Aerial East‘s indie/alt-pop is an exercise in subtlety: the Texas-born, NYC-based artist’s smooth, retro instrumentation belies themes typically reserved for the most irreverant of artists. At a glance, one might think they’re listening to pre-British invasion pop from the early ’60s. Strings, tinkling pianos, whistling and low-key jazz drums abound on "Crazy Now," in which East quietly bemoans her own attempts at radical, if not frantic, attempts at self-transformation, which ultimately leave her no better off than where she started from. "I started smoking again/I tried out sleeping around/And when one boy didn’t like me/I fell right back down/I’m crazy now." Aerial East is playing Mercury Lounge on April 5th, with The Weather Station. Listen to "Crazy Now" below! – Ethan Ames
