day if I hadn't already become invested in the research. It's the anonymous kind of track that - while it has beautiful parts and sounds here and there - Spotify would toss into my "Weekly Recommendations". And that I would pause brushing my teeth to skip. The sames could be said for the second track. And third... oh forget it. I guess this one's not for me! You know how back in the day: a cool artist would come out, you would zip off to the record store and proudly purchase their CD, pop it in the car and bob your head along the whole way through - until it came to that one lame, slow, nothing track that the record label made the artist put on there? This is a record full of only those nothing tracks. 

Apologies for harshness - only trying to be honest/frank. Perhaps I had my expectations too high. Can you blame me? After hearing the St. Vincent-esque first song, I feel as though this album misrepresents the artist in their current form. Perhaps this was before the invention; before the artist found their current form. 

SWIM, SWIM (2025)

Oh, dear. 
We start off with "Fridge" - an intriguing title! ...For a song that sounds like it was created for a Disney film. The character is having a hard time fitting in. It's sad. There's a montage. By the end of which: the character realizes: They're gonna make it after all! Weird is GOOD! Yikes. At least there's a little more of a pulse to this one. Same can be said about the album's namesake track, "Swim, Swim". "Blondie" begins and I reach toward the towel so I can throw it in. I am shocked! I think this might be my first non-victory in this blog/series so far. These albums just feel like one feeling each, all the way through. And neither of them are exciting, intriguing or full. 

WAIT.
"Dial Tone" has a chill, cool. Reminiscent of Pale Honey's "Over Your Head". This may be out of clamoring desperation, but this one's not bad. Kinda good. Like a track that could have been on a quiet-hit 90's/early 00's flick about a cool female character going through life. Could certainly go on a playlist with some Tori Amos. Didn't see that coming - how neat! Then comes "Donovan", to keep my neurons zipping, followed by "Pink Gel", a song that could have been on Garden State. The vocal process/mix sounding akin to Iron & Wine's "Boy with a Coin", music to follow with less percussion. A great song to rot on the bed and feel sorry for yourself to. Noted. 

The rest of the album is an unremarkable blur. This collection feels a bit disconnected from itself. Like Linying just "cleared the counter", throwing all of her unpublished works into a box and pedaling it as an album. Detached and rattling as she goes. 

...I guess I'd better stick to the singles on this one...
Hopefully the next artist I research will have a little more life to it!