For the five minutes that I listened "f a n t a s y l o v e" by LUV, nothing else mattered. The tip-of-the-tongue ’80s intro, diffracting into effervescent, luminous meloromanticism left a taste half-metallic, half-citric in my mouth. It was like witnessing the birth of a musical deity, like the ones we’ve come to know through larger publications: Solange, Blood Orange, Sky Ferreira.

The bedroom project is as youthful as its sound, started by the enigmatic johnny since August 2015, with some material that s/he’d "been working on for years." Listing N’Sync, Prince, Britney Spears, and Ready for the World as major influences, johnny mixed ’90s pop, new wave and R&B inspirations with homespun technique, taking on a markedly different sound from the debut single "leave."

"Empress Of, MNDR, Kimbra, ABRA, this wave of female producers all inspired me to start taking my lil bedroom jams more seriously," johnny says.

LUV is currently planning shows in the Los Angeles area with .paperman in April; check back for more info. Until then, listen to the bedroom producer’s newest EP and hope that this is anything but a fantasy.– Ryan Mo

Sleepwalker, Long Beard’s debut album, is aptly named, for listening to each song feels like maneuvering through the hazy edges of your most melancholic dreams – both here and there, warm, and cool, so close and yet so distant.  Perpetually teetering between sleep and awake, the album opens up with an instrumental track that sounds like it’s being played backwards, slowly leading into “Porches,” a song of desire and longing where Leslie Bear pleads “who do you love?/ Who do you love?/ And is it enough?” The album climaxes at "Dream" – before the vocals start disintegrating, becoming almost indiscernible, with the looping electronic textures folding into themselves – as if the silhouette of those gentle songs disappeared into a shadow and then became nothing more than a film blanketing the early hours of dusk.

“Please don’t forget/ You’re something I listen to/ When I’m not sleeping.”

Don’t miss Long Beard performing at Baby’s All Right with Emily Yacina, Yohuna, and Crosslegged on 2.29. – Adriana S Ballester

An artist moving comfortably from glitchy folk, to orchestral arrangements, to spacey rock freak-outs, Ben Talmi stretches his canvas wide, reaching some far-out places with his music along the way. Thankfully, he also has a gift for making these sonic journeys sound incredibly catchy. New track ‘Pure’, from latest release ‘My Art of Almost,’ continues this path towards pop music transcendence, with a song that’s as much fun and colorfully rendered as the eye-popping video accompanying it. Check out the video for new single ‘Pure’ below. – Mike Levine (@goldnuggets)

If a beautiful were ever to be heard, it’s certainly this new track from DC’s own Wylder, a leading indie folk band in the city. Coming in hot off packed shows at the W Hotel and DC9, this friendly sextet is keeping up with their track record of great music. Swells is uplifting, sweet even, and makes full use of the band’s talents – not many can pull of having a violin, mandolin, and keys on the same track, but Wylder certainly does. Throughout the song, you can hear each note struck and get lost in the melody before you realize it and it’s guaranteed to make the day a better one. Catch them tomorrow night, 2/19, at the IOTA Club & Cafe in Arlington. -Jonathan Goodwin

Trying to find information on Holy Tunics is like trying to catch Alice’s white rabbit: a challenge, to say the least. You see them pop up here and there long enough to catch a trail but, as soon as you come near, they run off and you’re left waiting for them to surface once more. The Brooklyn band has two songs accessible through YouTube and Soundcloud, and their sound is lo-fi but inviting: gritty guitars, scruffy beats, and Nick Roger’s voice languidly and nonchalantly drawing catchy melodies reminiscent of pre-drug-abuse The Lemonheads. If you wish to experience this first hand don’t miss their upcoming show at Rough Trades with Dead Stars and Infinity Girl on March 4th! – Adriana S Ballister