If Marana Blake doesn’t get any traction with the track California Waves, then I hope Lana Del Rey cuts it. In fact, Lana Del Rey hasn’t released a song that gives off California vibes in a long time. Back to Marana Blake. She’s an indie singer-songwriter born in Chicago. She  released a few tracks as well as several cover videos. We added the track to our Indie Invaders Playlist. Give it a stream.

We’d be better off if  more tracks like The Whole 9 flooding the streaming platforms. It’s simple, the French singer-songwriter Marina Kaye delivers the goods – the video is well crafted too. The video has already clocked 300k YouTube streams since it’s release on Feb. 10th. Her first track Twisted landed on Spotify’s New Music Friday Europe with tastemaker support from Wonderland Magazine, Hotpress, and Celebmix. I would love to see this 22 year old have more U.S. presence. Give it a stream.

Spotify gives New Music Friday a makeover. With 3.5 million followers, the playlist remains one of the most popular which highlights tracks by established artists and emerging talent.
The playlist which launched in 2014 will be given a celebration with new cover art and New York and Los Angeles billboards. Spotify’s New Music Friday Playlist became a-much-needed-force that helped artists reach a new level of audience. The playlist helped launch Billie Eilish, Tones and I, Lil Tecca, as well as Lizzo – after these artists appeared on the playlist, their stream count went through the roof.  In fact, I remember when I first discovered Lewis Capaldi’s ‘Bruises’ on NMF.

Per the doctors order, Lana Del Rey is cancelling her European Tour. Sorry to let everyone down so last minute but this illness has taken me by surprise and have totally lost my singing voice,” she said. Currently, future dates have not been re-scheduled. Lewis Capaldi also had to cancel dates after he lost his voice.

I can’t get enough of the track People Say by Ben Wylen and you probably won’t either despite what genre you love. The LA based singer takes cues singer-songwriters like Springsteen and Coldplay which is refreshing from beats with a topline.  The mid-tempo piano track which comes off his forthcoming album was crafted by a dream team – string arranger Audrey Riley (The Cure, The Smiths, Smashing Pumpkins), and mixer Steve Fitzmaurice (Sam Smith, Lewis Capaldi). Check out the video here.
Upcoming Dates:
SXSW – Austin, TX

April 2nd – Rockwood Music Hall, New York, NY
April 7th – The Hotel Cafe, Los Angeles, CA