Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: A Cat Named Monty Shares Jangling, Hook-Driven “Welcome to Life”

David Jennings is an Aussie-born, Germany-based singer/songwriter and musician, who is an Australian Songwriting Club winner and a two-time Australian Songwriting Association runner-up, who has been a part of the Melbourne music in some fashion since the late 90s as the creative mastermind of A Cat Named Monty, which released six EPs to some critical acclaim.

Since relocating to Germany, A Cat Named Monty features members spread out across the globe. The project’s latest single “Welcome To Life” is a hook-driven tune that brings Blur, The Beatles, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, and New Zealand jangle pop to mind that take a hilarious — yet sobering — look at the difficulties of living in the modern world. Yes, first world problems but problems all the same.

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Throwback: Happy 79th Birthday, Brian Johnson!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson’s 79th birthday.

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Throwback: Happy Belated 53rd Birthday, Black Thought!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates Black Thought’s 53rd birthday.

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Throwback: Happy 72nd Birthday, Stevie Ray Vaughan!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 72nd anniversary of the birth of the legendary Stevie Ray Vaughan.

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Throwback: Happy 85th Birthday, Chubby Checker!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates rock pioneer Chubby Checker’s 85th birthday.

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Throwback: Happy 64th Birthday, Tommy Lee!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Motley Crüe co-founder and drummer Tommy Lee’s 64th birthday.

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New Video: JOVM Mainstays Crá Croí Shares Punchy “Just Another Day”

County Cork-based JOVM mainstay act Crá Croí — RG (songwriting, production, mixing and mastering) and CD (vocals and visuals) — will be releasing their self-produced 12-song, full-length debut Tá brón orm on October 30, 2026. While the band have built up buzz through the release of a handful of singles that include “Radiation Romance,” “Fires At Dawn,” “Feeding The Fear,” and “Lost In The Electric Blood,” and “Flesh Machines,” the new album will feature completely new material.

Tá brón orm will include the previously released “Lord of the Wild,” and “Black Snow,” as well as its latest single “Just Another Day.” Much like its immediate predecessor, the album’s latest single features the incorporation of 80s New Wave-styled synths to the brooding, goth-inspired mix. But “Just Another Day” manages to channel blend of Freedom of Choice-era DEVO, Bauhaus and Joy Division anchored around the JOVM’s uncanny knack for punchy hooks.

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Throwback: Happy 71st Birthday, Philip Oakey!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates The Human League vocalist and keyboardist Philip Oakey’s 71st birthday.

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New Video: Delivery Shares Club Friendly Art School Rock Tune “Measuring Cup”

Rising Melbourne-based indie outfit Delivery — Bec Allen (bass, vocals), James Lynch (guitar, synths, vocals), Scarlett Maloney (guitar, vocals), Jordan Oakley (guitar) and Liam Kenny (drums, vocals) — emerged from their hometown’s COVID pandemic lockdowns and quickly established a sound that blends elements of post-punk, punk, garage rock and dance floor rhythms into something distinctly their own. The quintet have built moment with the release of last year’s Force Majuere, which Rolling Stone called a “statement of intent” and relentless touring to support the album, becoming one of Oz’s most compelling and restless rock bands.

The rising Aussie quintet’s highly-anticipated third album Zone 3 is slated for a February 26, 2027 release through Heavenly Recordings. Zone 3 reportedly marks a new chapter for the rising Aussie quintet. Written in the wake of extensive time on the road, the album captures Delivery as a fully-formed unit that’s confident enough to trust their instincts and adventurous enough to push beyond the sounds that initially defined them.

Conceived as a late-night record, Zone 3 is specifically for crowded bars, packed dance floors, darkened clubs and the hazy hours before sunrise. Sonically you’ll hear rigid drum-machine driven grooves, synth pulses, wiry guitar bursts, hypnotic baselines and vocals that effortlessly shift between detached cool and infectious urgency.

Recorded in a furious 12-day session at Melbourne-based York Street Studios with producer Dan Lusscombe and engineer Stefan Blair,. the Aussie quintet’s third album reportedly finds them at their most focused, playful and expansive — and may arguably be their boldest effort to date.

Znne 3′s first single “Measuring Cup” is hook-driven tune anchored around a hypnotic, motorik groove, wiry post-punk guitar lines and pulsing synths paired with coolly delivered vocals. The result is a song that sonically to my ears is one-part Sonic Youth-like art punk, one-part pub rock and stoner rock bombast, one-part dance punk.

“There is a certain kind of pressure in modern society to be vigilant about who someone is, what they stand for and if they are ‘your people,'” Delivery says. “But it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a challenge to engage positively with people who hold different values or stances, and a celebration when you know you’ve found someone who aligns with you, whether that’s politically, socially, or personally. ‘Measuring Cup’ is like an invitation to get on a level together and join the club.”

Directed by the band’s Scarlett Maloney, the accompanying video for “Measuring Cup” features the members of the band as they plan and then commit a perfectly planned, perfectly executed heist, complete with an inside man. And the only way it could have been possible was that they were all with their people.

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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.”

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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.