Category: New Video

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: MELRØSE Shares Sultry “Sexfriend”

Melrøse is an French electro pop duo — Anne-Camille and Anthony Bacou — that can trace its origins back to June 2020, when the romantic couple and musical collaborators decided to immortalize their relationship — and in turn, their love — in a song, written in a Los Angeles hotel room. 

The French electro pop duo released their debut EP, Nuit louve earlier this year and the EP features two tracks I wrote about last year:

  • “Poolside,” the first song that the duo wrote that June night back in 2020. Featuring skittering beats, swirling electronics and Anne-Camille’s achingly delicate delivery singing lyrics in French and English, “Poolside” evoked sultry, summer nights in bed with a lover while sonically nodding at Dummy-era Portishead.
  • “Insomnie,” another sensual bop featuring twinkling and arpeggiated synths paired with a relentless motorik groove and Anne-Camille’s coquettish delivery. Much like its immediate predecessor, “Insomnie” evokes a sultry summer nights — but restlessly tossing and turning because you’re sweaty, sticky and uncomfortable.

Nuit louve‘s latest single “Sexfriend” is a sultry, Quiet Storm-inspired bop featuring glistening synth arpeggios, wobbling bass lines, and skittering beats paired with Anne-Camille’s sultry delivery and the duo’s unerring knack for razor sharp hooks. “Sexfriend” is a late night, cooed come-on, kisses on the neck, a longing to be touched at the right place, in the right fashion and at the right time . . .

The accompanying video for “Sexfriend” features MELRØSE’s Anne-Camille at the beach in a white, double-breasted, silk suit strolling the seashore at golden hour and swaying to the atmospheric song in the sea. Much like the song it accompanies, the video is subtle yet suggestive.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Toronto’s Tallies Share Shimmering and Longing “Special”

With the release of 2019’s self-titled, full-length debut, Toronto-based dream pop outfit Tallies — Dylan Frankland (guitar), Sarah Cogan (vocals, guitar) and Cian O’Neill (drums) — exploded into the national and international scenes: The album received praise from the likes of Under the Radar, DIY Magazine, The Line of Best Fit, MOJO, Bandcamp Daily, Exclaim!,  KEXP and others. And adding to a rapidly growing profile, the Toronto-based dream poppers have opened for Mudhoney, Hatchie, Tim Burgess and Weaves. 

The band’s Graham Walsh and Dylan Frankland co-produced sophomore album Patina, which was recorded at Palace Sound, Holy Fuck‘s Baskitball 4 Life and Candle Recording is slated for a July 29, 2022 release through Kanine Records here in the States, Hand Drawn Dracula in Canada and Bella Union in the UK and EU. The album, which was understandably delayed as a result of the pandemic is simultaneously a labor of love and a bold step forward for the Canadian trio: Firmly rooted in their penchant in juxtaposing light and dark, the album continues to see the band drawing from Lush, Beach House and Cocteau Twins, but with a greater emphasis on shimmering guitars, earnest, lived-in songwriting — and a well-placed, razor sharp hook.

The album will feature, the previously released “No Dreams of Fayres,” an ironically upbeat single that sonically brought The Sundays‘ “Here’s Where The Story Ends,” while documenting Sarah Cogan’s struggles with depression — in particular, thee moments, when she was trying to work it out, but just couldn’t find the energy to do so.

“‘No Dreams of Fayres’ is a reflection of thoughts that I remember going through my mind when I stayed still in bed,” Tallies’ Sarah Cogan explains in press notes. “Feeling as though staying still in bed was the only thing that would help the sadness – basically, disconnecting myself from family, friends, and having a life. Finding the way out of depression was hard but possible. ‘No Dreams of Fayres’ is also about the realization of letting yourself feel real feelings but not mistaking them for emotions. I had to learn to get a grip of what I wanted out of life and go for it with no self-sabotage – which was music, as cliché as it sounds. It pulled me out of bed, physically and mentally.”

Patina‘s latest single “Special” continues a run remarkable run of deceptively upbeat shoegazer-inspired jangle pop featuring Cogan’s plaintive vocals, Frankland’s shimmering reverb-drenched guitar lines and O’Neill’s propulsive drumming paired with their unerring knack for razor sharp, anthemic hooks. But despite its breezy nature, the song is underpinned by a an aching and familiar yearning: “‘Special,’ as Sarah Cogan explains “is about longing to be seen and heard by those who matter to you most. Sometimes, feeling invisible is particularly painful when the indifference comes from someone whose opinion means a lot to you.”

Directed by Justis Krar at IMMV Productions, the accompanying video for “Special” features carefully edited stock footage from movies and home videos: The video begins with fingers and toes — dipping into water, or shampooed hair before following a troubled and bored couple, who have deeply unaddressed issues. You can read the pain and heartache in both of their faces, and it further emphasizes the themes at the heart of the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Saint Kochi’s Cinematic and Trippy “Almost Lost”

Born in London to parents, who immigrated from India and Kenya, the rising British chamber pop/psych pop artist Saint Kochi has led an extraordinary and unusual life, that for a while got in the way of his real lifetime aim — to make music his entire life, not a part of it. But there was so much else that occupied his time: a flirtation with genuine stardom as a professional cricket player, parents who doubted hat anyone could survive with a career in the arts, and an unexpected career as a seller of massive ships.

Saint Kochi continued to push forward with his lifelong dream of making music, releasing last year’s self-titled debut EP. Slated for an August 10, 2022 release, the British chamber pop and psych pop artist’s Dom Ganderton co-produced sophomore EP Almost Lost is reportedly a bold step forward as he crafts gorgeous music that transports the listener to another place.

The EP’s first single, the cinematic EP title track “Almost Lost” prominently features a throbbing bass line, twinkling keys, glistening, reverb-drenched guitar lines and Saint Kochi’s plaintive vocals paired with a gorgeous, soaring string arrangement. Sonically, the result is a song that to my ears brings The Beatles, Scott Walker, The Verve, and JOVM mainstays POND to mind — but while possessing an enormous sound, the song is rooted in intimate and lived-in lyricism that’s personal yet universal.

While primarily recorded at Saint Kochi’s purpose-built basement studio, the string arrangement performed by the 14-piece string section was recorded at RAK Studios, where iconic albums like Radiohead‘s The Bends and a lengthy list of others was recorded. The string section fulfilled the rising British artist’s ambition of “making a record that had these big cinematic James Bond, Beatleseque type of strings on them.”

Directed by Sam Hiscox, the accompanying video for “Almost Lost” is as cinematic as the song while employing a rather simple concept: We follow Saint Kochi in a white linen suit wandering the desert, alone and seemingly lost.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Ganser Shares Brooding and Menacing Visual for Tense, New Ripper, “People Watching”

Acclaimed Chicago-based post-punk outfit and JOVM mainstays Ganser — founding members Nadia Garofalo (vocals, keys) and Alicia Gaines (vocals, bass) along with Brian Cundiff (drums) and Charlie Landsman (guitar) — can trace their origins back to when its founding members met while attending art school. Bonding over a mutual love of The Residents, outsider communities and the work of John Waters, the duo developed a hands-on DIY craftsmanship that eventually carried into their band: Each member of the post punk outfit shares writing duties and they collaborate on every aspect of their creative work, including videos, album art, merch and the visuals which often accompany their live shows.

Ganser’s 2018 full-length debut Odd Talk received widespread praise nationally and across the blogosphere with some critics comparing their sound and approach to Sonic Youth and Magazine. Thematically, the album focused on communication breakdowns — namely, the difficulties of being understood, avoidance, intimacy and avoidance.

2020’s sophomore album, the critically applauded Just Look at That Sky found the members of Ganser thematically probing the futility of striving for self-growth during chorus — all while evoking an all to familiar manic worry and generalized sense of existential dread and doom. It’s an album that accurately captures our slow-burning, omnipresent hellscape.

Besides last year’s Look at That Sky Remixes EP, the Chicago-based JOVM have been busy working on new material — including their Angus Andrew co-produced, three-song Nothing You Do Matters EP. The EP’s first single, the woozy and expansive ripper “People Watching” begins with a slow-burning and atmospheric, bass-driven intro before quickly morphing into a feverish thrash featuring slashing guitar attack, relentless four-on-the-four and squiggling bursts of electronics paired with Garofalo’s seething, irony-drenched delivery.

Arguably the most tense and uneasy song of their growing catalog, “People Watching” captures the mad and desperate senselessness — of well, just about everything right now.

Directed by Alicia Gaines and Nadia Garofalo, the accompanying video for “People Watching” employs the same LED Volume virtual “green screen” technology that’s used in shows like The Mandalorian: We’re thrown in the middle of a wintry and desolate bit of farmland, where we see an extremely nervous and uncertain Gaines, Cundiff and Landsman with shovels trying to bury a body — a body that turns out to be, Garofalo. It’s menacing yet there’s a campus sense of humor to the proceedings.

Nothing You Do Matters EP is slated for an October 5, 2022 digital release and a December 2, 2022 vinyl release through Felte Records.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: FIOR Shares a Coquettish and Summery, Scott Storch-Produced Banger

Zoe Fioravanti is a rising, self-taught singer/songwriter and pop artist, who can trace the origins of her musical career to her childhood: Fiovaranti’s father, who managed bands in the ’90s gifted her a toy piano that she learned to play by ear when she was just eight. Early on, her self-taught style was heavily influenced by Billy Joel, Amy Winehouse, Adele, and Michael Jackson.

As a teenager, Fiorvanti began writing her own lyrics and making beat-driven pop with elements of funk, soul, disco, electro pop and rock on her computer — while honing her lush and sultry vocal delivery. Drawing from her own life, her material celebrates the kind of vulnerability that leads to true strength while encouraging listeners to not just accept their emotions but to also embrace the importance of speaking their mind.

Fiorvanti, who writes, records and performs as FIOR spent the past two years writing, recording original material and sharing that music — including her attention grabbing and defiant single “Let Me Go” earlier this year. Her latest single, the Scott Storch-produced “YOYO (You’re On Your Own” is a sleek, slickly produced, summery banger featuring glistening synths, a strutting disco-inspired bass line, some squiggling Nile Rodgers-like guitar, skittering beats paired with Fioravanti’s self-assured and coquettish delivery and a razor sharp hook.

While being both club and radio friendly, “YOYO” is simultaneously a celebratory tell-off and a relishing of freedom: While the video implies that it’s a celebration of pushing off a dysfunctional and overbearing lover or love interest, it can also be a shitty friend, who’s a cockblock — or an overbearing paramour, who doesn’t quite get that you’re not interested.

Directed by Alfredo Flores, the accompanying video is a fun, ’90s inspired romp set on a glorious sunny day at a skate park. We see FIOR and her girlfriends in brightly colored clothing in the middle of a meet-cute with one particular dude at the skate park.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Liz Lamere Takes the Viewer on a Tour of the Underworld in New Visual for “Sin”

Liz Lamere is a New York-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, who has had a lengthy career playing drums in several local punk bands — and famously for collaborating with her late partner, the legendary Alan Vega on his solo work […]

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Legendary Calypso Rose Teams up with Carlos Santana and The Garifuna Collective on “Watina”

Born Linda McCartha Monica Sandy-Lewis in Bethel Village, Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to a religious, fisherman father and a stay-at-home mother, the legendary Calypso Rose first started writing her own songs when she was 13. In the 1960s, the Mother of Calypso emerged as the epitome of Caribbean music: Her first commercial successes included 1966’s “Fire In Me Wire,” which she performed with Bob Marley & The Wailers in New York the following year.

Throughout her lengthy almost 60-year music career, the Mother of Calypso has written more than 1,000 songs and recorded over the 20 songs — all while being the first major female calypso star. Her lyrics frequently tackle issues like racism and sexism: in fact, her towering influence on calypso forced the renaming of the Calypso King competition to the Calypso Monarch, which she won in 1978.

Since 2015’s Far From Home, which featured multiple collaborations with Manu Chao, Calypso Rose’s career has seen a resurgence — with booming attention internationally. She has been busy spreading calypso around the world, playing around 200 shows in a four year span including sets at Les Vielles Charrues, We Love Green, and WOMAD festivals, as well as Paris‘ Olympia Hall. In 2019, the calypso legend played at Coachella, becoming the oldest artist to ever play the festival.

Throughout her career, the calypso legend’s work is rooted in a remarkable and infectious optimism: While she continues to tackle issues like feminism, sexism, racism and the fight for a better, fairer world for individuals and for everyone, her work has always seen her bring up hedonistic subjects like partying, sex, the energy of youth and the like with a playful, knowing sense of wisdom and humor, which continues on her forthcoming album Forever, which is slated for a an August 26, 2022 release through Because Music.

Forever‘s material in particular conveys strong messages about the status of women in the various neighborhoods across the world she’s come to know well and love: Jamaica, Queens, NYC; her homeland of Trinidad and Tobago; Paris; and Belize. Each of these places have influenced and nourished her work — and in each, was where portions of the album were recorded. Unsurprisingly, the global spanning nature of its recording, allowed for so many difference influences on its overall sound: The material draws from across the Caribbean Diaspora, including rocksteady, soca, ska, mento — and of course, calypso.

The album sees the calypso legend presenting original material with a distinctly modern approach and revisiting some of her greatest classics. The end result is an album that attempts to speak to everyone — and to transcend all ages. Forever sees the Mother of Calypso collaborating with a diverse and eclectic cast of artists new and old throughout it’s 14 tracks, including Manu Chao, soca king Machel Montano, Jamaican dancehall icon Mr. Vegas, Toulouse, France-based emcee Oli, electronic duo Synapson and a lengthy list of others.

Forever‘s first single, the shuffling, genre-defying “Watina” which sees the Queen of Calypso collaborating with Belize’s The Garifuna Collective and the legendary Carlos Santana, who contributes some fiery and lysergic guitar licks effortlessly meshes dancehall, ska, soca and calypso in a crowd-pleasing, accessible and celebratory fashion — while telling a larger story of the ills of colonialism and slavery that’s familiar throughout the region.

With “Watina” in particular, Calypso Rose and company pay homage to the Garifuna, a Caribbean people scarred by slavery, excluded from history and memory but whose population is spread across the US, as well as the coasts of Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and the Calypso Rose’s beloved Belize, which has been a part of her life in some fashion for over 40 years. “Watina” was originally a local hit for The Garifuna Collective, founded and led by Andy Palacio until his death in 2008.

Interestingly, “Watina” was produced by Calypso Rose’s longtime, Belizean-born producer Ivan Duran. Duran worked with Palacio and The Garifuna Collective and according to Duran, the legend was the only person, who could recapture the frenzy and impact of the song while respecting Palacio’s legacy.

By recording and re-imagining the song with many of the same casts of musicians sees the Trinidadian legend reaffirming her ties to Belize while continuing to exploit the dichotomy between the song’s upbeat, festive spirit and its social — and historical — message.

Directed by Andrés Arochi Tinajero, the gorgeously cinematic, accompanying video was shot in Hopkins Village, Belize. The video lovingly captures Black and Afro-Latino joy, dedication and love in a way that makes my heart sing — and is infectious.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Monophonics Share a Cinematic and Feverish Visual for “Sage Motel”

Since their formation, Bay Area-based soul outfit Monophonics —  Kelly Finnigan (lead vocals, keys), Austin Bohlman (drums), Ryan Scott (trumpet, backing vocals, percussion), and Max Ramey (bass) – have developed and honed a sound that continues in the classic and beloved tradition of Stax Records, Muscle Shoals, Daptone Records and Dunham Records: an incredibly cinematic sound that features elements of classic soul, heavy funk, psych rock and psych soul recorded on vintage analog recording gear, paired with a healthy amount of old-fashioned woodshedding and craft. .“We’re from the same school as the producers from the studios we love. We use the tools that we have to make the best records we can,” the band explained in press notes. 

Monophonics’ third album, 2020’s It’s Only Us, which featured “Chances,” and “It’s Only Us” received praise from the likes of Billboard, Flood, Cool Hunting and American Songwriter, while selling 10,000 physical copies and amassing over 20 million streams across the various digital streaming platforms. Thematically, It’s Only Us touched upon unity in a fractious and divisive world, strength, resilience, acceptance — and of course, love. (It can’t be ol’ school soul without love songs, you know?)

The acclaimed Bay Area-based soul outfit’s fourth album, the Kelly Finnegan-produced Sage Motel was released last week through Colemine Records. The album’s title is derived from an actual place — the Sage Motel. What started out as a quaint motor lodge and common pitstop for travelers and truckers in the 1940s, Sage Motel morphed into a bohemian’ hang out by the 1960s and 1970s: Artists, musicians and vagabonds of all stripes would stop there as seedy ownership pumped obnoxious amounts of money into high-end renovations, eventually attracting some of the most prominent acts of the era. But when the money ran out, the motel devolved into a hot sheet hotel. 

If the hotel’s walls could talk, they’d tell you tales of human highs and lows, of a place where big dreams and broken hearts live, and where people find themselves at a crossroads — sometimes without quite knowing how they got there. And thematically, Sage Motel tackles all of those subjects while seeing the band further cementing their reputation as one of the world’s premier psychedelic soul bands. 

Last month, I wrote about Sage Motel‘s second single, the swaggering “Love You Better,” which continues the band’s remarkable run of period-specific, cinematic soul centered around Finnigan’s soulful vocals, twinkling keys, hip-hop-like breakbeats, a gorgeous horn arrangement, an expressive and lengthy flute solo and an all-woman backing vocal section. But underneath the prideful swagger, the song captures the bitter heartache of someone who gave a relationship — and their partner — their all, and yet still wound up being taken advantage of and abused. 

“The song ‘Love You Better’ is rooted in the spirit of soul music and hip hop,” Monophonics explain. “It’s a braggadocio tune with a clear message to the one you loved that no one will ever be as good to them. It is that feeling of knowing you gave your all to your partner and really tried to love them the right way, only to be hurt and taken for granted. It’s empowering and important to have that self worth and remind somebody that they really missed out on a really good thing.”

Sage Motel‘s latest single, the swooning album title track “Sage Motel” is centered around a gorgeous, late 60s-early 70s soul-inspired arrangement featuring twinkling keys, Finnigan’s soulful delivery, wah wah pedaled guitar, martial-like half-step drumming, soulful all-female backing vocals paired with a lysergic guitar solo and the band’s unerring knack for crafting razor sharp, infectious hooks. The song’s narrator tells a story of a meet-cute at the titular Sage Motel that turns into a dangerous, life-altering obsession — with an almost lived-in, novelistic precision.

Directed by Kassy Mahea, the cinematic and feverish accompanying video for “Sage Motel” tells the story of a tragic love triangle rooted in the unrequited — and obsessive — love held by a lonely cleaning woman at the hotel. While only a music video, the characters that inhabit its universe behave, feel and talk the way that dysfunctional, hurt, and deeply confused people behave and talk.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: HooverIII Shares a Trippy and Playful Visual for “See”

Created in large part by founder Bert Hoover (guitar, vocals), the Los Angeles-based psych outfit HooverIII (pronounced Hoover Three) gradually expanded to a full-fledged band with the addition of Gabe Flores (guitar, vocals), Kat Mirblouk (bass, synths), James Novick (synths) and Owen Barrett (drums).

Throughout the bulk of their career, the band has developed a reputation for putting out two releases a year, including singles, live albums and the like — and it included 2021’s seven-song Water for the Frogs, a jam-band-like effort that featured songs with an average length of about 5 minutes. (The album’s closing track clocked in at almost 10 minutes.)

The members of Hooveriii began to realize that time — our most valuable resources — shouldn’t be taken for granted, they got to work on A Round of Applause, their second album released through Reverberation Appreciation Society. Slated for a July 29, 2022 release, the album derives its title from the late-’80s Roky Erickson song “Click Your Fingers Applauding the Play.” “That’s too much of a mouthful,” the band’s founder Bert Hoover says. “My title, A Round of Applause, just came one day, and we were like, ‘Yo, that sounds like a Gentle Giant record.’”

Reportedly, the most pop-leaning batch of material from the band to date, the album occasionally pays homage to the Canterbury scene while being a sort of palette cleanser. “I am not really a playlist guy or a singles guy,” Hoover admits. “I’m really into the album experience. … So yeah, we made a pop record. But also, to me, this record is very progressive as well, and I think that that provides a nice balance.” 

The band also found additional inspiration from Nick Cave, who once famously said that dabbling with new ideas continues to fuel his near-50 year career. So the band took a decidedly different approach and gave themselves the freedom to explore and play with ideas during the creative and recording process.

A Round of Applause‘s first single “See” is a sunny, AM Rock bit of psych rock prominently featuring big, rousingly anthemic hooks, dense layers of guitars, a strutting groove and Hoover’s easy-going and laid back vocal delivery and a blazing guitar solo. And this is before, the song’s trippy and furious coda! The end result is a song that nods at Creedence Clearwater Revival and Summer of Love-era psych rock paired with an overwhelmingly uplifting message.

“‘See’ is about trying not to take life for granted,” Bert Hoover explains. “Some things are easier said than done. It’s our first song to feature Anna Wallace singing along with us and it came together rather seamlessly. It was a pretty bare bones jangle jam until the band filled it with ear candy.” 

Conceived and co-directed by Nikki Houston and Owen Summers, the accompanying video for “See” was filmed on 16mm film at Trona Pinnacles in Trona CA. The video stars the members of Hooveriii as stranded aliens on Earth, trying to find their way home — until things go very wrong.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: common goldfish Shares a 90s Inspired Visual for “Feel The Fuzz”

common goldfish is the solo recording project of a somewhat mysterious London-born, Tottenham-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, who as a musician has made a name for himself busking along the canals of Hackney Wick and playing the London gig circuit. And as a producer and songwriter, under the moniker of J Love, been credited on songs that have have received critical acclaim from media outlets like Mixtape Madness, New Wave Magazine, and GRM Daily.

The mysterious Tottenham-based artist’s debut as common goldfish “Feel The Fuzz” is an upbeat, optimistic and decidedly late 80s-early 90s Manchester-inspired bop centered around fuzzy guitar lines, blown out breakbeats, a funky and propulsive bass line and common goldfish’s easygoing delivery paired with a euphoric boy-girl led hook and subtly modern production sheen. If you’re a child of the 80s and 90s as I am, “Feel The Fuzz” will bring back nostalgic memories of The Stone Roses, Primal Scream, Stereo MCs and the like, complete with an uplifting much-needed message to the listener. 

“The track embodies the sense of dreamer’s optimism (‘the fuzz’) and the feeling that led me to change career paths and pursue my passion in music,” the creative mastermind behind common goldfish explains in press notes. “We only lead one life, ‘Feel the Fuzz’ is about helping people see that they should value their experiences over materials and not always seek the easy options in life.”

Directed by Ed Rigg, the accompanying video is shot with a grainy analog feel reminiscent of Beastie Boys‘ “So Whatcha Want” and others, and as a result, it makes the video appear as though it were originally shot and released sometime between 1989-1992. Centered primarily around the London-born, Tottenham-based artist performing the song in a local skate park, accompanied by skaters and graffiti artists, the video captures the local skater and music scene with a loving specificity.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Boris Shares a Feral Ripper

Formed back in 1992, Japanese, experimental heavy rock outfit Boris ((ボリス, Borisu) — core members Takeshi (vocals, bass, guitar), Wata (vocals, guitar, keys, accordion and echo) Atsuo (vocals, drums, percussion and electronics) and Mucho (drums) — settled on their current lineup in 1996. Since then, the members of Boris have tirelessly explored their own genre-defying take on heavy music.

In an effort to sublimate the negative energy surrounding everyone in 2020, Boris wrote and recorded NO, one of the most extreme albums of their widely celebrated and lengthy career. The band self-released the album during the heigh of pandemic-related lockdowns, desiring to get the album out as quickly as possible. But interestingly enough, they intentionally titled NO‘s closing track “Interlude,” while planning the album’s follow-up. 

Released earlier this year through Sacred Bones Records W saw the band crafting material that stylistically ranged from noise to New Age, continuing their long-held reputation for dynamic and sonically adventurous work. But the work is held together by a melodic deliberation through each song that helps the band accomplish their ultimate goal with the album — eliciting deep sensation.

NO and W were conceived to weave together to form NOW, a pair of releases that respond to each other: The band follows their hardest album with an effort that’s sensuous, lush and thundering. The result is a continuous circle of harshness and healing that seems more relevant — and necessary — now than ever. 

Throughout their history, the member of Boris have been remarkably prolific. Their second album of the year, the 10-track Heavy Rocks (2022) is slated for an August 12, 2022 release through Relapse Records. The album, which is another installment of their Heavy Rocks series sees Boris channeling 70s proto-metal and glam rock through their own unique lens.

“The world has changed over the last two years. Everyone’s thinking is simpler and pragmatic. Now, it is easier for everyone to grasp what is important to each of us,” the members of Boris say of the new album.

“We leave it to the future and pass it on. The soul of rock music is constantly evolving. A soul that transcends words and meaning to reach you – instinct, intuition, and fangs.

This is the heavy rock of Boris now.

As we land on our 30th anniversary, Boris continues to evolve, accelerating the latest and universal.

Boris does not lead anyone anywhere.

We just keep showing this attitude.”

Heavy Rocks‘ first single, album opening “She Is Burning” is a mosh-pit friendly, power chord-driven ripper that effortlessly meshes glam rock, punk and proto-metal in a way that kicks ass and takes names — while subtly hinting at early Soundgarden and Thin Lizzy.

Fittingly, the accompanying video which features dancing by Snatch, has the band dressed up as though they walked out of 1974 and the dancer performing in front of enormous flames. And holy shit, does it kick so much fucking ass!

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Say She She Shares a Mind-Bending Visual for Sultry “Blow My Mind”

Deriving their name as a silent nod to the legendary Nile Rodgers — “C’est chi-chi! It’s Chic!” — the emerging NYC-based funk and disco act Say She She features three accomplished, strong female lead vocalists: founding members Piya Malik, who has spent time in El Michels Affair, 79.5 and Chicano Batman; and Sabrina Cunningham; along with Nya Gazelle Brown, a former member of 79.5. 

Say She She can trace their origins to when Malik and Cunningham found themselves living in the studio apartments directly above and below each other. The pair would hear each other singing through the floorboards and quickly became friends. “I knew the girl below me had the most beautiful voice as I would hear her early in the morning and she would hear me late at night. Between the two of us I don’t think we got a wink of sleep. Then again I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say they moved to New York City to sleep,” Malik says in press notes. 

After spending years singing in other people’s bands, Malik and Cunningham felt they were finally ready to step out into the spotlight with their own project, at first writing tongue-in-cheek songs about bad boyfriends, band breakups and bad politics.  Shortly after, they started writing much more serious and vulnerable tunes, like much-needed therapy sessions, detailing the lives of post-modern women. The result is material that touches upon love, lust, sex, heartbreak, betrayal and hope.

A few years after starting the project, the duo recruited their close friend and Malik’s former 79.5 bandmate Nya Gazelle Brown to join them. At that point, the act’s core lineup was settled. 

Sonically, Say She She’s sound nods at 70s girl groups — multi-part female harmonies paired paired with funky, disco-inspired arrangements played by a backing band featuring some of New York’s most talented and accomplished players, featuring former members of  Antibalas, Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaries, Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, The Shacks, Twin Shadow and others. Locally, they’ve developed a reputation as a must-see live act, playing sold out shows at Bowery Ballroom, Nublu 151, Brooklyn Bazaar, C’Mon Everybody and Baby’s All Right among others. 

Slated for release this fall through Karma Chief Records, an imprint of Colemine Records, Say She She’s self-titled, full-length debut was recorded on old tape machines in the basement studios of friends. The album features guest spots from The Dap Kings‘ Joey Crispiano and Victor Axelrod, The Shacks’ Max Shrager, Chicano Batman’s Bardo Martinez, Antibalas‘  Superhuman Happiness‘ and Low Mentality’s Nikhil Yerawadekar, Twin Shadow’s Andy Bauer and NYMPH‘s Matty McDermot. 

Last month, I wrote about “Forget Me Not,” the New York-based act’s debut single and their forthcoming debut album’s first single. Featuring a strutting bass line, glistening wah wah pedaled funk guitar, fluttering flute and dreamy three part harmonies “Forget Me Not” is one part Patrice Rushen, one part Tom Tom Club’s “Gangster of Love,” one part ESG, one part Mary Jane Girls, centered around righteous feminist lyrics. 

Building upon a growing profile, the disco and funk outfit’s latest single is the slow-burning, sultry “Blow My Mind.” Centered around the trio’s yearning and impassioned cries, shimmering Bollywood-inspired riffage and a strutting bass line, “Blow My Mind” is a song about returning to a former flame, with who you’ve managed to hold feelings for — even after some period of years. “‘Blow My Mind’ is about a love that you can’t seem to get rid of and you can’t quite get enough of,” Say She She’s Nya Gazelle Brown explains.

Directed by Spencer Bewley, best known as Reelloopy, the accompanying video for “Blow My Mind” is fittingly mind-blowing as it’s chock full of trippy imagery. Bewley predominately works in found and self-produced 16mm film footage, which he culls, reframes and radically re-contextualizes, juxtaposing as many four projected images at a time to create reckless, riddling and yet fully synthesized visual poems. “Blowing minds is a subject very close to my heart and the fact this was a rare case of me liking the song EVEN MORE after the dozens of times during editing I had to listen to it made this an absolute joy to work on,” Bewley adds.

As I mentioned, the band’s full-length is forthcoming but in the meantime, they’ll be releasing their debut 45rpm “Forget Me Not”/”Blow My Mind” through Colemine/Karma Chief on May 20, 2022.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Kid Moxie Shares Sultry “Shine”

Elena Charbila is a Greek-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter, electronic music producer, composer and the creative mastermind behind the rising synth pop project Kid Moxie. With Kid Moxie, Charbila has developed a sound that blends industrial-like, club friendly beats, noir pop melodies and eerie soundscapes with an uncanny knack for a razor sharp hook.

Along with two previously released albums, 2014’s 1888 and 2016’s Perfect Shadow, Charbila wrote the score for the motion picture Unpleasant, which featured her cover of Alphaville‘s “Big in Japan.” Kid Moxie tracks have received airplay internationally and coverage in major media outlets like Entertainment Weekly, Vogue, Stereogum, Noisey and others. Her songs have appeared in hit TV shows, European films and in car commercial campaigns. And adding to a growing profile, Charbila has collaborated with an eclectic and diverse array of artists that include The Gaslamp Killer and Angelo Badalamenti, with whom she covered David Lynch‘s and Julee Cruise‘s “Mysteries of Love.”

Over the past year, the Greek-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter, producer and composer has been busy:

  • She contributed three songs to the Cyberpunk 2077 soundtrack.
  • She provided music for a series of short films released by Vogue Greece that featured Winnie Harlow.
  • She collaborated with MAPS and Faderhead on “Better Than Electric,” which was released earlier this year.
  • She’s currently working on the theme music for the revamped Orion Pictures logo.
  • She collaborated on a disco track with Luxxury.
  • She’s also currently working with German electro pop artist Nina on an EP.

Released earlier this year, Charbila’s latest single, “Shine” features glistening synth arpeggios, buzzing bass synths, skittering, tweeter and woofer rattling beats paired with Charbila’s sultry delivery and her uncanny knack for an infectious hook. The end result is a darkly seductive, accessible, pop-leaning banger that brings Garbage and others to mind.

The accompanying strobe lit video by Joe Rubinstein is equally seductive, hinting at dark, late night desires.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: LEATHERS Shares a Glittery Synth Pop Confection

Shannon Hemmett is best known for playing synths and contributing vocals in Vancouver-based post punk outfit and JOVM mainstays ACTORS. Back in 2016, Hemmett stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist with her synth pop project LEATHERS.

With her first few singles as LEATHERS, saw Hemmett develop and then hone her own take on synth pop: 2016’s debut single “Missing Scene” channeled early 4AD Records-era Cocteau Twins. 2017’s “Day For Night” featured a softer, glittering hue that caught the attention of outlets like Diamond Deposits, I Die: You Die and Impose Magazine.

Those singles appeared on last year’s LEATHERS debut Reckless EP, which was released to praise from Post-Punk.com, Synthpop Fanatic, I Die: You Die, CBC Radio 3 and Exclaim!, who wrote that the EP was “pulsing eighth-note bass, mascara-streaked goth melodies and ’80s-worshipping pop sweetness” — while landing on their Essential Releases for August 2021.

Hemmett’s latest LEATHERS single “Runaway” is her first bit of new material since the release of Reckless EP. Featuring glistening synth arpeggios, rapid-fire four-on-the-floor, tweeter and woofer rattling thump, and an insistent motorik groove, paired with Hemmett’s plaintive, yearning elivery and her uncanny knack for crafting an infectious, razor sharp hook, “Runaway” is a slickly produced and swooning pop confection that’s lovingly indebted to 80s pop.

Directed by frequent ACTORS collaborator Wayne Moreheart, the accompanying video for “Runaway” nods to classic-era MTV pop videos: Hemmett and a backing band performing the video in a sparse studio with soft pink light, a wind machine and endlessly falling balloons. While being a bright splash of color, the video is about breaking free from mundane routines, letting go and just having fun.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Margot Kurtis’ Shares a Self-Assured Bop

Margot Kurtis is an emerging singer/songwriter and electro pop artist, who’s part of a new scene of artists incorporating elements of hip-hop and R&B into her sound and approach. Lyrically, Kurtis’ work feels like a page torn from her diary with the material drawing from her own life — her feelings and personal experiences, her doubts and the difficulties she has encouraged as a woman and as a female artist.

Her debut single, the Kids Return and Louis Dureau-produced “4 ans plus tard” is centered around a minimalist production featuring finger snaps, percussive, industrial thump, twinkling and arpeggiated keys paired with Kurtis’ sultry yet self-assured delivery. The title, which translates into English as “4 years later” is about Kurtis’ first four years in the music business. She explains that didn’t know what she was doing and naively believed everything she was told. She wound up being an automaton, who repeated — and did — everything she was told, until she realized that she was being lied to and led astray.

Directed by Frankie Allio, the accompanying visual for “4 ans plus tard” is a symbolic and surreal fever dream: the video begins with four men wearing the exact same outfit — lime green ski masks, black coats, black pants and black shoes, like demented members of the Blue Man Group. They sit vigil over a coffin, which contains a possessed Kurtis, who bursts out of the coffin. The rest of the video we see Kurtis interact with the ski mask wearing men: first she’s exhausted by them and tries to escape; but they’re always there in some fashion or another, lurking in the background.