Category: Indie Pop

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Upcoming Scottish Indie Act Releases a Gorgeous and Atmospheric Cover of The Velvet Underground’s “Over You”

Comprised of Mairi Fenella Whittle (vocals) and Jack Boyce (guitar, piano), the Glasgow, Scotland-based indie rock/indie pop duo Fenella can trace their origins to when they were both studying and discovered a mutual love for Elektra Records’ mid-late 1960s releases, which included the work of Nico, The Doors, Love, Tim Buckley, as well as The Velvet Underground, Neil Young’s doom trilogy and jazz. After working and building upon Whittle’s song ideas, the duo made their live debut last year, and with some sporadic shows across their hometown, began to see growing local attention; in fact, the duo played at Glasgow’s King Tuts Wah Wah Hut for the venue’s New Year’s Revolution Festival earlier this year.

Signed to new indie label, Little Tiger Records, run by Riverside Music Business students, under the aegis of lecturer and Creeping Bent Records’ Douglas MacIntyre, the young duo have released a number of singles, including their latest single, an eerily atmospheric and haunting gorgeous, Scott Walker-esque/Mazzy Star-esque cover of The Velvet Underground’s “Over You,” that features Whittle’s aching, torch burning vocals paired with a simple and sparse arrangement of strummed guitar and piano.

Directed by Neil Mckenzie, the video employs a relatively simple concept — a close up of Whittle, as she’s staring directly into the camera, and at us with a pensive yet feral longing and eyes glassy from tears. At one point, we see her wipe tears from her eyes, and it further emphasizes the heartbreak at the core of the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Classic Sci-Fi and Horror Movie-Inspired Visuals for Rubblebucket’s “If U C My Enemies”

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site throughout the course of its almost seven-year history, you’ve likely come across a number of posts on the Brooklyn-based Afro-pop/dance pop act and JOVM mainstays Rubblebucket. Currently comprised of founding duo and primary songwriters Alex Toth (trumpet, vocals, percussion), Kalmia Traver (lead vocals, tenor sax, baritone sax), Adam Dotson (trombone, vocals and percussion), David Cole (drums) and Ian Hersey (guitar), the Brooklyn-based act can actually trace their origins to when Traver and Toth met while playing in a Burlington, VT-based Latin jazz act. Quickly bonding over being horn players, a love of Afrobeat and Afro pop and an uncannily preternatural connection, the duo relocated to Boston in 2006, where they did fairly respectable things to survive — Traver spent time as a nude model for art classes, while Toth spent time hustling $50 a performance marching band gigs. And while being broke as shit in Boston, the duo began Rubblebucket.

Relocating to Brooklyn some years later, the members of the Afro pop/indie pop/dance pop act emerged into the national scene with the release of their critically applauded 2011 album Omega La La and an established reputation for a rather relentless touring schedule full of ecstatic, energetic and mischievous live sets which at various times included puppets and bandmembers jumping into the crowd and leading dance circles and dance trains with the audience. By early 2012, the band had made their first nationally televised appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. And over the past few years, the band has been pretty busy as they’ve released a handful of critically applauded EPs and their sophomore full-length Survival Sounds. And while their touring schedule had slowed down a bit, Toth and Traver also a brief period of time touring as backing guests for follow JOVM mainstay act Superhuman Happiness, a collaboration that goes back to when Stuart Bogie, Eric Biondo and company opened for Rubblebucket for a handful of shows up in Burlington, VT. Interestingly, during that time Rubblebucket’s recorded output has revealed a band that has gradually crafted and then cemented a signature sound while also subtly expanding upon it; in fact, on their Save Charlie EP the band retained their genre-blurring sound that possessed elements of funk, pop, psychedelia and Afrobbeat with a populist sensibility but at points you’ll hear elements of boom-bap hip hop and electro pop. But perhaps just as important, in that same period of time, Traver has slowly emerged as a frontperson.

If U C My Enemies, the band’s latest EP was released earlier this year though So Sensation Records, and from the EP’s first single “Donna” the band has further refined their sound — while they retain Traver and Toth’s enormous, swaggering horn lines, the band employed the use of swirling electronics, distorted vocal samples around Traver’s ethereal and coquettish cooing. The EP’s latest single, EP title track “If U C My Enemies” continues along a similar vein as Traver and Toth’s enormous horn lines are paired with sinuous and funky bass and guitar chords, swirling electronics, twinkling synths and a soaring, anthemic hook — and while being a bit more mid-tempo song in comparison to its preceding single, the latest single is arguably the most muscular and forceful song they’ve released to date.

Directed, shot and edited by Ian Perlman, the recently released music video for “If U C My Enemies” draws from classic sci-fi and horror films as it follows a mysterious, faceless, frightening creature of the night, who takes each band member’s soul to an alternate plane because of the time they spent staring at their phones instead of actually interacting with people. And the video ends with the members of the band goofing off, chatting and actually spending time getting to know each other — without their phones. Perhaps it’s a cautionary time for our age, huh?

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Will Joseph Cook is an up-and-coming London, UK-based indie pop/indie electro pop artist and producer who can trace the origins of his career to when he began crafting earnest and off-kilter pop tunes inspired by Talking Heads, MGMT, LCD Soundsystem and Vampire Weekend among others.  And at a relatively young age, the British producer and electronic music artist quickly received national and international attention with the release of his debut EP,  You Jump I Run through Duly Noted Records; in fact with EP single “Message,” which landed at number 1 on Hype Machine‘s charts and number 2 on Global Spotify Viral Chart. 

Proof Enough, Cook’s much anticipated follow-up Proof Enough further cemented Cook’s growing reputation for crafting material with enormous, rousing and crowd pleasing hooks, while going through a decided electronic approach, an approach that continues on his Jack Steadman, Hugh Worskett and self-produced full-length debut, Sweet Dreamer which is slated for an April 14, 2017 release through Atlantic UK.

“Plastic,” the album’s latest, infectious single features a boldly confident and brash production consisting of twinkling arpeggio keys, enormous, stomping, tweeter and woofer rocking beats paired with Cook’s achingly soulful and easygoing vocals and a rousing, anthemic hook; but underneath, the song possesses an anxious uncertainty — the sort that comes about when a potential love may be unrequited or when a current love may be unceremoniously ending. And from the release of his latest single, Cook reveals himself to be one of the more interesting and unique electronic artists in an incredibly crowded field.

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Anthemic and Earnest Pop of Up-and-Coming Artist Lynn

Up-and-coming, 18 year-old pop artist Lynn has been singing and performing as long as she could remember; in fact, she started performing on stages by the time she was 5 and by the time she was 9, she began jotting lyrics into a notepad. As a high schooler, the young artist had a difficult time fitting in and like a lot of weird high schoolers, Lynn turned to music as an escape. “It became a habit that anytime I felt upset or mad about something that happened to me, I would just put it in a song,” the up-and-coming pop artist explains in press notes.

​Lynn’s second and latest single “Rise High” was written by the pop artist, along with producer Yoad Nevo, who has worked with Sia, Moby and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and the while the radio friendly track draws from 90s-00s synth pop, the song pairs slightly scuzzy guitars with a rousingly anthemic hook — the sort of hook you’d expect to hear kids shouting along while in their cars. Of course, what struck me about the song is that for an 18 year old, Lynn has a self-assuredness that belies her youth — while focusing on youthful, passionate, ridiculous and complex love and obsession in a visceral and deeply personal fashion.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Julian Japser is a San Diego, CA-born, Los Angeles, CA-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who has publicly describes his own sound as being a 21st century Steely Dan or a lapsed Todd Rundgren after he had crossed paths with Ariel Pink — and although maybe to some that may be true, to my ears “2AM,  Chinatown” and “I Don’t Mind,” the first two singles off his forthcoming 2AM, Chinatown/I Don’t Mind EP remind me quite a bit of Oracular Spectacular-era MGMT, Tame Impala and Milagres as both singles possess soaring and infectious hooks, swaggering strutting vibes and a funky bass line; however, both singles thematically focus on a desperate and gnawing loneliness and isolation — in particular “2AM, Chinatown” has its narrator reminiscing over a lover he hasn’t seen or spoken to in some time, and as a result, the lonely narrator of the song is desperate to connect with that lover or with anyone really, as long as he felt some connection with someone, even if it were brief. “I Don’t Mind” possesses a funky, 70sAM rock feel that evokes a lazy morning with a lover — the sort in which limbs and sheets are hopelessly entangled and entwined, and you spend much of the day making love and chatting about all manner of things big and small. And as a result, it’s the sexiest song of the two; but underneath the surface there’s this sense of all things coming to its inevitable conclusion. All things lead to the same result — the endless search to not be as lonely as you were before, and both songs capture that with an uncanny verisimilitude.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Trippy and Psychedelic Sounds and Visuals of The Seshen’s “Colors Collide”

Throughout the end of last year, I wrote quite a bit about San Francisco Bay Area-based electro pop/electro R&B/electro soul act The Seshen. Interestingly, the act comprised of founding members Lalin St. Juste (vocals) and Akiyoshi Ehara (bass, production) with Kasha Rockland (vocals), Mizra Kopelman (percussion) and Kumar Butler (sampler) have recede attention both across the Bay Area and elsewhere for a sound and aesthetic that draws from a diverse and eclectic array of influences including Erykah Badu, Jai Paul, James Blake, Radiohead, Broadcast, hip-hop, indie rock, electronica — with the result being a sound that managed to be simultaneously contemporary and retro-futuristic.

Now you may recall that I had written about the first two singles off the act’s sophomore full-length effort Flames and Figures — “Distant Heart,” a slickly produced, sleek and sensual, synth-based single that sounded as though it were influenced by 80s synth-based R&B and pop and “Already Gone,” a sultry and sensual track that subtly nodded at Giorgio Moroder’s legendary and incredibly sexy productions. However, the album’s third and latest single “Colors Collide” finds the Bay Area-based act pairing St. Juste’s nostalgic, stream-of-consciousness lyrics and sultry vocals with hazy mellotron, layered rhythms, a distorted and chopped up vocal sample, swirling electronics and shimmering synths to craft a sound that nods at trippy, 60s-inspired psych pop, experimental pop and prog rock thanks to a song structure that consists of several shifting and morphing sections held together by the song’s hazy vibe and a deep longing for more.

Interestingly, as the band’s St. Juste explains in press notes, “Colors Collide is about the illusory spaces that are created for us, and how we wrestle with the identities and experiences that grow out of those creations. It reflects the journey of leaving this current space for another. Perhaps in this next place, I can be free. It’s not a physical space, but rather, the place within myself that I hope to reach.”

Directed by Jesse Cafiero, the recently released music video for “Colors Collide” employs the use of classic, stop-motion animation to create a detailed yet surreal world that adds and emphasizes the song’s psychedelia-tinged take on pop

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Nostalgic Visuals and 60s Psych Pop-Leaning Sounds of Hour Of The Time Majesty Twelve

Comprised of primary songwriter duo Spooki Tavi (guitar, vocals) and Ashi Dala (bass, vocals), the Los Angeles, CA-based experimental pop Hour Of The Time Majesty Twelve (HOTT MT) have built a profile for their collaborative warehouse, art space Non Plus Ultra, for crafting shimmering, psychedelic-leaning pop, and for ambitious collaborations with The Flaming Lips, Ariel Pink, Erykah Badu and Ke$ha. And adding to a growing profile, the Los Angeles-based experimental pop duo have opened for the aforementioned The Flaming Lips, Bat for Lashes, and Galaxie 500.

The duo’s sophomore full-length effort AU (Alternate Universe) is slated for a May 2017 release through the duo’s Mutation Records. “At Night in China Town” features the duo pairing shimmering synths, tinny and distorted Casio-like beats, angular guitar chords with Spooki Tavi’s ethereal vocals and a soaring hook in a moody yet mischievously anachronistic song that sounds as though it simultaneously draws from 60s psych pop and bubble gum pop, shoegazer rock — and in a similar fashion to Washington D.C.’s The Galaxy Electric but with a chillier air.

The recently released music video for “At Night in China Town” features footage shot at their warehouse art space Non Plus Ultra, which was recently shut down. And much like losing a favorite bar or a favorite music venue, there’s a palpable sense of friendships being made and possibly lost, of uncertainty as to what’s next and what everyone will do now that their place is gone; but along with that a hope that there may be someplace new that will leave some indelible memory on you. As the members of HOTT MT say of their recent loss ” “All of us at Non Plus Ultra have been together for years. Our ideals brought us together, and we built a space and a business on them. Non Plus Ultra showed us that we aren’t alone in our desires. There are so many people in this town who share our values. We’ve made and lost spaces before, but this time we’ve got an incredible support system.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past couple of years, you’ve likely come across several posts on Umea, Sweden-born and based, singer/songwriter and cellist  Cajsa Siik. And with the release of her debut single “Was I Supposed To,” which was then promptly followed by her full-length debut Contra and a batch of attention grabbing singles through 2015, Siik received attention both nationally and internationally while cementing herself as one of her country’s standout artists, drawing comparisons to contemporary, Scandinavian pop artists Lyyke Li and Robyn.

Siik’s third full-length effort DOMINO is slated for a June 2, 2017 release through Birds Will Sing For You Records, and the effort, which was produced by Rolf Plinth will feature guest spots from Phoenix‘s and Deportees‘ Thomas Hedlund and Tiger Lou’s Rasmus Kellerman, both of whom contributed to the jangling and shuffling  album single “Talk To Trees.” And what made that single particularly interesting to me was the fact that it reveled a new direction for the internationally renowned singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, with its sound being simultaneously intimate and bold, yet swooningly anthemic and spacious enough for Siik’s effortlessly gorgeous and tender vocals. While the song may be one of Siik’s shorter songs — it clocks in at 2:40 — the song and its narrator seem haunted by a messy yet fully-lived in past; but while suggesting that life is about closing your eyes and taking a chance — even if it may backfire.

DOMINO‘s latest single “White Noise” is a dramatic track that features four-on-the-floor drumming, blasts of shimmering guitar, and atmospheric synths which give the song an art pop sheen while Siik’s vocals and uncanny ability to write an infectious and soaring hook gives the song a pop-leaning accessibility.  In press notes, Siik explained that, “DOMINO can be described in two different ways. First I wanted it to represent the fact that we’re all connected to each other and that we have a responsibility towards each other and this world. To shoulder that responsibility is easier said than done, but we must try. Be aware. Not only mind our own business. I’ve given that a lot of thought lately. Secondly, every song on this album depends and relies on the other. Together they create a unit and the unit is supposed to be diverse. I aimed for creating a dynamic album.” Interestingly, when you hear the newest single in relation to its preceding single “Talk To Trees” there’s a sense of Siik and her collaborators creating a deeply unified mood and vision while speaking of experiences and feelings — in particular about love and longing with a hard-fought deeply adult wisdom and confidence.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Pom Poms Return with Sultry and Psychedelic Visuals for “Gimme You”

With the release of their debut single “Betty” and “123” the Los Angeles-based duo Pom Poms, comprised of singer/songwriter and frontwoman, the mononymic Marlene and Grammy-nominated producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Billy Mohler, who is known for his work with Awolnation, Liz Phair, Kelly Clarkson, and Macy Gray, were quickly thrust into the national spotlight for a sound that owes a debt from classic garage rock and pop such as Connie Francis, Pasty Cline, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, the girl groups of the early 60s and others; however, lyrically, the material drew from Marlene’s own personal experiences, covering a wide spectrum of emotions from yearning, loss, perseverance, lust, desire, coquettish flirting and just wanting to have a good time with a very modern, unguarded frankness while possessing a loose, off-the-cuff, improvised feel. And as a result, of the early buzz the band received, they opened for The Psychedelic Furs and went on a West Coast tour with The Mowgli’s.

That off-the-cuff, loose feel has filtered into the duo’s highly-anticipated full-length debut Turn You Out, as you’ll hear on the album’s first official single, the sultry, late night, come hither, come on “Gimme You,” a song that’s essentially about being desperately lonely and lusting for someone so badly that you crave them and their loving– to the point that you’re trying to set up a booty call; but in the case, of “Gimme You,” Marlene’s vocals posses a subtle hint of menace, that conveys the idea that the song’s narrator gets what she wants — by any means necessary, if possible. Sonically, the single will further cement the duo’s reputation for crafting soulful and gritty 60s-inspired pop reminiscent of Amy Winehouse, thanks in part to its incredibly transgressive feel.

The recently released video for “Gimme You” is deeply indebted to both the mod 60s and psych 60s as it features Pom Poms frontwoman broodingly posing, dancing and singing in front of a projection screen featuring psychedelic imagery — and in a some way, the video feels voyeuristic, as though the viewer is watching the act’s frontman putting on a burlesque-like tease for someone else, who’s off-screen.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Psychedelic and Animated Visuals for Cones’ “Echoes On”

Comprised of San Francisco-born, Los Angeles-based sibling duo Jonathan Rosen, a pop music influenced, acclaimed hand-drawn animator, who has created music videos for a number of renowned artists including Toro y Moi, Eleanor Friedburger and Delicate Steve, whose rock ‘n’ roll dream started in earnest when he played Johnny Thunders for the HBO series Vinyl; and Michael Rosen, who is a classically trained pianist, commercial/film composer and experimental sound artist, Cones can trace their newest project to when they began playing music together, while they were both in NYC as members of Icewater. Eventually the members of Icewater began playing as the session and backing band for the Fiery Furnaces’ Eleanor Friedberger, helping to write, record her latest album New View.

As the story goes, while on tour the Rosens began to conceptual their latest project, a project that would fuse Jonathan’s pop sensibilities with Michael’s lush, atmospheric soundscapes and key-heavy orchestration. And in the summer of 2016, the Rosens, along with a bunch of friends and associates wrote and recorded the material of their debut EP Whatever Your’e Into. And interestingly enough, the EP’s latest single “Echoes On” has the duo pairing Jonathan’s dreamy falsetto with a twangy, psych country arrangement that’s reminiscent of 70s AM radio, Tame Impala and Oracular Spectacular-era MGMT; but with a breezier feel and rousingly anthemic hooks.

The recently released video features Jonathan Rosen’s loose and playful, hand-held animation featuring the duo traveling in a car, wandering around aimlessly, playing the song through a variety of instruments with a fittingly psychedelic and trippy quality.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Rodes Rollins is  Boulder, CO-born pop artist, who has spent time living abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina and now currently splits her time between New York and Los Angeles. Rollins first emerged into the national spotlight with “Young & Thriving,” the first single off her recently released debut EP Young Adult, a single that possessed a wistful sense of nostalgia, along with acceptance and wonder over the circumstances and people that initially seem random and serendipitous, but wind up influencing and dictating the course of your life paired with a sultry, subtly Spaghetti Western-tinged psych pop production.  With the attention “Young & Thriving” received, Rollins followed with the EP’s second single “Wes Come Back,” a single about the artist’s first love, a man who endured hardship throughout his life while reportedly drawing inspiration from Broken Bells and Ennio Morricone.

The EPs their single “Feedback” much like the EP’s previous singles draws from Rollins’ most formative experiences of her youth, told in a sort of nostalgic flashback — with the perspective of someone who now sees how the various decisions, foibles, and events of her life have influenced where she is at this moment. In the case of “Feedback,” the song’s narrator looks back towards a confusing and heartbreaking love affair/fling she had when she was young — and in one way, the song suggests that the narrator’s trust was profoundly shaken, while also hinting that that the experience had shaped how the narrator proceeds in her relationships for better or for worse.

Sonically, the song balances moody atmospherics with a soaring and anthemic hook that gives the song a dramatic ebb and flow, while being roomy enough for Rollins’ sultry and smoky vocals while revealing that the up-and-coming artist can write an infectious hook.

 

 

 

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

With the release of “Golden,” the London, UK-based indie pop trio Mt. Wolf, currently comprised of Sebastian “Bassi” Fox, Stevie “Red” McMinn, and Al Mitchell, received both national and international attention across both major media outlets and the blogosphere. With the growing attention the band has received, they’ve played sold-out shows across Europe and the US; but adding to a rather eventful year, the band has gone through a brief hiatus and a lineup change, before recovering to write and record new material, with producer Ken Thomas, who has worked with M83, Sigur Ros and Daughter.

“The Electric” is the oceanic first single off the band’s still untitled, forthcoming EP finds the trio pairing moody atmospherics with a towering and soaring, arena rock-friendly anthemic nature as the slow-burning song that ebbs and swells as it builds up in intensity; but interestingly within that slow ebb and flow there’s an unresolved tension that never quite gets released. And as a result, it gives the song a certain ambivalence and uncertainty that is familiar — it evokes the ambivalence, uncertainty and confusion of our own lives and relationships and the hope that somehow we find a way to figure it out to the best of our abilities.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Best known as one-half of the renowned New York party and record label Mister Saturday Night, Justin Carter spent the past five years writing and recording in the stolen days and weeks here and there in various studios across the country. His full-length debut album The Leaves Fall is slated for a February 24, 2017 release through Mister Saturday Night Records, and features guest spots from Jason Lindner (piano), who played on Bowie‘s Blackstar, Archie Pelago’s Greg Hefferman (cello), programming by LIES and Trilogy Tapes producer Marcos Cabral. And as you’ll hear on the album’s third and latest single “With the Old Breed,” Carter pairs his tender and plaintive falsetto with a minimalist and spectral production featuring plinking vibraphone, big 808-like beats, shimmering synths and hi hat with swirling electronics to evoke the strange sensation of one’s ghosts being both distant yet extremely present, as they always are — while possessing a deeply pensive, soul-baring, confessional intimacy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Currently comprised of founding member and primary songwriter Ellis Ludwig-Leone (keys), Allen Tate (vocals), Charlene Kaye (vocals), Rebekah Durham (vocals, violin), John Brandon (trumpet), Stephen Chen (sax), Tyler McDiarmid (guitar) and Michael Hanf (drums), the renowned indie pop collective San Fermin can trace its origins to when Ludwig-Leone had attended Yale University. While at Yale, Ludwig-Leone had studied composition and assisted renowned composer Nico Muhly, known for his critically applauded work with Antony and the Johnsons, Sufjan Stevens and Grizzly Bear, on several film scores and operas. And although Ludwig-Leone had been in a number of bands throughout high school and college, he didn’t decide to focus on pop music until the end of his college career. As San Fermin’s primary songwriter has publicly mentioned he put on a concert with some pieces written for female vocalists and the night ended with the backing band playing some pop tunes with over-the-top arrangements. And as he has noted, at the time he realized that he could mesh both his interests in a seamless fashion.

Shortly after graduating from Yale, Ludwig-Leone relocated to secluded Banff, Alberta, Canada, where he would write the material, which would eventually comprise San Fermin’s self-titled debut, an effort that was widely praised for musicianship that   the New York Times‘ Paul Krugman described as delivering “epic and emotion-laden rock, with glorious and operatic vocals, electronic break beats, horns, strings, and other flourishes.” And as a result of the band’s growing live reputation and wide critical praise, the album reached #18 on Billboard‘s Top Heatseekers album chart. After the release of the San Fermin’s self-titled debut, the band built upon their growing profile with the release of their highly-anticipated sophomore effort Jackrabbit, an album which garnered further praise from NPR, Rolling Stone and others, as well as national TV appearances on CBS This Morning and Last Call With Carson Daly. With the growing attention on the Ludwig-Leone and company, their sophomore effort was even more commercially successful than its predecessor, as it landed at number 8 on Billboard’s Top Heatseekers album chart.

Belong, Sen Fermin’s third, full-length effort is slated for an April 7, 2017 release through Downtown/Interscope Records and reportedly the material on the album reflect a marked shift in Ludwig-Leone’s songwriting approach with songs focusing on a much more personal perspective — with the album’s material thematically focusing on feelings of disconnection, displacement and everyday anxiety, among other things.  “No Promises,” Belong‘s first single was as Ludwig-Leone explains in press notes “the last song I wrote for this record, and it’s addressed directly to my bandmates. We’ve spent the past few years together; I just realized how much of their lives they’ve devoted to being in this band. It’s overwhelming to think about. The verses are about how touring can go from this exciting thing to feeling like you’re quite literally going in circles. The bridge is a rapid-fire list of things they’ve been required to do: early flights, all-night drives, maintaining long-distance relationships, etc. But really the song is about the fear of disappointing the people you love.” Along with the change in songwriting approach, “No Promises,” reveals a subtle change in sonic direction as Ludwig-Leone and company pair gorgeous and ethereal female melodies with a production that begins with a dramatic minimalism the builds up to a swooning, soaring and anthemic hook. Interestingly, the song to my ears, reminds me a bit of St. Lucia‘s breezy, pop confections.

San Fermin will be touring extensively throughout the Spring and Summer to support Being and the tour includes a May 13, 2017 stop at Brooklyn’s newest venue, Brooklyn Steel. Check out tour dates below.

Spring 2017 Tour Dates

04.11.17 – Toronto, ON – Great Hall
04.12.17 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
04.14.17 – Minneapolis, MN – Cedar Cultural Center
04.15.17 – Winnipeg, MB – The Park Theatre
04.17.17 – Calgary, AB – Festival Hall
04.18.17 – Edmonton, AB – The Needle
04.20.17 – Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret
04.21.17 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile
04.22.17 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
04.24.17 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent
04.26.17 – West Hollywood, CA – The Roxy Theatre
04.27.17 – San Diego, CA – Casbah
04.28.17 – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar
04.29.17 – El Paso, TX – Lowbrow Palace
05.01.17 – Dallas, TX – Sons of Hermann Hall
05.02.17 – Austin, TX – Antone’s
05.03.17 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall
05.05.17 – New Orleans, LA – Gasa Gasa
05.07.17 – Atlanta, GA – Park Tavern
05.09.17 – Charlotte, NC – Visulite Theatre
05.10.17 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
05.11.17 – Pittsburgh, PA – Andy Warhol Museum
05.12.17 – Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live
05.13.17 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel
05.15.17 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
05.16.17 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
05.18.17 – Dublin, IE – The Sugar Club
05.20.17 – Amsterdam, NL – Bitterzoet
05.22.17 – London, UK – Village Underground
05.25.17 – Berlin, DE – Grüner Salon
06.02.17- Louisville, KY – Headliners Music Hall
06.03.17 – Bunbury Music Festival – Cincinnati, OH
07.15.17 – Green River Festival – Greenfield, MA