Category: New Video

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Gal Pal Shares Swooning “Angel In The Flesh”

Rising Los Angeles-based trio Gal Pal — Emelia Austin (she/her), Shayna Hahn (she/her) and Nico Romero (he/him) — can trace their origins back to a serendipitous meeting in college: The members of the band lived in the same dorm and on the same floor. Each member was drawn to to other by a sense of shared ambition and a desire to play music in a way that felt nonjudgmental and generative. Their initial collaborations were improvisatory, long-winded and playful — and featured recently purchased equipment, including a drum kit no one yet knew how to play. “We were learning our instruments together,” Gal Pal’s Nico Romero says. “The project started from wanting to learn how to play an write songs with other people.” 

Earlier this year, the trio released “Mirror,” track that was written from an altered creative process — perhaps born out of necessity: Austin, Hahn and Romero experimented with writing in isolation, crafting songs with lyrics on their own before bringing them to the group. Featuring production assistance from Danny Noguieras and Sami Perez, the new single is also a bold step forward sonically for the band: Centered around an intricate, looping guitar riff, skittering drum patterns paired with Austin’s plaintive wailing “Mirror” is a shoegazey take on post punk that evokes both the sensation of being hopelessly stuck in a repetitive, dysfunctional pattern — and the slow-burning sense of dread, because there’s the acknowledgement of being stuck, and not knowing how to get out of a hellish loop. 

Gal Pal’s Emelia Austin explained that the song ““formed from Nico playing cyclical guitar riffs over and over again. It helped me form the theme of being stuck in a pattern. I then wrote lyrics that were cut-off sentences, repeating again and again to express that feeling. For me, ‘Mirror’ is about the ways we allow our identities to be misshaped by people in our lives, how we are used as reflections for others, and the anxiety over being able to control it or not.” 

Today, the rising Los Angeles-based trio announced that their new album This and Other Gestures is slated for a June 2, 2023 release. Marking their first album in six years, This and Other Gestures sees the trio now in their mid-20s and working through gender dysphoria, personal loss and the power and confusion of young adulthood. “These songs are very personal to us,” Gal Pal’s Austin explains. “We’re telling stories about different things — life, death, love, grief — all these things we’re going through and growing out of. These songs are about us processing change. Is it good, is it bad? We’re grieving, we’re celebrating.”

The album’s latest single “Angel In The Flesh” is a rousingly anthemic and swooning song that sonically is one part 120 Minutes-era MTV alt rock and late ’90s-early ’00s pop punk/emo built around buzzing power chords, thunderous drumming. enormous shout-along worthy hooks and choruses, paired with heart-worn-on-sleeve lyricism. Ultimately, the song is a sweet declaration of love, full of the sort of bravery, vulnerability and longing that’s free of the cynicism and despair of bitter experience.

“I grew up listening to a lot of pop punk and emo bands,” Gal Pal’s Nic Romero says in press notes. “I was a big fan of labels like Fueled By Ramen and Decaydance as a kid. I think this song definitely comes from that background a bit. It’s easy for me to want to sing about crushes and longing because it’s a fun feeling to indulge in and romanticize, even when it hurts.” 

Directed by Ashley Kron, the accompanying video for “Angel In The Flesh” sees the band playing a dysfunctional TV sitcom family that manages to forget their dog’s birthday. The dog decides to run away — but bonds with his family when they attack a mailman to prove their love.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Easy Star All-Stars Team up with Steel Pulse on a Soulful Rendition of Bowie’s “Five Years”

Continuing their run of reggae tribute albums across classic rock, dub, indie rock and pop, the acclaimed local reggae outfit will tackle David Bowie‘s beloved classic, 1972’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars. Slated for an April 21, 2023 release through their own Easy Star Records, Ziggy Stardub is a reggae re-imagining of the beloved album, featuring guest spots from Macy Gray, Steel Pulse, Maxi Priest, Fishbone, Living Colour‘s Vernon Reid, The Skints, Mortimer, The Expanders, Samory I, and a lengthy list of others. 

Pre-order packages of the album are available here, including royal blue colored vinyl along with CD and exclusive t-shirt offerings.

Earlier this month, I wrote about two of the album’s previously released singles:

  • “Starman,” featuring Maxi Preist. The Easy Star All-Star rendition is a warm and soulful dub take on the original that retains the rousingly anthemic hook everyone and their grandmother knows but places it within a shuffling, reggae riddim paired with warm blasts of Rhodes, some cinematic strings and Maxi Priest’s effortlessly soulful delivery. 

  • “Moonage Daydream,” featuring Naomi Cowan and the legendary Alex Lifeson. The Easy Star All-Star rendition  “Moonage Daydream” is a hazy dub-leaning take that makes loving nods to the original, with a full string seciton and a flute solo from Jenny Hill, that takes the place of Bowie’s recorder solo from the original. Cowan contributes a soulful, rock goddess vocal that I’d argue would make both Bowie and Tina Turner very proud. The song closes out with a trippy and inspired David Gilmour-like guitar solo from the legendary Lifeson. 

Ziggy Stardub‘s third and latest single “Five Years” features the legendary Steel Pulse. Rooted in a soulful and slow-burning reggae riddim, the Easy Star All-Stars rendition lovingly retains the soaring string-driven hooks and choruses, and the weary, apocalyptic sigh-like vibe of the original.

Directed by Robert Bartolome, the accompanying video portrays the end of the world — and its eventual rebirth — on a miniature scale. It’s a gorgeous and unsettling reminder of the fate that we’re marching lockstep towards, and of the fact that nature will eventually reclaim everything once we’re all gone.

Continuing their long-held tradition of playing on April 20 — 4/20 y’all! — the acclaimed reggae outfit will be playing an album release show at Sony Hall. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Copenhagen’s Chopper Shares Dance floor Friendly Banger “Springtime”

Jonatan K. Magnussen is a singer/songwriter and musician, best known for being the frontman of Copenhagen-based goth outfit The Love Coffin. Magnussen recently stepped into the spotlight as a solo artist with his solo project Chopper. Chopper specializes in what Magnussen has dubbed “shock pop,” a sound that draws from Eurodance, glam rock, industrial, disco and B horror movies.

Magnussen’s upcoming Chopper effort Shock Pop Vol. 1 reportedly sees the Danish artist continuing to explore inherent dualities of the human condition while touching upon love, sexuality and carefree joy. Sonically, the album’s material is influenced by Pet Shop Boys, Skinny Puppy and Underworld — but re-contextualized in a modern context.

Shock Pop Vol. 1‘s latest single. “Springtime” is a sleazy, dance floor friendly banger built around Magnussen’s sultrily delivered cooing, shimmering guitars, industrial clang and clatter, glistening synths and enormous, crowd pleasing hooks. The end result is a song — that to my ears — brings Electronic, New Order and Ministry to mind, while rooted in sleek, hyper modern production and razor sharp hooks. But underneath the dance floor rocking grooves, is something far darker and menacing. Written during the pandemic winter, the song illuminates the feelings of longing and isolation — capturing the desire to be out among friends, to meet lovers, to just do things with anyone.

Shot with VHS tape fuzz and hiss, the accompanying video is a trippy and noir-ish journey through the late night underworld and the cosmos that pulsates in time to the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JAIN Shares Earnest and Cinematic “The Fool”

French-born international pop sensation JAIN exploded into the national and international scene with her full-length debut, Zanaka, which sold over one million copies globally. Her sophomore album 2018s Souldier, topped the charts in her native France, thanks to the success of hit single “Makeba” which led to her first Grammy nomination for Best Music Video — and to Rolling Stone naming her an “Artist You Need To Know,” writing that the “French singer mixes pop, Afrobeat and more influences in a winning combination.”


Building upon a growing profile, the French pop start has played over 300 shows in 15 countries across the European Union, North America, South America and Asia, as well as the rounds of the global festival circuit with sets at Coachella and Lollapalooza. She has also performed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Later . . . with Jools Holland, the 2018 Ryder Cup and the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Her highly-anticipated third album The Fool is slated for an April 21, 2023 release through Columbia/Sony Music France. The album is reportedly a new chapter for the French pop sensation both musically and personally. Thematically, the album chronicles the stages one goes through when making a fresh start — fear, excitement, innocence, self-doubt/doubt, letting go, epiphany and more. While her previously released work meshed a myriad of genres, styles and instrumentation including Arabic percussion. African rhythms. electro pop, reggae, soul and hip-hop, The Fool draws heavily on influences like Kate Bush and Stevie Nicks.

JAIN also relies heavily on Tarot de Marseilles, one of the oldest and most popular tarot decks created — and an art her mother passed on to her. According to the French pop artist, tarot gives her the strength to jump into the unknown through an instinctive perception of the world’s dangers and possibilities.

The Fool‘s first single, album title track “The Fool” is a decidedly 80s pop-inspired song centered around a lush and almost painterly production featuring finger plucked strummed guitar, glistening synth oscillations, thumping beats paired with soaring strings and rousingly anthemic hooks. JAIN’s self-assured and gorgeous, pop star vocal is at the forefront of the mix, singing lyrics that reference The Fool card in the tarot. And as result, the song takes on a brave and hopeful look at the future, seeing it as the sort of grand adventure the you want to go on with a loved one, while sounding a

Directed by Jules Jolly, the video follows the French pop star on an incredible adventure through the universe and into the future. Visually, the video manages to bring fond memories of The Little Prince.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Joseph Shares Buoyant and Anthemic “The Sun”

After a busy weekend covering The New Colossus Festival‘s fourth edition, I wound up catching a real nasty cold that has kicked my ass: I’ve felt miserable for the past four days or so. And unfortunately, because we live together, my mother caught what I had. So it sounds a bit like a sick ward here. But somehow, the show must go on, as best as it could. right?

Portland, OR-based sibling indie pop trio Joseph — Natalie Closner Schepman and her two, younger twin sisters Meegan and Allison — derive their name from two different sources: their grandfather Jo and the tiny town of Joseph, OR, in which he was born and raised. The Closner Sisters grew up in a musical household: their dad was a jazz singer and drummer, while their mom was a theater teacher. But their group can trace its origins back to around 2014: Closner Schepman, who had been pursuing a career as a singer/songwriter at the time, recruited her sisters to join her in a new project. When the Closners began working together, they quickly recognized an irresistible and undeniable creative chemistry. 

The trio quickly developed a reputation for playing intimate house shows, in which they would accompany themselves with acoustic guitar and a foot drum. Within their first yet of being a group, they self-released their debut, 2014s Native Dreamer Kin, which caught the attention of ATO Records, who signed the group the following year.

After releasing 2015’s, ATO Sessions EP, an acoustic, two song, digital EP and accompanying video series, the sibling trio went on to release their Mike Mogis-produced, label debut 2016’s I’m Alone, No You’re Not, which featured the smash hit “White Flag,” which landed on on Spotify’s US Viral Top Ten Chart within days of its release. By that October, the track landed at #1 on the Adult Alternative Charts.

Building both the rapidly growing buzz surrounding them and a growing profile, the trio made their rounds of the national and international talk show circuit with appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Later . . . with Jools Holland, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Conan, CBS This Morning and Today. They also made the rounds of the global festival circuit with stops at  Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Newport Folk Festival, Sasquatch Festival, Glastonbury Festival, Outside Lands Festival, Pilgrimage Music Festival and several others. And they opened for James Bay during his sold out 2016 arena tour.

2019’s Christian “Leggy” Langdon-produced sophomore album Good Luck, Kid saw the trio pushing their sound in a grittier, more dynamic direction while retaining the gorgeous harmonies and earnest vocal deliveries that won them acclaim across the blogosphere and elsewhere. “The through-line of the album is this idea of moving into the driver’s seat of your own life–recognizing that you’re an adult now, and everything’s up to you from this moment on,” Natalie Closner Schepman explained in press notes. “You’re not completely sure of how to get where you need to go, and you don’t have any kind of a map to help you. It’s just the universe looking down on you like, ‘Good luck, kid.’”

The sibling trio’s fourth official album, the Tucker Martine and  Christian “Leggy” Langdon co-produced The Sun is slated for an April 28, 2023 release through their longtime label home ATO Records. The album reportedly sees the group working with a collection of new collaborators and making yet another vibrant sonic shift while retaining the craft, three-part harmonies and hard-fought and harder-won lyrical wisdom that they’ve been known for throughout their career. But unlike its predecessors, The Sun sees the sibling trio taking a decidedly more hands-on role in the production process. The result is an album of material that sees Joseph spinning incredibly complex concepts into anthemic, sing-along ready pop that serves as a backdrop for the trio’s fearless and deeply personal storytelling from each of their perspectives. 

Thematically, the forthcoming album sees the trio focusing their soul-searching songwriting on the quietly damaging forces that keep us from living fully in our truth — e.g., gaslighting, cultural conditioning, unconscious yet painfully limiting self-beliefs and the like. Drawing on hard lessons from relationships and personal growth through therapy, The Sun reportedly shares stories of taking control of your own fate, making difficult decisions in the name of becoming yourself and weathering the highs and lows of love while keeping the faith — and importantly, tending to ourselves with presence and compassion. “All of our therapists were a huge influence on this album,” the sibling trio say in press notes. 

Earlier this year, I wrote about “Nervous System,” a punchy pop song rooted in deep. personal experience, the rousingly anthemic, sing-along friendly choruses the trio is known for, and big-hearted, earnest compassion. Fittingly the song — and its narrator — discusses being our own lifeline during times of anxiety, struggle and uncertainty. “It’s about self regulating and tending to ourselves with presence and compassion, rather than frantically reaching outside of ourselves,” the trio explain. Alison Closner adds “I’ve struggled with a lot of anxiety over the years, at times a constant inner storm, and it’s been easy to look outside myself to feel safe and secure. I’ve fought to find my inner peace, and through that process I’ve found that so much of the time I already have what it takes to calm my nervous system.”

The Sun‘s latest single, album title track “The Sun” is a shimmering, buoyant and fittingly summery pop anthem and a righteously defiant tell-off to a relationship that has made you feel small and insignificant while recognizing — and perhaps for some, reclaiming — one’s own power, integrity and sense of self. Much like the previously released material from the album, the song is rooted in universal yet deeply personal experiences, which add to its rousingly anthemic nature.

Interestingly, “The Sun” was one of the first songs recorded for the album, and it wound up being something of a sonic breakthrough for the trio. The trio took a slowed down, serious and acoustic version of the song on the road. testing it for audiences while opening for The Shins. But when it came down to lay the track down, the song with the help of their longtime producer, became the buoyant and summery version you’re hearing now — while rooted in Meegan Closner’s own experiences of working through the lessons of a past relationship./

“Many times I have found myself in a position where I’m stuck in cycles of negative self-talk” Meegan Closner explains. “Times when I have seen myself as bad and struggle seeing any other possible truth. This song is my higher self speaking to that me. It’s me reminding myself that I am more than I think I am.” 

The song’s shift into its defiantly buoyant version, mirrors the album’s underlying narrative. “The whole album is a sort of thinking through of the story that you tell about yourself, to yourself,” Joseph’s Natalie Closner says, “It’s about looking at whatever is diminishing you or making you believe in these limitations you’ve put on yourself, and then finally asking, ‘What if I’m more than that?’” 

Directed by Justin Frick, the accompanying video for “The Sun” is as ebullient, joyous as the song it accompanies while capturing the Closners irresistible energy — and their profoundly tight bond. But more importantly, the video nods at the themes of the song: Meegan and her sisters are initially in various stages of shadow before being in brilliant spotlight, with the sisters boldly claiming their space.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Island of Love Share Mosh Pit Friendly Ripper “Fed Rock”

Rising London-based outfit Island of Love — Karim Newble (guitar/vocals), Linus Munch (guitars/vocals) and Daniel Giraldo (bass) — can trace their origins to meeting through London’s hardcore punk scene, while playing in other bands, including Newbie’s Powerplant. They’ve all shared bills with bands like Chubby and the Gang and High Vis. Informed by their work in their previous project, the trio have continued to proudly adhere to a long-held DIY ethos: they book their own shows, print their own merch, design their own very distinct artwork and self-released their material, which was recorded at Fuzzbrain, an East London studio dedicated to fostering the underground music community by making high-quality studio and rehearsal space accessible to artists under 25 years-old at all price points. 

They released their debut collection of demos, Promo Tape back in 2020. By the time they had written and recorded last year’s Songs of Love EP, the trio had gotten much tighter. “Promo Tape was us trying to learn to write songs individually but Songs of Love was us trying to learn to write songs as a band,” Island of Love’s Karim Newbie says. 

Back in September 2021, Island of Love were invited to perform at the opening of Third Man Records’ The Blue Basement. It’s a good thing that the band showed up to the gig at all, given that they didn’t even think the email invitation they received to play was real. The very real and definitely not spam offer led to their on-the-spot signing to the label, opening slots for Jack White — and their self-titled full-length debut. 

Slated for a May 12, 2023 release, the London trio’s Ben Spence-produced, self-titled full-length debut reportedly sees the band crafting material that pinballs back and forth between tones and styles while rooted in crunchy guitars and the intrinsically melodic sensibility that brings Hüsker Dü and Dinosaur Jr. to mind while featuring the shared vocal and songwriting duties of Newbie and Munch. At the core of the material is a great deal of restraint and consideration, the sort that belies their relative youth as musicians — and as a band. While the material is loud and noisy, it’s built around push-pull dynamics that results in moments of tenderness and quiet that then elevates the crunch and power of the rousingly anthemic, noisier parts. The album shows the balance of it being written in bedrooms but being honed in live shows,” says Munch. “It captures a contrast.” 

Fittingly, the album explores duality, balance and contrast — sonically and thematically. Sure, there are crunchy power chords exploding out of the gate and into your eardrums one moment but there are also melodic, sugary pop hooks paired with introspective, considered songwriting. “This album exceeded our expectations,” says Newble. “I’m really proud of it.” What we’ve done on this album is much more of an accurate representation of us and where we’re at,” Island of Love’s Daniel Giraldo adds. “The EP sounds good but the difference on the album is huge.”

When the band set about making the album, they wanted to carry over as much of that DIY spirit as possible. They continued their relationship with Ben Spence and Fuzzbrain, who helped the band record their early demos. For the band, Spence, Fuzzbrain and the community both have fostered have proven invaluable to the band. “Growing up I couldn’t afford equipment,” Newble says. “But Fuzzbrain was this space where you could go to practice and use insane equipment. We never had to bring guitars, pedals or leads. You could just show up and plug in. We would have struggled to be a band without that place.” According to Giraldo , “It’s very much [Spence’s] record as much as it is ours.”

Last month, the trio shared the first taste of their full-length debut with the double A-side single “Grow”/”Blues 2000.” “Grow” is a decidedly 120 Minutes-era MTV-like bit of alt rock centered around crunchy power chords, thunderous drumming and the sort of enormous, melodic-driven hooks that immediately brings Dinosaur Jr. and others to mind. “Grow”is the first song the trio ever wrote together, and has been pulled and reimagined from their demo release, Promo Tape. “Blues 2000” continues the 90s alt rock vibes but is rooted in dueling guitar riffage and thunderous drumming. 

The album’s third and latest single “Fed Rock” features the band’s co-frontman Linus Munch taking on vocal duties, which also highlights the way the band’s co-frontmen seamlessly share songwriting, guitar and vocal duties. “Fed Rock” features the dueling guitar-driven power chord riffage, paired with enormous, saccharine pop hooks. And much like the previously released singles, the song is rooted in riotous, mosh pit friendly energy — all while still bringing back fond memories of Thin Lizzy, Dinosaur Jr., Weezer, and 120 Minutes-era MTV alt rock.

Shot and directed by Cole Flynn-Quirke, the accompanying video for “Fed Rock” playfully riffs off Beastie Boys “Sabotage” and Planet of the Apes in a delirious DIY fashion.

“We wrote this song about a lot of the bands we were seeing around us when we first started gigging in London. It was one of the first songs written for the album and has always been a highlight of our set, and I think the faster pace of the song reflects the time it was written – the summer when we played our very first shows,” Linus Munch explains. “We were moving from Ben’s studio (Fuzzbrain in London) to small venues for the first time and our set was still heavily weighted on the side of stoned jams like ‘Tall Boots’ (from 2020 EP Promo Tape) and ‘Head Case’ (from 2022 EP Songs of Love). We all felt this new creeping influence of bands like Thin Lizzy and Ramones which gave ‘Fed Rock’ a different energy, while having a song in the set that said what we felt about certain bands we played alongside always made playing with them that little bit more bearable. The video was shot around Fuzzbrain with a small group of friends and family on a sunny day in February. The camera is shaky and the narrative is loose, but the spectacle of Dan’s Rambo-style blaze of glory at the mercy of two banana-wielding monkey detectives is alone worth the price of admission.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New VIdeo: Bodywash Shares Heartbreaking “No Repair”

https://youtu.be/sR3IFjv-YgA

This week will be extraordinarily as I’ll be covering the fourth edition of The New Colossus Festival this week. Look for various portions of my coverage to be coming within the upcoming weeks — including some potential interviews, live concert photography and other thoughts. But I’ll be trying my best to squeeze in my regular coverage of all things within my world — musically and otherwise.

So let’s to business, right?

Montréal-based shoegazers (and JOVM mainstays) Bodywash — Chris Steward and Rosie Long Dector — can trace their origins back to when the pair met while attending McGill University. But when they met, the pair didn’t immediately share a common musical language: Steward grew up in London listening to celestial dream pop while Dector grew up in Toronto listening to folk and Canadiana. The music they began writing together saw the pair bridging their influences. With the release of 2016’s self-titled EP and 2019’s full-length debut, Comforter, the Montréal-based duo firmly established their sound — slow-burning and dreamy material centered around ethereal vocals, intricate guitar lines and pulsating synths. 

The Canadian shoegazers’ sophomore album I Held the Shape While I Could is slated for an April 14, 2023 release through Light Organ Records. When touring to support Comforter was cut short by the pandemic, the duo used the unexpected hiatus to write new material, which was darker, more experimental and more invigorating than its predecessor, and managed to reflect on Steward’s and Long Dector’s separate and shared experiences of losing a sense of place, the way something once solid can slip between your fingers, and their attempts to build something new from the psychological and emotional fallout. 

Over the past handful of months I’ve managed to write about the forthcoming album’s first two singles:

“Kind of Light.” the sophomore album’s expansive first single. Beginning with a slow-burning and elegiac intro featuring glistening organ and a skittering yet propulsive kick pattern that slow builds up and breaks into a high energy boom bap-like breakbeat paired with scorching guitar squealing and wobbling bass synths. Long Decter’s ethereal and achingly plaintive vocals expressing profound, heart-wrenching despair — and hope. The song suggests that while loss is natural and sadly expected there can be hope; that there are only a handful of things in our lives that are truly permanent. And that ultimately for the most part, it can get better. 

“I wrote ‘Kind of Light’ in bed,” Long Decter says. ““It was the fall of 2018 and Chris and I were both going through experiences of learning not to trust what feels like home. He sent me a plugin for a new organ sound, suggesting it might provide inspiration. I sent him back chords, a kick pattern, and some vocals about trying to pull your legs back; trying to take your energy out of the wreckage and put it into yourself. The process of deciding what’s worth keeping, what can be reworked and what gets tossed in the fire. A process that is devastating and also weirdly invigorating, because you can see new possibilities opening up in front of you. And you can start to look for light somewhere else.”

“Massif Central” a woozy track that features glistening synth bursts, shimmering and angular post punk-meets-shoegaeze-like textures paired with a relentless motorik groove, stormy guitar feedback and Steward’s ethereal whispers recounting an experience of Kafka-esque, bureaucratic purgatory: a typo in a government letter caused Steward to lose his legal work status in Canada. The song manages to evoke the sensation of having your life flipped upside down, then being hopelessly stuck and having no say or agency in your situation. 

“After eight years living in Canada, in the Spring of 2021, a government clerical error caused me to lose my legal status here,” Steward explains. “As a UK national, I lost my right to work. My savings trickled away during months where I could do little but pace the corners of my apartment. I was prepared to pack my bags and leave as the life I’d hoped to construct for myself seemed to vanish into a bureaucratic abyss.”
 
“‘Massif’ is the sound of wailing into a cliff and not knowing if you’ll hear an echo,” continued Steward. “The spoken word is inspired by a squirrel that was trapped in the wall behind my bed, clawing its way to salvation. With the help of friends, family, music, and a few immigration lawyers (and the rest of my savings), I’m now a permanent resident here. But this song remains as testament to my experience with an exploitative institution.”

I Held the Shape While I Could‘s third and latest single, “No Repair” is a slow-burning and melancholy ballad featuring strummed acoustic guitar, Long Dector’s achingly tender, bruised delivery, Country Western-tinged percussion by Ryan White, atmospheric synths and swelling bursts of lap steel by Micah Flavin. The end result is a song that’s a gorgeous mix of classic country and brooding shoegaze rooted in the lived-in, confusing experience of heartbreaking loss — in particular, the lingering ghosts despite their newfound absence.

“In my early 20s I found myself in a disastrous love triangle,” Long Dector explains. “It was a mess of bad decisions and repressed queer longing and those things you chase because you hope they will prove you are real. I found myself writing repetitively about light and air and the absence of tactility. ‘No Repair’ came from the decision to let all that go…”

Directed by Derek Janzen, the accompanying video sees Bodywash’s Long Dector cleaning up the mess of a party — by herself. There’s a sense of sad, wearied determination. In a surreal turn, we see Long Dector move some of her possessions out into a snowy — and very cold– Montréal winter.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Rising Aussie Artist MANE Shares Lush and Anthemic “Breathing Again”

Paige Court is a rising Adelaide-based singer/songwriter and pop artist, best known as MANE. She exploded onto the Aussie scene with 2019’s breakout hit “Chasing Butterflies,” which amassed over 2 million streams and landed at #7 on the Spotify viral charts.

Her debut EP. 2020’s Coping Mechanisms and follow-up single “Hi Lo” were released through Dew Process/Universal Music Australia and were written during some of the most formative experiences of her life to date.

In a relatively short period of time, MANE has played the national touring circuit, playing some of her homeland’s biggest festivals including Spin Off, Groovin The Moo, Bigsound, and Big Pineapple. She has shared stages with the likes of Matt Corby, Ball Park Music, Yung Blud and The Kooks. Building upon a growing profile, the rising Aussie artist went on a 34 date Stateside tour between last August and last November, across 14 states.

The rising Aussie artist’s latest single, the Mario Späte and Benjamin Tamblyn-Morrow (a in shadowing collaborator role)-produced “Breathing Again” continues a remarkable run of cinematic, heart-worn-on-sleeve pop anthems centered around her smoky, booming pop belter delivery paired with twinkling keys, a mix of thumping beats and live drumming and a rousingly anthemic hook. The song, which was written with Charlie McClean, the co-founder of She Writes feels informed by lived-in experience: it evokes a sometimes fleeting sense of hope and peace during the most difficult times of your life. This song should serve as a reminder that things can — and do — get better; that nothing is forever.

“I distinctly remember writing this song with Charlie at Kobalt Studios in LA and feeling overwhelmed by a waterfall of happy/sad emotions… Charlie really gently helped coax them out of me in a way where I didn’t need to be specific or elaborate into any detail which was really nice,” Court recalls. “The song to me is about a moment of clarity or relief in the midst of healing from something – the sometimes fleeting feeling that it is in fact going to be ok, for me those moments provide a lot of hope… it’s refreshing, relieving and sometimes exciting to feel, especially if it’s felt heavy and dark for so long. I think finding a space where you can genuinely smile, breathe and just exist after a grief is a testament to your own resilience, because even though you may still be going through it your finding room around it to seek hope & happiness and I think that’s brave as hell!”

Edited by Court, the accompanying video emphasizes the healing process at the core of the song as it follows a couple of women, suffering through despair and heartache, and while expressing their feelings experience a moment of clarity and peace that saves them.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: FACS Share Brooding “Slogan”

Back in 2013, Chicago-based post-punk act Disappears — founding member Brian Case (vocals, guitar) along with  Noah Leger (drums), Jonathan van Herirk (guitar) and Damon Carruesco (bass) — released two related yet very different efforts that are among some of my favorite albums — the atmospheric and tempestuous Kone EP and the tense, raging Era.  

In 2017, Carruesco left the band. The remaining members — Case, Lager and van Herrik — eventually decided to continue onward, but under a new name, and new sonic direction and songwriting approach as FACS. With 2018’s full-length debut, Negative Houses, the trio quickly established themselves as a heavy band, although they don’t necessarily feel like one.

Since Negative Houses, the Chicago-based outfit has released three more albums, including 2021’s Present Tense. Each of those albums have seen the members of FACS perfercting their unique brand of intense, catharsis-inducing art rock/post-punk, while pushing their sound and approach in new directions.

The Chicago-based outfit’s fifth album, Still Life In Decay was recorded by Sanford Parker at Electrical Audio Recording and is slated for an April 7, 2023 release through Trouble In Mind Records. Bassist Alianna Kalaba, who took over for founding member Jonathan van Herik after the release of Negative Houses makes her amicable last stand with the group. Alongside Leger, the band’s rhythm section dance and twist around each other like double helix in which collectively they approach rhythm from outside the groove, rather than inside it, creating a lattice in which Case can weave his guitar lines in an around, like creeping vines. 

Reportedly, Still Life in Decay is a decidedly focused effort that sees the band at their most solidified. The apocalyptic chaos of that defined their previous album is pushed away in favor of examination with a remarkable clarity — while being a sort of addendum to Present Tense. 

Last month, I wrote about Still Life in Decay‘s first single, the uneasy “When You Say.” Built around the propulsive lockstep rhythm between Leger and Kalaba, and Case’s reverb-drenched, guitar slashes, the song sees Case shouting repeated phrases with a desperate agency, as though desperately trying to hold on to something — anything, really. The song’s freeform lyrics touch upon themes of resignation, cynicism, classism and search for identity and meaning in a crumbling society. The song is a primal, forceful meditation on the exposed ugliness, divides and inequities within our world — both pre-pandemic and post pandemic.

“Slogan,” Still Life in Decay‘s second and latest single is a brooding track rooted in shimmering and meditative guitar, a forceful rhythm section paired with Case’s reverb-drenched vocal and a soulful yet buzzing guitar solo. The song narrators meditates on identity and memory — repeating one phrase “I had it in the palm of my hand,” much like a slogan.

Directed by the band’s Brian Case, the lyric video for “Slogan” features the song’s lyrics floating on top of a geometric field.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Alfa Mist Teams Up with Kaya Thomas-Dyke on Soulful and CInematic “Aged Eyes”

Throughout the London-based producer, composer, musician and Sekito Records head Alfa Mist’s career, he has steadfastly refused to be boxed into a specific genre or style: his work has spanned everything from hip-hop beatmaking to producing for rappers like Loyle Carner, composing neo-classical works for the London Contemporary Orchestra and reworking tracks for Ólafur Arnalds and legendary jazz label Blue Note. He also hosts the Are We Live podcast with Barney Artist and Jordan Rakei. 

Since the release of his full-length debut, 2015’s the London-based multi-hyphenate has also quickly established himself as one of the UK’s most focused and distinct contemporary musical voices while also working with Jordan Rakei, Tom Misch, Richard Spaven, Lester Duval and Emmavie.

Building upon the success of 2017’s Antiphon, which has amassed over 10 million streams of YouTube, 2019’s Structuralism and 2021’s ANTI- Records debut, Bring Backs, the forthcoming Variables finds Alfa Mist moving forward with a renewed intensity and purpose. “The whole album is more uptempo and influenced by the freedom of returning to gigs,” Alfa Mist explains. “It feels like I’m coming back to my early days of making grime beats and creating tracks that make me want to bop my head fast.” 

Variables‘ latest single “Aged Eyes” featuring longtime collaborator Kaya Thomas-Dyke is a gorgeous bit of trip hop-inspired neo-soul built around a finger-plucked guitar melody by Jamie Leeming, a swelling string-driven, cinematic chorus from Peggy Nolan (cello), twinkling keys from Alfa Mist paired with Thomas Dyke’s expressive, gossamer vocal. The arrangement and Thomas Dyke’s vocal express a yearning sense of hope.

The accompanying video by SPOD features some gorgeously animated watercolor paintings reminiscent of Van Gogh and the Dutch masters.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Lauren Lakis Shares Yearning “Take My Hand”

Lauren Lakis is a Baltimore-born, Austin-based singer/songwriter and musician, who specializes in a brooding and churning take on shoegaze centered around authentic, honest lyricism. Lakis and her backing band have extensively toured across the West Coast, sharing bills with Ringo Award-nominated rocker Tracy Bonham. She has also played in front of sold-out crowds at Doug Fir Lounge and at Santa Cruz’s The Catalyst.

During the pandemic, Lakis performed several live-streamed shows, partnering with Bandsintown, Jam in the Van, B-Side TV, Rock to End Rape Culture, KXLU, ACLU and JuJu Live.

Recorded at Seahorse Sound, the Baltimore-born, Austin-based artist’s Billy Burke-produced Daughter Language was released by Green Witch Recordings in 2021 to critical acclaim from Flaunt, Wonderland, Earmilk, Ladygunn, Buzzbands LA, Grimy Goods, Atwood Magazine and more.

Daughter Language‘s highly-anticipated follow-up, the Carey McGraw-produced A Fiesta and a Hell was recorded in Austin and is slated for a Fall release through Green Witch Recordings. The album’s first single “Take My Hand” is a brooding and stormy bit of shoegaze built around an alternating quiet and loud sections featuring glistening guitar textures for the verses and swirling, stormy power chord-driven choruses paired with Lakis’ achingly yearning vocal. The single, as Lakis explains is about “forgetting what you thought you knew, letting go, bravely opening your mind to something radically different. She adds “What if you were wrong? Are you able to admit it? Can you shift with the ever-changing landscape of reality, or are you stuck in your ways? I found myself stepping into the unknown in many ways the past few years, forced to entertain the notion that maybe I didn’t know everything, and in that I found freedom.” 

Shot in Rapid City, South Dakota and Badlands National Park, the accompanying video follows the rising singer/songwriter hanging out with a large tortoise, going through a dinosaur park, dancing on a dinosaur statue and more. It’s a surreal yet highly symbolic romp through the wilderness — both natural and constructed.

Lakis will be playing at next week’s The New Colossus Festival. I’lm looking forward to catching her.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Baaba Maal Teams Up with The Very Best on Mesmerizing “Freak Out”

Acclaimed Senegalse singer/songwriter and guitarist Baaba Maal is a member of the semi-nomadic Fulani people. He first left his home in Podor, Senegal to perform music hundreds of miles away as a teenager — and he has been a wanderer ever since. “It’s part of my culture,” Maal says. “The songs travel from village to village, from country to country. It’s something natural to my tribe and this part of Africa.”

Since then, Maal has followed his music, as it traveled around the world, starting from his young travels around West Africa, performing with mentor Mansour Seck, to the Paris conservatory, where he studied music theory and then eventually across the rest of the globe, while collaborating with an eclectic array of acclaimed, contemporary artists including John Leckie, Brian Eno, Damon Albarn’s Africa Express, and Mumford & Sons. Maal has worked on the soundtracks for The Last Temptation of Christ and Black Hawk Down. He has also worked with soundtrack composer Ludwig Goransson to create the soundscapes for both Black Panther films, essentially making him the voice of Wakanda.

Throughout his career, the acclaimed Senegalese artist has spread the word of an idealistic, energetic Africa — to the entire world. “I could bring my Africa to this other, abstract Africa, and both places collided together beautifully,” he says of Black Panther, “I brought this mythical Africa back to Podor, extending my reality, my hometown, and my music. I didn’t know whether I would make another album after The Traveller, but I did know my thinking about music was still changing. And once more something stirred inside me at home in Podor. I found myself once again. It was time for a new album.”

Maal’s forthcoming album Being is slated for a March 31, 2023 release through Marathon Artists. The album reportedly is the latest stage in the development of a highly distinctive, ecstatically melodic sound that meshes traditional African instruments and rhythms with modern, electronic production, The album is a set of confrontational and contemplative stories in which Maal mixes evocative, personal local concerns with grand universal themes to produce a unique form of deep, immersive soul music, taking the listener to new places via his birthplace of Podor, Senegal, where his music always begins — and his travels always end. “However far I travel, whatever direction, I will always return home,” the acclaimed Senegalese artist says. “It is the nomadic nature. To wander, but to return home, eventually. Home is where you start from, where you begin to learn what really matters, and home is where you finish. Podor is the perfect place for me when I need some time to think, to see my music with a fresh eye, to surprise it, snare it, catch it unawares as if coming across it for the first time.”

The album is also deeply informed by experiences Maal had before, during and after the pandemic. The album is about being African, being a songwriter, being a romantic, being realistic, being wary, being online, being at the mercy of the elements, being caught between two worlds, being on your way somewhere — and ultimately about his being from Podor while being connected to a constantly turbulent and shifting world through his art. “Each song of this album has its own personality. A song is like a person. It has a life, name, a character, and it has a position in life,” Maal says in press notes. “I think that’s what makes this album so powerful – it is totally about now and where I am now, the dreams I have of the past and the future.”

The album’s material also reflects Maal’s need to continually move forward with his work. Much like the acclaimed Senegalese artist’s previously released work, there wasn’t a set deadline: Songs were finished when they ere finished, emerging out of a combination of both fast and slow work. There were intense improvisational studio sessions in Brooklyn, Podor, and London, where things moved quickly and songs took place over a few days. After energetic bursts of activity, both artist and producer took time to process their work, and songs would reveal themselves over many months. Some would be recorded by the ocean, in the ocean air, with the sound of crickets, dogs, donkeys, birds, traffic, rain and people being captured nearby. 

Last year, I wrote about album opening track “Yerimayo Celebration,” a joyous and percussive stomp centered around layers of thunderous percussion, African traditional instrumentation and enormous, ebullient hooks. The song which features contributions from Cheikh Ndoye (bass ngoni) and Momadou Sarr (percussion) is celeebration of music — and of music’s power to open the mind and heart in deeply troubled times, and of its power in fighting cynicism and chaos.

Beings latest single, “Freak Out” feat. The Very Best is a mesmerizing and woozy alchemy of traditional African folk instrumentation and modern production through the form of skittering, tweeter and woofer rattling beats and percussion that effortlessly bridges the ancient and the modern — while being boldly and defiantly African. Lyrically, the song explores the complex dynamic of social media and its effects on both African and the wider world.

“It became a song about being careful what you put on the internet,” says Baaba Maal, “It might seem funny or popular when you do it, but it might have consequences and you will have to live with those all your life.

“There are things you should keep to yourself. Mystery is important in life; you don’t need to shine a light on every little thing you do. You don’t have to give away your soul for the sake of a little bit of attention.

“The internet should be used to make humanity feel good about themselves. It is so powerful, it can be dangerous and sometimes it just seems the internet has just caused a constant freak out.”

The accompanying video is a gorgeous and sensitive slice of the complexity of African life that’s life-affirming and necessary as it captures a mix of ancient traditions and modernity. But along with that, there’s a reminder of the fact that people are generally the same.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Henry Carlyle Shares Brooding and Atmospheric “I Float”

Best known for his work in acclaimed JOVM mainstay act The Orielles, Halifax, UK-born, Manchester-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Henry Carlyle stepped out into the spotlight as solo artist with 2021’s “The Ground,” a song that found The Orielles co-founder eschewing the disco floor strobe lights for thoughtful and lived-in lyricism and an intimate, dusty, lo-fi-like production. 

Described by Carlyle as “a song about displacement,” the song’s origins can be traced back to a winter day in which the Halifax-born, Manchester-based singer/songwriter and guitarist began writing down his fractious thoughts of his unanchored passing through time and space. “It was inspired by floating through the universe and through time bouncing off events and other humans, never really knowing where you should be or what you should be doing anyway” Carlyle explained in press notes. 

Carlyle’s second solo single “A Bigger Splash,” continued his collaboration with Julia Bardo (vocals) and Jack Bogacki (drums). The song was a strangely euphoric yet uncomfortably intimate song centered around Carlyle’s aching, world weary delivery, jutting and angular guitar attack and his unerring knack for razor sharp hooks. While sonically nodding Damon Albarn and Pavement among others, the song’s relatively young narrator is struggling with the difficulties and uneasiness of existence — as everyone has been for quite some time.

Written as a by-product of “going through stuff and nothing the time to think properly,” Carlyle explains that “I was thinking how these formative years might affect people as they move on. Which is why the song’s initial musical idea stuck with me and interested me a lot as a theme; it fluctuates between two keys, the end improvisation being the ultimate meditation in that idea. it all feels as I felt, in turmoil.” 

“The lyrics are mostly about self-medicating, trying to instantly feel better for a transient moment and then reeling from that for a longer period of time than the intended relief,” Carlyle adds. “Which is why the chorus only comes once and is only two lines long. Nothing good lasts too long and goodness changes all the time.”

Carlyle’s latest single “I Float” is a brooding and atmospheric track built around twinkling synths, rumbling low end, skittering boom bap-like drumming and brief bursts of scorching guitar feedback paired with Carlyle’s chilly and detached delivery. “I Float” manages to simultaneously seem informed by — and mirror — the adventurous sonic approach developed for The Orielles’ Tableau while evoking the unease of a forced isolation in which the narrator endlessly replays his thoughts and failures.

This winter crept up on us. I started writing a lot of music on this synth I bought back in October,” Carlyle explains. “During dark evenings I built up an ambient track, ‘Prelude’ and when I finished that I realised it was the element ‘I Float had been missing. Through its many iterations, I struggled to get close enough to expressing the song’s idea until then.
 
“It’s about floating on through, not being present, doing what you’ve got to do. In a sense, it’s about living a minimal existence until you feel well enough to thrive again.”
 
Shot by Giuilia Bonometti, the accompanying video is based on a concept by Carlyle and Bonometti: We see Carlyle wearing a white jumpsuit in a park at night, bopping and bouncing around to the song’s skittering beats, appearing as though he were in a mosh pit by himself.
 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Slumbering Sun Shares Trippy 120 Minutes MTV-era VIsual for “Liminal Bridges”

Austin-based doom metal outfit Slumbering Sun — Monte Luna’s James Clarke (vocals), Destroyer of Light’s Keegan Kjeldsen (guitar), Temptress‘ Kelsey Wilson (guitar), Monte Luna‘s and Scorpion Child‘s Garth Condit (bass) and Destroyer of Light’s Penny Turner (drums) — is an All-Star band featuring acclaimed members of Texas’ underground metal scene. 

After the breakup of their previous band, James Clarke and Keegan Kjeldsen resolved to forget the bitter pain of an album that would never be released, by creating something new. They decided to start a new band with an album that Kjeldsen wrote between work on other projects. The pair continued the creative process at their rehearsal space with a few songs strummed on a clean, electric guitar: Clarke began to write melodies with the pair finishing lyrics. 

Clarke and Kjeldsen recruited Temptress’ Kelsey Wilson, who made the commute from Dallas for the writing and recording process. Scorpion Child’s Garth Condit and Destroyer of Light’s Penny Turner, who played in other bands with Clarke and Kjeldsen respectively were recruited to be the band’s rhythm section — and from that point on, Slumbering Sun was a full-fledged band. 

Released last Friday digitally and on cassette and CD, the Austin-based doom metal outfit’s full-length debut The Ever Living Fire was recorded in a week-long recording session this past summer. Sonically, their full-length debut sees the band exploring broader melodies than their previous work while drawing from Celtic folk, doom metal act Warning, as well as 90s grunge rockers Soundgarden and Alice In Chains. 

In the lead-up to the album’s release, I wrote about three singles:

  • “Liminal Bridges,” an expansive song featuring an atmospheric introduction with swirling, shoegazer-like textures, followed by stormy, power chord-driven riffage and thunderous drumming paired with Clarke’s melodic crooning and enormous, arena rock-like hooks. The track sonically brought — to my ears, at least —  The Sword  to mind — ok but with a prog rock-leaning sensibility.

  • “Dream Snake,” an equally expansive track that opens with Black Sabbath and Soundgarden-like intro with fuzzy, power chord-driven riffage, thunderous drumming and a soulful solo paired with Clarke’s Ozzy Osbourne-like delivery until roughly around the five-minute mark. At that point, the song morphs into a sludgy doom metal dirge for the next two minutes or so before a gorgeous string arrangement carries the song into a gentle fadeout. Lyrically rooted in longing and heartbreak, “Dream Snake” sees the members of Slumbering Sun drawing from different eras one metal and doom metal and crafting something both familiar and new.

  • Album title track “The Ever Living Fire.” Continuing a remarkable run of expansive, mind-bending material, the song begins with a gorgeous 35 second, acoustic guitar-driven introduction before quickly exploding into an expressive and soulful doom metal dirge, built around sludgy power chord-driven riffage, thunderous drumming and Clarke’s crooning. And around the five minute mark, the band introduces a melodic hook that shifts the song in a trippy display of densely layered guitars. The song ends with a roughly minute-long, gorgeous acoustic gutter driven coda making it one of the more prog-leaning songs of the album’s released singles.

Building upon the attention the album’s first three singles have received, Slumbering Sun recently shared an accompanying video for “Liminal Bridges.” Fittingly set in a creepy forest, the video is split between the band performing the song at night — at points shot through a hazy filter. The other half of the video features two women performing a series of weird rituals seemingly meant to get them to a different realm of consciousness. If you grew up watching 120 Minutes, this one definitely will bring back some fond memories.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Los Bitchos Share Mischievous and Boozy Cover of “Tequila”

London-based instrumental outfit Los Bitchos — Australian-born, Serra Petale (guitar); Uruguayan-born Agustina Ruiz (keytar); Swedish-born, Josefine Jonsson (bass) and London-born and-based Nic Crawshaw (drums) — can trace their origins to meeting at various late-night parties and through mutual friends. Inspired by their individual members’ different upbringings and backgrounds, Los Bitchos have developed a unique, genre-blurring and retro-futuristic sound blends elements of Peruvian chicha, Argentine cumbia, Turkish psych, surf rock, and the music each individual member grew up with: 

  • The Uruguayan-born Ruiz had a Latin-American music collection that the members of the band fell in love with. 

  • The Swedish-born Jonsson “brings a touch of out of control pop,” her bandmates often joke. 

  • Aussie-born Serra Petale is deeply inspired by her mother’s 70s Anatolian rock records. 

  • And the London-born Crawshaw played in a number of local punk bands before joining Los Bitchos.

“Coming from all these different places,” Los Bitchos’ Serra Petale says, “it means we’re not stuck in one genre and we can rip up the rulebook a bit when it comes to our influences.”

Los Bitchos’ Alex Kapranos-produced full-length debut, last year’s Let The Festivities Begin! was recorded at Gallery Studios, and saw the band further cementing heir reputation for crafting maximalist, trippy, Technicolor instrumental party starting jobs — with a cinematic quality.

The London-based JOVM mainstays capped off a momentous year with with two singles “Los Chrismos,” their first Christmas-themed composition and “Tip Tapp, which were co-produced by the band’s Serra Petale and Javier Weyler and recorded at 5db was released digitally and physically on a flexi-disc, bundled with a red vinyl re-press of their debut. “Los Chrismos” is a celebratory party-starting romp built around a psych rock-inspired, dexterous, looping guitar line, atmospheric synths cheers and shouts paired with cumbia rhythms. The end result is a much-needed joy and hope bomb that’s just pure unadulterated joy.

Los Bitchos’ forthcoming two-track EP PAH! is slated for a digital and 7″ release in mid-March through their label home City Stand — and the EP coincides with their upcoming UK and European tour opening for JOVM mainstays King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard. PAH! features a mischievously rowdy and boozy cover of The Champs‘ “Tequila,” a song that has become a fan favorite during the band’s live shows. The EP also features a reworking of the Gizz’s “Trapdoor.”

Filmed by Los Bitchos and Lea Emmery, the accompanying video for “Tequila” follows the members of the JOVM mainstay act stopping at a liquor store to buy a bottle of tequila, which they bring with them through a night of partying with friends new an old. And much like the cover, it’s a mischievous, rowdy night through London.