The Apple Tree Under the Sea - Hemlocke Springs (2026)
Naomi Udu, aka Hemlocke Springs, apparently started making bedroom-producer-style pop songs while doing bio-med graduate work at Dartmouth. A couple of viral singles later, she’s now released a full album of highly original, stylistically eclectic pop that all lands really well.
Like a lot of music from a new generation of people who never really considered if something was current or historical or part of an acceptable genre to their peer group or whatever, Udu has an anything-goes sensibility that leads to rushing choruses and hyper-compressed fuzz riffs alongside sly synth lines and 80s gated drums. It’s not just a book report on interesting sounds, either. The songcraft makes for memorable choruses and keeps you on your toes from track to track.
It’s a concept album, the BC page tells me. I usually can’t be arsed to follow the story of a concept album, but the whole thing holds together thematically just from the music, even if you’re not parsing the lyrics.
It’s rare to find a genuine stab of something new in the morass of modern pop, but I think Hemlocke Springs has that.
