Category: Indie Electro Pop

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

WDL is a Swedish producer and electronic music artist, who has received attention nationally in his homeland for remixes of fellow Scandinavians MØ and Tove Lo, and for “Bob’s Beat,” the official anthem of the 2015 Swedish Cricket World Cup team.

Building up on the attention, that the Swedish producer has received, his full-length debut, No Wings Airline, is slated for release soon, and the album’s first single a collaboration with renowned Danish vocalist and emcee, Ellinor Miranda Salome Olovsdotter, best known to music fans as Elliphant. The single pairs swirling and ambient electronics, twinkling piano, sweeping strings, handclaps, boom bap-like drum programming, distorted vocal samples and sharp hooks with Olovsdotter’s Lauryn Hill-like dexterous reggae-like flow and sultry R&B vocals. Sonically, the song sounds as though it draws an influence from Geoff Barrow‘s work with Portishead and Anika, as well as Sneaker Pimps — in other words, murky and ominous trip-hop but with an upbeat message at its core.

as well as the official anthem for the 2015 cricket world cup in ’Bob’s Beat,’ the latest testament to the young Swede’s production dexterity sees vintage piano and airy strings support raspy, captivating vocals courtesy of Elliphant. Released in partnership with Spotify, ’Stardust’ aims to set the tone for an album of diversity, authenticity and creativity.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Initially begun as the solo recording project of Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Jake Hays, Maudlin Strangers over the last year has expanded to a quartet featuring Hays, along with Jeff Lehrer (keys, guitar), Kenneth Benson (bass) and Richie McPherson (drums) for live shows.

If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the better part of the past year, you may recall that I wrote about Hays’ single “Stay Young” off his EP Overdose, and similarly to Big Data, Hays’ sound doesn’t have the prototypical lo-fi sound you’d expect from most bedroom-based indie rock producers; in fact, “Stay Young” revealed a slick and densely layered production style that buzzed with an anxious urgency in a song that was reminiscent to MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular – but much darker. And as a result, Hays has seen his profile rise nationally as he’s tour with Bad Suns over the winter, and is currently touring with Cold War Kids. (You can check out the remaining tour dates below.)

Hays’ latest single “Sunny Day Rain” will further cement his reputation for a slickly produced sound comprised of cascading synths, sinuous bass lines, four-on-the-floor drums and sensually cooed vocals and anthemic hooks to create a sound that’s shimmering enough to be dance-floor ready — and yet under the surface there’s something murkier and ominous.

Tour Dates

1/10/15 – Fitzgerald’s Downstairs – Houston, TX #
11/11/15 – The Sidewinder – Austin, TX #
11/12/15 – Dada – Dallas, TX #
11/15/15 – Pub Rock – Phoenix, AZ #  With Strange Names #

Supporting Cold War Kids *

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past few months, you may recall that I’ve written about Nashville, TN-based electro pop trio BASECAMP. Comprised of Aaron Miller, Aaron C. Harmon, and Jordan Reyes, the trio have quickly developed a reputation for a sound that equally draws from electronic music and the past 10-15 years of R&B and pop music; in fact, “Watch My Back,” arguably one of the best singles I’ve heard this year, and Greater Than‘s opening track paired silky smooth vocals with skittering percussion, glitchy electronics, chilly, swirling electronics, glistening synths and a tight, memorable hook to craft a sound that is reminiscent of Timbaland’s revolutionary work with Missy Elliot and Aaliyah.

The Nashville-based trio’s latest single “In My Veins” features Del The Funky Homosapien one of the more unheralded emcees around and Billie Black on a song that sonically manages to owe debts to classic house music and contemporary R&B as the song pairs arpeggio synths, stuttering and skittering drum programming, strummed guitar, wobbling low end and swirling electronics with silky smooth vocals on a sweaty and sexy dance-floor orientated track that compares lust and love to a powerful addiction. Chemically speaking, love is awfully close to being addicted to chocolate, caffeine and several other drugs.

Billie Black contributes some sultry vocals to the song’s hook while Del The Funky Homosapien contribues about 16 bars that expands on the song’s title. and compares being in love to shooting heroin — and in turn, being incredibly difficult to stop.

What “In My Veins” does is further cement the Nashville-based trio’s for slickly produced, sensual electro pop that clearly draws from R&B and dance music — in this case, house music — while possessing an emotional directness and thoughtfulness that seems all too rare.

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Gorgeous and Cathartic Video for ACES “I’m Already Gone”

If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past three weeks or so. you may recall that I’ve written a little bit about ACES, a Brooklyn-based electro pop duo comprised of Russ Flynn and Alexandra Stewart. The Brooklyn-based […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Karolina Komstedt and Johan Angergård, the Ahus, Sweden-based electro pop duo Club 8 have a long-held reputation for being incredibly difficult to pigeonhole since their formation in 1995. Initially, the Swedish duo began as a Bossa Nova-inspired guitar pop act with the release of their debut effort, Nouvelle.  But with the 1998 release of their sophomore effort, The Friend I Once Had, the duo went through a complete and radical change of sonic direction, as that effort had the duo writing electro dance music. The duo’s next three albums, released between 2001 and 2003 had the duo switching things up with material that leaned towards indie soul.

Up until 2010, Angergård had served as produced — until the 2013 release of Above The City; however, Angergård takes up production duties on the duo’s soon-to-be released Pleasure slated for a November 20 release through Labrador Records. And as Komstedt explains in press notes, “Pleasure is an album about love, sex and jealousy. Musically, it is possibly our most focused release to date.” Interestingly, the album’s latest single “Late Night” is a swooningly wistful and melancholic song that looks at a love affair, viewing it as immediately exciting and passionate — that is until that initial excitement wanes and the bright colors of the relationship gently turn grey. At its very core, the song’s narrator clings to seemingly old-fashioned romantic dreams and notions, and their nostalgia, all while desperately wishing that feeling would come back. It seems to subtly suggest that while love is something that we all desperately desire, relationships with other people can be confusing and hellish — and yet, we want so badly that we’ll do anything for it.

Sonically, the song pairs wistful nostalgia with layers of glistening and undulating synths reminiscent of Stevie Nicks‘ “Stand Back,” and The Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me?” and Komstedt’s hushed coos to craft a song that’s a slickly produced pop confection — but from the viewpoint of someone who’s been in a number of love relationships and has seen them repeatedly fail and yet remarkably hasn’t had their hope beaten down.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Multi-Grammy nominated, Grammy-winning, Canadian-Jamaican DJ and reggae vocalist Shaggy is probably best known for his mega-hit singles “Boombastic,” “It Wasn’t Me,” “Hey, Sexy Lady” and “Angel.”  More than enough ink has been spilled throughout Shaggy’s career but I will say that “Boombastic” and “It Wasn’t Me” are so hugely popular that you’ll still occasionally hear both of those songs at parties, more than 15 years after their initial releases.

Miami, FL-based pop artist Brika has been something of a mainstay on JOVM as I’ve written about her a number of times over the past year or so. And in that time, Brika received attention across the blogosphere for an electro pop sound that at times seemed to owe a debt to trip-hop and jazz. Interestingly, Brika recently covered Shaggy’s mega-hit “It Wasn’t Me,” turning the uptempo reggae song into a slow-burning, sensual neo-soul-leaning reggae reworking that completely changes the song’s melody while employing the use of strummed guitar, organ, skittering percussion, double bass and Brika’s breathy coos. Certainly, by having a woman sing the song’s lyrics, it creates a completely different interpretation of the song while retaining the original’s spirit.

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Sofi de la Torre’s Late Night, Noir-ish, Electro Pop

Over the past few months, Spanish-born Berlin-based singer/songwriter Sofi de la Torre has become something of a mainstay artist on this site. Now, if you’re new to the site — or just need a refresher let’s get into […]

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Gorgeously Cinematic Video for GEMS “Soak”

You might remember that last week, I wrote about the Washington, DC-based duo GEMS. Comprised of Lindsay Pitts and John Usher, the duo have developed a reputation for crafting material that’s intimate and confessional, and expresses heartache and profound […]

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Stormy and Nostalgic Video for Leena Ojala’s “Why”

Just a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the young, up-and-coming pop artist, Leena Ojala. Born in Germany to a Finnish father and English mother, Ojala was raised in Hong Kong and Essex before she relocated to London when she was […]

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Haunting and Troubling, New Video for Reptile Youth’s “Arab Spring Break Parts 1 and 2”

Reptile Youth – Arab Spring Break (Part I & II) from Reptile Youth on Vimeo. If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past 15-18 months or so, you would have likely come across a couple […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Lucy Whittaker is an up and coming, 19 year-old British singer/songwriter and student at Leeds College of Music. Her debut single “Change Your Mind” pairs shimmering cosmically glowing synths, twinkling keyboards and propulsive 808s with Whittaker’s sultry, soulful vocals to craft a contemporary pop sound that fits in with the likes of Chelsea Lankes, Phoebe Ryan, CAPPA, Heather LaRose and others while possessing a self-assuredness, confidence and perspective well beyond her young years. And although this single is her debut, I’m looking forward to hearing quite a bit more from this young British talent.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Andrew Poirier (guitar), Anand Greenwell (saxophone), Chris Mackenzie (drums), William Farrant (bass), and Piers Henwood (guitar), the  Victoria, BC-based quintet Astrocolor decided that they wanted to tackle Christmas songs for their forthcoming album Lit Up: Music for Christmas. Featuring guest vocals from Kandle, Rykka, Jets Overhead‘s Antonia Freybe-Smith, and Abi Rose and co-produced by the Canadian quintet and Colin Stewart, best known for his work with Black Mountain, Dan Mangan and AC Newman, the approach to the album was largely inspired by jazz great Stan Getz’s Getz Au Go-Go, as well as Massive Attack, Air and St. Germain. As the band explained in press notes, Stan Getz’s rendition of “Summertime,” ” became a jumping off point for what we were trying to do, taking the classic ‘summertime and the livin’ is easy’  hook and reshaping it into an exploratory piece. We too wanted to create a sense of familiarity and exploration within the context of a Christmas album.”

“We Three Kings,” the first single off Lit Up: Music for Christmas is a noir-ish and moodily atmospheric song that sounds as though it owes as much of a sonic debt to jazz as it does to dubstep and trip hop as Abi Rose’s seductive, jazz standard vocal stylings are paired with a mournful horn line, swirling electronics, angular, funk guitar and bass, and plinking keys submerged in layers upon layers of reverb to craft a rendition of a familiar song that’s hauntingly mournful and cinematic — while being simultaneously intimate and sensual.

I’ve played the song a number of times before writing this post, and every time I can picture the three kings with their gifts riding through moonlit, desert skies to Bethlehem to see the baby Christ. But perhaps more important, it puts a modern spin on to a song that many of us have heard so much that its meaning and importance has been reduced to background music at the mall or in a commercial.

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Noir-ish Murder-Filled, New Video for Painted Palms’ “Refractor”

Comprised of cousins Reese Donahue and Christopher Prudhomme, the electro pop duo of Painted Palms have almost always used the Internet to collaborate on songwriting — initially out of necessity, as the project started with Donahue based in San […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Originally, known as the frontman of pop act Throw Me The Statue, Scott Reitherman’s solo recording project Pillar Point has received attention for a melancholy yet bouncy electro pop sound primarily comprised of vintage, analog synthesizers, drum kits and sleek bass lines. As the story goes, Reitherman was planning to write and record his sophomore full-length album in his Seattle home when he received an unexpected invitation to record the album at Kevin Barnes’ home studio, while Reitherman was opening for of Montreal during their US tour.

Once the tour wrapped up, Reitherman spent a few months crafting demos of the material that would wind up comprising Marble Mouth before spending a month at Barnes’ house refining and recording alongside of Washed Out‘s drummer, Cameron Gardener and Kishi Bashi‘s percussionist Philip Mayer.

Reithernan then spent a six period in New Orleans writing and refining both the album’s lyrics and vocals. And as Reitherman explained in press notes, “New Orleans was the most meditative and mysterious part of making the record. I wanted to sink into that city and scrutinize the romantic southern sojourn.”

Marble Mouth‘s first single, album opening track “Part Time Love” pairs layers of twitchy and cascading synths with propulsive, four-on-the-floor drumming and Reitherman’s ethereal cooing to craft a sound that’s reminiscent of The Talking Heads, Tobacco and others, while subtly nodding at Top 40 pop; in other words, the sound is tense, neurotic and incredibly danceable and accessible pop with infectious hooks.

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing The Joyful and Sensual Electro Pop Sound of Lydmor and Bon Homme

Lydmor and Bon Homme is Scandinavian electro pop duo featuring Tomas Høffding, a.k.a. Bon Homme, the vocalist and bassist of experimental Danish electronic pop trio WhoMadeWho, and an acclaimed DJ and producer known for remixes of Digitalism, […]