Behind the moniker MorMor stands a Toronto native named Seth Nyquist. The 25-year-old singer-songwriter only started churning out music last year and his name is already on everyone's lips. This is mostly due to the strength of his debut EP Heaven's Only Wishful, a nifty self-produced collection of five songs boasting the lush bedroom pop DNA and the sultry sophistication of R&B and disco. Clocking in just under half-an-hour, the EP managed to showcase Nyquist's knack for seamlessly blending genres and creating the sound and narratives which are entirely his own.
The follow-up to Heaven's Only Wishful arrives in a form of the six-track EP titled Some Place Else. Here, the Canadian multi-instrumentalist digs even deeper into the existential dread that dominated his previous work. "Another day like yesterday/ Where it all just slips away/ A change of scene, a change of pace/ I'm waiting on some better days," he intones in quivering falsetto before repeatedly questioning, "Is there some place? Is there some place else?". Next track Outside echoes the same sentiments, albeit with a slightly more upbeat instrumentation. "Looking outside, I'm scared to die/ The sky won't hold light, it leaves me blind/ How can I find the Sun?" goes the windswept chorus brimming with longing nostalgia.
But it's not until the mid-tempo Days Like This that Nyquist's soulful voice truly comes to the fore. Lyrically, he's still struggling to get out of the darkness ("If I could find a peace of mind/ If I could see where the Sun had gone") and craving a companion with a listening ear ("Walk with me to the other side/ Where I can tell you all about my wants"). Pass The Hours sparkles with breezy guitar chords and driving basslines while Make Believe is dedicated to the oft-underappreciated thrashing cymbals. The EP concludes with the only obvious break-up song, Get Away, which also happens to be the least memorable number of the lot.
Quotable lyrics: "Who will hold me up? I wanna touch the sky" (Pass The Hours).
The verdict: Though largely mired in existential doom and gloom, Some Place Else does offer some relief via Nyquist's explorations of genres and rare musical versatility.
Listen to this: Outside, Days Like This, Pass The Hours, Make Believe.
THE PLAYLIST
Kirin J Callinan / It Takes A Muscle To Fall In Love
After M.I.A. gave Spectral Display's 1982 gem It Takes A Muscle To Fall In Love a makeover on her third record Maya back in 2010, it's now Kirin J Callinan's turn to put his spin on the Dutch new wave classic. And while M.I.A.'s version is a glitched-up reggae affair, the Australian singer-songwriter's is a slow burner filled with all the quirks and quiet menace he's known and loved for. "When everybody leaves you lonely/ And times are worse than sad… Just remember for all you know/ Good or bad, come what may," he deadpans, followed by a sitar motif that occasionally uplifts the song. "You're gonna live tomorrow if you don't die today/ It takes a muscle to fall in love." The track will appear alongside the previously shared cover of The Waterboys' The Whole Of The Moon on his forthcoming fourth album -- a collection of covers titled Return To Center.
Wasuremono / Self-Help
After proving worthy of the title "Cut of the Week" with their emphatic single Are You OK? back in April, the UK four-piece rolls out another indie-pop anthem in the form of Self-Help. Set to funky basslines, the feel-good track expands on the theme of optimism previously tackled on Are You OK? and makes use of the call-and-response to stir up an action/reaction. "All I really wanna say/ Is I wanna help ya!" vocalist William Southward implores with all the fervour of a life coach.
RICEWINE / Toothache
As RICEWINE, Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Talae Rodden makes lo-fi indie-pop infused with subtle, jazz and hip-hop elements. Found in playlists with titles like Study and Sleep, his songs seem to serve two primary functions: providing the soundtrack to doing everything and absolutely nothing. His latest cut, Toothache, pretty much falls under this duality, albeit with an added layer of vibrancy via summery acoustic guitars. "But does my love ache like your tooth and does living life make you feel tired? And does your heartbreak from the bullshit found the rhythm let me take you all right," the 19-year-old singer mumbles his syllables in a near breathless hook -- like one long emo Snapchat hashtag.
Ciara / Beauty Marks
Anyone who has heard Ciara's lead cuts Level Up and Thinkin Bout You will agree that her return to the music scene after 2015's Jackie is one that bustles with renewed energy. Even with the R&B ballad title track of her seventh studio album, Beauty Marks, she's living proof that the best foot forward is to love yourself, embrace your imperfections and the rest will probably fall into its place. "I look in the mirror, and I see all my flaws/ But you see light in all I do/ Now I'm realising that the ugliness I saw/ There are pretty things to you," she croons on the piano ballad produced by singer-songwriter Skylar Grey, who's penned some of the biggest chart-toppers including of Eminem's Love The Way You Lie, Nicki Minaj's Bed Of Lies, and Diddy and Dirty Money's Coming Home.
Blink-182 / Blame It On My Youth
"I wasn't born with the rich blood… I got stuck in the thick mud/ The flash flood, punk rock, and the alcohol," Mark Hoppus begins on Blame It On My Youth, the first taste of Blink-182's upcoming eighth studio album. Musically, it's all rather classic Blink-182, which means straightforward pop-punk which has been their bread and butter since day one. "You could never kill my high/ I'm the ink and you're the headline… You could never block my shine/ I've been lost since 1999," adds Tom DeLonge's replacement Matt Skiba.
