The indie pop scene has been thriving in recent years, with many excellent music outlets delivering high-quality music to the table. However, many artists and bands seem to overexploit their influences, experiment with various styles excessively, or attempt to reinvent the same old wheel by mimicking something the greats recorded and performed decades ago. Thankfully, there are music projects like Ratfink! that continuously deliver fresh, unique, innovative, exciting indie songs that immediately tackle all the senses. Liv and Raph, high school mates who record DIY pop songs in their share house in Melbourne, recently released two excellent tracks called “Plastic Bits” and “Calcify My Mind,” exemplifying their dedication to the craft. Arriving after the critically acclaimed works like “Gay Song” and “About Ya,” their new material represents the third double single this year. These two tracks arrive with many innovations in songwriting, composing, arranging, and producing, showcasing their natural progression as songwriters. Lyrically, their songs explore various themes. From friendships and relationships to coming out gay and the state of the natural world, they craft a highly relatable, profoundly emotional music that will immediately appeal to the broader audience. Sonically, they combine a singer-songwriter practice with various techniques, different approaches, and several complementary music genres. Perhaps indie sound dominates the most, as Ratfink! blend many fundamental elements of indie pop and indie rock, but you’ll also notice how acoustic rock or folk found their way into this sonic equation. They use all these additional elements as more than necessary enhancements, accentuations, decorations, and other details to uplift these songs to new heights while simultaneously remaining loyal to the primary sonic direction. Although “Plastic Bites” and “Calcify My Mind” carry all the qualities that meet the trends in contemporary music production, you’ll hear how the duo added a subtle touch of nostalgia, spicing things up a little bit. Therefore, these experimentations with various approaches, techniques, and complementary styles resulted in two exceptional indie songs that will not only appeal to the longtime fans of the genre but also to anyone who appreciates cleverly assembled and flawlessly performed music.
This epic sonic journey commences with “Plastic Bits,” a beautiful indie pop composition that blends some of the finest vocal, sonic, and rhythmic maneuvers, shaping a calm, soothing, relaxing ethereal ambiance that immediately wraps around your listening apparatus, grabs by the collar, and immediately transports you into the different realm. The way Liv and Raph’s vocals intervene goes beyond harmonies. Ralph leads the way while Live provides ambiental vocal accentuations and additional vocal layers during the choruses. Their voices harmoniously blend together, making this composition so pleasant to the ears. In the meantime, the interplay between piano and guitars shapes a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. You’ll notice how all those magnificent piano leads shine on one side while the lo-fi riffs resonate on the other. It’s nearly mindblowing how all these layers articulate without overwhelming each other, vividly demonstrating Ratfink’s dedication to the craft. Beneath these orchestrations, there is a rhythmic structure soaked in low-end notes. It’s subtle yet vividly hearable, with all those beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics keeping everything in line. “Calcify My Mind” is a stripped-down indie pop song soaked in fundamental elements of acoustic rock and indie folk. It’s tender, calm, otherwordly composition where calm vocal harmonies perfectly pair arpeggiated chord progressions. The way those guitar works float around gives this track such an airy, mellow, easy-listening quality. The sound expands with each new segment, yet the song remains relaxing, as all good indie pop and indie folk songs should do. It’s a perfect stripped-down acoustic composition that will immediately force you to spin this double single all over again.
With these two exceptional songs, Ratfink! prove that indie music can still sound exciting, memorable, fresh, and unique, even with minimal instrumentation involved. They showcase that less is always more, yet if you take a deep dive into these tracks, you’ll notice those tiny details, nuances, elements, etc. “Plastic Bits” and “Calcify My Mind” reward repeated listens, mainly beacuse of Liv and Raph’s tremendous songwriting and composing abilites. This double single deserves your utmost attention if you are looking for addictive, hypnotic, irresistible indie songs, performed straight from the heart. Therefore, head to your favorite streaming platform and check it out!
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