motel void

Once again, we’re keeping things in North America: two tracks from the United States and one from Canada.

WAKING HOURS – FOXGLOVE

Waking Hours is an indie rock band based in southern Minnesota that started making music in the winter of 2022.

Foxglove is their latest single, released at the beginning of May. The nearly six-minute track starts off as a pleasant indie rock song, but around the one-and-a-half-minute mark it suddenly breaks into a raw, explosive burst of energy you really don’t see coming – featuring incredible wailing guitars followed by more emotional, almost screaming vocals. The song later quiets down for a moment before building back into that intense vocal energy once again. This must sound absolutely amazing live!

SUN ERA – SNOW IN JULY

When I started this blog a few years ago, Sun Era was one of the first artists I discovered and genuinely fell in love with. We even did a short interview together back in 2023.

At the beginning of May, he released a new album, Bedroom Cowboy. I haven’t had the chance to listen to the whole record yet, but based on Snow in July, I’m incredibly excited about it. The song absolutely flies from start to finish – it’s just under two and a half minutes long and has serious repeat-listening potential.

Honestly, everything about it works for me: the vocals, the melody, the production, the songwriting, the little details and ideas throughout. This is exactly the kind of song I’ll be playing all summer long, and it has me even more excited to dive into the rest of the album.

BLUSH. – NICE

Inspired by a wide range of shoegaze, ’90s rock, and folk music, Blush. is a coastal Canadian alt-indie rock band built around crunchy textures, haunting electronics, and atmospheric melodies. Nice is the third single from their new In the Grey EP, and another strong release from one of my favorite bands.

The track runs just under five minutes, and I was drawn in immediately – not only by the cover art, but especially by its dense and immersive instrumental work. At the center are occasional guitar riffs that remind me of early Smashing Pumpkins, particularly around the Siamese Dream era. The two vocalists complement each other beautifully, adding even more depth to the song’s rich soundscape.

Everything gradually layers on top of itself, building tension and momentum before reaching a climax after the three-minute mark. What I also love, though, is the ending: after all that intensity, the song settles into something calm and understated, providing a perfect contrast to what came before.