Category: Indie Pop

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Aussie Artist Matt Corby Shares an Absurd and Hilarious Visual for Funky “Problems”

Matt Corby is a multi-award winning Australian singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. Corby’s latest single “Problems” is the first bit of new material from the acclaimed Aussie artist since 2020’s standalone singles “If I Never Say A Word” and “Vitamin” — and the first single on his new label, UK-based Communion Music. 

“Problems” can trace its origins to earlier this year: 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. 

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.” 

Directed and edited by Murli Dhir, the accompanying video for “Problems” stars Rob James McLean, as its protagonist, who projects an absurd ignorance and perhaps even joy in the face of profound, hyperreal disaster: He crawls out of a totaled car with a gleeful glint in his eyes, which he follows with a dance; dancing on a dinghy that’s rapidly taking on water — in the middle of a lake; being taken to a hospital for a potential procedure; and even arrest. Throughout the video, McLean’s expression and body language in the face of disaster and oblivion seems to say “As long as I still have life, I’m good. There’s hope as long as you’re breathing.”

“When I first heard ‘Problems,’ I knew I wanted to make a bright and funny video that showed someone grooving completely oblivious to their problems around them,” Murli Dhir explains. “I thought it’d be interesting to portray serious events in a way that ultimately shows, ‘well, even though nothing is going well right now, I’m still alive and everything will be okay, so i guess it’s not really that bad.’”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Montreal’s Naomi Shares an Accessible and Infectious Banger

Naomi is a 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 also went on to study dance at École de danse contemporaine de Montréal. 

As a dancer, the Montreal-based multidisciplinary artist has appeared in and/or choreographed music videos for Rihanna, Marie-Mai, Coeur 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. Interestingly, Coeur de Pirate’s Beátrice Martin saw star potential in the Montreal based multi-disciplinary artist and took her under her wing. 

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

She signed with Bravo Musique, an acclaimed, local tastemaker label, and then began writing her own original material. Since then, she has taken a bold leap into a career as a pop singer and artist. Her first two singles “Tout à nous” and “Zéro stress” have received airplay on WKND, Rouge FM, Arsenal, POP, CVKMand several other regional radio stations across Quebec.

Now, as you might recall, the rising French Canadian artist has also released two more singles this year:

  • 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.

Naomi’s latest single “Okay Alright” is a sultry, genre-defying, bop centered around skittering, tweeter and woofer rattling boom bap, bursts of strummed guitar and rumbling low end paired with the rising French Canadian’s sultry vocal delivery singing the song’s verses primarily in French and the song’s infectious hook in English. “Okay Alright” continues remarkable run of slickly produced, accessible club bangers, with the English hook seems to have the rising Montreal-based artist reaching for a bigger, global audience outside of the Francophone world. And she does so while retaining the elements of her sound and approach that have won her audiences at home.

Directed by Élise Lussier, the accompanying video for “Okay Alight” stars Naomi and a collection of friends at an abandoned summer camp site, have water gun and water balloon fights, dancing the day and night away, and goofing off. The fun that they have is infectious. And it should remind you of easier, warmer, carefree days.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: FIOR Shares a Sultry New Bop

Zoe Fioravanti is a rising, self-taught singer/songwriter and pop artist, who can trace the origins of her musical career to her childhood: Fiovaranti’s father, who managed bands in the ’90s gifted her a toy piano that she learned to play by ear when she was just eight. Early on, her self-taught style was heavily influenced by Billy Joel, Amy Winehouse, Adele, and Michael Jackson. 

As a teenager, Fiorvanti began writing her own lyrics and making beat-driven pop with elements of funk, soul, disco, electro pop and rock on her computer — while honing her lush and sultry vocal delivery. Drawing from her own life, her material celebrates the kind of vulnerability that leads to true strength while encouraging listeners to not just accept their emotions but to also embrace the importance of speaking their mind. 

Fiorvanti, who writes, records and performs as FIOR spent the past two years writing, recording original material and sharing that music — including her attention grabbing and defiant single “Let Me Go” and the Scott Storch-produced “YOYO (You’re On Your Own),” a sleek, slickly produced, summery banger featuring glistening synths, a strutting disco-inspired bass line, some squiggling Nile Rodgers-like guitar, skittering beats paired with Fioravanti’s self-assured and coquettish delivery and a razor sharp hook.

While being both club and radio friendly, “YOYO” is simultaneously a celebratory tell-off and a relishing of freedom: While the video implies that it’s a celebration of pushing off a dysfunctional and overbearing lover or love interest, it can also be a shitty friend, who’s a cockblock — or an overbearing paramour, who doesn’t quite get that you’re not interested.

The rising pop artist’s latest single “Undercover Lover” continues her ongoing collaboration with Scott Storch — and much like its predecessor will appear on an EP that is currently slated for an early 2023 release. Centered around twinkling keys, atmospheric synths, tweeter and woofer rattling thump paired with Fiorvanti’s sultry delivery and a remarkably catchy hook, “Undercover Lover” has a decidedly 90s synth pop/90s pop sound and feel. Much like its immediate predecessor, “Undercover Lover” serves as a slickly produced vehicle for an artist about to explode into the mainstream.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Enisa Shares Flirty “Just A Kiss (Muah)”

Rising Albanian-American, Brooklyn-born and-based singer/songwriter, pop artist Enisa is a first generation American, who has spent her whole life preparing for a career in music: Following her graduation from Edward R. Murrow High School, Enisa went on to attend Brooklyn College, where she further honed her sound — a sound that sees her meshing contemporary soul pop with Balkan and Middle Eastern flourishes and a touch of Europop.

The Brooklyn-based artist released a series of distinct covers, which went viral while earning critical acclaim from Complex, XXL, ThisSongIsSick and more. Building upon a growing profile, singles like “Burn This Bridge” and “Wait for Love,” and a guest spot on Scridge and Glenda’s viral smash “Karma (Remix)” amassed over 16 million views and over 3 million streams globally.

Last year was a big year for the rising Brooklyn-based artist: She appeared on the cover of Out Now and made her debut live performances as S.O.B.’s and Sacramento’s Lost In Riddim Festival. She closed out the year amassing over 8 million total followers globally — with 3.8 million on TikTok and over one million YouTube subscribers.

Earlier this year, Enisa released the Fake Love EP, an effort that she describes as “empowering” and “authentic” and features “Tears Hit The Ground and “One Thing.” She also made her television debut on NBC’s American Song Contest, representing her home state of New York. Since then she has over 41 million streams globally and more than 198 million total video views — with her material topping the charts in Nigeria, Gambia, Portugal, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Sri Lanka, India and more.

Building upon growing momentum, her latest single, the Enisa and acclaimed production and songwriting duo Space Primates (Marc Sibley and Nathan Cunningham) co-written “Just A Kiss (Muah)” is a sultry banger, centered around tweeter and woofer rattling thump, bursts of strummed guitar and glistening synth arpeggios and a slick string section and melodic nod to Tarkan’s “Kiss Kiss,” a crowd-pleasing banger over in Turkey. Enisa’s sultry come-hither vocals effortlessly glide over the dance floor friendly, genre-defying production. If there’s one thing to say about the track it’s this: Enisa is about to be a breakout star — and real soon.

“I grew up loving music from all around the world and this one track by Tarkan had a chorus melody that always randomly played through my head growing up, so I knew one day I wanted to put it in a song but make a whole new version with a different concept!” Enisa explains. “I went to the studio with that song in mind and created ‘Just a Kiss (Muah).’ I’d love for the new generation to listen to my song and feel the same way I did with the Tarkan one. “‘Just a Kiss (Muah)’ is about the fun of being a tease when it comes to dating & knowing you have the power to say yes or no! I wanted to make a really catchy, fun, lighthearted song that people can dance to, that also has the element of nostalgia!”

Directed by Azzie Scott, the accompanying video stars the rising Brooklyn-based artist in a flirty and fun nod to Tarkan’s “Kiss Kiss,” that further emphasizes the sultry teasing and desire at the core of the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Boston’s Air Traffic Controller Shares Anthemic “20”

While serving in the US Navy as an air traffic controller, Boston-based singer/songwriter Dave Munro sent home demos of his songs. This eventually lead to his current musical project, the aptly named Air Traffic Controller. Over the course of the next decade, Munro wrote and recorded four critically applauded albums of heartfelt and earnest indie folk/indie pop with a backing band that features Adam Salameh (drums), Joe Campbell (bass), Bobby Borenstein (guitar), Emo McSwain (vocals, keytar) and multi-instrumentalist Steve Scott.

The Boston-based indie outfit’s fifth and latest album, the Dan Cardinal, Seth Kasper and Air Traffic co-produced Dash was released last Friday. Partially written in-person and remotely during pandemic-related lockdowns, Dash was recorded at Dimension Sound Studios and sees the band setting aside long-held formulas to allow each member to bring their own style and personality to the material — while retaining the story-based songwriting and catchy hooks that have won the band acclaim and fans.

The album’s lead single, “20” is a breezy pop anthem, rooted in Munro’s unerring knack for catchy hooks and lived-in story-based lyricism paired with a lush arrangement featuring reverb-drenched guitar, funky horns and a dance floor friendly groove. The song is rooted in a familiar nostalgia: the optimism and dreams of one’s youth — but seen from the perspective of someone a bit older, who has been forced to be pragmatic and make the sort of uncomfortable compromises that the song’s narrator would have loathed as a younger man. It’s a bittersweet sigh rooted in the recognition that life doesn’t always wind up how you”d like or hoped.

Directed filmed and edited by 9th Planet Productions with additional edits and effects by Joe Joyce, the accompanying video for “20” is a visual delight that recalls Broadway and major films — on a small budget: We follow a disco ball mask wearing character waking up and writing in a journal and playing a guitar while a wild and surreal array of things happen around him, including musicians playing on his bed, an entire party rocking out and so on.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Warhaus Shares Quiet Storm-like “When I Am WIth You”

With Warhaus, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Maarten Devoldere, co-lead vocalist and one-half of core songwriting duo behind acclaimed Belgian indie rock outfit Balthazar, cemented a reputation for crating urbane, hyper literature art rock with an accessible, pop-leaning sensibility.

Devoldere’s Warhaus debut, 2016’s We Fucked A Flame Into Being derived its title from a line in DH Lawrence’s seminal, erotic novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Thematically, We Fucked A Flame Into Being touched upon lust, desire, the inscrutability of random encounters, bittersweet and regret with the deeply confessional nature of someone baring the deepest recesses of their soul. 

Devoldere’s sophomore Warhus effort, 2017’s self-titled album saw the acclaimed Belgian artist thematically moving away from decadence, lust and sin towards earnest, hard-fought and harder-won love — with much of the material being informed by his relationship with vocalist Sylvie Kreusch. The recording sessions were much more spontaneous and heavily influenced by Dr. John‘s Night Tripper period with the album’s material featuring voodoo rhythms and New Orleans jazz-styled playing, despite the fact that his backing band wasn’t known for being jazz musicians. 

The Belgian songwriter and multi-instrumentalist’s third Warhaus album, Ha Ha Heartbreak officially dropped today. The album’s material was written during a three-week stay in Palermo. All Devoldere needed was the solitude of a hotel room, a guitar, a microphone and a recently broken heart. The sorrow was too difficult to handle, so he went to Sicily to escape. But as it always turns out, those who try to outrun life and heartache quickly run into themselves.

The album sees Devoldere wrapping his sorrow into razor sharp hooks, instant sing-a-long choruses and irresistible melodies. Sonically, the material is ethereal yet lush, featuring strings, sensual vocal deliveries, horns and even some playful piano parts. The album manages to be a deep and moving emotional exploration of grief, loss and heartbreak — but while being musically very rich.

In the lead-up to th album’s release, I’ve written about three of the album’s singles:

So far I’ve written about two of the album’s singles:

  • Album opening track and first single “Open Window,” which marked the first bit of new Warhaus material in five years. Centered around Devoldere’s brooding baritone, strummed acoustic guitar, a Quiet Storm-like groove, twinkling piano and a gorgeous, cinematic string arrangement, making it the sort of song that you can gently sway along to with eyes closed while drifting off into your own nostalgia-induced dreams or delusions. Interestingly, the song is rooted in a painful, heartbroken delusional — that the now-former lover has just temporarily lost their minds and will be coming back to you. And yet deep down, you’re aware that it’s all vapor and blind, foolish, prideful denial.

  • “Desire,” Ha Ha Heartbreak‘s second single is a lush and sultry bop centered around mournful horns, soaring strings, an infectious, two-step inducing groove and twinkling keys paired with Devoldere’s breathy baritone. The song’s narrator desperately addresses just about every god he can imagine for answers, but as he says in the song, “No matter what I turn to/it’s failing me.”

  • Ha Ha Heartbreak’s third and latest single “Time Bomb” continues a remarkable run of slow-burning lush and sultry material, that features subtle elements of jazz, film scores, Quiet Storm soul and art pop. Much like its predecessors, “Time Bomb” sees its narrator dealing with the devastation of a breakup and its aftershock on both parties. But with the new single, its heartbroken narrator is left to wonder “but why” without any answers or closure. 

Ha Ha Heartbreak‘s fourth and latest single “When I Am With You” is a blue-eyed soul take on classic Sade-like Quiet Storm soul centered around strummed and looping acoustic guitar, a sultry two-step inducing groove, a shimmering string arrangement and razor sharp hooks paired with Develdere’s hushed delivery, which manages to evoke longing and vulnerability.

“’When I Am With You’ is a love song about growing up by holding the immaturity of the male condition against the light,” Devoldere explains. “It’s the reversed odyssey of the manchild towards the nipple. Let me be your baby.”

Directed by Pieter De Cnudde, the accompanying video for “When I Am With You,” features Devoldre jamming out and singing the song in front of or near a yellow spotlight, which mimics the moon.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Alaska Blue Shares Slow-Burning and Dreamy “Blue Shelter”

Emerging Italian indie duo Alaska Blue — singer/songwriter Elisabeta Giordano and musician Davide Cast — will be releasing their full-length debut, the eight-song Under the weather, an effort that sees the duo establishing a slow-burning, lightly produced and sparse take on pop centered around Giordano’s warm and soulful vocals.

According to the Italian duo, Under the weather‘s latest single, the slow-burning, Francesco Roncalli-proudced “Blue Shelter” is one of the most produced songs on their soon-to-be released album with the song being built around the harmonizing around the main melodic vocal line paired with delay and reverb pedaled bluesy guitar lines, atmospheric synths, and gently padded percussion. While serving as a silky and dreamy base for Giordano’s effortlessly soulful delivery, the end result is a dreamy song full of aching longing

The duo explain that “Blue Shelter” is “about the struggle of expressing emotions and the inability to explain exactly what we feel inside. That is what inevitably makes the protagonist of the song feel misunderstood and alone.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Acclaimed Aussie Artist Matt Corby Shares Funky and Incisive “Problems”

Matt Corby is a multi-award winning Australian singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. Corby’s latest single “Problems” is the first bit of new material from the acclaimed Aussie artist since 2020’s standalone singles “If I Never Say A Word” and “Vitamin” — and the first single on his new label, UK-based Communion Music.

“Problems” can trace its origins to earlier this year: 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.

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.

“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.” 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: Magi Merlin and Fernie Team Up on Sultry and Laid Back “DOLLA BILL”

With the release of her first two EP’s 2019’s On My Way to the Listening Party and last year’s Drug Music EP, along a handful of standalone singles, the rising Montreal-based artist Magi Merlin (pronounced MADGE-eye) exploded onto the Canadian national scene: Her work has received praise from from CRACK Magazine. She has opened for Lido Pimienta and played at Osheaga Festival alongside ODIE, Jessie Reyez and others. 

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the course of the past year, you might recall that the rising Montreal-based artist released the Funkywhat-produced “Free Grillz,” a track that featured Merlin’s mix of fiery, self-assured bars and sultry crooned hooks gliding over icy, trap hi-hats, skittering snares, glistening synth arpeggios and a tweeter and woofer rattling bass line. “Free Grillz” found Merlin hoping to aspire to at least some of the tropes of hip-hop fame while simultaneously reflecting on a series of bitterly harsh and seemingly inescapable daily realities — including having obvious and clueless people carelessly mispronouncing your name, casual misogyny, and kicking clingy, stupid men out of your life with a mix of humor and world-dominating swagger.

You also also recall that Merlin’s third EP Gone Girl was released through Bonsound/AWAL earlier this year. The EP’s material may arguably be Merlins most personal and audacious effort to date: Merlin grew up in Saint Lazare, a suburb of Montreal, created by Canadian Nixon types in 70s. A place for white folks by white folks. Much like here in the States, the suburbs are viewed as the epitome of all that’s good “right and “normal.” Of course, unless you’re a young Black, Queer women — and suddenly that perceived, long-held normalcy is challenged. Thematically, the EP’s material draws from this personal experience, and sees the rising Montreal artist talking about casual racism, fake friends, generational angst and more.

Sonically, the EP continues her ongoing collaboration with Funkywhat and is informed by 90s house, drum ‘n’ bass, Motown and acid flecked hip-hop to create a sound that evokes smoky, after hours clubs — but with rumbling bass lines and thunderous 808s. EP single “Pissed Black Girl” was a perfect example of the EPs themes and overall sound with the single being a sleek and hyper modern bop featuring Merlin’s assured delivery gliding over icy synth arpeggios, skittering trap beats and a sinuous bass line. The song is rooted in the familiar pent up frustration with fake white progressives and phony liberals — but while playing with the cliched, racist trope of the angry Black woman; the song is a dance floor friendly banger that sees its narrator telling those fake, closet racists to sit down and shut the fuck up, while the rest of us take our rightful place on the dance floor.

“I wrote this song summer 2020,” Merlin says. “I was made to really look at my identity as a Black woman and what that identity means to the people I surround myself with. I didn’t realize a lot of the people I had around me at the time that identified as progressive, leftist and ‘allies’ were not as supportive as they made themselves out to be. Talking with them just resulted in arguments instead of compassion and understanding. This made me very angry and the only thing I was able to do to vent my frustrations and arrive at some form of catharsis was by singing about it.

“The title of the track references a story an ex-friend recounted to me as well as what I and many other black women who speak their minds are reduced to: an ‘angry black woman.’ This ex-friend told me about a time they went to a predominantly white party in the suburbs and one of the party-goers, while staring out onto the front lawn of the house, said: “wow, there’s a N***er on the lawn” – one of many atrocious acts that go unchecked in white suburbia and various other white spaces. If there is anything I’ve learned from my experiences with ignorant and bigoted people, it is how unapologetic I need to be about my existence. I’m a girl; I am pissed and I’m Black. What about it?”

Merlin’s latest single sees her collaborating with longtime collaborator Funkywhat and rising Montreal-based Brazilian-Canadian, queer artist of color, Fernie. Last fall, Fernie released their critically applauded, full-length debut, Aurora, an album that featured a blend of emancipatory soul, melodic R&B and vulnerable lyricism paired with subtle nuances of 90s melancholia. Fernie worked on the album over the course of a three-year period, in which they also sought to be perceived as a whole person. The music they were working on created a safe space for them to reveal, share and affirm themselves.

Over the past few months, Merlin and Fernie have run into each other quite a bit: They’ve played some of the same festival lineups, and have attended the same shows and parties. Interestingly, they’ve often talked about collaborating on working on a song together. So when Funkywhat sent his longtime collaborator an unfinished version of “DOLLA BILL,” which he recorded with Fernie — and she immediately jumped on board. The end result is a soulful and strutting bop centered around skittering trap-inspired beats, atmospheric synths, a supple and propulsive bass line serving as a silky, grown and sexy, two-step inducing frame for two rising artists to push each other to new territories.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Chloe Florence is an emerging, Montreal-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who can trace much of the origins of her music career to growing up in a family of musicians: Her innate ability to visualize a song both instrumentally and lyrically is something that her great-grandmother excelled at.

The emerging Montreal-based artist cites Stevie Nicks, Patti Smith, Lana Del Rey, Dua Lipa and Doja Cat as influences on her work. And much like those artists, Florence’s work is centered around authentic songwriting rooted in lived-in personal experience. But she pairs that with a a sound that effortlessly bridges pop and R&B in a way that’s completely her own.

Her latest single, the Lucas Liberatore-produced “Synergy” is a woozy and swooning bop built around wobbling and glistening synth arpeggios, rubbery bass lines and skittering, tweeter and woofer rattling thump paired with well-placed, razor sharp hooks. The production serves as a silky and sumptuous bed for the Montreal-based artist’s sultry, self-assured delivery and a guest spot from Myles Lloyd. The song focuses on a familiar scenario with a lived-in specificity — a situationship that’s seemingly stuck between hook-ups and disguised/hidden feelings.

“Sonically, ‘Synergy’ embodies the tipping point, right before one confesses their feelings for the other. They’re addicted to playing with fire as they haven’t been burned (yet),” Chloe Florence explains. “There are feelings hidden under covers and subliminal messages found between the lines of their late-night conversations – in bed and during late night drives. The lyrics depict the situationship as lustful, mysterious, dangerous, and intense.” 

“I knew I wanted to write about this recurring experience, this place I kept getting stuck in while dating,” Florence adds. “It’s a topic I knew a lot of my friends would relate to.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Rising Pop Artist Ayoni Shares Anthemic “Vision”

Ayoni is a rising Barbados-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, pop artist and producer,. who spent her formative years bouncing around Singapore, Indonesia and the States. Naturally, she frequently draws on those experiences to guide her musical and professional journey as a young, Black woman — and as an immigrant. Her work is deeply inspired by Whitney Houston, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Lorde, and Adele among others.

The rising pop artist’s acclaimed debut EP 2019’s Iridescent saw her exploring the ups and downs of blossoming into her full-self. She followed that up with 2020’s “Unmoved (A Black Woman Truth),” which was inspired and informed by the Black Lives Matter movement. The single also saw Ayoni cementing a reputation as an artist, who is unafraid to confront raw truths in her work.

So far, the Barbadian-born artist has amassed millions of streams while being featured in V Magazine, Clash Magazine, Essence, Paper, Popsugar, Glide Magazine, NPR, Ones to Watch and Euphoria Zine. She also co-produced and appeared on Ricky Reed‘s “No Stone” with Dirty Projectors.

Her sophomore EP The Vision was released last month. While displaying deeply intentional production and songwriting, the EP’s material thematically is a testament to manifestation, prosperity and the cultivation of the self. Lyrically, the material sees Ayoni weaving her life’s story with authentic anecdotes. which grounds the material in gritty, every day realism.

The EP’s third and latest single “Vision” is a slickly produced bop centered around soaring and rousingly anthemic choruses, bursts of rock guitar, a sinuous bass line, twinkling and atmospheric synths and a cathartic, sing-a-long worthy chorus paired with the rising pop artist’s powerhouse vocals. The anthemic song details the persistence, hard work, and drive required to live out your dreams — while acknowledging the fact that the road ahead will frequently be rocky and uncertain. And yet it’ll be worth it.

Co-directed by Francisco Covarrubias and Ayoni, the accompanying video is split between footage shot in and around Los Angeles and in studios. “Making this music video was a really fulfilling experience,” Ayoni says, “It was filmed after the release of the EP and translating the sonic ambition of the EP into a visual manifestation was a very healing way to close out this chapter. We shot around downtown Los Angeles and in studio, with director Francisco Cavarrubias at the helm. I wanted to represent the journey to living your dreams. Using fashion, glam, and setting to highlight the beauty of the journey, I hope the video presents the song in new light.” 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: New York’s Sub Lights Share Breezy “Hell’s Kitchen SInk”

Stephen Duncan is a Dallas/Fort Worth-born, New York-based singer/songwriter and musician. The region informed much of his musical sensibilities at a very early age: Duncan was exposed to an eclectic mix of music genres and styles from rock and indie rock played on the radio, live music at underground music clubs, classical music lessons — and the country music that was always surrounding him. Stephen Duncan explains that although his work never sounds like it but the thing it’s finished, a number of his songs started out as country songs. “I like that it’s a kind of hidden undercurrent; maybe it helps give the songs a bit of soul, despite the electronic production,” Stephen Duncan says.

Meredith Duncan is a New Jersey-born, New York-based singer/songwriter and musician. Duncan grew up in a strict Roman Catholic home, where she was sheltered from the “evils” of pop culture and most of the things her peers were interested in. She was a trained as a classical pianist and has a deep knowledge of musical theory. When she was young, her older brother introduced to underground rock. alternative and indie rock, industrial music, New Wave and psychedelic music. “Anything sad, dark, depressing, or rebellious felt like home to me,” Meredith Duncan explains. “That had a big influence on my songwriting and musical style. Having lived in Texas, I’m sure some country rubbed off on me too.”

After meeting at a party, Meredith and Stephen started their first band The Chemistry Set. The band which included members of The Polyphonic Spree and Calhoun saw some commercial success when “Into the Light” was featured on One Tree Hill. They also made national tours with Yo La Tengo, The M’s and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.

Their latest project Sub Lights is a new start for Meredith and Stephen Duncan. The challenge of creating music as a duo inspired them to put together a small studio in their new home here in NYC. That effort went into overdrive during 2020’s COVID-19 lockdowns. In October 2020, the duo challenged themselves to write at least one song a week for a year. Last year, they released their Sub Lights debut, Medicine EP — and they played their first Sub Lights shows in Manhattan.

Their recently released sophomore EP Half-Life features songs from that writing experiment and will reportedly be the first of a three-part recording project from the 50+ songs they wrote during pandemic lockdowns. “The idea was to transform traditionally-written songs mostly played on piano or acoustic guitar into our indie electronic style,” Stephen Duncan explains. “Lyrically, we wanted to try to capture the kind of social melancholy coming out of the pandemic and the Trump years, but then express that in a hopeful way. Like, life is tough and can be really sad, but even then people are amazing and able to find joy by connecting with each other. We also wanted to take our music seriously without taking ourselves too seriously—it’s a fine line, but I admire artists who can pull that off. But also I’m a college history professor and fairly politically active, so there’s always an element of the big picture mixed in there too, grand themes of what it means to be human and all that.” 

“Music should be fun, it’s entertainment after all,” Sub Lights’ Stephen Duncan adds. “But it’s also art and part of the purpose of art is to allow listeners to explore different ways of being. That’s our goal: to offer the chance to explore a bit of social consciousness along with the fun.”

“I think some of our songs conceptually resemble protest music,” Meredith Duncan adds. “Common themes are anti-religion, anti-patriarchy, anti-unfettered capitalism, anti-fascism. Think for yourself, question things, wake up, and be kind.”

“’Half-Life’ has multiple meanings as it relates to the album,”Sub Lights’ Meredith Duncan says. “It is one of the key lines in ‘Strange New Breed,’ and it is a way to describe how if you only live in the past or for the future, you miss the present, so essentially it feels like you are only experiencing half of your life at any given moment… It’s also my word for what deep depression feels like. All these missed opportunities, just watching life go by from your bed.

Half-Life EP‘s latest single “Hell’s Kitchen Sink” is a crafted yet breezy bit of pop centered around fluttering synths, skittering beats, a motorik groove, boy-girl harmonies and the duo’s remarkable knack for catchy hooks. While the song sonically seems to draw from Phil Spector-era pop, Death Cab for Cutie and shoegaze, “Hell’s Kitchen Sink” is rooted in a much-needed message to the listener.

“Hell’s Kitchen Sink,” Meredith Duncan explains is about living in the moment and being fully present, which “is the only time we can experience the full interconnectedness of life, that we are all the same,” she says. “Like Meredith said, [‘Hell’s Kitchen Sink’] is about living in the present, about valuing the only life we’ve got–and the people we share it with–instead of dreaming about some imagined future afterlife,” Stephen Duncan continues. “That has serious social implications, that we have a responsibility to make the world as good as we can both for ourselves and for other people. But we also wanted to say that this includes having fun, enjoying yourself while you can. So the video was our DIY version of that, just us playing, and playing around, shooting it with the help of a couple of our creative friends and having a good time with it.” 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Jacque Ryal is a New York-based singer/songwriter, keyboardist and pop artist, who first emerged onto the local scene as a member of pop outfit Strip Darling. She then stepped out into the limelight as a solo artist, who crafted Portishead-inspired trip-hop. 

RYAL, the New York-based artist’s latest project with producer and songwriter Aaron Nevezie has recieved attention from The Best Line of Best Fit, Time Out New York, LadyGunn, Popdust, this site and elsewhere  for releasing material that’s been compared to Little Dragon and the aforementioned Portishead.

Earlier this year, I wrote about “Best Friend,” a slickly produced bop built around glistening synth arpeggios, skittering beats, shimmering bursts of guitar and Ryal’s plaintive delivery paired with random puppy noises and the duo’s unerring knack for razor sharp hooks. Initially written as a lullaby dedicated to Ryal’s beloved dog and best friend, who died, “Best Friend” gradually morphed into a dreamy yet anthemic bop. But just underneath the big choruses and catchy hooks, the song captures the unique and profound relationship one has with their animal companions.

RYAL’s latest single “What I Mean To You” is inspired by the full band set up of their previous releases, and sees the duo collaborating yet again with Marcy Playground’s and Norah Jones’ Dan Rieser (drums) and Grammy Award-winner John Davis (bass). Centered around a punchy and propulsive rhythm section, twinkling keys and Ryal’s plaintive and yearning delivery, “What I Mean To You” is a swooning and hook-driven bop that seemingly comes from lived-in, personal experience.

“What I Mean To You” thematically finds its narrator grappling with a relationship on the brink. Throughout the song, the narrator tries to save their relationship through affirmations of safety, love and fidelity — and the determination to make the effort and do the work to maintain it. It’s a much needed burst of light, yet earnest sweetness in an all too often harsh world.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Warhaus Shares a Brooding and Cinematic Meditation on Heartbreak

Maarten Devoldere is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known for being co-lead vocalist and one-half of the core songwriting duo behind the critically applauded Belgian indie rock outfit and JOVM mainstays Balthazar. Devoldere is also the creative mastermind behind the equally applauded solo recording project Warhaus. 

With Warhaus, Devoldere further cemented a reputation for crafting urbane, literate and seemingly decadent art rock with an accessible, pop-leaning sensibility. It shouldn’t be surprising that Devoldere’s Warhaus debut, 2016’s We Fucked A Flame Into Being derived its title from a line in DH Lawrence’s seminal, erotic novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Thematically, We Fucked A Flame Into Being touched upon lust, desire, the inscrutability of random encounters, bittersweet and regret with the deeply confessional nature of someone baring the deepest recesses of their soul. 

Devoldere’s sophomore Warhus effort, 2017’s self-titled album saw the acclaimed Belgian artist thematically moving away from decadence, lust and sin towards earnest, hard-fought and harder-won love — with much of the material being informed by his relationship with vocalist Sylvie Kreusch. The recording sessions were much more spontaneous and heavily influenced by Dr. John‘s Night Tripper period with the album’s material featuring voodoo rhythms and New Orleans jazz-styled playing, despite the fact that his backing band wasn’t known for being jazz musicians.

 The Belgian songwriter and multi-instrumentalist’s third Warhaus album, Ha Ha Heartbreak is slated for a November 11, 2022 release through Play It Again Sam. Ha Ha Heartbreak‘s material was written during a three week stay in Palermo. All Devoldere needed was the solitude of a hotel room, a guitar, a microphone and a recently broken heart. 

The sorrow was too difficult to handle, so he went to Sicily to escape. But as it always turns out, those who try to outrun life and heartache quickly run into themselves. But the album sees Devoldere wrapping his sorrow into hooks, instant singalong choruses and irresistible melodies. Sonically, the material is light yet lush featuring strings, sensual vocals, horns and even playful piano parts. The end result is an album that’s a deep and moving emotional exploration yet something musically very rich. 

So far I’ve written about two of the album’s singles:

Album opening track and first single “Open Window,” which marked the first bit of new Warhaus material in five years. Centered around Devoldere’s brooding baritone, strummed acoustic guitar, a Quiet Storm-like groove, twinkling piano and a gorgeous, cinematic string arrangement, making it the sort of song that you can gently sway along to with eyes closed while drifting off into your own nostalgia-induced dreams or delusions.

In the case of “Open Window,” the song thematically is rooted in a heartbroken delusion that should feel painfully familiar to almost all of us — the delusional hope that the breakup isn’t permanent, that your now ex has just temporarily lost their minds, and will come back to you soon. But sadly, in the end, it’s all vapor and blind, foolish, prideful denial. “’Open Window’ is about keeping reality at bay in that comfortable bubble of denial. Definitely my favourite stage of heartbreak,” Delvodere explains. 

“Desire,” Ha Ha Heartbreak‘s second single is a lush and sultry bop centered around mournful horns, soaring strings, an infectious, two-step inducing groove and twinkling keys paired with Devoldere’s breathy baritone. The song’s narrator desperately addresses just about every god he can imagine for answers, but as he says in the song, “No matter what I turn to/it’s failing me.”

Ha Ha Heartbreak’s third and latest single “Time Bomb” continues a remarkable run of slow-burning lush and sultry material, that features subtle elements of jazz, film scores, Quiet Storm soul and art pop. Much like its predecessors, “Time Bomb” sees its narrator dealing with the devastation of a breakup and its aftershock on both parties. But with the new single, its heartbroken narrator is left to wonder “but why” without any answers or closure.

“What to do if you stumble upon a time bomb? You’ll probably see 3 wires. If there are no red wires, cut the second wire,” Devoldere writes. “Otherwise, if the last wire is white, cut the last wire. Alternatively, if there is more than one blue wire, cut the last blue wire. If none of the above, cut the last wire then the first. Learn this by heart. Listening to my new song won’t save you at all. Love, Warhaus.”

Set Michiel Venmans in and around Palermo, Italy, the accompanying video for “Time Bomb” follows Devoldere through a cinematic and lonely journey of the area: We eventually see shaving and brushing his teeth, putting his laundry out to dry on a line and broodingly daydreaming on his terrace. We then see him watching TV at a cafe with an older gentlemen, who he befriends. We also see him wandering the Italian city’s streets — eventually sitting around older gentlemen. It’s a gorgeous and surreal depiction of heartbreak and loneliness.

Devoldere will be embarking on a handful of UK and European Union dates. Check them out below.