NYC Scene Report – Rosa Bordallo, Jennifer Denali, & more

This week’s NYC Scene Report features Rosa Bordallo performing some “Sleight of Hand,” Jennifer Denali admiring the “Falling Leaves,” No Swoon showing their “Faces,” and Operator Music Band taking a trip to “Fiji.”

* NYC, via Guam, artist Rosa Bordallo is someone many in NYC’s indie rock scene are familiar with thanks to her time in the band cholo, and a trio of solo EPs under the moniker Manett. Last month she released Reef Walker, her first album under her own name, and the lead single involves a little “Sleight of Hand.”

Bordallo explained “Sleight of Hand” in a statement, saying, “‘Sleight of Hand’ is about an unreliable lover, sort of a louche grifter type, but the singer has fun with him anyway. It’s an ode to sex, frivolity, and hedonism. I realized afterwards that ‘sleight of hand’ cuts both ways – it can be her despair (he left me), or, alternatively, her power (I made him vanish).”

Click play on “Sleight of Hand,” and hear the magic of Rosa Bordallo.


* There are still a few weeks left in autumn, so it’s the perfect time to check out the “Falling Leaves,” especially if you’re talking about the latest single from soulful pop artist Jennifer Denali.

Denali explained the inspiration for “Falling Leaves” in a statement, saying, “‘Falling Leaves’ is a genuine return to self-love. It’s a metaphor for having the courage to break patterns and leave the four walls that you’re so used to, to find the freedom in loving yourself again. It’s about the moments of weakness helping to build a strong person, and a stronger love for yourself. It is also hopeful, and a reassurance that you’ll put yourself first the next time you're in a relationship.”

She added, “I wrote this song because I was longing for the words that I could only tell myself. No one else can empower me to love myself, I have to do it alone.”

Check out Denali’s self-love anthem, and enjoy the “Falling Leaves.”


* Brooklyn-based shoegaze/dream pop duo No Swoon released their self-titled debut album earlier this month, the latest single off of which is “Faces,” a song that tackles the feeling of being lonely in an overcrowded city.

No Swoon duo Tasha Abbott and Zack Nestel-Patt explained the supposed juxtaposition in a statement, saying, “A day living in a city puts us in proximity to an insane number of people, and that number increases ten fold when you add what we see on social media, yet so many of our friends are struggling with loneliness. It’s hard to build and sustain a close community, and in many ways, how we are forced to live in this city specifically makes connecting to folks difficult. The generally cramped apartments we share make it hard to have people over, and the struggle to pay rent makes it hard to have income to go out, and this is beyond the general exhaustion so much of us feel from hustling.”

Click play on “Faces,” and realize that when you feel lonely you are certainly not alone.


* Closing things out this week is some supremely weird sh*t from Operator Music Band, because who doesn’t love supremely weird sh*t?

The Brooklyn-based electronic art-pop band released their sophomore album, Duo Duo, back in September, the most recent single off of which is “Fiji,” and the video for it is WILD.

Not a destination, or a brand of bottled water, this “Fiji” features a fuzzy muppet character bouncing around an Operator Music Band show, a show that is, in itself, a very sweaty, fun looking time.

Hey Operator Music Band, if I can make it to a show, can the muppet be my wingman? (wingmuppet?)


For more of the best of NYC’s indie music scene, come back next Wednesday, and check out the archives for previous columns.