Last month, I wrote about Brooklyn-based shoegaze duo The Blessed Isles. Comprised of Aaron Closson (guitar and vocals), best known as a member of The Hourly Radio and multi-instrumentalist Nolan Thies, best known as a member of N?TIONS, the duo of Closson and Thies specialize in a sound that is heavily indebted to New Wave, synth pop and shoegaze — and as you would have heard on “Caroline,” the first single off their long-awaited full-length effort Straining Hard Against the Strength of Night, and on the album’s second and latest single “Confession” their sound in particular seems to be influenced by New Order, Slowdive and Cocteau Twins as the duo pairs Closson’s plaintive vocals with shimmering delay pedal fed guitar chords, propulsive boom-bap 808s, and ambient-like synths to craft a swooning and introspective song with an urgently anthemic pulse. However, interestingly enough “Confession” strikes me as being the most New Order-influenced song down to the guitar solo the song’s swooning urgency.
Category: Indie Synth Pop
New Audio: The Arena Rock and Dance Floor Friendly Extended Mix of New Order’s “The Game”
Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over its six year history, you’d know that I’m a proudly unabashed New Order fan. Music Complete, which was released last year marked two milestones for the band— as it was […]
New Audio: Yeasayer’s Ethereal and Psychedelic New Single
Yeasayer, the New York-based experimental/psych/electro pop trio comprised of Chris Keating (vocals, songwriting and production), Ira Wolf Tuton (vocals, songwriting and production) and Anand Wilder have been blogosphere darlings for the better part of a decade […]
New Video: The Shimmering and Tender Pop Sound and Gorgeous Visuals of Brooklyn’s Tiger + Man’s “Wondering”
Comprised of award winning composers and songwriters, Austin, TX-born, Brooklyn-based Tiger Darrow and South African-born, Brooklyn-based Andrew Orkin, Brooklyn-based electro-acoustic act Tiger + Man met back in 2012 and they initially collaborated on commercial and […]
New Video: Introducing the Retro-Futuristic Visuals and Sounds of Toronto’s Princess Century
Maya Postepski is a grizzled Toronto, ON music scene veteran, who is arguably best known as being a member of renowned electronic music act Austra, a prolific DJ and remixer, and for her work collaborating […]
New Video: Introducing the Spectral Sounds and Gorgeous Visuals of Quebec’s Ghostly Kisses
Comprised of Margaux Sauvé and Dragos Chiriac, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada-based electro pop duo Ghostly Kisses specialize in a gorgeous and spectral electro pop that pairs Sauvé’s aching and tender vocals with Chiriac’s moody production consisting of gently […]
With the release of “Ruins,” up-and-coming Los Angeles, CA-based indie pop artist Ryder received attention across the blogosphere for a slow-burning, atmospheric pop sound with soaring and anthemic hooks, skittering drum programming and Ryder’s expressive and sultry alto — all while comparing favorably to blogosphere darlings Phoebe Ryan, CAPPA, Chelsea Lankes and others.
Ryder’s latest single “Fade Away” will further cement her growing reputation for slow-burning, atmospheric and seductive pop as the song pairs Ryder’s expressive and sultry vocals with industrial clang and clatter, swirling and ambient electronics and a soaring, anthemic hook; however, unlike “Ruins,” “Fade Away,” is arguably the most sensual song she’s released to date, as the song’s narrator is urgently expressing her desire for a love object in a dysfunctional and confusing relationship.
New Video: The Urgent and Swooning Video for TOURIST’s “Run”
TOURIST // RUN fSwrom Ozzie Pullin on Vimeo. William Phillips is a London, UK-based electronic music artist/producer and songwriter, best known in electronic music circles best known for his solo recording project Tourist — and […]
New Video: The Surreal and Hilarious Visuals for Wolkoff’s “The Homecoming”
Originally known for her work in electro pop projects Her Habits, Gemology and others, Toronto-born, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter and electro pop artist Joanie Wolkoff has been a JOVM mainstay artist before striking out on her own last […]
New Audio: Mark Pritchard Teams Up with Radiohead’s Thom Yorke on a Hauntingly Gorgeous New Single
Mark Pritchard is a Crewkerne, Somerset, UK-born and Australian-based producer and electronic music artist, who over the course of his almost 30-year music career has collaborated with a number of electronic music artists and producers […]
23 year-old Simon Ebener-Holscher is an up-and-coming German jazz pianist, singer and producer, whose solo production and recording project Moglii has started to receive attention for a sound that employs the use of analog synthesizers, soulful vocal samples, live, acoustic instrumentation and self-made field recordings — that frequently include recordings of coffeemakers, shopping bags, cactuses and other random things. Ebener-Holscher is also the creative mastermind and founder of Moglebaum, a quintet who has performed at festivals across their native Germany, Bulgaria, The Netherlands and India.
19 year old NOVAA is an up-and-coming German singer/songwriter and producer and pioneer of a a new, attention-grabbing subgenre that she has dubbed “Organic Electronic” — a sound that draws from electronica, electro pop, folk and pop. And as a result, the young German artist has been compared favorably to the likes of Björk and Grimes. The two German artists bonded over a shared love of organic, natural soundscapes and higher thinking and as a result they began collaborating on their forthcoming 5 track EP Down Under.
“Down Under,” the EP title track and the EP’s latest single is a glitchy and wobbling track that thematically “”focuses on the connectedness and circulation of energy that is felt, rather than seen” — and sonically, the song pairs shuffling and skittering drum programming, fluttering and undulating synths, wobbling low end, ambient and swirling electronics and raindrops with NOVAA’s and Ebener-Holscher’s vocals bubbling up and then serenely floating over the surface. The song’s shifting rhythms and time changes add to a woozy and trippy feel while keeping the ethereal song from floating off into space — while being remarkably subtle.
New Video: JOVM Mainstays La Femme Return with Psychedelic, Egypt-Inspired Visuals for “Sphynx”
Comprised of founding members Marlon Magnée (keyboards), Sacha Got (guitar), Sam Lefevre (bass), Noé Delmas (drums) and Lucas Nunez, along with a rotating cast of vocalists including current lead vocalist Clémence Quélennec, lara Luciani, Jane Peynot and Marilou […]
Jean Deaux is a Chicago, IL-based electronic music artist, whose sound draws from house, R&B and hip-hop. Her latest single “Father Time” is the first single released off Downtown Records‘ newest imprint Downtown Singles Club, a carefully curated selection of singles that are sent directly to subscribers via email, and the single pairs skittering drum programming, gently undulating synths, tweeter and woofer rocking beats and industrial clang and clatter with Deaux’s sultry vocals and swaggering rhyming before ending with some soulful yet shimmering synths. The song and its production defy easy categorization — it clearly possesses elements of R&B, house, hip-hop, neo-soul, industrial house and industrial techno but it’s a slickly produced, trippy and sonically experimental work that manages to be approachable and dance-floor ready. And it does so while possesses a deeply existential bent, with its narrator exploring her complex and ambivalent relationship with time.
You can catch the up-and-coming electro pop artist when Deaux and friends play Elvis’ Guesthouse on March 26.