SORAN

Montreal-based pop savant Soran understands how to dismantle sorrow. When you find yourself alone, life chewing you to pieces, the walls of the world enveloping around you - making art can feel like an explosive way through the dark. “Every song should be made with that excitement, that playfulness, or else just don’t do it,” he says with a coy smile. Soran’s brand new LP, Loneliness Confetti, more than lives up to that promise. Dripping with ‘80s-vintage synthpop bliss, Prince swagger, and maximalist modern pop wonder alike, the eight-track set is the latest statement from a rapidly ascending multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and lyricist stepping further into the spotlight.

Throughout the record, Soran picks out touchstones of pop’s finest moments of the last fifty years and pushes them through his own patented kaleidoscopic view. “Trophy Boy” bolsters its lyrics on a marshmallow-soft production bed, a track that fuses a ‘70s teenage love anthem into a Beach House dream pop wonderland. The title track taps into some ‘80s Eurythmics synth tones to bolster its postmodern open-hearted anxiety. Elsewhere, the sweetly swaying “Anna” digs into a Beatles or Kinks groove, but with a Tatsuro Yamashita-esque romantic falsetto at the lead.

“These songs are just like time capsules, a place to contain so many ideas at once,” Soran says. The joy of having someone as multifaceted, as talented, and as bright-eyed as Soran encapsulating that time means that even the most weighted moments can be infused with pure life and love. Never content with an unforgettable hook or dense production wonderland, Loneliness Confetti continues to unfold and expand, each listen uncovering some new joy while ingraining its earnest lyrics deep in the heart.