After the last notes fade to black, the ghost of Someone New continues to haunt you — it’s an utterly unforgettable record.
There is a haunting beauty to the music of Someone New that’s oddly enticing. You can feel the songs dragging you closer, like an unexplainable desire to explore the unknown.
Throughout Someone New, on top of its hypnotic mix of the strange and familiar, Deland's vulnerable voice helps make her self-conscious, searching commentaries all the more engrossing.
It takes one line from Someone New, the debut record of Helena Deland, to suck you in. The song starts with a droning hum, with Deland suddenly appearing with the line "If I could have every thought" in this hypnotic tone like a siren leading you into the deep waters. The song in itself is a perfect encapsulation of what the rest of the record would sound like going forward, as Deland shifts a minute in towards something a little more bridging on indie pop, with delicate guitar ... read more
Someone New has some beautiful moments and great songs, but her sound doesn’t feel fully realized yet. Her vocals remind me of Lana and Billie Eilish, but the songwriting isn’t as interesting to me. The production is nice, but the songs themselves end up being a little boring and sleepy overall. She definitely has talent and potential, but this is just a little too forgettable, even if pretty decent.
Helena Deland's whispery vocals seamlessly fall back into the deep layers of experimental dream pop production without becoming reliant on a constant soundscape. She leaves space between verses; the synths complement her echoey background vocals often. There aren't too many catchy hooks here, but they remind of other indie acts in a similar lane when they appear. On Truth Nugget, we start with a rumbling snare into the bassline and droning synths as she sings of emotional vulnerability. Then ... read more
- Review #4 -
This is fine, a bit forgettable, but I'm sleepy now...
Listening to the JPEGMAFIA album, then this back-to-back is giving me severe whiplash. I had come into this project with high-ish expectations (not so high that it's unreasonable, but high enough that I was expecting something pretty good) due to her great feature on "Free The Frail". As her section of the peggy track was serene and pretty, it was enough to convince me to check out this project.
What my brain ... read more
1 | Someone New 3:49 | 89 |
2 | Truth Nugget 4:41 | 80 |
3 | Dog 3:52 | 76 |
4 | Fruit Pit 3:16 | 70 |
5 | Pale 3:01 | 75 |
6 | Comfort, Edge 3:43 | 73 |
7 | The Walk Home 2:29 | 67 |
8 | Seven Hours 2:24 | 68 |
9 | Smoking at the Gas Station 4:33 | 71 |
10 | Lylz 3:03 | 79 |
11 | Mid Practice 3:57 | 79 |
12 | Clown Neutral 4:42 | 76 |
13 | Fill the Rooms 4:15 | 68 |
#1 | / | Gorilla vs. Bear |
#5 | / | Les Inrocks |
#13 | / | NBHAP |
#18 | / | The FADER |
#30 | / | The Line of Best Fit |
#30 | / | Under the Radar |
#39 | / | Exclaim! |
/ | Vinyl Me, Please |