So Below - Sleep

How much impact has Lorde had on the championing of music from New Zealand? Certainly since her global success there seems to be more eyes and ears focusing on that part of the planet and maybe, just maybe, So Below will be the next artist to benefit from that exposure. Debut song Drift was an impressive start and has already amassed 35k+ plays on Soundcloud and now she (for we’re still assuming it’s just a she and not a band) returns with the song Sleep. With its insomniac hookline of “I can’t fall asleep,” the song carries the mysterious vocalists melody by way of a rubbery, lolloping groove and some serious piano chords buried deep into the track. After a few listens we’re convinced it’s as impressive as Drift - take a listen er..... below.

So what do we know of So Below so far? Not a lot, although there’s a new picture (we feel a bit like we're presenting Crimewatch here, but if you recognise this woman get in touch), an instagram account with just 14 followers at the time of writing, and there are hints of some connections on Twitter. Aaron Short of The Naked & Famous tweeted that he was involved with So Below, and as his solo project is called Space Above. Could the ‘above’ and ‘below’ point at clues or is that just us desperately trying to make something out of nothing? Take a listen to this Space Above track (here) – a cover of a Naked & Famous tune - that vocal sounds pretty familiar don’t you think? 

Edit 25/09/2015 The mystery is no longer a mystery. Shortly after this post we received contact from one Maddie North, a New Zealander based in Los Angeles who recognised the picture above; because it's her. Maddie tells us that after relocating from Auckland in 2012 she began exploring her talents by exploring heavily processed vocals and harmonies over simple yet dark laptop beats and this formed the basis of So Below. As already suggested she also features as a member of Space Above, but the above and below name link was purely an accident! Maddie has now begun the process of transforming her So Below project to something ready for the stage as well as readying her debut EP.

So Below - Sleep

So Below - New Waves

If you’re the sort of person that likes a blog that is ‘only about the music’ – you’re in luck today. For although we’d argue strongly that music websites are never 'just about the music' (even the ones that claim they are), and that politics, fashion, culture, context, imagery, ideas, concepts and entertainment all have a part to play, with this New Zealand artist, the one song is all we have to go on right now. Even the promo picture purposefully hides the identity of the artist. 

But the tune itself, Drift, with its ominous electronics, air of musical gloom, and desperate words  “Even if you change your mind, it doesn't have to mean that it's over,” is worth writing about. Call it pop noir, dark electronica, midnight music, nu-goth, whatever you want to call it, it’s pop that doesn’t feel celebratory or joyous or even particularly colourful – and that’s fine. Sometimes it’s good to lurk in the shadows a bit. According to the small handful of blogs that have written about So Below so far (we’ve found three, one each from America, Germany and Portugal) she (for we assume the artist is just a she and not a they) has named Nine Inch Nails as an inspiration. So that’s your one tiny piece of tiny context. For now.  

So Below - Drift