Category: Indie Electro Pop

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

With the release of “Don’t Act Like a Stranger” and “Try To Fight” earlier this year, the San Francisco, CA-based electro pop act Cathedrals, comprised of Brodie Jenkins (vocals) and Johnny Hwin (production) have developed a reputation for crafting anthemic, swooning, 80s-inspired synth pop with a radio friendly/arena friendly vibe. And the duo’s latest single “With You” which features Jenkins gorgeous, pop star belter-like vocals paired with a production featuring strummed guitar, reverb-filled drum programming, swirling electronics and shimmering synths, will further cement their reputation for anthemic pop — with “With You” arguably being the most urgent, yet aching single they’ve released to date. As the duo explain of the song “‘With You’ is a song very special to us, especially during these times of turmoil, about finding sanctuary in the person you love. That sense of comfort and peace you find when someone ‘feels like home’ to you. It is a different mood than the last 2 singles, with a dreamier almost melancholy bent — a bit of a harken back to their first EP.”

 

 
 
Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Striking and Sensual Visuals for Ozteki’s “True Love”

Comprised of cousins Mike Sharp (vocals, guitar) and Joel Roberts (synth, percussion, programming), the London, UK-based electro pop duo Ozteki have received attention across the UK and elsewhere with the release of singles “Touch,” “Already Dead” and “Falling Out,” which revealed that the duo specializes is sleek, percussive, modern electro pop that conveys a complex and paradoxical array of emotions with an almost novelistic attention to psychological detail; in fact, the duo’s latest single “True Love” is based around facing up to the darker aspects of humanity and confronting them with non-idealistic (and selfless) love — and while being a remarkably sultry and sensual song, it simultaneously possesses an underlying swooning vulnerability and anxiousness.

Directed by Christian Cargill and Will Farrell, the recently released video features Otzeki’s Mike Sharp in an eerie and strikingly vulnerable one-take performance of the track that sees Ozteki’s frontman performing the song while lying down; throughout his strained and deeply emotional performance, Sharp’s features gradually become distorted, as a way to mirror the song’s themes — and as the duo explains, the visuals delve the viewer into a pained and revealing world of what is, in their own words, “a dark-hued hymn of love and euphoria.”  

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few years, you may have come across a couple of posts featuring the Dublin, Ireland-born, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter and electro pop artist Sorcha Richardson. Initially relocating to the States to study, Richardson quickly developed a number of close relationships within Brooklyn’s underground electro pop/electronic music scene that wound up influencing the sonic direction of the material she had started to write and record; in fact, the Dublin-born, Brooklyn-based pop artist first caught the attention of the blogosphere with CON VOS, a musical project that received praise from Nylon, Pigeons & Planes, and Indie Shuffle.

Richardson quickly followed that up with her bedroom recorded debut EP Sleep Will Set Me Free EP, which received 200,000 Soundcloud streams and caught the attention of Crosswalk Records/Delicieuse Musique, who released the Last Train EP. Adding to a rapidly growing profile, Richardson has played sets at Northside Festival and CMJ, and several other festivals, as well as a number of headlining shows. Now, it’s been some time since I’ve personally written about the Dublin-born, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter and pop artist, but she’s been rather busy writing and recording a number of singles that have further cemented her reputation for crafting deeply introspective pop, including her latest single, “4AM,” single in which the song’s narrator muses about her current love prospects — with recognition of two things: that if things go wrong in a prospective relationship, it’s not always your fault — and the narrator proudly recognizes that being alone is perfectly fine to want to be alone and unbothered by someone else’s baggage and bullshit. Reportedly, the song, which is by far the most brooding in Richardson’s growing catalog, finds her pairing a sparse, Dido-like arrangement of dramatic piano chords with a soaring, radio-friendly hook with a club-leaning production featuring enormous tweeter and woofer rocking beats, swooning synths and Richardson’s ethereal yet achingly earnest croon. The song manages to walk a careful tightrope between late night, lonely regret over a relationship that has gone wrong and the pride of moving forward as quickly as possible from a flaming disaster — and it’s done with an honesty that comes from personal experience.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Centered on its founding and primary songwriting duo Tim Abbey and Rebeca Macros-Roca, the London, UK-based post-electronic dance act Park Hotel have developed a reputation for a sound that meshes neo-disco and dance punk with off-kilter, downtown art scene-based songwriting — and unsurprisingly, the duo’s sound has been favorably described as a joyfully communal face-off between LCD Soundsystem, Earth, Wind and Wire with flashes of Talking Heads and a sprinkle of Steely Dan. Along with that, they’ve developed a reputation for a live show in which the project expands to a sextet featuring three-way vocal harmonies, rhythm and lead guitar, drums and lots of cowbell.

Produced by Eliot James, mixed by Nathan Boddy and mastered at New York’s Sterling Sound, the act’s debut single “Gone as a Friend” was recorded last year and after playing a number of critically applauded, buzz-worthy shows across London before officially releasing their debut single earlier this year. Building upon their growing profile, the act’s latest single “Going West,” is an off-kilter, dance floor-friendly track that sounds inspired by Tom Tom Club‘s “Genius of Love,” Talking Heads’ “Making Flippy Floppy,” Miami Horror‘s “Leila” and The Rapture‘s “House of Jealous Lovers” as the song possesses an infectious, ear-worm worthy, hook paired with boy-girl harmonizing, shimmering synths, a Nile Rodgers-like guitar line and an even funkier bass line, but they manage to do so in a fashion that feels like a fresh and mischievous take on a familiar, crowd pleasing fashion.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

If you had been frequenting this site over the past year or two, you may have come across a small handful of posts featuring the Los Angeles, CA-based electro pop duo Sibling. Comprised of Elodie Tomlinson and Bryan Osuszek, the duo, which officially formed in 2015, can trace their origins to when they immediately felt a synergy after exploring the lore of astrological connections and the immediate sense of simpatico. With the release of their first four singles — Easy,” “Westside,” “Revolve,” and “Rearview,” the Southern Californian electro pop duo received attention for crafting radio friendly and emotionally direct, honest pop productions paired with Tomlinson’s pop star vocals.

Several months have passed since I’ve last written about them and as the duo’s Elodie Tomlinson explains about they last single “Knights,” “Sometimes people suck, things feel out of control and you want to escape life for a night That’s what this song’s about. i wrote the lyrics during what felt like one of the longest weeks ever, when I just wanted to check out and have a good time.” And as a result, the song possesses an inward frustration over the unavoidable, shitty and embittering things that life will throw in your way and although here’s a desire to escape and mindlessly enjoy yourself for a little while, there’s also a sense that it’s just an escape, that it never truly solves the problem at hand. Yes, at some point you have to be an adult and face the shitty situation you were had yourself in, in the first place.

Sonically speaking, the song will further cement the duo’s growing reputation for crafting slickly produced, radio-friendly electro pop — in this case, the song features a moody, ambient leaning production — delivered with a fearless honesty and directness that comes from personal experience.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Melancholy Sounds and Visuals of Amsterdam’s Nambyar

Nambyar is a half-Fijian, half-Dutch, Amsterdam, The Netherlands based alt R&B/electro pop singer/songwriter, whose music career was initially centered around guitar-driven melodies and band-leaning projects; however, the Amsterdam-based singer/songwriter can trace the origins of his solo recording career to when he began writing songs on an PolySix and Prophet analog studios in his own studio — and interestingly enough, the solitary time resulted in his uninhibited and bracingly honest, new single “Once More,” a bold statement of an artist and a man, finally letting go of his past and moving forward to a new and uncertain future, alone. In fact, as the Dutch-born singer/songwriter explains “Alone for the firs time, I didn’t need to listen to others and was able to focus on what I wanted to tell,The stripped-down production was layered with three synths, while the high-pitched vocal samples are taken from an old Italian singer, which I pitched to create the grid of the whole song.” 

Sonically speaking, Nambyar’s latest single reminds me quite a bit of Beacon’s initial releases — namely For Now EP and The Ways We Separate, as his achingly tender vocals singing deeply confessional, viscerally honest lyrics are paired with a sparse, ambient-leaning production to create an overall aesthetic that’s eerily spectral and mournful; it’s the sound of someone, who’s lead a full and messy life, reflecting back on it and being haunted by the ghosts of it; of someone who’s readily recognized that we often are drawn to people and situations for reasons we can never really explain; of someone, who recognizes that the relationship at the center of the song is heading towards an inevitable finality; but underneath the surface is a narrator, who’s desperate to free himself and live the life he feels fit — at all costs. 

Directed by Theo Captein, the recently released video for “Once More,” is based around a fairly simple concept that Nambyar came up with, as the video features the Amsterdam-based singer/songwriter earnestly brooding in a stark, white room but shot with slow-motion techniques, shallow depth of field, a shattered mirror and an animated bleeding-heart — all of which further emphasize the melancholy  nature of the song. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Black Fly is an up-and-coming and mysterious Vermont-based electronic music producer and artist, who records goth-leaning synth pop from his bedroom.  And as you’ll hear on his third and latest single “Dipped,” which was mixed by David Tolomei, whos’ worked with Beach House, Future Islands and Dirty Projectors, the up-and-coming Vermonter pairs shimmering and twinkling keys and synths with wobbling electronics and his husky, baritone croon.  While clearly nodding at 80s synth pop — in particular, early Depeche Mode and others — the track possesses a contemporary slickness and dance floor-readiness; but just underneath the surface is a song that focuses on the process of moving on, with the recognition that it’s almost always much more difficult than anticipated.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few years, you have most likely come across a handful of posts on Simon Green, a Brighton, UK-born, Los Angeles, CA-based DJ, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and electronic music artist, who has written, recorded and performed under the moniker of Bonobo. Interestingly, Green had long been considered part of a movement of producers, multi-instrumentalists and electronic music artists, who specialized in a sleek, hyper-modern and downtempo-leaning electronic music that included  Four Tet, Jon Hopkins, Caribou and others; however, with the release of his critically applauded 2013 release The North Borders Green revealed a decided change in his compositional approach in which he frequently paired electronic production with lush and stunning arrangements featuring organic instrumentation — wth the end result being a sound that possessed a cinematic quality.

The North Borders was also part of a larger, growing trend among many electronic music artists and producers to not only create a much more evocative and nuanced sound but an attempt to remind listeners, fans and critics that there was actual musicality within their productions besides a person haphazardly tapping away at a laptop or turning buttons and dials on a sampler or a processor.

Since the release of The North Borders, Green has been both extremely busy and rather prolific — he released the Flashlight EP at the end of 2014 while during what would turn out to be a two year period of intense touring across the globe. Green somehow managed to find the time to write and recored the material off his sixth full-length album Migration, which was released earlier this year. Naturally, with an album titled Migration, the material thematically focused on migration. As Green remarked in press notes “It’’s interesting how one person will take an influence from one part of the world and move with that influence and effect another part of the world. Over time, the identities of places evolve.” And as a result, the material seemed to possesses a transitory nature — some of the material, including album single “Kerala,” was initially composed while on the road and then was road-tested and revised during Stateside DJ sets. Adding to the album’s transitory nature, it featured guest spots from a number of artists, who have emigrated at some point themselves, including Canadian-born, Los Angeles-based vocalist Michael Milosh of Los Angeles-based indie pop act Rhye, who recorded his vocal tracks while in Berlin, Germany; Australian-born, Brooklyn-based global, indie pop sensation Nick Murphy, formerly known as Chet Faker, who bonded with the British producer over a shared love of disco; Florida-born, Los Angeles-based Nicole Miglis of Los Angeles-based act Hundred Waters; and the New York-based Moroccan collective Innov Gnawa among others. Adding to the album’s transitory nature, Green also employs the use of found sounds that include a Hong Kong elevator, rainfall in Seattle, an Atlanta-based tumble dryer and a New Orleans fan boat engine.

After completing successful tours across both the European Union and North America to support Migration, Green announced the release of a 3 song EP/single package that features album single “Bambro Koyo Ganda,” an analog version of “Bambro Koyo Ganda” that finds Green stripping the song’s production and sound to the bone — retaining a propulsive, undulating pulse and Moroccan-born, New York-based band Innov Gnawa’s vocals and handclap-led percussion, highlighting the hypnotic groove and vocals. EP closing track “Samurai” was written and recorded during the Migration sessions, and consists of a stuttering vocal sample floating over a sinuous production featuring shuffling drum programming and shimmering, subtly arpeggio synth and wobbling low end. And much like the material from the recording sessions it came from, the song should remind listeners of how much Green’s work draws from classic house and soul, while being paradoxically sensual, intimate and yet cinematic.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

So if you had been frequenting this site earlier this year, you would have come across two posts featuring DGTL CTL, a rather mysterious electro pop production and artist duo, whose overall sound draws from several different styles and subgenres of pop and electro pop; however, beneath the accessible, pop orientated leanings is an underlying tendency towards the avant-garde and artsy.  And for their unique ability to do craft weird yet accessible pop, the duo have begun to receive attention across the blogosphere; in fact, their EP’s first single “Elephant” featured a chilly, ambient and minimalist production consisting of distorted and shuffling beats and gently swirling and undulating synths and achingly tender vocals with an infectious hook. And while simultaneously nodding at Quiet Storm-era R&B, industrial electronica and contemporary electro pop, the song’s narrator describes shyly yet completely falling for someone, that they’re left dumbstruck; he knows the depth and timbre of his feelings and yet can’t figure out a way to express it. The words he puts on paper, just doesn’t seem to quite add up to the longing and desire he feels so deeply, so urgently. He’s left with the proverbially clichéd elephant in the room.

Recently, I received an email from Ryan Claus, a San Francisco, CA-based designer, composer, producer and electronic music artist, who writes and performs under the moniker Little Glass Men, a side project of his. Describing his sound as a mix of contemporary electronic music production with live instrumentation, along the lines of Mt. Kimbie, Bonobo and Flying Lotus, Claus collaborated with DGTL CTL’s Devereaux Jennings to remix “Elephants,” and as Claus explained to me via email they did some higher register takes for the chorus — and while retaining Jennings’ tender and aching vocals, Claus pairs them with dreamily twinkling keys, shimmering synths, and stuttering drum programming. As a result, it gives the song a vulnerable, awkward, swooning vibe.

 

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Soto Voce Returns with a Sensual and Anthemic bit of Industrial Electronica Paired with Feverish Visuals

Late last year, I wrote about the Los Angeles, CA-based electro pop duo Soto Voce. Comprised of Oakland, CA-born, Los Angeles-based vocalist Miguel De Vivo, now known as Mia De Vivo and Colombia-born, Los Angles-based producer Kenny Soto, the electro pop duo can trace its origins to a mutual love of electronic much and industrial music, and to the duo having similar experiences as outsiders — De Vivo, who was born male, grew up gender non-conforming and was relentlessly teased and beaten up “for being like a girl,” and who recently transitioned. Soto on the other hand, fled his native Colombia with his family as a teenager in the 90s, after his port official father refused to collaborate with Pablo Escobar’s drug cartel. When he and his family arrived in the US, they were extremely poor.

Now, as you may recall the duo’s debut single “Better” was quietly released but within a few weeks of is release, the track grabbed the attention of the blogosphere for a brooding, cinematic and difficult to pigeonhole sound that some described with Sade-fronting Radiohead comparison; however, in my opinion that song possessed a deeply personal and aching plea for acceptance both within and without paired with a club-banging yet atmospheric production. And the video specifically focused on the tensions around the Black Lives Matter, Trans Rights Matter and LGBTQ rights movements, how politically and socially things are much more fearful and uncertain for many minority groups across the world.

The duo’s latest single “Pop” will further cement their reputation for crafting propulsive and forceful industrial-leaning electro pop that manages to be sensual yet rousingly anthemic and club-banging. But arguably it may be the darkest, most unhinged and urgent track they’ve released to date.

Directed by Jon Danovic, the recently released music video for “Pop” possesses a surreal, feverish, dream-like logic.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Playful Sounds and Visuals of Sink Ya Teeth’s “If You See Me”

Maria Uzor and Gemma Cullingford are grizzled vets of Norwich, UK’s music scene, performing and recording in a number of projects before deciding to collaborate together 18 months ago in their latest project Sink Ya Teeth. And in a short period of time, the duo have received attention both in their hometown and nationally for a sound that draws from a board range of influences including Grace Jones, ESG, Nina Simone and Howlin’ Wolf among others in a lovingly DIY yet slick electro pop that clearly draws from early 80s synth pop and house music — all while being reminiscent of Las Kellies’ Total Exposure, Blondie, and others. In fact, the duo’s latest dance floor-friendly single “If You See Me” features Uzor and Cullingford coquettish crooning over a sultry and percussive synth pop production consisting of off-kilter percussion, electronic bleeps and bloops and a sinuous bass line — and although on a superficial level, the song is about having a bit too much fun on night out, as the duo explain “‘If You See Me’ was written the day after one of those really good nights that you probably shouldn’t have! It’s a song about feeling sorry for yourself but knowing that you can’t really blame anyone else either.”

As Maria Uzor says of the recently released video for “If You See Me,” “We shot the video in my flat one Saturday morning and got all of our friends to pile ‘rond ready to party on the promise of free booze. We had a loose idea after sitting down with director Jo Millington a few days before, and really just ended up rolling the camera and seeing what happened.” And the end result is a free-flowing, goofy energy of a bunch of friends hanging out, playing records and fooling around together.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Darkly Comic and Horror-Inspired Visuals for Mary Epworth’s “Me Swimming”

With the 2012 release of her full-length debut, Dream Life, the British singer/songwriter, composer and pop artist Mary Epworth quickly received a growing national profile as the album was released to glowing and breathless praise from Q Magazine, who called the album was “psych pop splendour . . . Experimentalism, melody and narrative co-existing in an appealing balance,” and Record Collector giving the album five stars and hailing the album as “a work of bracing originality . . . Immaculately sung and graced throughout with intelligent, song-serving arrangements and inspired production touches.” Adding to her growing profile, album singles “Black Doe” and “Long Gone” were playlisted on BBB Radio 6 — and “Black Doe,” was picked as Zane Lowe’s “Hottest Record in The World.” And as a result, Epworth and her backing band spent a lengthy period of time touring and playing the festival circuit.

Over the past few years, Epworth has been busy with other creative pursuits — she composed the theme for the hit Stateside-based podcast Within the Wires, a spinoff to Welcome to Night Vale, and as a result, Epworth joined the Night Vale team on their successful, sold-out tours across both the US and European Union. However, her forthcoming Thom Monahan-produced sophomore effort Elytral derives its name from the description of the smooth armor beetles wear that gives them an external steeliness that belies the filminess below — and while the album will further Epworth’s growing reputation for experimental pop soundscapes, with elements of prog rock, psychedelia and even free jazz, the album reportedly finds Epworth letting loose of her darker songwriting instincts. But it’s also a continuation of some of the themes of its predecessor — nature and the vastness of the world; in fact, as Epworth explains in press notes, the world elytral is “the central metaphor of this album. It’s about resilience and stamina, but also having this light and colour unfolding from inside.”

“Me Swimming” Elytral’s first single features an atmospheric production consisting of a propulsive bass line, shimmering and gently undulating synths, With the 2012 release of her full-length debut, Dream Life, the British singer/songwriter, composer and pop artist Mary Epworth quickly received a growing national profile as the album was released to glowing and breathless praise from Q Magazine, who called the album was “psych pop splendour . . . Experimentalism, melody and narrative co-existing in an appealing balance,” and Record Collector giving the album five stars and hailing the album as “a work of bracing originality . . . Immaculately sung and graced throughout with intelligent, song-serving arrangements and inspired production touches.” Adding to her growing profile, album singles “Black Doe” and “Long Gone” were playlisted on BBB Radio 6 — and “Black Doe,” was picked as Zane Lowe’s “Hottest Record in The World.” And as a result, Epworth and her backing band spent a lengthy period of time touring and playing the festival circuit.

Over the past few years, Epworth has been busy with other creative pursuits — she composed the theme for the hit Stateside-based podcast Within the Wires, a spinoff to Welcome to Night Vale, and as a result, Epworth joined the Night Vale team on their successful, sold-out tours across both the US and European Union. However, her forthcoming Thom Monahan-produced sophomore effort Elytral derives its name from the description of the smooth armor beetles wear that gives them an external steeliness that belies the filminess below — and while the album will further Epworth’s growing reputation for experimental pop soundscapes, with elements of prog rock, psychedelia and even free jazz, the album reportedly finds Epworth letting loose of her darker songwriting instincts. But it’s also a continuation of some of the themes of its predecessor — nature and the vastness of the world; in fact, as Epworth explains in press notes, the world elytral is “the central metaphor of this album. It’s about resilience and stamina, but also having this light and colour unfolding from inside.”

“Me Swimming” Elytral’s first single features an atmospheric production consisting of a propulsive bass line, shimmering and gently undulating synths, metronomic-like drum programming fed through reverb, some subtle industrial-like clang and clatter and a soaring hook. And much like Roisin Murphy’s incredibly weird and experimental work, Epworth’s latest single manages to possess a radio-friendly accessibility.

Directed by Ben Sommers and starring renowned British character actor Robert Lloyd Parry, best known for performing one-man stagings of short stories by British horror writer M.R. James, the video for “Me Swimming” follows a man, who has a strange and overwhelming obsession — and interestingly enough is based on Epworth’s own concept. As Epworth explains “This video features so many of my favourite things — beasts, landscape, Robert Lloyd Parry’s impeccable acting and blackly comic pastoral horror.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Rob Bakker is a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-born, Toronto, ON-based multi-Juno Award and Polaris Prize-nominated hip-hop producer, engineer and recording artist, best known as Muneshine. Recently, Converse Rubber Tracks had the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based producer collaborating with the acclaimed Toronto, ON-based art rock/indie rock duo The Darcys on “Full Throttle,” a sultry, classic house music-inspired club-banging single that finds both the producer and renowned indie rock duo using their sound and aesthetic in a completely different and unchartered territory, arguably being one of the sexiest songs both parties have released to date — while thematically speaking, the song is about escaping whatever that weighs you and your life down — work stress, school stress, relationship stress, family stress, etc.

As the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based producer explains of the collaboration with The Darcys “Wes [Marskell] and Jason [Couse] are great to work with. They’re obviously great songwriters and musicians, but beyond that we just get along as humans. We share a similar dark and sarcastic sense of humour as well, which makes our sessions an evil pleasure. I love having an idea on my own and finding my own way to express it, but when you bring other people that you trust creatively into the fold and put your heads together you’re forced to explore possibilities that live beyond your own imagination. That’s a beautiful thing.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Emmit Fenn is Berkeley, CA-based indie electro pop artist, who describes his sound and aesthetic as being at the intersection of Flume and James Blake — and as you’ll hear on his latest single “Woman,” Fenn pairs his tender and aching crooned volcano with a minimalist production consisting of propulsive, boom-bap like drumming and gently swirling electronics and shimmering synths to create a sound that reminds me quite a bit of The Ways We Separate-era Beacon but with a plaintive sensuality at its core.