Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Shabazz Palaces Returns with New Wave-like “Tongue In Chic”

Seattle-born and-based emcee, musician, producer and JOVM mainstay Ishmael Butler has spent the better part of the last three-plus decades, exploring the outer edges of music: In the early late 80s, he co-founded the pioneering, Grammy Award-winning hip-hop trio Digable Planets, who released two landmark albums, 1993’s Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space) and 1994’s Blowout Comb, toured with Sade — and are still touring today. Butler is also the founder and creative mastermind of the JOVM mainstay act Shabazz Palaces, which released the experimental and highly influential debut, 2011’s Black Up. And with Shabazz Palaces, the Seattle-based artist has continued to push sonic and stylistic boundaries over the course of seven albums, including 2014’s Lese Majesty. 

Butler’s exemplary tastes, verve and unique talents have led to collaborations with Flying Lotus, Thundercat, George Clinton, Clipping., Battles, Onoehtirx Point Never, Animal Collective and his own son, Lil Tracy. He has also collaborated with filmmakers Khalil Joseph and Hiro Murai, and design work with Toronto-based multidisciplinary artist and fellow Black Constellation member Nep Sidhu. And with Shabazz Palaces, Butler has toured with Radiohead, TV On The Radio, and Ms. Lauryn Hill. 

The Seattle-based artist’s eighth Shabazz Palaces album, the Butler and Erik Blood co-produced, 10-song It’s a Style Sport is slated for an October 23, 2026 release globally through Sub Pop. The album, which marks the first batch of new material from the JOVM mainstay since the release of sibling mini-albums, 2023’s Robed in Rareness and 2024’s Exotic Birds Of Prey is reportedly a bold, forthright and heavy-hitting album. Throughout the album’s runtime, the Shabazz Palaces creative mastermind compiles what he’s learned from his storied and dense career into a playful, shimmering portal, yet again proving himself an artist of chameleonic ambition, fueled by curiosity, courage and a boundless imagination. 

Recorded at Brooklyn’s Circular Ruin Studios, Lake View Studios and Seattle’s Hall of Justice Studios, the album will feature guest appearances from Marquette Miller, Thaddeus “Thadillac” Turner, Evan Flory-Barnes, Gerald “Tugboat” Turner, Kassa Overall and Carlos Overall. The album was mastered by Warren Defever at Detroit’s Third Man Mastering. 

Its a Style Sport will include the woozy “Ahh World (I Won The Alpha Bet)” and the album’s latest single “Tongue In Chic.” “Tongue In Chic” is an 80s-styled New Wave-meets R&B bop that sounds as though it could have been recorded sometime around Chaka Khan’s 1984 smash hit cover of Prince’s “I Feel For You,” or as part of the Prince/Minneapolis sound while Butler humorously reflects on his dating life: He starts off with a tale of a relationship that quickly got off on a good foot before going quickly awry and controlling. After seeking a new girlfriend with whom he’d do the prerequisite relationship things, he meets a woman who says she’s a chef but hilarious, she doesn’t own utensils and has a messy kitchen. She’s fine as hell; but it ends with some craziness — and the search for another new, girlfriend.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay Elisapie’s Ethereal Take on The Cranberries’ “Dreams”

Acclaimed Salluit, QC-born, Montréal-based singer/songwriter, musician, actor, activist and JOVM mainstays Elisapie‘s fourth album, 2023’s Inuktitut features inventive re-imaginings of songs by Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Blondie, Fleetwood Mac, Metallica and more, with the album being an act of cultural re-appropriation that reinvigorates the poetry of these beloved songs by placing them within Inuit traditions.

Through the album’s 10 songs, the acclaimed Montréal-based artist tells her story, while offering its songs as a loving gift to her close knit community. But the album is also a testament to the power and remarkably universality of pop music and an ode to the experiences, memories, places and people, who have shaped us.

Recorded for the CBC, APTN and Netflix original series North of North, “Sinnatuumakka (Dreams)” marks the first bit of new material since 2023’s Inuktitut and sees the acclaimed Inuk artist translating and adapting The Cranberries‘ beloved smash-hit 1992 song “Dreams” into her mother tongue. While retaining the familiar and beloved melody of the original, Elisapie’s rendition of the song is a slightly slowed down, more ethereal take that pulls a yearning, escapist thread out to the forefront.

“It’s a song that really resonates with the Inuit world,” says Elisapie. “In the North, it’s cold, and life isn’t always easy. That’s why dreams take on a special place. They’re a way to escape and imagine something else.“

North of North‘s second season, which includes episodes featuring the acclaimed Iunk artist and her new song will launch globally on Netflix later this fall. Set in the Canadian Arctic, the show’s second season sees Siaja (Anna Lambe) still making bold decisions and even bolder mistakes in her effort to level up her life and prove she’s ready to take charge as winter closes in on the Ice Cove community. “It was very moving to see Siaja’s character open up and dream throughout the episodes,” Elisapie says. “This series allows us to dream, and I think the Inuit need that.”

Elisapie was invited by Red Marrow Media and Northwood Entertainment, North of North‘s production team to take part in the show’s second season, which was filmed earlier this year in Iqaluit, NU and Toronto. In addition to making a cameo, she can be seen performing “Sinnatuumakka (Dreams)” and “Arnaq.”

“During the shoot, there were times when I wasn’t sure if it was reality or fiction,” says Elisapie. “And I was lucky enough to share this experience with my band!”
 
“When we wrapped, Elisapie played a couple more songs just for the crowd so they could enjoy a performance without having to hold back their reactions,” say Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, North of North’s co-creators and executive producers, and founders of Red Marrow Media. “She dedicated a song to any residential school survivors in the room, and there wasn’t a dry eye. There are a few hundred Inuit who will carry that experience with them for the rest of their lives, us included.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Odette Shares Broodingly Cinematic “Don’t”

Sydney-based singer/songwriter Odette has quickly established a reputation for writing songs that feel like whispered, close-quarters confessions: soulful, sharp and unafraid of honest reflection.

Her third album, the Kiah Gossner-produced Blink is slated for a November 6, 2026 release through Beloved Records. And throughout the album’s runtime, the rising Aussie artist sings candidly about the human experience and what it means to become aware of the world around you. Album sessions began back in 2022, which was the start of the Aussie artist’s recovery from a particularly volatile period of her life — and served as a way to turn a difficult and overwhelming period into something beautiful and healing.

Blink will include the previously released tracks “AAAH!” and “Watch Me Go,” and the album’s latest single “Don’t.” Shifting crescendoing strings, percussive and melodic keys create a broodingly cinematic bed for Odette’s haunting delivery and confessional, lived-in lyricism. “Don’t” comes from a place of shame and hurt; not from the hurt someone did to you, but from the recognition that you’ve hurt someone you care about.

“Don’t’ is for someone who used to be very close to my heart. I’ve been hesitant to write a song for them because I still feel very ashamed about that time in my life,” Odette says. “I was a very volatile, scared and controlling person for many years in this friendship. I didn’t want anyone to leave me alone with how I was feeling, and I was also experiencing intermittent psychosis and delusions, and because of that, I became someone who caused a lot of harm to people I deeply love and care about.”

Directed by Meg Siejka, the accompanying video for “Don’t” is shot in black and white full of dreamily cinematic visuals. including the artist singing and accompanying herself on piano in what appears to be a dance studio.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 81st Birthday, Donny Hathaway!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 81st anniversary of the birth of Donny Hathaway.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Quantic Shares Vibey “Subterráneo”

Will Holland is a British-born, New York-based producer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and DJ best known as Quantic. Emerging from the UK’s alternative dance scene of the early 2000s, Holland’s career features work that connects electronic production and beatmaking with soul, funk, jazz, and Latin music through recording, DJ’ing, collaboration and relentless create-digging.

Holland’s relocation to Colombia in 2007 marked a transformative chapter: He immersed himself in the country’s rich musical traditions, which led to collaborations with musicians across Latin America, as well as several different projects including Quantic Soul Orchestra, Flowering Inferno, Combo Bárbaro and Ondatrópica.

Currently based here in New York, Holland continues to combine vintage recording techniques, live musicianship and contemporary production to create music that’s rooted in the past, but specifically made for the dance floor.

Holland’s latest Quantic single “Subterráneo” is his first release on Play It Again Sam since 2024’s Dancing While Falling. “Subterráneo” is a warm, vibey blend of electronic music, melodic house and nu-jazz built with skittering beats, glistening and oscillating synths paired with a driving bass line. Evoking a rainstorm hitting on a window or a roof, “Subterráneo” reminds me a bit of Octo Octa‘s Between Two Selves.

“It brings together disparate fragments that swirl and swarm to create an emotional journey,” Holland says. “Through an organic approach, I wanted to hint at machine elements and human interactions through a collage of arpeggios and drifting sub tones.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Nouvelle Vague’s Breathtakingly Gorgeous Cover of Depeche Mode’s “A Question of Lust” feat. Beth Hirsch

Founded by Marc Collins and the late Olivier Libaux back in 2003, Nouvelle Vague was initially conceived as a one-off tribute to post-punk songwriting in a Bossa nova style. 2004’s self-titled debut, which saw them establish their unique fusion of melancholy post-punk, Bossa nova and French re-interpretational approach, unexpectedly achieved global acclaim. Since then, Nouveau Vague has become a global phenomenon.

Their 10th album, A Date with Depeche Mode is slated for an October 30, 2026 release through Kwaidan Records/[PIAS] Recordings. And as you can probably tell, the album sees the French outfit tackling the work of pioneering British electronic outfit Depeche Mode.

A Date with Depeche Mode will include the previously released “Never Let Me Down Again” feat. Brazilian artist Flavia Coehlo, “Only When I Lose Myself” feat. Mélanie Pain, and the album’s latest single “A Question of Lust” feat. Beth Hirsch. Originally released in 1986, the original is a slow-burning and atmospheric tune that balances entirely on the edge between desire vulnerability. For Nouvelle Vague, there was one choice that felt inevitable to interpret the song — Beth Hirsch, whose voice is an integral part of Air‘s ironic Moon Safari and has been etched into the collective memories of an entire generation.

Hirsch’s imitable vocal, which expresses yearning and vulnerability with an achingly wistful quality, ethereally sways over an acoustic Bossa nova arrangement of guitar and accordion. Simply put, the Nouvelle Vague rendition is a cinematic, breathtakingly gorgeous take.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: 50/50 Shares Punchy and Anthemic “Memories Linger”

Archival label Light in the Attic will be presenting the work of 50/50, a wildly prolific and talented British pop duo finally poised to get their due — nearly half a century after their inception. Formed back in the late 70s, 50/50 was the studio project of Richard Haines and David Cowlees, whose unique blend of irresistible synth-forward pop and classic 60s British songwriting with thoughtful, imaginative lyricism should have propelled to the top of the charts — and to be household names. Instead, due to a variety of circumstances beyond their control, they never received the promotion or attention they deserved.

Drawn from a trove of more than 150 recordings made between 1979 and 1985, Memories Linger will be the British duo’s first-ever studio album, introducing the act through 12 songs — of which were previously unreleased. Slated for a December 4, 2026 vinyl and digital release, Memories Linger was newly mastered by multi-Grammy-nominated engineer John Baldwin and will include a wealth of archival imagery and photos from Cowles’ and Haines’ personal collections, along with new liner notes by London-based broadcaster and writer Charles Donovan. Designed by Darryl Norsen, the LP edition will feature a 12-page booklet.

The story of 50/50 is, at its core, about a deep and abiding friendship — one forged in the late 70s between multi-instrumentalist Richard Haines and vocalist David Cowles during informal jam sessional a Reigate, Surrey, UK-based studio. Along with a love of 60s and 70s rock, the pair shared a keen interest in the era’s evolving electronic instrumentation and the emerging sounds of synth pop and New Wave. By the start of the 80s, they settled into a comfortable songwriting partnership. calling themselves 50/50. The name, writes Charles Donovan, “worked on multiple levels, reflecting the democratic split of the songwriting partnership but also the friendship [and] its qualities of support.” 

While both men maintained successful careers — Cowles is in real estate and Haines in AV — and were busy with their young families, they dedicated several nights a week to writing and making music. “The sheer joy of Dave and I coming up with music in my studio was fantastic,” recalls Haines. Working with an array of synthesizers including the Korg Micro-Preset and Korg Polysix, the duo settled on their sound. “You can hear the different threads of the pair’s diverse influences—from prog to rock, singer/songwriter to synth-pop—coming together to form a singular and distinctive fabric,” Donovan notes. “David’s crisp, imaginative lyrics…[and] Richard’s intricate music—sometimes bright and uptempo, but just as often haunting and coolly mysterious—evokes an array of moods. It’s the perfect partnership.”

With the encouragement of Genesis manager Tony Smith, the duo continued their songwriting and in 1982 signed a publishing deal with Bocu Music, the then-home of ABBA, Colin Bluestone and Johnny Logan. There, the duo released a handful of singles including 1982’s “Memories Linger”/”Just Can’t Win,” and 1983’s “Talk Too Much”/”I Saw The Future.” But they repeatedly ran into creative differences with producers and often found themselves unsatisfied with the final masters. Despite positive feedback from industry heavyweights and the press, as well as several high-profile writing opportunities, the duo struggled mightily to gain a foothold. By 1985, after a string of frustrating setbacks, their musical ambitions were somewhat thwarted, but their friendship continued.

More than 150 recordings sat unheard for decades. In the subsequent years that followed, encouraged by their grown children, Haines and Cowles sought to regain control of their work. A 2024 Record Collector article featuring the duo caught the attention of US-based writer Mike Sacks, who then reached out to Light In The Attic founder and co-owner Matt Sullivan, who was immediately taken with 50/50’s music, eventually leading to the December release of their first-ever album — a thoughtfully sequenced collection of 12 songs written over the course of their musical career, and produced exactly as they intended.

Currently Haines runs a successful, East Sussex-based photo restoration business while the Isle of Wight-based Cowles is a retired hotelier. But thanks to the renewed attention on the 50/50, the longtime friends have returned to the studio together for the first time in decades. And yet, the memories of their heyday remain among their most cherished.

“Dave and I had something incredibly special going on,” says Haines. “Yes we worked hard up in my studio but above all we had the most fun, the biggest laughs and the best friendship which led to magic happening. Dave and I have always believed so strongly in the songs we created and are hugely proud of our body of work.”

Cowles adds, “Before I met Richard I was in a very dark place and I hate to think where I would be now if our paths hadn’t crossed. Much of our music was created during those difficult times. I believe that due to his kindness, friendship and, most of all, amazing musical ability, we have produced this stunning body of work. We are still sifting through ideas we recorded some 45 years ago with as much enthusiasm now as we had then. The only difference now is I can honestly say I’ve found a lifelong friend and soulmate.”

Along with the album announcement, the duo and Light in the Attic have shared Memories Linger‘s first single, album title track “Memories Linger.” Sounding a bit like a seamless blend of Split Enz, The Buggles and The Kinks, “Memories Linger” is a punchy anthem that showcases thee duo’s ability to pair incredibly catchy hooks with thoughtful, lived-in lyricism and seemingly effortless craftsmanship.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 79th Birthday, Marc Bolan!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 79th anniversary of the birth of Marc Bolan.

News/Announcements by William Ruben Helms

Announcements: Shoutouts to Patreon Patrons, Creatives Rebuild New York and Asian Arts Initiative

The past 18 months or so have been extremely difficult for me. I’ve been desperately trying to keep this thing going on limited funds. My life has been a vicious and sickening cycle of money: I’m able to keep the lights and heat on for a few weeks and then I’m broke for a few weeks — or in some cases, a few months. Last year, I announced that JOVM had to go on a forced, indefinite hiatus.

The adage is true: It takes money to make money. But what do you do when you don’t have any money? I don’t think anyone has a good answer for that, because I know that I don’t.

Luckily through a mix of luck and the kind and generous support of a friend, who will continue to remain anonymous upon request, JOVM was able to return after a 20-day or so hiatus.

Along with my anonymous friend, who i’ll thank here; there are a list of folks that I must thank for their support:

The Patreon Patrons, who have supported me through over the course of the past few years:

  • Sash
  • Alice Northover
  • Bella Fox
  • Jenny MacRostie
  • Janene Otten 

Also I have to thank the following for their donations: 

  • Melanie Rodriguez 
  • Kitty
  • Megan Marshall
  • Velatine
  • Modern Ideas
  • LutchamaK

I must thank my pal and colleague Adam Bernard for chatting with me about JOVM and the site’s hiatus. You can check out the interview, in which I talk about how important it is to support independent journalists here: https://adambernard.blogspot.com/2025/09/saving-one-mans-movement-convo-with.html

I have to thank the helpful, hardworking and dedicated folks at Creatives Rebuild New York. I’m proud, gratified and humbled to have been included in their 18-month Guaranteed Income for Artists program. Understandably, being included was also deeply vindicating. Someone out there thought my work — this very work! — was worth supporting financially. Obviously, the funds from it have managed to keep this labor of love going during one of the most uncertain periods in recent human history, while lessening some of the normal financial pressures of being an American artist, creator and journalist. 

I also found out about Asian Arts Initiative’s Sound Type Workshop through Creatives Rebuild New York. So, I just can’t thank those folks enough. And I’ll forever be in their debt. 

I must thank the folks at the Asian Arts Initiative in Philadelphia for selecting me for the Sound Type Music Writer Workshop. Being a part of the inaugural cohort was an honor. 

I also have to thank my man John Morrison, Philly’s preeminent music journalist for the support and encouragement. 

The Joy of Violent Movement is a completely independent and completely D.I.Y. media outlet. Over the course of this site’s 16+ year history, I’ve used my fiercely independent stance to cover music with an eclectic and global perspective that a lot of other publications just don’t have — and will likely never have. 

To that end, I could use your support to continue to keep bringing you my unique global perspective on music. There are a number of ways that you can support this work. 

I’ve been told that some people would prefer to make a one-time donation because it’s easy and less of an obligation. So, if you’re able to make a one-time donation, there’s a donation form below. 

Make a one-time donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate

If you’re willing and able to support more regularly, please feel free to check out my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheJoyofViolentMovement. 

Anything you can give is very much appreciated. It can and does make a real difference, y’all. $20 could mean a carfare to a couple of protests or the ability to pay a much-needed subscription fee.

I know that a lot of folks are struggling to make ends meet in an uncertain and tumultuous economic climate. Believe me, I get it y’all. And to that end, there are other non-financial and low cost ways to support JOVM and my work.

If you’re not following me, you can follow me on here:

 X/Twitter: @yankee32879 and @joyofviolent 

Instagram: @william_ruben_helms

Threads: @william_ruben_helms

Bluesky: @williamrubenhelms.bsky.social

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheJoyofViolentMovement

Please share posts you dig through RTs and shares on these various platforms. And share them with your friends and family, too. Every pair of eyeballs — both new and longtime readers — adds up in terms of ad revenue, of more people knowing about this site and my work, and of course potential for collaborations and work.

Lastly, I have an important ask of you dear friends, readers and colleagues. I’ve been actively looking for work for a while. If you’ve been out there looking for a job, you know that the job search has somehow gotten even more dehumanizing, dispiriting and depressing than ever.

So just to refresh your memories:

I’ve spent just under 15 years in book publishing in the editorial departments of three different New York publishing houses — across both trade and academic publishing — as an Editorial Assistant and Acquisitions Editor.

Over the course of the past two-plus decades, my writing and photography has been published in a lengthy list of publications including Downbeat, Sound Collector Audio Review, Playbill(photography), The Advocate (photography), Out Magazine(photography), Premier Guitar (photography), Consequence, Earmilk (photography), The Inventory, Glide Magazine.com (writing and photography), Publisher’s Weekly, Sheckys.com, Shecky’s Bar and Nightlife Guide, New York Press, Ins&Outs Magazine (photography and writing), Dish Du Jour Magazine, Queens Ledger (writing and photography) Aussie music publication Musicology.xyz (photography) and countless others.

So if anyone has any leads on editorial, communications, writing and or photography jobs — including freelance, contract, project, part-time and full-time, please feel free to contact me.

Music industry folks, if you need someone to write bios for your artists and/or bands — or to take press photos, BTS photos, live concert photos or you’d like to have a tour photographer, please feel free to contact me.

As always, thank you all for your support. Long live JOVM!

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: TV On The Radio Perform “Wolf Like Me” on “Jimmy Kimmel Live”

TV On The Radio perform “Wolf Like Me” on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Sirintip Shares Dizzying, Introspective “Lotus”

New York-based Thai-Swedish producer, composer and singer/songwriter Sirintip creates work that sits at the intersection of avant-garde pop, jazz, electronic music and interdisciplinary art. Raised in Thailand by her recently departed father, Sirintip spent her teenaged years in Sweden, before relocating to the States to pursue her music and artistic career. Through her multilingual identity, she has learned to communicate in countless ways, with the understanding that expression is expression, and deeply human, no matter the context. Her musical work is ethereal yet impassioned, with her voice moving across sophisticated harmony, dense electronics and rhythmic experimentation, shaped by her musical roots, which span across jazz, pop, traditional Thai music and European classical music.

The Thai-Swedish artist has released two acclaimed albums, 2018’s Michael League-produced Tribus, which features Mark Guiliana and 2022’s Carbon, which landed on DownBeat‘s Best Albums of 2022 list. She’s a highly-sought after collaborator, who has contributed to over 50 recordings, as well as composed the score for the 1925 silent film, The Lost World.

Sirintip has toured internationally as a bandleader and as an opener for Snarky Puppy and Sungazer, performing at SJFAZZ, The Nobel Museum, Wonderfruit and Winter Jazzfest.

Her broader artistic practice spans scientific collaboration, orchestral composition and sustainability, including solar-powered concerts and bioplastic vinyl, driven by a desire to uncover connections between cultures, ecosystems, disciples and people. The Thai-Swedish artist’s interdisciplinary project Mycelium transforms scientific research on fungi and plankton through music, data signification, projections and dance.

The acclaimed New York-based artist’s Elliot Moss co-produced White Lilies EP is slated for an October 30, 2026 release through Birdwatcher Records. The six-song EP may arguably be some of her most personal songwriting to date. Thematically, the EP’s material engages with grief through place and memory with the EP being a transmission of vulnerability through music. The EP and its creative process helped Sirintip process the loss of both her father and her childhood home back in Bangkok, while connecting with listeners on the universality of memory and identity.

Rather than bring external research and scientific inquiry, White Liilies reportedly sees the acclaimed artist turning inward. Each of the EP’s songs captures the breadth of her creativity: Pop song forms are blended with electronic textures, deep grooves and elevated, often dissonant harmonies. This all emerged organically, almost unconsciously. “I was trying to write very intuitively,” she says.

For the EP, Sirintip assembled a backing band of musicians and artists, whose versatility served her vision: Kengchakaj (piano, effects), Nolan Byrd (drums), Ben Wendel (tenor sax, effects) with the acclaimed New York-based artist on vocals, vocal effects, programming and various production elements. As co-producer, Elliot Moss helped her achieve an open-minded “pop perspective” for the overall production and sound. “I’m really, really, really happy with the production,” she says.

Commissioned by Greenwich House Music School, White Lilies sees Sirintip extending its creative expression even further, moving from musical gesture to sense-memory experience. The release includes biodegradable vinyl pressings, the acclaimed artist’s original photography, album artwork from Nitcha Tothong and a scent activations.

“Lotus,” White Lilies EP‘s dizzying second and latest single features dusty, trip hop-meets-hip hop breakbeat with twinkling keys, a Thai choral vocal sample, oscillating synths and a Quiet Storm-like groove beneath Sirintip’s expressive, jazz-meets-pop delivery. “Lotus” references a famous Thích Nhất Hạnh saying “No mud, no lotus,” while thematically touching on complicated parent-child relationship and celebrating breaking traumatic cycles.

“‘Lotus’ was inspired by Thích Nhất Hạnh’s idea of ‘no mud, no lotus.’ It’s about recognizing how our families, cultures, and the things we inherit shape who we become, while still choosing for ourselves what we want to carry forward,” the New York-based artist explains. “I think we can honor where we come from without repeating every pattern we inherited. The lotus is beautiful, but without the mud, it never would have grown into the flower it is.”

The accompanying video was shot in the artist’s native Bangkok and follows her as she dances and vibes out to the song in various locales, along with the titular lotus. While offering a slice of her birthplace’s breathtaking beauty, the video is punctuated by the memories of people and places that have gone, and those people are places still with us, and the uneasy push forward of our lives.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Always You Share Woozy, Bittersweet “1994”

Los Angeles-based duo Always You — twin brothers Christoph and Anton Hochheim — have managed to forge their own path while working alongside a hive mind-like collection of musician friends, including Beach Fossils, Wild Nothing, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, MGMT, Jerry Paper, The Depreciation Guild and a lengthy list of others, which has helped shaped the siblings sonic identity along the way. Formerly known as Ablebody, the Hochheim Brothers have spent their careers exploring lo fi hypnagogic laptop pop, sophisticated synth pop informed by 80s UK and Japanese New Wave, as well as kitsch-en sink lounge ballads inspired by the great chansons.

The Los Angeles-based duo’s third album, the Jack Tatum-produced Against The World is slated for a November 13, 2026 release through Hit The North Records. With Jack Tatum at helm guiding production and mixing, he tirelessly broke down and then reconstructed all the elements of the material with the twins, pushing the album’s overall sonics to the absolute breaking point while still retaining their signature sophtisipop sheen. Throughout the album’s run time, heavy guitars and bending sheets of white noise clash over frenzied hi-hats and The Prodigy-like sub bass. Abrupt starts and stops seemingly crash down with the weight of the world. Drum ‘n’ bass and house beats thump over soaring melodies and chopped up vocal samples. The ballads seemingly sparkle with more heart and tension than anything in their previously released work.

Thematically speaking, Against The World is a statement for and against the times: a manic manifesto drawing a line in the sand, pointing out that love is the only resistance against the forces manufacturing distance and endless dissent between us. It’s a rallying cry pushing for something better, a staunch refusal of the status quo, fueled by the belief that we all deserve much better. The album’s material is rooted in the deep sense of longing for something, hell, anything else than this — a different reality, an alternate timeline, anything. Increasingly divorced from the world around us, the false promises of a new lover, a new leader, a quick and seemingly effortless salutation or a new savior become impossible to resist. That fantasy leads us further and further underground, leaving miles of rubble in its wake and keeping us all just out of reach.

Against The World’s second and latest single “1994” is a bittersweet meditation on time’s inexorable march forward, aging, lost youth and lost opportunities and the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia pushing us to dream of a simpler world that never really existed. But when the world is seemingly running down, there’s a strange comfort in looking backwards isn’t there? Sonically and thematically, “1994” seemingly channels Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979” sounding as though it could have been released in — well, 1994 while underpinned by some old school craftsmanship.

“‘1994’ is a song about clinging to specific times and seeking refuge in them, often to moments that never really existed,” the Los Angeles-based sibling duo explain. “We live in a world that deals nostalgia as currency, where the past is constantly viewed through rose tinted lenses, with our youth put on a pedestal and the continual quest to return to that version of ourselves always just out of reach. We long to return to the simpler times before life pulled us from each other and ourselves, before our hardships and tragedies calloused us to the world, back to a time that only ever existed in our minds.”

Directed by Otium, the accompanying video for “1994” is a woozy and panoramic visual that touches on the song’s overall themes of rose-tinted nostalgia for at time before everything seemingly went bonkers — even if it was kind of bullshit to begin with.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 91st Birthday, Jerry Lee Lewis!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 91st anniversary of the birth of Jerry Lee Lewis.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Rose Gray Shares Anthemic “Blink Twice”

Rising Walthamstow, UK-born dance pop artist Rose Gray has lived her life through club music — from cloakroom shifts to dance floor epiphanies. And that spirit infuses her work with hedonism, honesty and a lot of heart.

Her long-awaited full-length debut, last year’s Louder, Please, which featured “Party People,” “Free,” “Angel of Satisfaction,” “Switch” and “Wet and Wild” was released through Play It Again Sam. Praised for its breadth of collaborators, including Justin Tranter, Zhone, Sega Bodega, Ulfie and Alex Metric, Louder, Please saw the British artist channeling the chaos, catharsis and clarity of the dance floor into a kaleidoscopic vision that meshes classic pop with rave while quickly establishing her as one of the UK’s most exciting new dance artists. Along with the album, the rising British artist collaborated with Ben Hemsley on “Tidal,” Megra on “Elixir” and TSHA on “Girls.“

Adding to a breakthrough 2025, Gray opened for Charli xcx at London’s LIDO Festival. She played Glastonbury with Shygirl. She recorded a BBC Maida Vale live session. She also played her first ever UK headlining tour. She launched her own club night, Gray Selects. And she won a MTV Push Artist of 2025 Award. That summer, she played US dates with Kesha and Scissor Sisters. And she closed out the year with last October’s A Little Louder, Please, the deluxe edition of Louder, Please, which featured two previously unreleased tracks, “April” and “Lotus” and an additional disc of remixes with features from JADE, Melanie C, Shygirl and Casey MQ, as well as string versions of and club edits from Logic1000, Peach, Clementaum and Alex Chapman.

This year has seen the rising British artist build upon that momentum: Earlier this year, she played her second, sold-out North American tour, which included dates opening for Kesha and Scissor Sisters.. She recently made a run of the European festival circuit, playing sets at Primavera Sound, Boomtown and Leeds, which also included an opening slot for Lorde at All Points East. And she collaborated with Demi Lovato on “Joshua Tree.”

This past July, she released the two-track EP “Club To Your Arms“/”Just Be Bodies,” which offers a taste of what’s to come for the rising artist. And during all of this, she signed to Polydor Records.

Gray’s latest single “Blink Twice” is a rousingly anthemic, euphoric banger that’s a seamless blend of 80s and 90s dance pop, 90s Big Beat, house music and hyper pop that showcases the rising artist’s unerring knack for incredibly catchy hooks paired with earnest, lived-in lyrics, informed and influenced by her own experiences. And as a result, the song expresses a mix of awe, wonder, gratitude and luck that comes about from a whirlwind period in which hard work, dedication and moxie have finally seemed to pay off. But there’s also an awareness that even whirlwind, massive success can be fleeting.

“God, I love this song. It’s all chaos, love and emotion. I’ve been feeling so alive lately, more than ever,” Gray says. “This last year has moved so fast, and I’ve met so many incredible people along the way. Sometimes it hits me that I’m actually doing everything I ever dreamed of..touring the world, making music, playing the clubs I used to wait in line for. With all of that comes a little bit of fear too. I want it so bad, and I also don’t wanna lose it. Blink… and you might just miss it. I wanted to write a song about it.”

Paying homage to some of the classics of Gray’s upbringing, the track is also a full circle moment as it appears on the soundtrack for EA Sports 26/27. “This song reminds me of some of my favourite music I grew up on,” Gray adds. “Primal Scream, Basement Jaxx, maybe even a little bit of Britpop in its energy. I don’t really know what exact genre it is; it kinda bends between a few.”

The accompanying, stylishly shot visual for “Blink Twice” features the rising British artist in a suburban home vamping and dancing like a pop star before moving out — presumably for good.