Friday Five highlights music by Washtenaw County-associated artists and labels.

This edition features psych-rock by Cloudburst, R&B by Sam Watson, synth-pop by Same Eyes, techno-rock by Michael Skib, and dreamy balladry by Chris DuPont.

Cloudburst, Dream Awake
Cloudburst, A Waking Dream: Singles, B​-​Sides, Demos, & Alternate Versions From Dream Awake
Ypsi's Patrick Pyne has been making music for 40 years, but much of it has been unreleased, according to the liner notes for his new album, Dream Awake. But after years of collecting home recordings and not doing much with them, the Ypsi artist contacted Ann Arbor producer Evan Haywood and the two spent nine months constructing Cloudburst's 13-track debut LP as well as a 40-cut odds-and-sods collection, A Waking Dream, which features demo, dub, and alternative versions of the tracks on Dream Awake. It all amounts to a ton of music, most of it evoking a kind of outsider-art, psych-pop band. Haywood is an experienced producer, and his Black Ram Treehouse recording studio looks like a dope place to make an album, but the duo kept Dream Awake loose and live sounding even though it had to be built through overdubs since it was Pyne playing most of the instruments. There's a ramshackle spirit about the album that evokes Syd Barrett's solo records, and I appreciate that Pyne got over whatever blocks or anxieties he was having about releasing music. For some, creating music is easy; for others, even talented folks, it's a struggle. But it's always worth the effort.

Sam Watson, Just Listen EP
It might be time for a Washtenaw County R&B festival; there are so many talented and unique locals working in the genre right now. Off the top of my head, the lineup would include soul and soul-adjacent crooners Vonsiwel, Kenyatta Rashon, Where She Creep, Melody Korkmaz, Nadim Azzam, Dani Darling, Fearless Amaretto, .SSJ, Kristianna, and Ki5. Gotta add Ypsi's Sam Watson to the bill, too, based on his latest release, the Just Listen EP. The Ann Arbor singer has been releasing music since 2016, and Watson cites Usher as a favorite. You can hear that influence in his affinity for romantic, emotional balladry, which Watson delivers with a crystal clear voice that hits falsettos with ease.

Same Eyes, "Glide"
Following June's singles compilation, The Slow Decline, and September's "It's Too Late," it's now confirmed that Ann Arbor's Same Eyes are going to be releasing a song a month once again. This puts me in a quandary: As a big fan of the band, I'm happy to have fresh new synth-pop banger hit my headphones every 30 days; but as a writer who has to come up with new ways to describe Same Eyes' music every 30 days, my vocab is feeling limited. There are only so many ways I can say the new single, "Glide," is among the band's best yet, and I'm not sure the group has released anything less than a great song. "Glide" also gives me "If You Were Here" vibes by The Thompson Twins, not just its catchy melody but also how the tune's relatively short and leaves you wanting more. You're in luck, though, because Same Eyes' has built a huge discography that will give you much, much more.

Michael Skib, New Ghost EP
Ann Arbor's Michael Skib has no particular musical identity—and I mean that in the best possible way. The multi-instrumentalist and singer has dabbled in all sorts of genres, including folk, synth-pop, and leftfield electronica in Mirror Monster as well as metal and shoegaze under his own name. His New Ghost EP is another collection of doesn't-fit-what-came-before-it turns in Skib's musical career, with a sci-fi-inspired collection of songs. The EP starts with "Beneath the Sinking Silo," which could be on the soundtrack of a serious '80s cops drama, before giving way to "Cold Saturn Night," which sounds like those Linkin Park synth sections before the band steps on a distortion pedal. The rest of the EP has more of a techno-pop bent, with a slightly gothy edge. Everything Skib does, no matter the genre, sounds strong and commanding—not like he's an unsure musical tourist—and New Ghost is no exception.

Chris DuPont, "Long Drive (Stripped)"
Ypsi singer-songwriter Chris DuPont took one of the most unguarded songs from last year's excellent Fragile Things EP and somehow made it even more vulnerable. This stripped-down version (though not minimalist by any means) of "Long Drive," produced by Nate Veldhoff, is positively dripping with desire, confusion, desire, inspiration, desire, passion, and even more desire. You're gonna wanna make out with somebody after hearing it.

Christopher Porter is a library technician and the editor of Pulp.