Category: Indie Pop

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Rising Aussie Artist MANE Shares Lush and Anthemic “Breathing Again”

Paige Court is a rising Adelaide-based singer/songwriter and pop artist, best known as MANE. She exploded onto the Aussie scene with 2019’s breakout hit “Chasing Butterflies,” which amassed over 2 million streams and landed at #7 on the Spotify viral charts.

Her debut EP. 2020’s Coping Mechanisms and follow-up single “Hi Lo” were released through Dew Process/Universal Music Australia and were written during some of the most formative experiences of her life to date.

In a relatively short period of time, MANE has played the national touring circuit, playing some of her homeland’s biggest festivals including Spin Off, Groovin The Moo, Bigsound, and Big Pineapple. She has shared stages with the likes of Matt Corby, Ball Park Music, Yung Blud and The Kooks. Building upon a growing profile, the rising Aussie artist went on a 34 date Stateside tour between last August and last November, across 14 states.

The rising Aussie artist’s latest single, the Mario Späte and Benjamin Tamblyn-Morrow (a in shadowing collaborator role)-produced “Breathing Again” continues a remarkable run of cinematic, heart-worn-on-sleeve pop anthems centered around her smoky, booming pop belter delivery paired with twinkling keys, a mix of thumping beats and live drumming and a rousingly anthemic hook. The song, which was written with Charlie McClean, the co-founder of She Writes feels informed by lived-in experience: it evokes a sometimes fleeting sense of hope and peace during the most difficult times of your life. This song should serve as a reminder that things can — and do — get better; that nothing is forever.

“I distinctly remember writing this song with Charlie at Kobalt Studios in LA and feeling overwhelmed by a waterfall of happy/sad emotions… Charlie really gently helped coax them out of me in a way where I didn’t need to be specific or elaborate into any detail which was really nice,” Court recalls. “The song to me is about a moment of clarity or relief in the midst of healing from something – the sometimes fleeting feeling that it is in fact going to be ok, for me those moments provide a lot of hope… it’s refreshing, relieving and sometimes exciting to feel, especially if it’s felt heavy and dark for so long. I think finding a space where you can genuinely smile, breathe and just exist after a grief is a testament to your own resilience, because even though you may still be going through it your finding room around it to seek hope & happiness and I think that’s brave as hell!”

Edited by Court, the accompanying video emphasizes the healing process at the core of the song as it follows a couple of women, suffering through despair and heartache, and while expressing their feelings experience a moment of clarity and peace that saves them.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: dayaway Shares Breezy and Hook-Driven “hot blue summer”

Acclaimed duo Brooklyn-based indie CLAVVS — Amber Renee and Graham Marsh — can trace their origins back to a chance meeting after they both separately decided at the last minute to attend a random house party.

Renee’s background is in Americana. Marsh cut his teeth working on Grammy-winning hits by Bruno Mars and Gnarls Barkley. But with CLAVVS the pair weave together the organic and synthetic in a way that brings comparisons to Sylvan Esso and Maggie Rogers — but with a glossier, mainstream sheen. And as a result, the pair has landed placements on MTV, PBS, a number of tastemaking playlists and played in stores like Urban Outfitters.

The duo are also behind the rising indie pop project dayaway. Renee is a water sign — and naturally she has an obsession with the ocean. Fittingly, the project was conceived over countless summer afternoons at Rockaway Beach. The songs she writes for dayaway frequently tell stories about love and loss, detailing heartbreak in summertime snapshots paired with hazy dream pop/New Wave-inspired soundscapes.

Last year’s self-titled dayaway debut EP was released to critical applause from the likes of Under the Radar and Earmilk. EP single “cool water” amassed millions of streams across the digital streaming platforms while landing on Spotify’s New Music Friday, Good Vibes and Golden Hour playlists among others. Follow up singles “beach 90th” and “desert island” landed on Apple Music’s New in Indie and Spotify’s Surf Rock Sunshine playlist. Material from the EP were also featured on Netflix’s Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between, and ABC’s A Million Little Things.

The duo’s latest single “hot blue summer” is a breezy and summery bop rooted in Renee’s achingly tender and ethereal delivery paired with buzzing and reverb-drenched guitars, bubbling electronics, twinkling keys and a razor sharp hook. The song evokes the blissful buzz of summer afternoons at the beach — but the uptempo poppiness of the song is a bit deceptive: The song actually acknowledges that despite the hopes and playfulness of summer and summer love, heartbreak is always around the corner.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Seoul’s ROSS 248 Shares Slow-Burning “Blinded by your Light”

Deriving their name from a small star in the northern constellation Andromeda, ROSS 248 is a mysterious, Seoul-based songwriter and producer, who employs an old-school songwriter’s approach with each and every song, which showcases the voices of an eclectic array of vocalists.

Influenced by a number of different genres, including electro pop and indie pop, ROSS 248’s career started in earnest producing for other artists in her native South Korea. But increasingly,. the Seoul-based producer increasingly desired to express herself through songwriting — with a continued focus on production.

A influential trip to Liverpool helped the South Korean producer further establish her own sound and approach. Her debut single, “Somewhere Only We Know” received airplay on BBC Music Introducing Merseyside last year.

Her latest single “Blinded by your light,” a slow-burning and vibey pop gem that seems indebted to neo-soul with the song being featuring wobbling synths, glistening Rhodes, a sultry Quiet Storm-like groove paired with Victoria Murray’s achingly tender and yearning delivery. Continuing upon the previously released “Sunshower,” “Blinded by your light” channels the feelings of stability and tranquility within a stable and fulfilling relationship. As the South Korean producer explains, the song’s main messages is “if you love someone more than anything, you see the deeper hopes and positiveness in your life.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Alfa Mist Teams Up with Kaya Thomas-Dyke on Soulful and CInematic “Aged Eyes”

Throughout the London-based producer, composer, musician and Sekito Records head Alfa Mist’s career, he has steadfastly refused to be boxed into a specific genre or style: his work has spanned everything from hip-hop beatmaking to producing for rappers like Loyle Carner, composing neo-classical works for the London Contemporary Orchestra and reworking tracks for Ólafur Arnalds and legendary jazz label Blue Note. He also hosts the Are We Live podcast with Barney Artist and Jordan Rakei. 

Since the release of his full-length debut, 2015’s the London-based multi-hyphenate has also quickly established himself as one of the UK’s most focused and distinct contemporary musical voices while also working with Jordan Rakei, Tom Misch, Richard Spaven, Lester Duval and Emmavie.

Building upon the success of 2017’s Antiphon, which has amassed over 10 million streams of YouTube, 2019’s Structuralism and 2021’s ANTI- Records debut, Bring Backs, the forthcoming Variables finds Alfa Mist moving forward with a renewed intensity and purpose. “The whole album is more uptempo and influenced by the freedom of returning to gigs,” Alfa Mist explains. “It feels like I’m coming back to my early days of making grime beats and creating tracks that make me want to bop my head fast.” 

Variables‘ latest single “Aged Eyes” featuring longtime collaborator Kaya Thomas-Dyke is a gorgeous bit of trip hop-inspired neo-soul built around a finger-plucked guitar melody by Jamie Leeming, a swelling string-driven, cinematic chorus from Peggy Nolan (cello), twinkling keys from Alfa Mist paired with Thomas Dyke’s expressive, gossamer vocal. The arrangement and Thomas Dyke’s vocal express a yearning sense of hope.

The accompanying video by SPOD features some gorgeously animated watercolor paintings reminiscent of Van Gogh and the Dutch masters.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay Sophie Colette Shares Breezy and Upbeat Anthem

Currently based in Richmond, VA, singer/songwriter, keyboardist. indie pop artist and JOVM mainstay Sophie Colette initially moved to New York to pursue fashion design. But she pivoted to music after being scouted at a high school reunion by The Party Faithful‘s bassist. As the story goes, about a month or so later, Colette was contributing vocals, keys and synths for The Party Faithful, playing at venues across town.

During that same period, she met singer/songwriter, musician, and Degraw Sound producer Ben Rice. Colette eventually showed Rice a stack of sketchbooks filled with lyrics and visual palettes. Those sketchbooks eventually spurred her work as a solo artist.

“Tonite” off Colette’s debut EP Strangers and Lovers was featured at Jasmine Chong’s runway presentations to the editors of Vogue, WWD, Elle and others during New York Fashion Week 2017. Selected footage from the Stephen Dirkes-directed music video for “Get Close” was nominated for Best Creative Concept, Art Direction and Visual Effects at the La Jolla International Fashion Film Festival. She also supported the EP with a European tour with Berlin-based The Crystal Elephant.

Over the past couple of years, Colette has released a handful of singles that have received praise from my colleagues and dear friends at Glamglare, Adam’s World Blog — and of course, this site. Her work has also received airplay on French radio station Déclic Radio 101.1FM.

The JOVM mainstay’s latest single “Don’t Worry” is a breezy and uptempo, hook-driven anthem featuring a mix of live drumming and programmed beats paired with lush, twinkling keys, punchy syncopation and Colette’s achingly vulnerable delivery and lyrics. While rooted in the Richmond-based artist’s heart-worn-on-sleeve earnestness, “Don’t Worry” possesses an easy-going swagger. The song’s narrator is clearly feeling herself. But along with that confidence, the narrator is expressing her willingness to fight for the love they deserve — both from others and herself.

“I wanted to write a song I could dance to, to shake off negativity, and get myself out of bed to make that cup of coffee in the morning and get dressed,” Colette explains. “I needed it as my own antidote to loneliness and self doubt. It became a reminder that I could be my own cheerleader and push myself out of a funk.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Singapore’s Aisyah Aziz Shares Gorgeous Ballad “janji kita bertemu lagi”

https://youtu.be/szoIpBWhRRE

Aisyah Aziz is a Singaporean singer/songwriter, musician, model and actor with a soulful vocal that effortlessly spans a range of genres — and an ethereal presence on both the theater and concert stage. Aziz quickly established herself as a household name through notable performances both in Singapore and beyond, including Singapore’s National Day Parade, where she performed an original song co-written with longtime friend RHUAN.

The Singaporean artist also expresses herself through fashion, a passion of hers — and more recently through acting: She made her theater debuting a work by Teater Ekmatara commissioned for the Singapore International Festival of Arts.

Back in 2020, Aziz released her first English-language EP, Sugar: The Live Extended Play, which was performed and recorded as a live session. She followed that up with with 2021’s Ying Tan-produced, full-length Pearls. Her earliest work saw the Malaysian-Singaporean artist performing songs that were written for her, and she long thought herself to be a vessel for the music. But that changed when she found a creative community, who inspired her to break out of her shell and come into her own as a collaborator and independent singer/songwriter and producer.

Since then she has collaborated with Charlie Lim, Rizky Febian, YAø and a growing list of others. Adding to a growing profile. she was invited to perform with Malaysian music icon Dato’ Jamal Abdillah during his most recent Aku Jamal . . . My Musical Journey show in Singapore.

Armed with a newfound confidence, the rising Singaporean artist is ready to share what she’s been creating with the world, and is looking forward to releasing new material through various creative projects throughout the year with the hopes to bring her work further into the regional and international market. Aziz’s latest single “janji kita bertemu lagi” is the Malaysian-Singaporean artist’s first English-Malay bilingual song of her growing catalog — and the first single from her forthcoming EP, til death do us part, which is slated for an April 2023 release.

Translated from Malay “janji kita bertemu lagi” means “promise we’ll meet again.” Featuring a sparse arrangement of strummed acoustic guitar paired with Aziz’s breathtakingly gorgeous vocal “janji kita bertemu lagi,” is an achingly bittersweet ballad that captures the heartache and uncertainty, as well as the begrudging acceptance and hope (both real and sometimes delusional) of a breakup.

Directed by Aziz’s best friend Paul Lin, the video was shot from the perspective of a guitar — presumably her guitar. “Having fallen back in love with singing on the guitar, it witnesses everything that happens in my life without judgement. It is simple and it takes everything in as it is. Alhamdullilah I’m beyond stoked to be able to work with Paul, my best buddy, on this video. You don’t need a big team to create something magical.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Maddy Boyd is a Santa Fe-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter, who cut her teeth with stints in indie rock outfits Current Joys and Surf Curse. In 2019, afterplaying over 150 sold-out shows, Boyd left both bands to pursue her solo recording project Your Angel. That same year. she released her full-length debut, Pipe Dream.

Boyd’s sophomore Your Angel album A Star in the Headlights is slated for a March 17, 2023 release. So far, two of the album’s previously released singles “You Never Say Sorry” and “Misbehave” have received praise from the likes of Consequence, NYLON, and Notion among others.

A Star in the Headlights‘ third and latest single “Good Girl” is a slow-burning Quiet Storm-like bop centered around an atmospheric production featuring lush and glistening synths, skittering beats paired with Boyd’s plaintive and yearning cooing and her unerring knack for catchy hooks. While sonically bringing JOVM mainstays like ACES, Beacon, and others to mind, the song as Boyd explains is ” . . . about dating someone, who always has their sights set somewhere else. It’s about the feeling of spending all of your time with someone and still feeling profoundly alone.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Matt Corby Shares Lush and Cinematic “Big Smoke”

Matt Corby is a multi-award winning Australian singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. Since the release of 2018’s J Award-winning album, Rainbow Valley, the acclaimed Aussie artist and producer has been busy: He launched his own independent label and loaned his production expertise to material by fellow JOVM mainstay Genesis Owusu, Jack River, Great Gable, Bud Rokesky and most recently, his award-winning collaboration with Budjerah. During 2020, Corby released two standalone singles “If I Never Say A Word” and “Vitamin.”

Corby’s highly-anticipated third, full-length album Everything’s Fine is slated for a March 24, 2023 release through UK-based Communion Music. Marking his first album in five years, Everything’s Fine vividly captures the personal and creative growth of the acclaimed Aussie artist and producer, who like many of us, had life tip him upside down and downside up. 

On the day Corby was going to start recoding his new album, he and his family were rescued by a neighbor. Their home had been engulfed by floodwaters that raged through Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. After nervously watching his very pregnant partner and young son be whisked away in a small, inflatable dinghy, he got to work ferrying provisions to stranded neighbors and locals and digging rotting mud out from beneath his home. 

With their home inundated by floodwater, the whole family was forced to move into Corby’s Rainbow Valley Studios, during the album’s recording process. Juggling familial responsibilities with his creative and professional pursuits was a one-of-kind pressure cooker circumstance that helped galvanize his artistic evolution. Ruminating on love, domestic life, natural disaster and more, Corby reconfigured his creative instincts and returned to his longstanding creative collaborations with Alex Hendrickson, Chris Collins and Nat Dunn.

The end result is arguably be the acclaimed Aussie’s most sonically adventurous, deeply personal and resonant album to date. While drawing from his long-held R&B influences, Everything’s Fine is very much a story of survival, perseverance and love told through a polychromatic embrace of vintage funk, hip-hop and playful soft rock through Corby’s uniquely offbeat lens.

“I’m currently rebuilding a lot of my foundational stuff,” Corby explains. “Covid changed me a lot, slowed me down. I feel like I’ve become aware of a lot of the stuff I need to work on, and I’m happy to start – and I have been. All of that chaos helped me not be neurotic with this album process and get to the point where I accepted things. Like, I couldn’t sit and stew over how something sounded and potentially make it worse if I was needed elsewhere.”

Firmly fixed on seeing the best of things, Matt reveals “I’m at a really beautiful point in my life. I’m accepting all this stuff: the good and the bad, but particularly the bad. Which is kind of great. It’s a good thing to come to that point. Life isn’t always magical, but the moments that are, well you really value them. I think this record is about that, about managing your actual reality. Sometimes I have those moments when you realize: well I’m still breathing, you still have the gift of life, so everything is fine I guess?”

Within a week of the flood, Corby returned to the studio, and wound up writing and recording “Problems,” a funky R&B-inspired bop centered around a strutting bass line, twinkling keys and boom bap-like drumming paired with the Aussie artist’s plaintive crooning and his unerring knack for well-placed, razor sharp hooks. Sonically, “Problems” sounds indebted to D’Angelo and Mayer Hawthorne — but while rooted in personal, lived-in experience and astute observation of human behavior and character. The song’s message is a simple and profound one: While maybe your own world is on fire or about to sink under water, the most important thing is that you and your loved ones are alive — and mostly well. 

“It’s about how funny humans are creating our own problems and issues that we then have to solve. Or creating problems so difficult we then can’t solve,” Corby says. “And how people talk so much shit and don’t do anything – how we’re setting ourselves up for failure. People want to point the finger but nobody wants to carry anything themselves.” 

Everything Fine‘s second single “Reelin,‘” a strutting bop featuring light yet propulsive percussion, twinkling keys and warm horn bursts paired with Corbys effortlessly soulful crooning. Much like its immediate predecessor, “Reelin’” is rooted in lived-in personal experience and astute observation. The new single sees Corby reflecting on the inherent push-and-pull dynamic of long-term romantic relationships. Throughout the song, the acclaimed Aussie artist makes the observation that the cornerstone of every successful committed relationship is communication, compromise — and a lot of forgiveness and healing, too. 

The album’s third and latest single, “Big Smoke” marks Everything’s Fine halfway point, and may arguably be it’s most lush and cinematic track: Centered around atmospheric synths, deliberately struck toms, twinkling keys, soaring strings, a supple bass line and overdrive pedal-drenched guitars paired with Corby’s breathy cooing, “Big Smoke” manages to channel Lenny Kravitz‘s “Believe,” and Tame Impala‘s Currents. But under the in-your-head, dreamy vibes, the song sees its narrator attempting to process the self-sabotaging nature of the crutches leant on for support during difficult times.

“‘Big Smoke’ is a song that touches on the duality of living with your vices but being conscious of the fact they are probably not good for you,” Corby explains.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Singapore-born, Sydney-based St. Humain Shares Funky, Self-Deprecating Bop

Rising Singapore-born, Sydney-based singer/songwriter, producer and self-described “genre-agnostic” artist St. Humain creates music informed by his multicultural upbringing and life: Starting out songwriting while in his teens back in his native Singapore, he moved to Sydney, where he learned production.

After encouragement from music industry friends, St. Humain released his debut single, 2017’s “Make a Move,” which caught the attention of the Capitol Music Group in Los Angeles. Capitol Music Group signed him and re-released the single through their Listen For Pleasure imprint. The Singapore-born, Sydney-based artist released his debut EP Emotional Sauna back in 2019. And just as things were starting to get exciting, the pandemic struck and threw a monkey wrench in his — and everyone else’s plans and hopes.

St. Humain’s work has amassed over a million streams to date while receiving praise from Billboard, Live Nation’s One to Watch, Earmilk and a lengthy list of others. He has also had singles land on Spotify’s New Music Friday and Fresh Finds playlists, Apple Music’s Best of the Week playlist and Amazon Music’s Brand New Music Playlist.

In 2021, “Sick Sad Love Song” landed on Spotify’s new music playlists all across Asia. He continued to write new music, including the material, which will appear on his sophomore EP Metadramatic. Metadramatic sees the rising Singapore-born, Sydney-based artist boldly pushing his sound towards the intersection of pop, electronic music and R&B paired with introspective, self-analytic lyrics drawing from his own life.

Metadramatic‘s latest single “Wanna Talk” is a radio friendly bop centered around a razor sharp, rousingly anthemic hook, an irresistible, funky groove, twinkling synths paired with the Singapore-born, Sydney-based artist’s plaintive yet soulful falsetto. But underneath the slick production and tight grooves is a satirical, self-deprecating song that features a narrator, who recognizes that they’re awkward and have a difficult time even chatting up a love interest but ironically, they feel comfortable pouring their heart out to thousands of strangers — on stage. The universal thread at the core of the song is something familiar to all of us: love can make even the most confident of us feel a foolishly crippling self-doubt.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Chiara Foschiani Shares Sultry “Sabotage”

Rising Paris-born-and-based singer/songwriter and pianist, Chiara Foschiani can trace the origins of her music career to when she started piano lessons at eight. The Parisian singer/songwriter and musician started singing when she was 13. She joined a number of local bands, performing on small stages and local music festivals before she started writing her own songs.

Back in 2021, Foschiani released her debut single Trouble Maker featured:

  • “Queen of Disaster”

  • “My Glass of Wine,” a remarkably Portishead-like track

  • “God Damn,” a sickly produced, straightforward pop confection rooted in earnest and lived-in lyricism that belies her relative youth

The young Parisian artist’s sophomore EP is slated for a May release. The EP’s first single “Sabotage” is a bold step forward for Foschiani. Featuring wobbling low end, skittering beats, glistening synth arpeggios and enormous, shout-along worthy hooks paired with the young Parisian artist’s self-assured and sultry delivery, “Sabotage” may the most dance floor friendly song she has released to date. But under the slick production is a deeply personal, lived-in story of a narrator who, much like the song’s creator, experienced terrible harassment, survived — and has been trying to regain their confidence and power.

Directed by Mephisto, the accompanying video further emphasizes the song’s central themes: We see Foschiani getting molested and oppressed by dark, murky characters and forces beyond her understanding. But much like the Phoenix, she goes through a fiery rebirth.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Alexa Dark’s Cinematic and Sultry “Villain”

Rising singer/songwriter, musician and pop artist Alexa Dark is a global citizen, who has spent time in Barcelona, Munich, London, NYC, and Los Angeles. Dark’s work draws from her multicultural, global upbringing and eclectic music taste, including Françoise Hardy, Portishead, Nancy Sinatra, Arctic Monkeys, and others. as well as her love of film noir and French New Wave cinema. While living in London, the rising singer/songwriter and musician began writing her own songs and poetry as a teenager, and eventually playing in and around town — both solo and accompanied with an acoustic guitar and in different bands. Those experiences helped her develop and hone her artistic direction, as well as her sound and presence.

Dark relocated to New York, where she quickly became part of the downtown live music scene and began working on recording new material with Matt Chiaravalle. Since singing with AWAL, the rising pop artist has busily released a batch of noir, alt-pop singles over the past couple of years that sounds as though it could be part of a 60s era Bond movie femme fatale soundtrack.

Adding to a growing profile, she has opened for Ghostly Kisses, NoSo, Julian LaMadrid, and a lengthy list of others, while receiving profiles from Apple Music’s New in Rock and New in Alternative playlists and coverage from Earmilk, She Shreds, Blackbook, and Story+Rain’s “Her Life is Her Art,” alongside Sydney Sweeney, Rainsford, and others.

Dark’s debut EP is slated for a March 3, 2023 release through AWAL. But in the meantime, the Barcelona-born, New York-based artist recently shared the EP’s latest single, “Villain.” Centered around twinkling piano, soaring strings, a simple backbeat paired with Dark’s expressive and sultry delivery, “Villain” sounds as though it were inspired by Poritshead, Tales of Us-era Goldfrapp, and 60s Bond movies. While continuing a remarkable run of brooding and cinematic material, the new single features a narrator, who describes the sensation of watching herself repeatedly self-sabotage. The narrator expresses a desire to be good, to do the right thing but feeling lured in the direction of being bad — and deep down enjoying it,

“‘Villain’ is realising you might be the villain of your own story,” Dark explains. “It’s accepting the shadowy parts of who you are, while hinting towards a darker, painful underlying origin story which makes the villain, the villain.”

She continues “. . . I wanted to explore the multifaceted nature of the ‘villain’ in me, and how my past obstacles, my fears of love and heartbreak, play in shaping this version of myself. I wanted this to be the lead song to my EP, as I think it captures the arc of the story I’m trying to tell throughout the seven songs – the darker side of femininity, how heartbreak and loss might shape us into being something other than ‘the hero’ in our story, and how most often times the battle between the good guy and the bad guy takes place inside of us, facing off ourselves.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Miami’s Gurudine Shares Cathartic and Anthemic “Maniac”

Gurudine is a Queens-born, Miami-based singer/songwriter, electronic music producer and artist of mixed Moroccan-Egyptian heritage. “music has always been a part of my life, and I’ve always wanted to be a creator,” Gurudine says. “I hope my music helps people the way my favorite artists have helped me.”

Released earlier this month, the Queens-born, Miami-based artist’s latest single, the high energy “Maniac” firmly establishes a genre-defying sound and approach: The song sees Gurudine effortlessly meshing elements of 80s-influenced synth pop, emo, alt rock and hip-hop with earnest, heart-on-sleeve lyrics and arena rock friendly, catharsis-inducing hooks. The song’s uptempo air is at best deceptive; the song thematically details struggles with anxiety, depression and other mental health issues — with the nuance and empathy of someone, who has suffered through something similar.

Directed and edited by the Queens-born, Miami-based, features the mysterious and masked artist rocking out in the studio and throughout random locations in sunny Miami, in a Freddy Kreuger-like outfit.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New VIdeo: Joseph Shares Anthemic “Nervous System”

Portland, OR-based sibling indie pop trio Joseph — Natalie Closner Schepman and her two, younger twin sisters Meegan and Allison — derive their name from two different sources: their grandfather Jo and the tiny town of Joseph, OR, in which he was born and raised. The Closner Sisters grew up in a musical household: their dad was a jazz singer and drummer, while their mom was a theater teacher. But their group can trace its origins back to around 2014: Closner Schepman had been pursuing a career as a singer/songwriter, recruited her sisters to join her in a new project.

When the Closners began working together, they quickly recognized an irresistible and undeniable creative chemistry.

The trio quickly developed a reputation for playing intimate house shows, in which they would accompany themselves with acoustic guitar and a foot drum. Within their first yet of being a group, they self-released their debut, 2014s Native Dreamer Kin, which caught the attention of ATO Records, who signed the group the following year.

After releasing 2015’s, ATO Sessions EP, an acoustic, two song, digital EP and accompanying video series, the sibling trio went on to release their Mike Mogis-produced, label debut 2016’s I’m Alone, No You’re Not, which featured the smash hit “White Flag.” “White Flag” landed on Spotify’s US Viral Top Ten Chart within days of its release. By that October, the track landed at #1 on the Adult Alternative Charts.

Building upon a rapidly growing profile, the trio made appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Later . . . with Jools Holland, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Conan, CBS This Morning and Today. They also opened for James Bay during a sold out, 2016 arena tour — and they made festival stops at Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Newport Folk Festival, Sasquatch Festival, Glastonbury Festival, Outside Lands Festival, Pilgrimage Music Festival and several others.

2019’s Christian “Leggy” Langdon-produced album Good Luck, Kid saw the trio pushing their sound in a grittier, more dynamic direction while retaining the gorgeous harmonies and earnest vocal deliveries that won them acclaim across the blogosphere and elsewhere. “The through-line of the album is this idea of moving into the driver’s seat of your own life-recognizing that you’re an adult now, and everything’s up to you from this moment on,” Natalie Closner Schepman says in press notes.  “You’re not completely sure of how to get where you need to go, and you don’t have any kind of a map to help you. It’s just the universe looking down on you like, ‘Good luck, kid.’”

The sibling trio’s fourth official album, the Tucker Martine and  Christian “Leggy” Langdon co-produced The Sun is slated for an April 28, 2023 release through their longtime label home ATO Records. The album reportedly sees the group working with a collection of new collaborators and making yet another vibrant sonic shift while retaining the craft, three-part harmonies and hard-fought and harder-won lyrical wisdom that they’ve been known for throughout their career. But unlike its predecessors, The Sun sees the sibling trio taking a decidedly more hands-on role in the production process. The result is an album of material that sees Joseph spinning incredibly complex concepts into anthemic, sing-along ready pop that serves as a backdrop for the trio’s fearless and deeply personal storytelling from each of their perspectives.

Thea album sees the trio focusing their soul-searching songwriting on the quietly damaging force that keep us from living fully in our truth — e.g., gaslighting, cultural condition, unconscious yet painfully limiting self-beliefs and the like. Drawing on hard lessons from relationships and personal growth through therapy, The Sun reportedly shares stories of taking control of your own fate, making difficult decisions in the name of becoming yourself and weathering the highs and lows of love while keeping the faith — and tending to ourselves with presence and compassion. “All of our therapists were a huge influence on this album,” the sibling trio say in press notes.

The Sun‘s first single “Nervous Single” is a punchy pop song rooted in deep, personal experience, rousingly anthemic, sing-along friendly hooks and big-hearted, heart-on-sleeve compassion. Fittingly the song — and its narrator — discusses being our own lifeline during times of anxiety, struggle and uncertainty. “It’s about self regulating and tending to ourselves with presence and compassion, rather than frantically reaching outside of ourselves,” the trio explain. Alison Closner adds “I’ve struggled with a lot of anxiety over the years, at times a constant inner storm, and it’s been easy to look outside myself to feel safe and secure. I’ve fought to find my inner peace, and through that process I’ve found that so much of the time I already have what it takes to calm my nervous system.”

Directed by Vanessa Pla, the accompanying woozy video for “Nervous System” features the sibling trio in matching sienna-colored suits with blue tops and black boots in a blue and white background. Through the use of spinning camera, slow pans and surreal activities, the video evokes and emphasizes the song’s central themes.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Naomi Teams up with Mike Clay on a New Version of Swaggering “Okay Alright”

Naomi is a rising Montréal-based multi-disciplinary artist, who after studying theater, first made a name for herself when she began to land roles on both the small and big screen by the time she turned 14. She then went on to study dance at École de danse contemporaine de Montréal. 

As a dancer, Naomi has appeared in and/or choreographed music videos for Rihanna, Marie-Mai, Cœur de Pirate and others, as well as for local dance performances. While she was establishing herself as an actor and dancer, the Montreal-based artist quietly developed a passion for singing — without fully giving herself permission to explore it fully. Cœur de Pirate, a.k.a. Beátrice Martin saw potential and took Naomi under her wing.

Encouraged by Martin’s mentorship, the rising Canadian artist began to realize that she was never far off from making her own music. All she needed was a bit of a push.

She signed with Martin’s Bravo Musique, the label home of JOVM mainstay Thaïs, Cœur de Pirate, Chocolat and lengthy list of local Francophone acts, and began writing her own original material. Since then, the rising Montréal-based artist has taken a bold leap into a career as a singer/songwriter and pop artist. Her first two singles “Tout à nous” and “Zéro stress” received airplay on WKND, Rouge FM, Arsenal, POP, CVKMand several other regional radio stations across Quebec.

Naomi went on to release three more singles, which I managed to write about on this site:

  • The club friendly, Rowan Mercille and Naomi co-written “Semblant,” which I wrote about earlier this year. Centered around glistening synth arpeggios, skittering trap-meets-Carribbean beats paired with her sultry delivery and an infectious hook, “Semblant” is a remarkably self-assured summertime banger, that also reveals a bonafide superstar in the making. 

  • “Pas le temps de jouer,” a slickly produced and self-assured banger centered around shuffling reggaeton-meets-trap beats, glistening synth bursts paired with the rising Canadian artist’s sultry delivery and her seemingly unerring knack for crafting a big, razor sharp hook. Much like its immediate predecessor, “Pas le temps de jouer” is an accessible, summertime bop that will help launch a bonafide superstar into the stratosphere. 

  • “Okay Alright,” a sultry bop that continued a remarkable run of slickly produced, genre-defying, accessible pop bangers. But with an English language hook, the song seems to show an artist reading for an audience outside of the Francophone world –but while retaining the elements of her sound and approach that have won her fans at home and abroad.

The Canadian JOVM mainstay starts off the year with a new version of “Okay Alright” that features a guest spot from Mike Clay, the frontman of Clay and Friends. Retaining the slick production and fun air of the original, the new version adds a bit more swagger and fun to the proceedings, and a reminder that Naomi is a star in the making.