Category: New Video

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: STIMULUS Teams Up with K, Le Maestro on Brooding “sEMi”

STIMULUS is a rising Brooklyn-born, Berlin-based artist, DJ and event curator. And if you were frequenting this site earlier this year, you might recall that I wrote about “swiTCH,” a collaboration with Malik Work, Greg Paulus, Taylor Bense and Swim Good that to my ears sounded a bit like a synthesis of Stereo MCs and C+C Music Factory with Larry Levan — but with a modern, self-assured swagger. 

His latest single, the K, LE MAESTRO-produced “SeMi” is a woozy, genre-defying track that pairs the Brooklyn-born, Berlin-based emcee’s swaggering yet deeply introspective, heartbroken flow with an eerily brooding production featuring a looping and twinkling piano sample and skittering trap beats. The song sees STIMULUS completely turning the concept of “keeping it 100” on its head by exploring the beauty and truth in being “semi” — kind of messy, and yet fully human and proud of it.

 “Keeping things ONE HUNDRED is the new keeping it real,” the Brooklyn-born, Berlin-based artist says. “100 is also a popular emoji representing 100% authenticity and 100% certainty. In the song I admit all of the ways in which I am not 100%.”

STIMULUS continues, “sEMi” is about inner struggle, social alienation, and the pursuit of identity. “

The accompanying video is part of a short film associated with the music, which has already won 7 awards at film festivals around Europe. And as you tell is part of a dystopian, near future in which the film’s protagonist goes through a bizarre procedure that gives him odd super powers.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Automatic Shares Restless “Is It Now?”

Los Angeles-based post punk outfit Automatic — Izzy Glaudini (synths, vocals), Lola Dompé (drums, vocals) and Halle Saxon Gaines (bass, vocals) — formed nine years ago. And in that time, they’ve released two albums:

  • Their full-length debut, 2019’s Signals saw the trio quickly establishing their sound, which paired motorik grooves with icy atmospheres. 

  • Their sophomore effort, 2022’s Excess saw the band sonically riding an imaginary edge where the 70s underground met 80s corporate culture.

After they finished touring to support their sophomore album, each member of the trio pursued there own interests: Glaudini honed her skills as a producer; Saxon Gaines enrolled in botany classiest; and Dompé got married, moved out to the country and began caring for horses.

With two albums under their collective belts, the Los Angeles-based trio wanted to do something different for their third album. Slated for a fall release through Stones Throw Records. Is It Now? sees the trio collaborating with producer Loren Humphrey to build upon the sound of their previous releases — minimalist yet danceable songs, which they describe as “deviant pop.”

Is It Now?‘s first single, album title track “Is It Now?” is a continuation of the sound that they established on their first two albums while simultaneously being a subtle yet noticeable refinement. “Is It Now?” features what may arguably be the tightest groove they’ve written to date paired with icy synths and a call-and-response chorus while showcasing their unerring knack for catchy hooks. But at its core is a modern sense of restlessness and unease that just feels — well, familiar.

The new single celebrates being authentically yourself. The call-and-response chorus vies between two points f view — a rebellious perspective and the manufactured, mass culture one. Automatica’s Izzy Glaudini explains that, increasingly, “the thing I think about the most on a day-to-day basis is: how do you have a sense of joy while the world seems to be collapsing, and you feel so powerless?” 

She adds, “I feel like, as American citizens, we have a responsibility to pull the levers to stop the machine. ‘Is It Now?’ is about trying to not feel like a victim in this environment. It’s important to still feel a sense of joy, even amongst all the horrible shit going on in the world.” 

Directed by Nicola and Juliana Giraffe, the accompanying video for “Is It Now” features the trio in an I Love Lucy-like scenario at a factory while they pack boxes and load them onto a truck while evoking the restlessness at the core of the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: San Diego’s moondaddy Shares Gauzy “Bystander”

Fronted by producer, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Cara Poticker, the San Diego-based dream pop outfit moondaddy traces its origins to the eerily uneasy quiet of the COVID-19 pandemic. And as a result, the band embraces the age-old maxim that the only certainty in life is uncertainty.

With the release of their full-length debut, 2023’s Poet Lies, the project attempts to meet the haze of existence with a kaleidoscopic sound that provides peace — especially — when all else feels like chaos. Poet Lies saw the band quickly establishing a sound featuring glistening guitar, gauzy synths and dulcet vocals singing dreamily poetic observations while drawing from sheogaze, dream pop and trip hop.

Since then, the San Diego-based dream pop outfit has gone on a sold-out tout with DeVotchKa and opened for the likes of Beabadoobee, Peel Dream Magazine and King Hannah. Building upon a growing local and regional profile, the band has headlined some of their hometown’s tastemaking venues, including The Casbah and others.

Last year’s Lightwave Lightwave EP laid the foundation for what may arguably be the band’s most immersive and expressive effort to date, their sophomore album Dove Tapes, which is slated for release later this year. Both Lightwave Lightwave EP and Dove Tapes was produced by producer/engineer Manuel Calderon at Tornillo, TX-based Sonic Ranch and recorded live to tape. The material was mastered directly to lacquer by Paul Gold at Salt Mastering.

Dove Tapes‘ first single “Bystander” is a lush, breathtakingly gorgeous tune that seemingly recalls a synthesis of early 90s shoegaze and Beach House with swirling and glistening, reverb soaked guitar textures, gauzy and atmospheric synths and skittering and shuffling beats serving as a dreamy bed for Poticker’s remarkably Victoria Legrand-like vocal. Throughout “Bystander” expresses a woozy, desperately yearning lovesickness that’s both frustratingly unfulfilled and unrequited.

Directed by Sylvie Lake, the accompanying video for “Bystander” is fittingly a hazy and kaleidoscopic, half-remembered dream that’s just out of reach.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: BUÑUEL Returns with Bruising, Genre-Defying “A Killing on the Beach”

BUÑUEL — OXBOW‘s Eugene S. Robinson, Afterhours and A Short Apnea‘s Xabier Iriondo (guitar), The Framers‘ Andrea Lombardini (bass) and Il Teatro Degli Orrori’s Franz Valente (drums) — is a transatlantic supergroup that specializes in heavy music that’s been described as beautiful, merciless and unforgiving. 

Creatively, the band has always been led by instinct and the id-like impulse to expressed completely unfiltered and unvarnished emotion through song. And through their close musical alliance, they’ve displayed a seemingly innate ability to craft material that warps and buckles with complexity, freedom, tenderness and primeval energy — simultaneously. 

“BUÑUEL is a name that embodies a certain cultural and literary reference, which evokes an entire world,” the band’s Franz Valente says. “Like his films, our Buñuel is surrealism. We take the listeners into a place that’s suspended between dream and reality.” Eugene S. Robinson adds “What we’re doing with BUÑUEL is to carve out a very specific glimpse… partly into hearts of darkness, but more specifically into the depth of our secrets. Secrets we keep from each other, ourselves and whatever futures we’ve imagined for ourselves. We are ultimately trying to communicate something direct and deadly about the human condition.”

Released last October through SKiN Graft Records and OVERDRIVE Records the transatlantic supergroup’s latest album, the Timo Ellis-produced Mansuetude derives its title from an archaic word, which means “meekness’ or “gentleness.” Certainly, for a band known for being punishingly heavy, the title seems like an ironic juxtaposition. Firmly anchored in the band’s long-held penchant for surrealism, the album sees the band taking every opportunity they can to stretch their musical tendrils towards discomfort and the deconstruction of tradition, all while reaching absolute abandon.

Sonically, the album’s material encompasses many moods — sometimes simultaneously — while blurring elements of post-hardcore, avant-noise, hard blues, post-industrial, symphonic thrash, metal and free-jazz, played at great cost. The record is, in Robinson’s words “extreme but articulate.” 

The album also features guest spots from Converge‘s Jacob Bannon (vocals), The Jesus Lizard‘s Tomahawk‘s and The Denison Kimball Trio‘s Duane Denison (guitar), Andrea Beninati (cello) and David Binney(alto sax, vocals). 

In the lead up to the album’s release, I wrote about two of the album’s singles “Class,” and “American Steel,” which featured The Jesus Lizard’s, Tomahawk’s and the Denison Kimball Trio’s Duane Denison.

Album single “A Killing on the Beach” is a feral and unhinged, genre-defying bruiser of a track, which features elements of post-punk, art punk, metal, No Wave and more that also serves as the perfect bed for an equally unhinged vocal performance by the band’s Robinson.

Directed by Annapaola Martin, the cinematically shot visual for “A Killing on the Beach” is a surreal and brutal fever dream shot in the breathtakingly gorgeous Basque Country.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Tan Cologne Shares Celestial “Cool Star”

Enigmatic Taos, NM-based duo Tan Cologne — Lauren Green and Marissa Macias — have released work rooted in terrestrial and earthen landscapes: Their debut, 2020’s Cave Vaults on the Moon in New Mexico explored the topography of cultures and subcultures on the surface of New Mexico. Their sophomore album, 2022’s Earth Visions of Water Spaces was inspired by past, present and future water and waterways, embodying the power of water and how it has shaped our planet. 2023’s Pescetrullo (soundscapes) captured a series of on-site instrumental and field recordings made in the remote architectural Pescetrullo in Puglia, Italy, immortalizing the contrasts of ancient buildings, new bold structures, insects, and lapping water of the surrounding environment.

The New Mexico-based duo’s third album Unknown Beyond is slated for a Friday release through Labrador Records. Unlike their previously released material, Unknown Beyond sees Green and Macias reaching for the heavens and an intangible greater existence; the infinite and unexplainable while embracing the beauty of timeless uncertainty. 

Written, performed and recorded entirely by the duo at their Taos, New Mexico-based home, the album found the pair seeking solitude and retreat as they attempted to come to terms with the personal loss of family, friends and childhood homes — within a relatively short period of time. The album’s creative process quickly became a therapeutic outlet for grieving, dealing, changing and understanding new life transitions and ways of being, with each track being a part of the story of the entire album. 

The album reportedly sees Green and Macias seeking a more spiritual process. “We looked for signs and signals during the recording process” they say. “If we saw a shooting star, imagined a fire burning on a hill, or remembered an old satellite dish in someone’s yard, we explored that lyrically. Those visual guides became our pathways to the album. They were the signs to move forward.”

Interweaving and layering hypnotic beats, hazy shoegazer textures, abstract live drum patterns and sounds of searching for signals — of comfort and communication — from the invisible web, Unknown Beyond may arguably be their most immersive and emotive work to date. 

In the lead up to the album’s release later this week, I’ve written about two of the album’s previously release singles, “Cloud of Mirrors,” and “Infinity.“

The album’s third and final pre-release single, the slow-burning and celestial album opening track “Cool Star” features swelling, billowing and swirling guitar textures serving as a lush bed for the duo’s dreamily delivered lyrics describing seeing a shooting star — and the belief act that you can communicate with the beyond; that there are signs and signals all over, if you’re paying attention. “It’s also our sensory transmission of the shade, tide, and temperature shift from the moon and planets as they orbit, and the coolness and pull made by them,” they add. 

The accompanying video features lost, found and archived imagery that’s be been carefully edited and stitched together by filmmaker and frequent collaborator Carly Short. Fittingly, it features cosmic imagery, cars drag racing and more.
 
The duo have a handful of Stateside dates, which you can check out below.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Singapore’s Blush Shares Deceptively Upbeat “X My Heart”

Slated for an August 1, 2025 release through Kanine Records, rising Singapore-based indie outfit Blush‘s sophomore album Beauty Fades, Pain Lasts Forever sees the band with a revamped lineup featuring Soffi Peters (vocals), Daniel Pei (bass), Sobs‘ Darrell Laser (guitar) and Forests‘ Jared Lim (guitar, production).

Continuing the “tangled family tree” collaboration of the contemporary Singaporean indie scene, the album features songwriting contributions from Peters, Laser and Lim with the material showcasing subtle influences from the latter two bands. The album reportedly finds the members of Blush attempting to create pristine pop that simultaneously explores life’s bittersweet moments while featuring intricately crafted arrangements that swirl between dreamscapes and noise.

Yesterday, the band announced their signing to Kanine Records while sharing Beauty Fades, Pain Lasts Forever‘s latest single “X My Heart.” “X My Heart” is an undeniably sunny yet ironically deceptive bit of pop that sees the band pairing jangling guitar and a catchy hook and chorus with a deeply melancholy and heartbroken lyrics.

Shot, directed and produced by Goh Koon How, the accompanying video for “X My Heart” is viral visual that sees its protagonist take spiral from wistful lovesickness into murderous and obsessive delusion.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Marseille’s Joe La Truite Shares Bruising “Octogone 8000”

Marseille-based metal outfit Joe La Truite — currently founding members Julien Liphard (Guitars/Vocals) and Charles Roussel (Bass/Vocals), along with Martin Denquin (drums) — originally started as a bit of fun back in 2017, releasing their debut EP that year River Metal, which quickly established their sound, a mind-melting blend of punk, metal and psych rock paired with tongue-in-cheek storytelling.

The Marseille-based outfit followed up with their sophomore EP, 2019’s Just A Little Thing Smooth and Wet. Shortly after that, the band’s founding duo met their current drummer, Denquin, with whom they felt an immediate and undeniable simpatico.

As a trio, the band wrote and recorded their full-length debut 2020’s Trapped In The Cosmos, which received critical applause locally and helped the band build up a following in and around the Marseille live music scene.

Last year, the band signed to Australia’s Blue Tongue Management, who helped the band undertake an introductory campaign to international media and music industry folks, which resulted in album material picking up rotation on multiple syndicated metal programs across the globe.

Building upon a growing profile in the international metal scene, the French trio’s sophomore album Ultimate Ninja Storm 2: Full Zguen was released last Friday through Full Zguen Records. Recorded at Southern France’s dBd Studio, Ultimate Ninja Storm 2: Full Zguen is a concept album based on the characters that inhabit video games. So what’s zguen? The band refers to this at the wild energy of their live performances, which always lead to fans and audiences headbanging until their they nearly broke their necks. The band likens it to controlled chaos.

Sonically, the album sees the band continuing to effortlessly weave elements of metal, punk and psych while showcasing adept musicianship. But unlike their previously released material, there’s a bit of hip-hop thrown in, too.

“Octogone 8000,” Ultimate Ninja Storm 2: Full Zguen‘s third and latest single is a bruising mosh pit ripper that shifts between math rock, heavy metal and trash metal with bombastic aplomb and a ton of sweat-fueled mischief. The song and the accompanying video hurls listeners and viewers into a surreal kaleidoscopic, Mortal Kombat-like arena, where two outlandish characters — Little Ninja Zombie Cyborg and disco-warrior-turned-nightclub-owner Cosmozouk clash in a seemingly never-ending battle of wills.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Godkomplex Shares Bruising “Satanica”

Godkomplex — Mr. Panik and Download — was formed back in 1998 with the intention of revitalizing hard industrial music and features two accomplished stalwarts of the industrial scene:

  • Download’s career began in the mid 1980s with stings playing in a number of bands, including Servo Sector, which featured members of Kevorkian Death Cycle and Hex RX.

  • Mr. Panik is currently involved in a number of side projects, including Chaos Frequency and Skinprobe among others.

With Godkomplex, the duo combine elements of several electronic genres, including drum ‘n’ bass, power noise, techno, trance and coldwave to produce a sound that preserves the integrity of early industrial music while employing a more modern approach.

The duo released their full-length debut, 2000’s World Below through Chaos Records. The album was re-released in 2003 through ANR/Hexagon with national distribution through DSBP.

Their sophomore album, 2006’s Audial Apostasy saw the duo expanding into a quartet with the addition of Reload and The Loch Ness Monster. The duo returned with last year’s “Torture” and “Race-4-Power,” which was released last year.

Building upon the momentum of those singles, the duo recently released “Satanica,” a bruising and forceful yet club friendly bit of industrial that channels the likes of Ministry and Rammstein, while hinting at much more contemporary fare.

Fittingly, the accompanying video for “Satanica” features imagery of witchcraft, accused witches being burned at the stake, folks head banging at a festival show to hard music and more.

Both “Race-4-Power” and “Satanica” will appear on the duo’s forthcoming best of compilation, Best of Godkomplex 1999-2024, which is slated for release late this year.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Nation of Language Share Woozy “I’m not Ready for the Change”

Acclaimed Brooklyn-based synth pop act and JOVM mainstays Nation of Language — Ian Richard Devaney (vocals, guitar), Aidan Noell (synths) and Alex MacKay (bass) — have managed to amass a rapidly growing and devout national and international fanbase as a result of a dance floor friendly sound that draws from New Wave, post-punk and shoegaze. The JOVM mainstays three albums, 2020’s Introduction, Presence, 2021’s A Way Forward and 2023’s Strange Disciple have received coverage from Billboard, The New York Times, Document Journal, BrooklynVegan, MOJO, NME, Pitchfork, Stereogum and lengthy list of others, including this site.

Adding to a rapidly rising profile, the band has performed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Recently,  “Weak In Your Light” was featured in the series finale of the Netflix hit show You. They’ve also become a mainstay on the international festival circuit, playing sets at Austin City Limits, Desert Daze, Pitchfork Festival, Primavera Sound, Pukklepop, Corona Capital, Outside Lands, Bonnaroo, and a growing list of others globally.

Last month, the acclaimed JOVM mainstays announced they signed to Sub Pop Records, who will be releasing their new material globally in 2025 and beyond, including the band’s highly-anticipated fourth album, Dance Called Memory. Slated for a September 19, 2025 release, the 10-song album was recorded, produced and mixed by Holy Ghost‘s Nick Millhiser, who produced 2023’s Strange Disciple. “What’s so great about Nick is his ability to make us feel like we don’t need to do what might be expected of us,” says Nation of Language’s Aidan Noell. The album was mastered by Heba Kadry, who has worked on some of the most acclaimed records of the past decade or so.

Sonically, the album is imbued with a subtly shifted palette: On some tracks percussion is smashed through a synthesizer to nod at early-2000’s electronic music. Chopped-up drum break samples make appearances, too.

Ultimately, for the trio, the hope was to weave raw vulnerability and humanity into a synth-heavy album. “There is a dichotomy between the Kraftwerk school of thought and the Brian Eno school of thought, each of which I’ve been drawn to at different points. I’ve read about how Kraftwerk wanted to remove all of the humanity from their music, but Eno often spoke about wanting to make synthesized music that felt distinctly human,” Nation of Language’s Ian Richard Devaney says. “As much as Kraftwerk is a sonically foundational influence, with this record I leaned much more towards the Eno school of thought. In this era quickly being defined by the rise of AI supplanting human creators, I’m focusing more on the human condition, and I need the underlying music to support that… Instead of hopelessness, I want to leave the listener with a feeling of us really seeing one another, that our individual struggles can actually unite us in empathy.”

Dance Called Memory will feature the previously released “Inept Apollo,” which continues a run of nostalgia-inducing, 80s New Wave-inspired material, while furthering their unerring knack for crafting slickly produced dance floor numbers anchored around earnest lyricism.

“I’m Not Ready for the Change,” Dance Called Memory‘s second and latest single features chopped up drum breaks seemingly inspired by Loveless-era My Bloody Valentine, glittering arpeggiated synths paired with whirring guitars and the band’s long-held penchant for enormous hooks and lived-in lyrics.

Directed by longtime collaborator John McKay, the accompanying, stylishly shot video features the trio performing the song in a studio — and for you fellow old heads, will subtly remind you of early 1980s MTV.

Along with the single and album announcements, the JOVM mainstay will be busy throughout the summer and fall. They’re will be opening for Death Cab for Cutie on their Plans: 20th Anniversary Tour for four dates: Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena on July 31, 2025 and August 2, 2025 and for two-sold out shows in Chicago’s Chicago Theatre, August 5, 2025 and August 6, 2025. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: LohArano Shares Forceful and Abrasive “Mpaka Taova (Organ Dealers)”

Over the past couple of years of this site’s 15 year history, I’ve managed to spill copious amounts of virtual ink covering Antananarivo, Madagascar-based JOVM mainstays LohArano. Since their formation, the Malagasy metal outfit  — Mahalia Ravoajanahary (vocals, guitar), Michael Raveloson (bass, vocals) and Natiana Randrianasoloson (drums, vocals) — have received attention both nationally and internationally for a unique, boundary pushing sound that features elements of popular and beloved Malagasy musical styles like Tsapiky  and Salegy with heavy metal. 

The Madagascar-based outfit’s sound and approach represents a bold generation of Malagasy youth that still honors, reveres and respects the traditions and practices of their culture and elders, while also being deeply inspired by contemporary, Western genres and styles. 

The JOVM mainstays newest EP YMAIMA is slated for a June 20, 2025 release. And as the band explains, the EP’s material is “a mirror. It’s a finger pointed at a truth we’d rather keep quiet. The EP takes an unvarnished and unflinchingly honest look at the brutal reality of their home land, “which bleeds between muffled cries and complicit silence,” they say.

YMAIMA‘s latest single “Mpaka Taova (Organ Dealers)” may arguably be the most abrasive, Suicidal Tendencies-meets-Body Count-like tracks that the JOVM mainstays have released to date while retaining the accessible, mosh pit friendliness that they’ve long been known for. The song as the band explains talks about organ dealers who kidnap children. Frequently, these child victims are later found mutated — or never found at all. The song serves as a forceful refusal to forget these victims and cries out for justice for them.

Fittingly, the accompanying video directed by Tsiory Andrianamanana is one of the bloodiest, goriest videos they’ve released to date, further evoking the sense of horror at the core of the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Kim Gordon Shares “BYE BYE 25” with Proceeds Going to NOISE FOR NOW

Last year, the legendary Kim Gordon released her critically applauded, Grammy-nominated, sophomore solo album The Collective, which featured “BYE BYE.” As a form of righteous protest agains the hateful, authoritarian Trump Administration, Gordon and her collaborator and producer Justin Raisen got back together to re-do the song.

“(Producer and collaborator) Justin Raisen had this idea to redo ‘Bye Bye’ starting at the end of the song. When I was thinking of lyric ideas, it occurred to me to use words taken from a site that had all the words that Trump has essentially banned, meaning any grant or piece of a project or proposal for research that includes any of those words would be immediately disregarded or ;cancelled.’ I guess Trump does believe in cancel culture, because he is literally trying to cancel culture.

Gordon continues, “Trump has used the term “cancel culture” not only as a political talking point but also as a dog whistle while weaponizing the term to signal support for white grievance politics, traditional gender roles, anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment and hostility toward racial justice movements – without always saying those things outright.”

Here is a short list of some of the words Gordon mentions in “BYE BYE 25” that have already begun to disappear under the Trump Administration agenda:

ADVOCATE

CLIMATE CHANGE

FEMALE

HISPANIC

IMMIGRANTS

INTERSEX

MALE-DOMINATED

MENTAL HEALTH 

NON-CONFORMING

TRAUMA

UTERUS

VICTIM

WOMEN

Among the organizations that have been targeted by the Administration’s policies include Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Personnel Management (OPM), National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Defense (DoD), Small Business Administration, National Cryptologic Museum and NASA.

Proceeds from “BYE BYE 25!” — both song and t-shirt will be donated to the reproductive rights nonprofit NOISE FOR NOW. If you have a few bucks, please buy the song and/or a t-shirt; it’ll go to a worthy, much-needed cause. If you’re unable to protest because of health concerns or some other very valid reason, donating to worthy causes if and when you’re able to, is a form of protest, y’all. In the event that donating is a hardship for you, don’t worry. Pass the word along to those who could. Links are here: https://kimgordon.lnk.to/byebye25

Of course if you’re curious: NOISE FOR NOW enables artists and entertainers to connect with and financially support organization that work in the field of Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice. They’re needed now, more than ever with reproductive health care services, including access to legal abortion being under attack. Learn more at https://www.noisefornow.org

The song is accompanied by a video directed by Vice Cooler and Kim Gordon.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: HighSchool Shares Breakneck and Hook-Driven “149”

Rising London-based post-punk outfit HighSchool — Melbourne-born, London-based duo Rory Trobbiani and Luke Scott, along with live backing members Lilli Trobbiani and Lucy Lamb — exploded into the scene with their debut, six-song EP, 2021’s Forever at Last, an effort that saw the band distilling circa-’86 indie lo-fi, New Wave, goth and post-punk through a new, very modern lens.

With self-directed, deeply arresting videos for each of the EP’s six tracks and multiple vinyl runs selling out, the band began to receive attention globally. Beginning with a stint residing London, the duo and their live band played shows across the UK, European Union, North America, Japan and back in Australia, making a run of the international festival circuit, while sharing stages with CHVRCHES, Sam Fender, NewDad and Wet Leg among others.

The rising post punk outfit followed up with 2022’s Only a Dream, which was recorded with Dan Carey and released through his Speedy Wunderground and 2023’s “Colt.” The duo signed to [PIAS], who released their sophomore EP, last year’s Accelerator. Accelerator saw the duo taking their sound to a much darker, reflective place while being an effort that revealed new layers and added depth with each listen. The band went on to support the EP with a successful UK tour with Wunderhouse.

Building upon a growing profile, the band has received praise from NME, The Fader, Clash, DIY, Dork Magazine, The Line of Best Fit, Paper Magazine, Rolling Stone ANZ, So Young and airplay from triple j, BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 1, KEXP and several others across the globe.

The band’s highly-anticipated full-length debut is forthcoming, and the album’s first single, the Ben Hillier and Finn Billingham-produced “149” is a breakneck, mind-melting mix of shoeagze, New Wave and jangle pop and Brit pop that reveals a band with an unerring knack for catchy hooks. And at its core, the song captures languorous, boring and seemingly carefree summers in your teens and early 20s.

“‘149’ is about slow, teenage suburban summers – long, dry days, sprinklers on cracked lawns, the smell of cut grass and cheap beer, halogen-lit tennis courts and supermarket car parks. Nothing to do but kick rocks, ride your bike, hang at the skatepark or by the pool. 

You end up at a shit house party you weren’t invited to, with the girl you’ve had a crush on all year – the one you thought never noticed you. Someone’s playing Benny Benassi on a light-up Bluetooth speaker. People spill onto the porch, your breath tastes like warm wine from a sack. Maybe you hold hands or she kisses you. ‘149’ is a brief moment in the noise, knowing it won’t last. And that’s the point”. 

The accompanying, self-directed video finds the band and friends commandeering a London double-decker bus and driving around London. The band plays an impromptu set onboard. But the video has some impromptu origins: The band borrowed the bus from Nev, who lives next door to the band’s studio. Nev runs a dub radio broadcast out of his kitchen; but he happened to own a party bus. It’s the sort of surreal set up that can only occur late at a night in a big city, with indelible characters.

“The video captures the feeling we wanted for ‘149’ — the dizzying elation of a rambunctious night out, full of promise and unpredictability. It’s about the seemingly endless possibilities a party can bring, and that fleeting feeling of being pulled out of your head and into the present, knowing it can only last until the night ends.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JayWood Shares Swaggering, Genre-Defying “ASSUMPTIONS”

Jeremy Haywood-Smith is a Winnipeg-born, Montréal-based, singer/songwriter, musician and creative mastermind behind the acclaimed, boundary pushing project JayWood. Though he was nominated for a Polaris Music Prize, the Canadian artist currently has a day job as a postal worker, which is arguably the least interesting thing about him.

Haywood-Smith’s third JayWood album Leo Negro is slated for a September 5, 2025 release through Captured Tracks. Much like previously released tracks “UNTITLED (Swirl)” and his collaboration with Tune-Yards, “BIG TINGS,” Leo Negro will further cement his reputation for refusing to be easily pigeonholed.

The Canadian artist explains that the album’s title ” . . .came from the main concept of the album which is identity. I asked myself the question of ‘What are some things that make me who I am, no matter what changes occur in life?’ and funnily enough, I was getting really into astrology at the time due to fact that 70% of my friends are queer femmes. I was trying to understand what it means to be a Leo. On the other hand, I’m moving through life as a black man in spaces that don’t always understand me or will try to categorize me.”

He adds, “I know the main identifier for Leos is that they’re super confident and massive social magnets and leaders, but in recent years, I’ve had a harder time leaning into that specific energy, so I started to just dismantle the idea of confidence and leadership by doing somewhat of the opposite. I started to get more vulnerable and share more things about myself: insecurities, fears, anxieties, my scarier truths and my experiences as a black person. Through that, I weirdly started to feel a little more confident. Which brings me to my last point about the title. I now live in Montreal and one thing I realized while trying to learn the language is that the descriptions of things are at the end. For example ‘black cat’ would be ‘chat noir,’ and if I look at my album title, it kinda translates to ‘black confidence’ in my mind.”

Leo Negro‘s latest single “ASSUMPTIONS” is a mind-melting, defiantly genre-agnostic track that sees the Montréal-based artist meshing a swaggering and braggadocio-fueled hip-hop production and neo-soul while subtly hinting at Pharrell‘s “Happy.” While seemingly recalling Tyler, the Creator, Stereolab and Men I Trust among others, “ASSUMPTIONS” showcases a mischievously forward-thinking producer and songwriter, who can pair social commentary and deep introspection within a catchy, deceptively fun bop.

“‘ASSUMPTIONS’ feels like it’s giving myself permission to step into some new sonic territory,” Haywood-Smith explains. “It’s fun and playful while still being pretty focused and lyrically consistent, which is new for me. It’s also one of the funniest songs I’ve ever written. It’s literally about my crippling imposter syndrome but at the same time, I’m staking my claim as a solid artist and a producer.”

Directed by Trent Wayne, the accompanying video is a playful, unpredictable mix of cartoons and live action footage at an equally cartoon colored party, in which he plays his new song. Much like the accompanying song, the video touches on feelings of imposter syndrome, feeling under appreciated yet knowing deep down that you’re fucking dope.

The video’s director, Trent Wayne, while speaking on the production said “JayWood set the tone for us—playful, unpredictable, and musically rich— making a great foundation for the video. Inspired by the song’s genre-blending, we built a narrative to match: starting in a comically chaotic party scene, drifting into a Yo Gabba Gabba!-inspired graveyard, and featuring a cartoon version of Jay performing created by Pete Though, which was sent through a VCR for added analog grit. Our production designer, Sophia Kotowski, built a functional CD-player gravestone that became a psychedelic centerpiece. Collaborating with Captured Tracks to spotlight innovative artists like JayWood is a real privilege for our team.”

singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Franck Harois Shares Breezy “Au Rhythme Du Vent”

Franck Harois is French singer/songwriter and producer, who over the course of his 30+ year career has created music with a fiercely DIY ethos. Understandably, that has allowed, the French artist the ability to create freely and without compromise.

Harois’ latest single “Au Rhythme du Vent,” is a breezy bit of electro pop anchored around twinkling melodic synths, arpeggiated bass synths, bursts of squiggling of guitar and a remarkably catchy hook serving as a lush bed for the French artist’s dreamily plaintive delivery. The song sees Harois walking a tightrope between danceable Depeche Mode-like New Wave/goth and radio friendly pop.

Directed by Harois, the accompanying video for “Au Rhythme du Vent” was shot on the sun-dappled shores and forests of Biscarrosse, Bordeaux, France. The video emphasizes the escapist nature of the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Big Wild Teams Up With iDA HAWK ON Expansive and Cinematic “Universe”

Jackson Stell is a rising producer and artist, who initially started his career in his native Massachusetts as hip-hop producer, known as J Beatz. Following a life-altering trip to Big Sur, Stell switched creative lanes, adopting influences from the area’s natural beauty and open spaces. As Big Wild, the Massachusetts-based artist refines alt/indie electronic music by blending organic elements, lush soundscapes with genre-defying creativity and panache.

Stell’s breakthrough was back in 2015 when he toured with acclaimed electronic outfit Odesza and remixed “Say My Name.” That year also saw the release of “Aftergold,” feat. Tove Stryke, which stopped the Spotify Global Viral charts.

Building upon a rapidly growing profile, Stell followed up with 2017’s Invincible EP and his full-length debut, 2019’s Superdream, which saw the Massachusetts-born artist taking on the roles of singer/songwriter for the first time, while blending indie, electronic and disco influences. Stell supported Superdream with extensive touring across the US, European Union and UK while helping to establish his reputation as an innovative and boundary-pushing artist.

His sophomore Big Wild album, 2022’s The Efferusphere saw Stell continuing to explore and push the boundaries of genre and emotion.

The past few months have been busy for Stell: Earlier this year, he released -the first bit of new material since The Efferusphere — “Love Any Longer” and “You Belong Here.” Stell’s third single of this year, “The Universe” feat. iDA HAWK is a sprawling dance music track that mischievously nods at James Bond-thriller-like soundtracks, cinematic psych soul and British Big Beat with an infectious optimism. The song continues Stell’s exploration of themes around connections and belonging at the center of his most recent work, the new single — and arguably, all of his latest material — sees the rising artist actively seeking to shed much of the accumulated seriousness of his career while embarking on a mission to reclaim his artistic wonder.

“The release of ‘Universe’ synchronistically aligns with 10 years of collaboration and friendship with Jackson— and I think the depth of our shared creative expression shines on this song,” iDA HAWK says. “During the writing process, it was meaningful to explore universal themes, including the idea that we are all interconnected: when you find your own soul, you find us all.“

The accompanying video is a mix of animation and live-action that sees the duo of Stell and Hawk facing off against a collection of animated baddies in a colorful cartoon universe.