Category: Electro Pop

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Earlier this year, I wrote about the up-and-coming Northern Ireland-born, Dublin, Ireland-based duo Saint Sister. And as you may recall, the act which is comprised of Gemma Doherty and Morgan MacIntrye can trace their origins to when they met while studying at the University of Dublin. They bonded over their mutual desire to create music that represented both their friendship and their “us against the world” mentality. Building upon a growing national and international profile, the duo’s Alex Ryan-produced full-length debut Shape of Silence was released earlier this year, and from album single “Steady,” the duo showcased their ability to craft an atmospheric Portishead-inspired sound centered around the duo’s gorgeous and ethereal yet heartfelt vocals.

Recently, two of Dublin’s up-and-coming underground artistrs Irish DJ and producer Kormac along with Dublin-based emcee Jafaris collaborated with the members of Saint Sister on a subtle remix/reworking of “Causing Trouble” that’s centered around the same shimmering and looped harp sample; however, while the original features big, thumping beats, the remix relies on hi-hat and shuffling beats, which puts a greater emphasis on Doherty and MacIntyre’s gorgeous vocals and Jafaris’ swaggering yet sensitive verses. And it’s done in a way in which all three vocalists sit side by side without interference — and in a way that feels natural and unhurried.  As a result, the remix finds the collaborators pushing Saint Sister’s sound more towards the direction of Tricky and Massive Attack. Interestingly, the collaboration can came about when Three Ireland invited each artist to create visually stunning music videos for one of their songs for their #MadebyMusic initiative.

“It’s good to get out of your own head and collaborate with other people, and it’s something we really enjoy doing. This one felt like it really clicked, each individual voice brought something so different,” the members of Saint Sister say in press notes. “When Kormac first sent through the remix it was like hearing it in a new context with a new lease of life. Hearing Jafaris’ verses for the first time was another brilliant moment. And playing it live is the best part. They bring so much energy to every performance, it’s always a joy to stand beside them on stage.”

“I love the idea of blending two really different artists tonality together to create something a bit different.  Producing this one was a lovely challenge as it was all about creating a space where Saint Sister’s gorgeous melodies and harmonies and Jafaris’ vocals, his delivery could sit side by side,” Kormac says of the remix in press note. “The initial idea just came from playing my piano to a glitchy loop created from one of Gemma’s harp lines. From there, it was all about bringing the sub bass to the fore and creating a couple of drops to really announce Jafaris’ vocals when they came in.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Neta Tia Ellis is a Tel Aviv, Israel-born, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter, producer, visual artist and experimental pop artist, who has received attention for crafting eerily minimalist electro pop with her solo recording project Tesha. Ellis’ soon-to-be released debut EP Growing Pains II is slated for release later this week, and the EP’s latest single, opening track “Funeral” is an eerily haunted track centered around shimmering and arpeggiated synths, a sinuous bass line, dirge-like drumming and Ellis’ ethereal crooning.    While possessing a cinematic air, the song is intimate and deeply personal in a way that brings Us-era Peter Gabriel to mind — but with a decidedly positive undertone to it.

Ellis admits in press notes that “This song is about my mom’s funeral. It was very sunny outside, and I knew she wanted me to laugh about this. She definitely didn’t want me to get stuck on the loss, but it hurt and it was also funny at the same time because I was comforting all of her devastated patients (which is why all the contrast in the lyrics exist).”  She goes deeper into the outcome of the song by stating “You might be down, deep in a shitpit, so deep that you can’t see anything positive. But these heartbreaks make us stronger and they will unveil their purpose with time.”

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Elley Duhe Performs “Savior” on Vevo DSCVR

Elley Duhe is a up-and-coming Mobile, AL-born Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter, who was raised in the small Gulf Coast towns of Vancleave, MS and Dauphin Island, AL. Duhe grew up in a rather musical home — her father and uncle were musicians, who are connected to the New Orleans music scene. Her father bought her a guitar when she turned 14 and by the following year, Duhe had begun her music career in earnest, signing in coffee shops. She quickly graduated to playing gigs in bars, restaurants and private parties, gaining enough exposure to be booked to open for a number of national acts. The Mobile, AL-born singer/songwriter was also connected with songwriters in Nashville, Los Angles and Austin, where after dropping out of high school and getting her GED, she spent three years honing her craft. 

Duhe emerged as a solo artist of note in 2016 with the release of two attention-grabbing singles — “Millennium,” a collaboration with electronic producer Tarro that amassed 2 million streams of YouTube and 1.4 million streams on Spotify and “Immortal” which amassed 4.5 million streams on Spotify and nearly 1 million streams on YouTube. Adding to a growing profile, the Snakehips remix of “Immortal” amassed 770,000 Spotify streams. Building upon a rapidly growing profile, she released her ILLA and Cool & Dre co-produced single “Fly” last year. However, 2018 may be the biggest year of the Mobile-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter’s career to date: This summer saw the release of “Happy Now,” an attention-grabbing collaboration with Russian-German producer Zedd and “Tie Me Down,” a collaboration with Gryffin, as well her debut EP Dragon Mentality. 

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past year, you’ve likely come across a handful of posts on Vevo’s Vevo DSCVR series, and as you may recall, Vevo DSCVR is Vevo’s emerging artist platform that curates the best up-and-coming artists — acts that the site believes will have a significant impact on the future — to perform their best material. Throughout its run, Vevo DSCVR has featured and impressive and eclectic array of artists including Jack Garratt,James Bay, Years & Years, Wolf Alice, Sam Smith, Jorja Smith, Maggie Rogers, Alessia Cara and Ella Eyre among others. This past year has seen Vevo DSCVR inviting up-and-coming pop artists Billie Eilish, Bülow, Donna Missal and Charlotte Lawrence. Recently, Vevo invited the Mobile-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter to perform the swaggering and anthemic “Savior.” 

Next year looks be a big year for Duhe as she was added to Vevo’s list of 2019’s Artists to Watch. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Renowned Australian Electro Pop Trio RUFUS DU SOL Releases Symbolic Visuals for Album Single “Lost in My Mind”

Over this past year, I’ve written a bit about the acclaimed Sydney, Australia-based electro pop trio RUFUS DU SOL. And as you may recall, with the release of their first two albums  — 2013’s ATLAS, which landed at number 1 on the Australian charts and 2016’s critically and commercially successful follow up, Bloom, which featured smash hits “You Were Right” and “Innerbloom,” the trio comprised of Tyrone Lindqvist, Jon George and James Hunt quickly became sensations both at home and internationally. During a two year period of international touring to support their first two albums, the Sydney-based electro pop  trio developed a reputation for combining the DIY live aesthetics of indie rock and punk rock with the euphoria of club culture.

Once they finished touring, Lindqvist, George and Hunt spent a year in Venice, CA writing and recording their third and latest full-length album SOLACE, and as the trio note, that while the album is influenced by the dichotomy of the stark desert landscapes and coastlines of California, it’s a much fuller exploration of their evolving sound — and a deeper, more intimate glimpse into melancholy and transcendence. “It feels like a new RÜFÜS,”the trio said in press notes. “We are inspired by our new home out here, by the people we’ve met and the music we’ve heard along the way. We’ve got a refreshed sense of ambition and cannot wait to share our creation with the world.”

“Underwater,” SOLACE‘s second single further cemented the trio’s growing reputation for forward-thinking, boundary-pushing production as the track was centered around arpeggiated and propulsive Giorgio Moroder-like synths, a soaring choral hook and verses that express an aching longing. Ultimately, the track reveals an act that has managed to carefully walk a tightrope between arena and club rocking bombast with an earnest and intimate emotionality. “Lost In My Mind” the album’s third and latest single continues with forward thinking, electronic production centered around twinkling and arpeggiated synths, a chopped up choral-based hook paired with soulful vocals. And while the song sonically nods at Snap!‘s “Rhythm is a Dancer,” the song manages to evoke both the anxious desperation of someone hopelessly trapped within his own mind, and the push and pull of new love.

Directed by Drew Kirsch, the recently released video features the members of RUFUS DU SOL sitting on a moving couch that takes them through an abandoned factory on the outskirts of a large city. The couch propels the trio through the walls of an abandoned factories and buildings — and when they finally return home, they’re covered in dust, dirt and grime. Interestingly, the video emphasizes a larger struggle within the song — the struggle to keep oneself together, in the face of adversity and confusion. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Known as a member of highly-heralded, boundary pushing electronic act Sandwell District and the head of underground electronic music label Jealous God, Juan Mendez is an renowned Los Angeles-based electronic music producer, DJ and art director, known for aggressively pushing techno’s sound and aesthetic forward at least twice in his career, with his solo recording project Silent Servant; in fact, Mendez’s solo debut Negative Fascination is largely considered a game-changing modern classic.

Mendez’s sophomore Silent Servant soon-to-be released effort Shadows of Death and Desire reportedly finds Mendez’s song evolving towards a much more raw, abrasive and aggressive sound. In fact, album single “Damage” walked a tightrope between the chilly atmospherics of John Carpenter soundtracks and the tense, harrowing, industrial clang and clatter of Blanck Mass, as the track is centered around layers of arpeggiated synths and thumping beats, but while being dance floor friendly.

Slated for a December 7, 2018 release through Hospital Productions, Mendez’s Silent Servant forthcoming sophomore effort Shadows of Death and Desire reportedly finds Mendez’s sound evolving towards a much more raw, aggressive and abrasive sound; in fact, album single “Damage” walks a careful tightrope between the chilly atmospherics of John Carpenter soundtracks and the tense, harrowing, industrial clang and clatter of Blanck Mass. Interestingly, Shadows‘ latest single, cinematic “Loss Response” continues in a similar vein as its predecessor as the song is centered around an ethereal and atmospheric production consisting of shimmering and undulating synths, propulsive, tribal-like beats. And while moody and provocative, the track manages to nod at a bit at goth and industrial house

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Comprised of Alex Hastings and Bryan Gomez, the Los Angeles, CA-based duo Pioneer 11 derive their name from the famed space probe of the same name. And unsurprisingly, the duo specializes in space rock; however, their take is a hazy and hip-hop influenced one that has drawn comparisons to Dark Side of the Moon meets J.Dilla, Caribou meets Flying Lotus and Radiohead among others. Interestingly, “Squishy Sunbeam” off the duo’s forthcoming full-length debut Gravitorium is centered around ethereal vocals, twinkling keys, shimmering guitar lines, a motorik groove and thumping beats — and sonically, the song recalls the hazy sunniness of Cut Copy‘s In Ghost Colours but with a trippy cosmic glow.

 

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Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing the Atmospheric and Brooding Synth Pop of London’s Sailing Stones

Jenny Lindfors is an Irish-born, London-based singer/songwriter and indie electro pop artist, best known for her solo recording project Sailing Stones. And with the release of her debut EP She’s A Rose, the Irish-born, English-based singer/songwriter received national attention with airplay on Gideon Coe’s, Tom Robinson’s and Don Letts’ BBC Radio 6 shows and played a live session for BBC Music Introducing In The West. Lindfors is currently working on the final touches of her TJ Allen-produced full-length debut, which is slated for a 2019 release through her own label Keep Her Lit.

But in the meantime, Lindfors latest single “To Know Nothing At All (Telescopes)” is a re-imagined, re-worked and retitled take on an an earlier release, a vinyl B-side for the original “Telescopes” single. Interestingly, Dan Moore, best known for is work with Will Gregory Moog Ensemble and Modulus III came up with a version of the song, completely composed on analog synthesizers — and as a result, it gives the reworked song a brooding and atmospheric vibe that recalls JOVM mainstay ACES, and the cinematic 80s synth pop that clearly inspire it. 

As Lindfors says in press notes, the use of synthesizers was “a game changer in terms of how I wanted to record my songs. It hooked me into making more music that reminded me of the AOR bands/singer-songwriters of the late 80s when I was little.” Unsurprisingly, the recently released video for the single is centered around a grainy VHS-like footage of a late night drive to Bristol, complete with the sodium glow of streetlights, a constant flow of headlights and taillights of cars, further emphasizing the song’s brooding nature.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Centered around the collaboration between core duo Martin Kuphukusi (vocals, lyrics) and Pitor Dang (electronics, sampler, production, mixing, lyrics, bass) Owls Are Not are an international collaboration primarily based in Warsaw, Poland that specializes in a minimal Afro funk/electro pop/electro punk that at points draws from footwork and dub, and live, organic Eastern African rhythms.

The act’s latest effort, Radio Tree released through the non-profit label 1000Herz Records is the result of several months of ethnomusicological research in Malawi and Tanzania. Adding to the Pan African and international flavor of the album, four of the album’s six songs were written with Eastern African vocalists, including Tonga Boys‘ Peter Kaunda, appearing as Certifyd, Sehno‘s Masaya Hijikata and Martin Kaphux Kaphukusi, the choir conductor of Christ Church of Malawi. Additionally, newspaperflyhunting and Vendrae Vendarum’s Michal Pawlowksi contributes guitar on a song.

Radio Tree‘s latest single is the thumping, club friendly “Asali.” Centered around arpeggiated synths and an infectious hook, the song manages to recall dancehall with a distinctly African flair. Thematically, the song like much of the album’s material focuses on love — and in a way that feels endearing and almost old school.

 

 

 

 

 

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Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Le Couleur is Montreal, Quebec-based electro pop band that consists of Laurence Giroux-Do, Patrick Gosselin and Steeven Chouinard, and with the release of 2010’s debut effort Origami, the trio received attention both across Europe and in their native Quebec for a decidedly French take on synth pop and disco pop. As a result of growing buzz around the French Canadian trio, their debut was propelled to the top of Quebec’s independent radio charts.

Le Couleur’s 2013 French Fox-produced Voyage Love EP found the trio collaborating with the members of French Horn Rebellion on an effort that found the act expanding upon the sound that first caught attention, winning further attention internationally. In fact, the act played a number of festivals across the international festival circuit including stops Pop Montreal, Liverpool Sound City and M for Montreal. The EP was also nominated for a GAMIQ Prize for Best EP of the year. Building upon a run of critically applauded material, the act’s 2015 Dolce Désir EP won the GAMIQ Prize for Electronic Music EP.

The French-Canadian act’s latest single “Le Dernier Noel” is a special (and mesmerizing) Christmas track for their fans, centered around shimmering synths, jangling guitars, ethereal vocals and a slick, radio friendly and dance floor friendly hook. And while being a fairly traditional Christmas tune, the Le Couleur rendition manages to be much more indirect and subtle in its spirit.