On The Up // Only Real

'Indie Pop' is my least favourite label for a music type - it reminds me of terrible eighties synthesisers and made-up boy bands trying to be branded alternative but actually being signed to major record deals. 'Indie' used to imply a freedom and a rebellion against mainstream life but it is now confused with neon face paint and flower crowns at music festivals. Many bands and musicians that I like or have liked have been labelled and sold as 'indie pop' - swim deep, jaws, and sky ferreira amongst them. They're carefree and summery and often very good song writers, but they can just get a bit BORING. There are so many generic bands out there at the moment - I'll hear a single on the radio or a friend will tell me about a 'fantastic new, unique band' that they've found. They'll be advertised in NME and interviewed to death, but their songs will never stick in my mind - they'll sound like every other 'indie' band that has ever been. 

But there are exceptions.

Only Real is the project of twenty two year old Niall Galvin, a skateboarding, cereal-eating, weed-smoking, baggy t-shirt-wearing mess. Taking elements from traditional 'indie' to build his backing tracks, he raps languidly and lazily over the top, creating sun-drenched, summery tunes. He is relatively new on the scene, and does almost everything himself, in his bedroom; he produces the music videos, he mixes his backing tracks etc. He's 'indie' in the traditional sense of the world - he isn't signed to a record deal. Running in the same vein as King Krule and Jamie T, but with shimmering backing tracks almost akin to Splashh and Tame Impala, Only Real is definitely bringing something new to the homogenous world of indie music. 

-written by avalon x