NYC Scene Report – Frankie Rose, Yvonne Ambrée, & The Upsides

This week’s NYC Scene Report features Frankie Rose with a “Return To Dust,” Yvonne Ambrée teaming up with Eraserhood Sound, and The Upsides with a song about loss.

* Frankie Rose will be releasing her next album, titled Hila, this Friday, and it will include the fantastic alt-pop single “Return To Dust.”

The album, as a whole, is a must-hear, and “Return To Dust” is a perfect example of why – it incorporates a plethora of musical elements to create a sound that is wholly and completely Frankie Rose’s.

The video for “Return To Dust” is also wholly and completely Frankie Rose’s, as she filmed, produced, and edited it herself.

If you like your pop music with a bit of an edge, and some healthy experimentation, give it a play. You won’t be disappointed.

* You never know where you might find your dream team musical partners. Luckily for Yvonne Ambrée, who splits her time between Brooklyn and Berlin (the city in Germany, not the music venue under Avenue A), all it took for her was a quick trip from BK to Philly to meet up with production duo Eraserhood Sound.

The combination of Ambrée’s and Eraserhood Sound’s musical vibes has led to the creation of the retro-futuristic Devotion EP, which is due out in November. The lead single from the project is “Himbeeren,” which is German for raspberries, and with Ambrée’s soulful vocal arrangements, and Eraserhood Sound’s vintage synths, it has a feeling of cool that’s both ‘70s disco, and something from a time that we’ve yet to enter.

Click play on the video, and allow it to transport you.

* Alternative pop-rock band The Upsides will be releasing their next album, titled In The Maze, on October 16th via Dream Wolf Records, and the lead single is the breakup song “Pretending It Fades.”

Discussing the song in a statement, lead guitarist Hart Mechlin said, “Some of the imagery is specific to a personal relationship, but under the surface, there’s a more nuanced message around loss. At first the chorus reads ‘these wounds are taking longer to heal than I thought,’ but as a whole the message is more like ‘maybe these aren’t actually wounds - this experience changed me and I’m getting used to my new shape.’”

Getting to that point certainly takes time.

Check out “Pretending It Fades,” and hear how good it sounds as The Upsides grow after loss.

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