Anji Bee's Blog

Following the simmering defiance of “Boss Mode,” Lovespirals return with “Okay”— a slow-burning meditation on emotional exhaustion and disconnection, enveloped in a soundscape that seamlessly blends sensual modern R&B grooves with lush dream pop melancholy. Ryan Lum’s signature production style, characterized by ethereal guitar flourishes, emotive ebow leads, and haunting touches of acoustic guitar woven through sparkling synths and contemporary beats, sets the stage for Anji Lum’s soulful, natural-toned lead and airy high harmonies that gracefully drift above the mix. “Okay”further expands the lyrical and sonic universe that Anji and Ryan have been constructing—a realm of whispered truths, shadowed beauty, and the poignant space between our emotions and our words.

“Okay” is available now on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music and other streaming platforms under the original band name, Love Spirals Downwards, as well as on Bandcamp under both LSD and Lovespirals.

You can also check out the vibey visualizer lyric video of “Okay” on Lovespirals’ YouTube channel:

A new episode of Chillin’ with Lovespirals is out now in video and audio format. Ryan & Anji chat about the new single, “Boss Mode,” sharing behind the scenes stories about its creation, answering listener comments, talk about upcoming plans, and more in this relaxed half hour show. Watch the video version on YouTube or listen to the audio podcast on your fave podcast service.

You can subscribe to Chillin’ with Lovespirals on just about any podcast app like Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, Deezer, and JioSaavn. Or just listen to Chillin’ with Lovespirals 96 in the player below!

A silky-smooth blend of soulful downtempo & introspective pop, “Boss Mode” pairs Anji’s soul-baring lyricism & sultry vocal delivery with Ryan’s signature dream pop guitar textures & sleek electronica production. With moody keyboards, crisp beats & soulful guitar flourishes, the song finds strength in vulnerability, drawing emotional resonance from the language of gaming culture—“like boss mode, low health, no refill”—as a metaphor for emotional burnout. 

Marking a shift from the darker emotional tones of recent singles like  “Not Myself” and “Noumenon,” “Boss Mode” calls back to the bittersweet soulfulness of “Why Not Today” and the melodic warmth of “Life Goes On,” while carving out its own space with a confident groove and glimmers of hope. The result is a track that straddles introspective pop and downtempo electronica, inviting listeners to power through life’s harder moments with grace and groove.

“Boss Mode” is available now on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music and other streaming platforms under the band’s original name, Love Spirals Downwards, as well as on Bandcamp under both LSD and Lovespirals.

You can also check out the vibey visualizer lyric video of “Boss Mode” on Lovespirals’ YouTube account:

The RILM Archive of Popular Music Magazines (RAPMM) will officially launch in New York on May 27, 2025 at CUNY Graduate Center with a public launch event hosted by The Barry S. Brook Center for Music Research and Documentation and RILM, cosponsored by the American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning. Not only will this event unveil RAPMM, but it will also celebrate the release of two groundbreaking publications: Inside the Studio Spaces of Electronic Music Production: Berlin/Cairo by Matthias Pasdzierny and Gero Cacciatore, and Gear: Cultures of Audio and Music Technologiesby Eliot Bates and Samantha Bennett. Admission is free, with an RSVP and a livestream will be available, as well. You can find the event details here.

This digital music magazine archive includes high quality scans of every issue of Anji’s fanzines from the late 80s to mid-90s including the hard Positive Influence, Substitution, Desperation, and Descent. Only Positive Influence has been reissued in an archival book format, making this digital collection the first time that many of these zines has been available to the public since the time of publication. Anji’s zines are just a portion of their extensive digital collection comprising over 125 independently published popular music magazines and fanzines in circulation from the late 1960s to the present day, with new titles to be added to the collection yearly.

I’m proud and honored to have my work included in this collection and look forward to seeing how music scholars, journalists, and writers utilize this vast catalog for future projects.

Restless Mosaic’s new album, Quality Mirrors, has been co-released by the SomeOthaShip Connect label. Album contributor, Dudley Perkins aka Declaime, co-founded the SomeOthaShip Connect record label with his partner Georgia Anne Muldrow in the early 2000’s to nurture artists who are unafraid to experiment with different genres and styles. Declaime and Restless Mosaic are set to release a full-length collection of collaborations on the label later this year, as well. Having supported work by both Perkins and Muldrow on my show The Chillcast with Anji Bee, it’s a delightful surprise to now find myself on their label with my Restless Mosaic collaboration, “Lost Within This Time.“

““Quality Mirrors” defies genres, combines styles, and is a whole, infinite musical world, where notes, melodies, and beats become one. Restless Mosaic is a bold artist who has no fear of surpassing categorization, an electronic music visionary who creates and composes without any hesitation holding him back.” Myth of Rock

“At one extreme, we find the ebbing and flowing of squalling sonics and elegant electronica that is “Circling the Canopies,” at the other, “Lost Within This Time,” a song gently elevated out of the ambient realm by adding subtle beats. Anji Bee’s gorgeous vocals are a brilliant and angelic contrast to the digital world it dances over.” The Big Takeover

““Lost Within This Time,” featuring Anji Bee, is a beautiful mix of electronica and ethereal vocals. The music switches between dance sections and ambient calmness, leading to an easy interaction of movement and atmosphere. ‘Quality Mirrors’ is a complex and organic mosaic of sound… Isleib combines ambient beauty, experimental forms, and melodic drive, resulting in an album that invites deep listening and rewards those who explore its depths.” Skylight Webzine

Ryan & Anji are back in the studio to discuss the brand new VIP Mix of “Will It Ever Be The Same” digital single and music video. They talk about the artwork, compare it to the 2018 mix, chat about 808s, read comments from fans, share online radio stations that are supporting the band, and more in this casual half hour talk show.

WATCH VIDEO VERSION:

STREAM AUDIO VERSION:

Subscribe to our podcast on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, Deezer, and JioSaavn. Or just listen to Chillin’ with Lovespirals 93 in the player below!

SHOW LINKS:

Lovespirals aka Love Spirals Downwards unveil a lush reimagining with “Will It Ever Be The Same (VIP Mix).” A favorite from their 2018 album Life Goes On, the duo elevates the original’s brooding beauty with a richer, moodier production taking advantage of their current studio arsenal. New to this version is a hypnotic vocal sample—“tell me, tell me…”—looped throughout, adding a modern rhythmic hook, while subtle 808 percussion lifts the stately dream pop track into a more contemporary space. Anji Bee’s haunting vocals express a yearning for connection, echoing into the cosmos with aching clarity, while Ryan Lum’s ethereal guitar work extract maximum emotion. A modern classic reborn. Out now on Bandcamp and all streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music.

Watch the ethereal cover art come to life in this mesmerizing lyric video:

Check out a new interview with Anji Bee by DJ Noctura of Charting the Higher Octave. They go deep into her musical history, including her stint as a fanzine creator in the 80s and 90s, her time as a college radio DJ, how she met Ryan, plus music collaborations new and old (Restless Mosaic and Bitstream Dream), podcasting, and –of course– what’s new with Lovespirals.

Anji’s band Lovespirals (aka Love Spirals Downwards) just dropped a brand new mix of their 2022 single, “The Call,” on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple, Amazon, YouTube, and other digital platforms.

The new VIP Mix amplifies the song’s shoegaze and dream pop essence with a bigger, more immersive guitar sound and enhanced ethereal vocal harmonies. The hook-laden guitar lead and spacey synths evoke The Cure, while the track’s melancholic yet driving energy harks back to Ryan’s early 90s work, as well as the duo’s 2018 album, ‘Life Goes On.’ Anji’s emotive vocals shift effortlessly between bold confidence and dreamy sincerity, adding depth to the song’s hypnotic pull. A nostalgic yet refreshed take, this version of “The Call” is a hauntingly beautiful throwback with a modern twist.

The Call (VIP Mix) by Lovespirals

A mesmerizing visualizer video — featuring the original photograph by Susan Jennings used for the cover art — was posted to YouTube. 

Anji and Ryan of Lovespirals return to Chillcuts Studio for their first podcast of 2025! The big news is their VIP Mix of “The Call,” which they discuss in detail. The duo also chat about new songs in the works, who their Spotify demographic is, which band they’re currently inspired by, a listener comment regarding “Noumenon,” and more. Watch the video version on YouTube:

Or listen to the audio podcast on services including Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, Deezer, and JioSaavn. Or just listen in the player below!