Song of the Day: Pinkshinyultrablast - Holy Forest

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole, is “Holy Forest” by Pinkshinyultrablast from the 2015 album Everything Else Matters on Shelflife / Club AC30.

Pinkshinyultrablast - Holy Forest (MP3)

Although there's a great deal of influence of the melodic side of shoegaze in St. Petersburg, Russia's Pinkshinyultrablast, elements of Krautrock and early electronic music set them apart in the current wave of glimmering guitar worshipers. Igor (bass), Lyubov (vocals), Sergey (drums), Rustam (keys), and Roman (guitar) make what they call "thunder pop", and as far as semi-serious genre tags go, it's pretty spot-on. There's far more melody than noise in their potent, hazy sound, but between their pounding rhythm section and the smothering layers of gorgeous keys and guitars, it has a massive heft behind it all. All of these things are epitomized on "Holy Forest", one of the most direct tracks on their debut album, this year's Everything Else Matters. Although it starts with a comparably spartan, traditional indie rock arrangement, the song quickly evolves into something denser and more mysterious. Pairing vaporous synths and vocals with searing guitar and a sharp, punchy rhythm section, the band doesn't try to find a compromise between the song's three components, letting them run in separate but parallel lanes. Topped off with a distinctly Eastern melody line, "Holy Forest" sounds exactly as grand and mysterious as the title implies.

Pinkshinyultrablast are on the eve of a European tour, but if they announce plans to come over to North America, that news will be posted on their Facebook and Bandcamp. Below, watch the martial arts-heavy video for "Holy Forest".