I stumbled across this EP from November from a Rotterdam-based indie artist known as som som, who according to their Bandcamp profile makes “indie for introverts.” I don’t know about that one, chief. Some of the beats on these songs made me want to fetch friends and go dancing in the streets with them immediately.

For example, the second track “Raptures” has an indietronica thing going on that does give the impression of shooting towards the heavens. And “East of Eden” – which som som calls their take on recession pop (fitting for these times!) – has everything from the best of late-2000s pop: Whistling, acoustic guitar, a house beat, and a beat drop to make you feel like you’re in the club forgetting about the rising unemployment rate.

som som takes inspiration from literature and culture to name their songs. “East of Eden”, of course, takes from the classic James Dean film, while som som also name drops Virginia Woolf and invokes the Book of Revelations. Two romantic tracks bookend the anxieties poured out in Reveries: The pop-infused title track and the synth-fueled slow jam “Belong”, which could fit at the end of an indie film paying homage to the Eighties.

som som also partnered with a handful of artists to produce a zine to accompany Reveries, making this a full-fledged artistic and collaborative endeavor. Check it out on Bandcamp to see page previews.

All in all, glad I found this record! I don’t know if it’s exclusively for introverts; as someone who recently got deemed an ENFP by the Myers-Briggs exam, I quite liked it, and perhaps my fellow extroverts out there will too. Take a listen to Reveries and follow som som on Instagram below:

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