Headphones: ‘Uncanny Valley’ and Dean Lewis Bring The Sound
Coin
Today, Man of the Hour wants to explore upcoming music from around the world from male artists that have a distinct sense of self and that is portrayed excellently in their music. From pop and disco to slight influences of rock and alternative, even delving into folksy singer-songwriter territory, the power that these three artists have and what they are wanting to say with their work is strong and quite captivating. To add, it’s not just in the United States where we can see these up-and-coming artists. Across the world we can see this sort-of phenomenon appear, and it is such a wonderful thing to enjoy as an avid listener and fan of all kinds of music. Finding new discoveries on one’s musical journey is something to cherish, and we hope this can expose new audiences to some amazing music. Without further introduction or hesitation, grab your headphones, press play on the music, and let’s get to listening.
Album Of The Week
Uncanny Valley by COIN: Rock bands are not as common nowadays as they used to be, but the presence of viral TikTok acts is continuing to influence Gen Z, and as a result are bleeding into the older generations too. However, we are beginning to seethe rise of a new kind of rock and a new kind of alternative, and COIN is such a great example of how new, up-and-coming bands are clear in their thinking, their aesthetic, and their presentation. It’s modern, unique, and unlike rock in the past, polished and easygoing. Rock doesn’t have to be rough around the edges or straight to the point, it can be different too.
Songs like “Chapstick” and “Cutie” begin the 14-track album, and easily define that this album will have rock and alternative influences but will have more of a pop music thinking and approach. The muffled vocals, the hypnotic drums and beats, and the leading guitar and bass lines remind the listener of rock from the 1990’s and 2000’s, but it isn’t as aggressive or urgent. This part of the music is almost like the rock of the 1960’s, which was much more involved in what was popular music at the time, and even the vocals in COIN’s songs and how the songs begin, and end transport the listener back to an energy from the 1960’s. It’s interesting and lures you in even further.
COIN themselves are a pop-rock band who have had mild success on the rock and alternative markets. However, this album sounds so pop-forward that it has all the potential success to crossover. Their aesthetic is very clearly defined, and all of the sounds have a similar feel and vibe to them. The album itself is not a concept album, but it is structured like it is, with songs bleeding into one another and feeling as if they could be stitched together into one bigger song. Similar themes of love and attraction can be found between songs, and the production doesn’t wildly vary from song to song. Things get more and more different as the album progresses, but it never strays too far away from the general ethos the album is focused on.
Still, despite all of these pop influences, there is a presence of rock and alternative sounds that dominate the album. On tracks like “Brad Pitt” and “Take The Stairs” have more of a rock-focused orientation, but we also have tracks like “Blackbox” and “Getting Older” that are more mellowed out and present a different kind of rock. This unique mix of what rock and alternative music was in the 1960’s and in the 1990’s seems like it would never mesh right, but COIN makes the mix work, and continue to work song after song. The connections are strong and stable, and having an album that is so cohesive but not a concept album is a feat within itself. In the course of 40 minutes, COIN forms their own little world of sound, mixing different eras of pop and rock together into something that is unique and unlike anything else. The modern touches and technologic themes make what they’re presenting even more unique. Despite the repeats of the line “Something isn’t working” on the last track, “Loving”, something is absolutely working here, and it has created a pretty remarkable pop-rock album, something that is rare in modern music and hasn’t been seen for years. It’s very well appreciated.
Single Of The Week
“Tainted Love” by Isaac Dunbar: Even though Isaac Dunbar is only 19 years old, he sounds full of experience and influence from the past. His most recent single, “Tainted Love”, can instantly transport listeners to a certain 1980’s hit of the same name. However, this song couldn’t be further from that. It’s a 1970’s-tinged easy going listen with strong disco influences and taking a modern twist upon all of that. Just from the cover art, this looks like it could sound from that era. In 3 minutes, Isaac takes us on a journey and all of its highs and lows. This song wouldn’t sound out of place on a record like Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia, but it has its own direction and flair that makes it uniquely Isaac Dunbar. It sounds quite alternative, but simultaneously has an appeal and catchiness commonly found in today’s Top 40 radio. However, when one looks a little bit under the surface, there’s so much more depth in this song that makes it different and makes it much more appealing than before.
The song tells a story of a couple madly in love, trying to get into bars and not caring what anybody else thinks, just simply enjoying life because they’re in love. It is the polar opposite to the next song mentioned in this article, but that just goes to show how eclectic the modern music scene today is and what it brings within its new artists. An entire atmosphere is created that feels straight out of a 1970’s film, and this is even referenced within the lyrics, as the refrain states “Just give me that tainted love from the movies / I’m a star, you’re my groupie / You and I living large, disco groovy / I’m just your type, baby, just for the night”. We never know why the love is tainted, but we’re still just as enthralled in it as the listener like Isaac is when he’s singing.
How the atmosphere is created within the song isn’t just from the carefully crafted lyrics, nor the amazing vocal delivery from Isaac, but it is also the production of the song itself. The laid-back vibes, the steady drumming, the heavy synths, the muffled backing vocals, and the hard-hitting bass lines contribute to what makes this song feel so old but also sound so new at the same time. Still, if we go back to those vocals and those lyrics, they still play just as present a part. The euphoric rise in Isaac’s voice, when he hits the notes in his falsetto voice, it makes the vibes that the song wants to convey even more obvious. It’s love, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
This is the type of song that you blast on the radio on a summer afternoon, driving for no reason. It’s also the type of song you can find yourself dancing to in the middle of a crowded club. To add, it’s even the type of song you can silently enjoy by yourself, tapping your foot along to the beat and humming the chorus. It’s adaptable, effervescent, and almost timeless. It achieves every single thing that it’s trying to achieve, and it spins it around into something that sounds like a modern disco classic. Disco has seen an emergence as a genre recently, and songs like this only help to contribute that specific rise, capturing that specific energy straight out of the 1970’s.
Must-See Music Video
“Hurtless” by Dean Lewis: Fade in from black. We see a hospital room, filled with empty beds with the exception of one, where a man is on life support. We find this man at some point in the past with a girl, and in a car together. There is no clue of what happened in the past, and what happens next, but at one point in time the relationship seen in the car changes, and we see the girl visiting her possible boyfriend in the hospital, solemnly. With some knowledge and trying to connect the dots, it can be assumed that the two had an argument in the car, which led them to crash. The crash isn’t actually depicted, but the man can be seen throughout the video as scarred and bruised. Intercut with shots of an overturned car, the man stuck in the hospital, and the girl standing there with no idea on what to do, the video is hypnotizing and presents strongly.
The music video for “Hurtless” by Dean Lewis is extremely striking and impactful, and easily communicate the story woven between the lyrics into a visual media. Dean Lewis himself is a Danish-Australian singer-songwriter, who has massive acclaim and success in his home country of Australia but has not that much exposure elsewhere. However, “Hurtless” has all the ingredients to become a major hit not just in Australia and the United States, but across the globe. It has appeal, it packs a punch, and it says something. And it doesn’t communicate this just through the song, but also through the music video, which makes the video in itself quite appealing and notable.
By itself, the lyrics are profound and beautiful. Verses and lines like “So go ahead and tell me what I did to deserve this / And I’m not saying we were perfect / I hope that one night with him was worth it / But telling me that it was a mistake don’t make it hurt less” carry such an emotional weight to them that it resonates hard to people who can relate to it, and still makes a strong impression on other listeners who might not have those kinds of experiences. These kinds of actions can be emotionally dangerous, and in the music video we see them be mentally and physically dangerous too. Juxtaposing the fallout of such a revelation like cheating within a relationship with a literal car crash is quite ironic, but also extremely effective. It is so creative and original, but the idea feels like it’s already been thought of a thousand times.
Yet the best thing is that it hasn’t. It’s fresh, strong, and raw. And what more could you ask for from a singer-songwriter? Dean Lewis has had success outside of Australia before but hasn’t had the long-lasting exposure and notoriety to maintain familiarity in foreign markets. However, I believe that “Hurtless” could be the vehicle to do just that, and there is no better way to leave an imprint and a memory on a person’s mind is to have an effective music video. That is exactly what is achieved here, in all of its successes and in all of its glories. It is the pure confluence of the power art and music have.
