New music from Cardinal Bloom, Silver Cup, Federal Heights 

• Courtesy Photo
• Silver Cup

Another week, another fantastic batch of musical news from the local scene. Check out these exciting releases and add them to your playlists.

Cardinal Bloom, "Nothing Stays the Same": SLC indie darlings Cardinal Bloom are at it again, bringing a new and exciting track as we drift out of summer and into spooky season. "Nothing Stays the Same" is an upbeat, yet emotional track about, you guessed it, about how things don't stay the same. Cardinal Bloom is always able to take morose subjects like jaded love and turn them into a fun time. The song starts out with an addicting swing feel before it explodes at the chorus. It suddenly becomes a pop/punk-sounding anthem that will make you want to jump around and sing at the top of your lungs. The song is on the longer side (not that I'm complaining), so you really get a good feel of the vibe the group are working at. With each single the group puts out, it's hard to imagine they'll top their previous work, but they keep managing to do it, so bravo. facebook.com/cardinalbloom

Silver Cup, Songs From a Broken Laptop: Indie-pop duo Silver Cup have been steadily releasing singles all year as a build-up to their latest mixtape, Songs From a Broken Laptop, which is streaming everywhere right now. The SLC natives signed with a new record label, Anti-Fragile Records, in 2022, so this is their first work on the label.

Silver Cup have insisted on calling the new body of work a "mixtape" rather than an album or an EP, and that's probably a word you haven't heard in a long time, or a word you've never heard in the first place (am I right, the youth?)—but the duo have an explanation. "Calling the project an 'album' didn't fit, but rather a 'mixtape' better described what the project encompassed. Instead of a cohesive body of work that is an album, the project is an arbitrary track list made up of songs written without overthinking and straight from the perspective of exhaustion. No conceptual deepness or a perfect package, just what was going on for the band from October 2022 to December 2022."

You can definitely tell Silver Cup were wearing their hearts on their sleeves as they put together this mix. As usual, the duo have exciting pop beats on each of the songs, but the lyrics take a deep dive into more serious subject matter. On the surface, "Kill For You" is a catchy pop tune with fast drums and cool electronic elements, but the lyrics are a little more sinister. "So please just let me / Be with you when you're sleeping / Coffee in bed for two / And then you'll tell me / 'You're the love that I'm needing' / Realizing everything I'd do / I'd kill for you," vocalist Hadley Nelson sings. Makes you wonder about fans that have potentially gone too far.

The mixtape is full of emotion and angst, a perfect sound for those tough and complicated days. Songs From a Broken Laptop is streaming everywhere now. Instagram: @silvercup_

Federal Heights, Federal Heights: Singer/songwriter Callum Dingley has made his rounds around the local scene in other projects, but recently branched out to start a new one with his pal Jack Behrens called Federal Heights. Their first project is an interesting endeavor—recorded onto an 8-track cassette mixing desk. "As a songwriter, moving away from the endless possibilities of digital recordings allowed for a simplistic approach to translating an idea into a song," Dingley said. "Recording onto cheap tape with limited engineering resources let us focus more on the songwriting process, as those basic ideas would be captured onto recordings in simplistic terms without a plethora of effects plugins and editing tools. For the listener, that 1990s tape recorder captures a naturally vintage charm that we hope creates a unique and honest portrayal of our music."

Analog definitely has a special feel to it when you listen, and that's present throughout the debut album. It starts out with an instrumental track, "In Federal Heights," that is so memorable and calming. The beautiful melody is perfect when you need something soothing after a tough day. As the album proceeds into its second track, "I'll Stay," it takes on a retro feeling. Perhaps that's in part due to the recording equipment, but musically it has an old-fashioned feel. Federal Heights has an indie/folk/rock vibe, and it sounds like something you'd maybe come across in the '70s. Check out this debut album if you're in the mood for a nostalgic sound that was made on analog equipment in the age of technology. Federalheights.bandcamp.com

That's it for this week's musical mailbag, be sure to give these new and intriguing works from locals and enjoy.