Courtesy Cherished
Audio By Carbonatix
Colorado musicians ended the year with a bang, releasing albums or EPs or teasing 2024 releases this holiday season. Here’s a list of the best new music from December:
Cherished
other bodies
The Denver dreamscapers of Cherished kicked off the month by sharing a new four-song EP, other bodies, on December 1. The first release since the band shifted away from its original name, Lowfaith, last summer, other bodies highlights the same brand of shoegaze and indie rock the group has become known for since forming in 2015.
Showcasing the work of dynamo vocalist Cloe Madonna, also of local hardcore outfit Destiny Bond, the new songs are brooding and melancholic on the surface, but there’s a sublayer of subtle sweetness to Cherished’s latest music that keeps it from being downright depressing or self-loathing. “Slaughterhouse, Where I Laid” and “Weekend Girlfriend” hit like heart-wrenching love songs, while “False Chorus” and “Petals” are more pensive. Perfect for the dark days of winter.
VCTRE
East Kings Point
Aaron Pough, the EDM artist known as VCTRE, may be new to Denver, having recently moved here from his native Alabama, but he’s been making bass-heavy beats since his college days back in the 2010s.
A string of singles preceded his debut 2019 album, Palindrome, which officially put VCTRE (pronounced “vector”) on the map. The song “Morning Light” has nearly 1.2 million streams to date. VCTRE, now a regular on the festival circuit, treated his legion of listeners to an early gift on December 1 by releasing his sophomore album, East Kings Point, via Deadbeats. The eleven new tracks, including standouts “Forest Catcher” and “Pull Up,” showcase VCTRE’s signature ability to bend a bass line into intricate and atmospheric sound designs. The Denver scene has another heavy hitter.
Spectral Voice
“Red Feasts Condensed Into One”
Death metal is not known for lengthy opuses full of arrangements and tempo changes. It’s a brutal, if not primitive, form of music most of the time, and not many death-metal bands can write a comprehensive thirteen-minute song. But that’s exactly what Denver’s Spectral Voice did on its new single, “Red Feasts Condensed Into One,” which was released on December 8.
The death-doom quartet shifts between genres and tones to create an otherworldly soundscape. Featuring members of Blood Incantation and Black Curse, Spectral Voice is gearing up for the release of its sophomore album, Sparagmos (aka a ritual act of dismemberment), via Colorado Springs label Dark Descent Records early next year. “Red Feasts Condensed Into One” is indicative of the new full-length, which is just over 45 minutes in length but comprises only four songs.
In Plain Air
Sunnyside
Denver band In Plain Air is hard to pigeonhole. The group’s new EP, Sunnyside, which local label Mean World Records released on December 8, doesn’t make it any easier, either. The trio, which originally met at the local School of Rock, is into ’70s psych rock, funk and progressive metal.
The five songs of Sunnyside have all of that, but there are also some softer indie rock and emo elements in there at times, too. Inspired by such bands as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tool, In Plain Air members Jake DeMarco, Ben Maillaro and Nate Tharp create a sonic spectrum on tracks “Ratslap” and “No Bloody Moon,” both of which are full of more metallic riffs. Album opener “A View From the End of a Dream” and closer “Laika” lean into heavy psychedelia.
Conway the Machine featuring KNDRX
“Mind Tricks”
Denver singer-songwriter, producer and MC KNDRX (aka Cory Kendrix) makes an appearance on the new song “Mind Tricks” from New York City hip-hop artist Conway the Machine. The title track of Conway’s four-song EP released on December 8, “Mind Tricks” was produced by German lo-fi musician Wun Two, who collaborated with Conway on latest album Palermo (released December 22).
The guest spot caps off a productive year for KNDRX, who is prepping for the release of his upcoming record, Wish You Were Here, which will include the previously shared single “Me, Myself and I.” While there’s no official release date for Wish You Were Here, KNDRX hopes to build off the momentum of 2021’s Gumbo, which charted on the iTunes Top 10 Hip-Hop/Rap list.
Asbestos
Wishful Thinking
Denver hardcore punk outfit Asbestos might be one of the scene’s best-kept secrets. While most bands are actively releasing and promoting new music via streaming platforms or social media, Asbestos is more of an in-person-only group. In fact, Asbestos has no social media or online presence outside of a Bandcamp page that shows a 2020 demo and rehearsal.
Originally a solo project of local photographer and sign artist Sam Rupsa, Asbestos now also includes Marc Canfield. The duo shared some new music: the seven-inch Wishful Thinking, released by Virginia’s 11 PM Records on December 15. The EP’s seven songs, originally recorded last winter, are quick hitters – the longest one, “Expiry,” is just under a minute and a half – but they pack a punch. The latest release is also a precursor to a new record, according to 11 PM Records.
Blood of Lilith
“Savage Daughter”
The Denver heavy-metal femme fatales of Blood of Lilith celebrated the winter solstice on December 21 by releasing a Yuletide special single, “Savage Daughter,” complete with a music video. The song, a cover of Wyndreth Berginsdottir‘s original, was already empowering, but add in the thrashy metalcore of Blood of Lilith, and the Norse-inspired tune barks even louder.
Amber Chance (drums), Lisa Ogden (guitar and vocals) and Maggie Alex (bass) are still busy promoting their debut album, ORIGINS, which dropped earlier this year, but wanted to do something special for the holidays.
Want your music to be included in our monthly roundup? Email it to editorial@westword.com.
