indie pop music

Soak is 18 year-old Birdie Monds-Watson, an Irish singer-songwriter who sounds at once wise beyond her years and refreshingly unfamiliar. Before We Forgot How to Dream would be an astonishing debut for any artist, let alone a teenager, let alone a teenager who, according to the liner notes, had been working on these songs for four years prior to recording the album.

Before We Forgot How to Dream is filled with mysterious and uplifting dream-pop songs that can conjure everything from mid-80s 4AD atmospherics to Laura Marling-esque chamber folk to Camera Obscura. Through it all, Soak’s is an

What is it about Swedish pop music? It’s incredibly catchy and top-notch, from the disco harmonies of ABBA to First Aid Kit’s country melodies on Stay Gold.

For listeners who love the folk side of country music, First Aid Kit plays simple melodies with an authentic backwoods sound. You would never guess the two sisters, Klara and Johanna Söderberg, are Swedish just from hearing them sing; their English is excellent and their understanding of the Americana musical tradition is deep.

Almost all the tracks are break-up songs, but the album isn’t depressing; rather, there is a such a feeling of