motel void

Today, we’ll be traveling across three different continents, while stylistically circling around the realms of lo-fi, bedroom pop, and folk.

RAINY DAY CAFÉ – WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE SOMEDAY

Rainy Day Café is the recording project of Ben Williams, a British songwriter and recording enthusiast whose work blends lo-fi charm with a strong DIY spirit. The project began in 2021, when he moved to the seaside town of Brighton. We’ve already recommended him here a few times in the past – and once again, we simply can’t resist.

We’re All Gonna Die Someday is a punchy lo-fi burst just under two minutes long, built around a rather morbid, yet undeniably truthful refrain: “We’re all gonna die someday.” What I really enjoy about Rainy Day Café is the aesthetic: deeply garage-rooted, yet irresistibly catchy (Guided by Voices vibes). The verses, especially when driven by the drums, are playful and immediate, while the simple chorus reinforces the song’s impact. Excellent stuff.

BIG HECK – SECRET BLUE TRINKET

From the UK, we move to Australia – and stylistically, from lo-fi textures to a cleaner, brighter sound. That’s where Big Heck comes in, a musician originally from Aotearoa (New Zealand), whose project released its debut album The Earth! The Heavens! The Sapient Stars! this December. The record consists of seven tracks, and here we’re highlighting its second song, Secret Blue Trinket.

Beyond its strong melodic sense, the production deserves special praise – along with the inventiveness that seamlessly connects distorted guitars, calm and restrained vocals in the verses, and energetic, raw, almost shouted passages in the choruses. Instrumentally, this is a richly layered track that constantly keeps you guessing – you never quite know what’s waiting around the corner.

SAMUEL CAMPOLI – I WOULD WAIT

To close, we head to yet another continent — North America, specifically New York. The genre shifts as well, as Samuel Campoli is firmly rooted in folk songwriting. I Would Wait is the penultimate track on his latest EP Going to Places, released in early December.

What stands out to me here is the experimental edge Campoli brings to the folk genre. The song begins rather “innocently,” but his subtly psychedelic vocal delivery quickly evokes the era of Jefferson Airplane. His melancholic, slightly mysterious tone also reminded me of Dave Bixby – one of my favorite songwriters from earlier decades. That said, this is by no means a ’60s revival. On the contrary, the production and overall feel are distinctly modern (I would even say ‘timeless’), especially in the second half, where the instruments begin to flow and intertwine, creating a genuinely hypnotic experience.