Their fifth album, Singapore Dreaming, centers their hometown through a more focused lens. Where previous album All Around You comprised a space to sit with the complex feelings inspired by the intense world we inhabit, Singapore Dreaming is that intense world itself — Subsonic Eye’s interpretation of their high energy urban context refracted through straight-to-the-point, poppy, ergonomic songs tinged with tension that could explode at a moment’s notice. Despite the newly honed vision, Singapore Dreaming still has all of Subsonic Eye’s signature elements: spellbinding walls of tone, hooky riffs, zippy rhythms, and punches in the perfect place — all led by singer Nur Wahidah’s dreamlike voice, whose vaporous and velvety character always makes the layers whole. more info→
five albums,
a re-issue,
two singles,
an EP,
and a split.
On her third full-length TIDE/TIED, Montreal artist Thanya Iyer expands on the future-folk designs of sophomore album KIND with washes of jazz-inflected pop and ensemble ambience. While Iyer explored a more personal journey of self-love on KIND, she, her band, and cohort of guest musicians embark on a new way of moving on TIDE/TIED, prizing collective care and communal healing as antidotes to the dissonances of living in a colonial, capitalistic world. more info →
When writing about a song or album, the convention is to use the present tense. A piece of music, although representative of and influenced by the era in which it was created, is ultimately always experienced in ~the present~. We built this website while pondering ways that we could, at every turn, focus on discovery by bringing music we released years ago relevantly back into the present, challenging how we collectively talk and think about “new” music. Discovering new music is exciting, but so is discovering music that’s simply
new to you.
It’s our hope that you'll enjoy digitally crate digging through this online home of ours, finding and connecting with the 250+ albums we’ve released with 140+ artists from all around the world over the last 16 years. Directly below are a few of our favorites to get you started.
However you’ve found yourself here presently, thanks so much for stopping by! We couldn’t do this without your support and enthusiasm.
-All of us at Topshelf
Across its fifteen songs, Rose Main Reading Room ultimately proposes a world of marvels and compelling complexity: “Oblast” cheekily prods at mutually assured destruction; “Ocean Life” explores the infiniteness within ourselves; while “R.I.P. (Running in Place)” unpacks an all too familiar stagnation. It’s all part of, and crucial to, Rose Main Reading Room’s transportive power, ever reaching for the wonder and magic of the world we live in. more info →
Dedicated to the power of pop music, Sobs are Singapore’s premier indiepop propagandists. A thirty-minute trip for the post-Internet consumer, Air Guitar calibrates inventive pop hooks for the indie rock lover, instantly accessible yet intricately arranged. more info →
Ekko Astral are here to uplift, a mission exemplified by the frenetic and bewitching pre-release singles “baethoven” and “devorah,” cornerstones of pink balloons in both style and theme. The former serves as a reminder to keep your larger than life personality in a world that wants to downsize you, where the latter proclaims urgent solidarity with missing and murdered people. Such crucial messages of upliftment are the foundation of pink balloons, and, by extension Ekko Astral, whose thrashing debut leaves no stone of solidarity unturned. more info →
On latest single "Being Productive", the band continues to swim in a pool of subtle earworm melody, slowly billowing percussion, and airy guitar flourishes that scratch a specific itch in your brain. read more →
On their latest single "My iPhone Screen", quick-paced drumming bounces off of singer Nur Wahidah's cuttingly sweet melody, "philosophizing on my iPhone screen / screaming please delete / it's not part of what I am", she sings with a determined spirit, eventually shifting into a more relaxed rhythm in the songs final minute. Watch the live video and listen to the new Singapore Dreaming single: read more →
Subsonic Eye are back with a new album! Singapore Dreaming's lead single "Aku Cemas" picks apart feelings of anxious inadequacy inspired by our capitalist setting before balancing the scale with a reverent climax in which singer Nur Wahidah proclaims "come get a hold of yourself / the world's not ending / you're not dying." Watch / listen: read more →
Iyer's signature post-genre pontifications are in full bloom on her latest single "What can we grow that we can't see from here?" in which she reminds us that the groundwork for new, radical futures can be laid by our own hands. Such prescient lessons are a prominent fixture of Iyer's work—current and past—this time delivered with a thumping, controlled pop sensibility that says even when things feel stagnant and unclear, there is a way through. Watch the accompanying music video and catch her on her upcoming tour: read more →
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