Introducing: Ariel Pink - Round And Round

This avant-garde L.A based songwriter (with backing band Haunted Graffiti) has acquired something of a cult following and listening to his latest offering, Before Today, it’s easy to see why. It’s an album we at 1FTP expect to feature in almost every ‘best of’ list come the end of the year.

Pigeonholing their sound is arduous. There are simultaneous nods to 60’s psychedelia as well as film soundtracks from the 1980’s. They even manage to evoke modern bands like Phoenix, and MGMT in places, but for the most part they stand completely alone.

Lead single Round and Round is a case in point. It is a song that seems to be split into chapters, telling a story that is cyclical yet somehow different to anything you have ever heard before – sentimental yet brilliant. And while it wouldn’t be out of a place in the final scene of a John Hughes movie, it firmly belongs on this summer’s playlist. Genuinely eccentric.

Ariel Pink is touring the U.K from June 10.