Three Track Week #36: Memory, Youth and Connection
Three songs about growing up, holding on to the past and finding connection through music.
This week’s Three Track Week 36 brings together three songs that sit somewhere between the personal and the familiar. Afternoon Sister bring a quiet kind of melancholy to their indie rock, Rekstarr look back through a mix of soul, jazz, hip-hop and electronic pop, while Sid Seth turns grief for his mother into one of his most personal songs. Three very different tracks, but all of them leave plenty of room for feeling.
Afternoon Sister - “ache”
“ache” starts quietly. A strumming guitar comes in first, then chilled drums and Alice Ventura’s high, soft voice. During the first verse, the guitars and drums almost seem to float around the vocal. There is something very natural about it, almost like listening to a band during a rehearsal rather than a perfectly polished studio recording. When the chorus comes in, the guitar becomes more present and the strumming riff returns before the second verse settles back into that floating atmosphere. It is an easy song to get into, with a slightly melancholic feeling running underneath it.
Sound / Mood
The guitars create most of the atmosphere here. They build a soft wall of sound without ever taking over, while Ventura’s voice stays light and clear above it. The bridge brings her voice a little higher and gives the guitar more space. The guitar solo that follows is one of the nicest moments in the song. It picks up the earlier riff and lets it stretch out a little, with the drums following underneath. Then come the vocal harmonies - those long “aaahhh” lines - and the song gets a little bigger without losing its calmness. It makes for a strong ending to a track that has spent most of its time floating rather than pushing forward.
Why This Matters
There is something interesting about hearing a band this young make music that does not feel particularly concerned with sounding young. Afternoon Sister are fronted by 14-year-old singer and songwriter Alice Ventura, but “ache” is not built around teenage novelty. It is simply a well-written indie rock song with soft vocals, guitars and a melancholic edge. That also says something about how young musicians can enter the music world now. There is less of a need to wait for the traditional sequence of school, local shows, demos, a label and eventually a first record. A song can exist, find its way onto streaming platforms and be sent directly to listeners, publishers and labels. Ventura is still at the beginning of that process. "Reset E.P." is the band’s debut, and “ache” sounds like a good introduction because it does not try to prove anything. It lets the songwriting and the atmosphere do the work.
Context
Afternoon Sister are a Boise-area indie rock band preparing to release their five-song debut EP, ”Reset E.P.”, on November 1 through North Corona Records. The songs were written by Alice Esquibel and the band, with the record moving between heavier guitar-driven tracks and quieter, more atmospheric moments. Their influences range from Neil Young and Chromatics to Mazzy Star and Air, which gives some context for the combination of guitars, dreamier textures and relaxed melodies heard on “ache”. The EP was recorded at Cumulus and M51, with Ray Hedgpeth engineering, producing, mixing and mastering the record. For a debut, “ache” feels remarkably settled. There is a clear sound here already: soft vocals, guitars that know when to stay back and when to step forward, and just enough melancholy to keep the song from becoming too sweet.
🎧 Stream "ache” on Bandcamp · Follow Afternoon Sister on Bandcamp
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Rekstarr - “We Were Just 17”
Jazzy keys and hi-hats open “We Were Just 17”, with soft female vocals coming in almost immediately. Everything feels very relaxed. Then the beat gets a little more soulful and the song starts moving, but it never loses that laid-back feeling. The chorus opens the track up. The keys become wider and the vocal hook comes through much more clearly. It is catchy without suddenly turning into a big pop moment.
Sound / Mood
What I like about the song is how naturally all the different elements sit together. There are jazz-like keys, a hip-hop feel in the drums, soul in the vocals and electronic sounds underneath it all. You can hear the pop influence too, especially in the chorus. The second verse brings in a quicker kick, which gives the song a little more energy. It is a small change, but it keeps things moving. The atmosphere stays exactly where it was. It is the kind of track where you can just let it play, but there is enough going on in the background to make another listen worthwhile.
Why This Matters
Songs like “We Were Just 17” make it harder to draw a clean line between genres. Jazz, soul, hip-hop, electronic music and pop are all part of the track, but none of them really takes over. That feels pretty normal now, especially in independent music. Artists can pull from whatever they are listening to without having to fit neatly into one scene. The result can be a little messy sometimes, but here it works because everything is held together by the same relaxed mood.
There is no need for the song to announce that it is mixing genres. You just hear it.
Context
“We Were Just 17” comes from Christian Ocampo, who releases music as Rekstarr and runs Palm Beach Records in Boca Raton, Florida. The track is described as atmospheric indie pop and chill pop, with downtempo electronic production and a nostalgic, cinematic feel. According to Ocampo, the song was fully produced and mixed by humans without generative AI. The track is a good fit for the quieter side of indie pop: warm vocals, a steady groove and enough little changes in the arrangement to keep the song moving without disturbing its mood.
🎧 Stream "We Were Just 17” on Apple Music · Follow Rekstarr on X
Sid Seth - “Precious Gift”
Warm guitars open “Precious Gift”, followed by Sid Seth’s warm voice. There is something almost like a musical or Disney ballad about the beginning, but it soon settles into something more personal. The chorus brings in quiet, jazzy drums, while the guitars become more rhythmic with little picks and strums underneath. The whole song has a very warm feeling to it. Seth’s voice stays right at the front, carrying the song without needing much around it.
Sound / Mood
The arrangement keeps growing without rushing. The guitars build a soft backdrop, the drums gradually become more present and Seth’s voice gets stronger as the song moves along. The second pre-chorus is where his voice really opens up. Warm backing vocals then come into the chorus, giving it more depth without making it feel too big. The bridge adds violins and soft female vocals before everything comes together again in the final chorus. It is emotional, but the arrangement never becomes overly dramatic. The song simply keeps adding little things until the ending feels earned.
Why This Matters
“Precious Gift” was written after Seth lost his mother. He had written the chorus years earlier, while watching her health decline, but did not feel ready to finish the song at the time. That detail changes the way you hear it. This is not really a song trying to explain grief. It feels more like someone finally finding the words for something they had been carrying around for a long time. Seth has also talked about what happened when he started performing it. People came up to him afterwards and told him about their own experiences. A song written for one person ended up opening conversations with strangers. There is something very human about that. You can write about someone you have lost and still leave enough space for somebody else to find themselves in it.
Context
Sid Seth is based between Ahmedabad and New York City. He moved to New York to study at the Manhattan School of Music and has since played venues including Rockwood Music Hall, Bowery Electric and Feinstein’s 54 Below, as well as shows across India. Making “Precious Gift” was part of his return to performing after his mother’s death. He worked with producer Andrew and a close group of collaborators while finishing the song. Seth’s music sits between soul, pop and singer-songwriter territory, with the voice and the story usually at the center. “Precious Gift” takes that approach as far as it can go. It starts with a guitar and a voice, keeps building, and ends with both of them completely exposed.
🎧 Stream "Precious Gift” on Apple Music · Follow Sid Seth on Instagram
Three songs. What they have in common is that none of them really needs to explain where it belongs. That feels quite different from the way music was often talked about in the past. You had your scene, your genre, your influences, your place in the hierarchy. That still exists, of course, but it is much easier now to move between those things. A teenager can make indie rock. A song can borrow from five different genres. A story about losing someone can reach people on the other side of the world. Maybe that is one of the better things about making music now. There is still plenty of pressure to fit in, but there are also more ways around it.
VoodooV are bringing their music to Germany and Austria this October, with nine dates across the two countries. The Finnish artist will also stop in Berlin on October 14 at LARK and we’ll be there to catch the show live.
We’ve added the full tour dates below if you want to see VoodooV on the road.
VoodooV (FIN) — TOUR 2026 DE/AT
Tue, Oct 6 - Vienna | The Loft (AT)
Wed, Oct 7 - Cologne | Stereowonderland (DE)
Fri, Oct 9 - Hamburg | Maria's Ballroom (DE)
Sun, Oct 11 - Bochum | Gleis 9 (DE)
Mon, Oct 12 - Aachen | Domkeller (DE)
Tue, Oct 13 - Frankfurt | Ponyhof (DE)
Wed, Oct 14 - Berlin | LARK (DE) - INDIENOXZINE will be there
Sat, Oct 17 - Offenburg | Spitalkeller (DE)
Mon, Oct 19 - Dortmund | FZW (DE)
Further perspectives are available in our Artist Features, Cultural Essays and On This Track, each situating music within broader cultural and structural contexts.
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