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 […]
Category: Indie Synth Pop
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.
If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past three or four months, you may have come across a couple of posts on Sophie Stern, the Los Angeles-based creative mastermind behind the (mostly) solo recording project Sophie and the Bom Boms — and in that period of time, Stern has quickly become one of my favorite, new artists.
Her debut EP’s first single “Big Girls” was a breezy and infectious pop confection that paired big boom-bap beats, cascading synths, anthemic hooks and Stern’s effortlessly soulful vocals in a way that was reminiscent of Nu Shooz‘s “I Can’t Wait” while sounding remarkably contemporary. Stern followed that up with “Appetite,” a single that began to cement a burgeoning reputation for crafting incredibly infectious, breezy and anthemic pop while sounding as though it drew influence from Australian-born Berlin-based indie pop artist Phia, Gwen Stefani‘s “Ain’t No Holla Back Girl,” and TLC‘s “No Scrubs” — with the a similar “girl, drop that loser/girl, drop that deadbeat friend/I’m done with that fool” air.
Stern’s third and latest single “Creme De La Creme” pairs a skittering and tweeter and woofer rocking percussive production featuring gently buzzing synths and an infectious, shout-worthy hook in a song that celebrates the beauty, strength and individuality of the modern women — that says a couple of things: first, “let your freak flag fly and be fucking proud about it;” second, beauty is not just in the eye of the beholder but within and that should be celebrated instead of being mocked; and third, the ladies of the world need to team up and enact real change. It’s an empowered girl power anthem — with an infectiously playful sense of humor.
New Audio: Introducing the Shimmering Electro Pop of Up-and-Coming Scottish Pop Artist KLOE
Influenced by Stevie Nicks, Alanis Morisette, Taylor Swift, St. Vincent, The Weeknd and Drake, KLOE is an up-and-coming, 19 year-old, Glasgow, Scotland, UK-based singer/songwriter and pop artist who burst into international prominence with the release […]
Over the six year history of this site, I’ve written quite a bit about New York-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rene Lopez, who is not only among a group of artists I first wrote about when I started things here, he is also one of JOVM‘s earliest mainstay artists. And throughout the past six years, Lopez has uncompromisingly refused to be pigeonholed into one particular genre — Lopez has managed to mesh salsa, boogaloo, old-school hip-hop, meringue and electronica into one cohesive whole on E.L.S. (short for Electric Latin Soul); salsa and 7os Brazilian music on his most deeply personal effort Paint the Moon Gold; and slinkily seductive synth-based R&B and funk, inspired by Prince, The Gap Band, Rick James, Chic and others on Love Has No Mercy and its subsequent releases. This shouldn’t be surprising as Lopez has told me in an interview, he grew up in a household where salsa, merengue and disco were frequently played — and his first band The Authority was deeply influenced by his love of Prince and funk. So in some way, Lopez has come back full circle.
If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past few months you’ve come across posts on Lopez’s “Heavy, Baby Heavy,” “Trouble Lovin’ Lady,” and “Watch Me Turn It Up,” the first, third and sixth singles of his continuing Jam of the Month Series. The seventh and latest single in the series is the slow-burning Quiet Storm-like synth-based ballad that pairs Lopez’s sultry crooning with contemporary electronic production consisting of shimmering synths and persistent keyboards, ambient and swirling electronics, skittering drum programming, a gorgeous violin arrangement and anthemic hook. Sonically, the song sounds as though it draws influence from Prince, Blood Orange and Tuxedo and while being danceable and sensual, there’s an earnest sentiment at its core — a mix of desire, uncertainty, doubt and vulnerability that comes about from sincerely putting your heart and soul out on the line with the hope that it’d be reciprocated, and that it’d be a real and meaningful love.
New Video: The Neon Bright and Surreal Visuals for Deep Sea Diver’s “See These Eyes”
Perhaps best known as an accomplished side person, who has spent several years as a touring member of The Shins, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Spoon and Beck‘s backing band, the Seattle, WA-based multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Jessica […]