Category: New Video

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Ibeyi Release a Dreamy and Symbolic Visual for Swaggering “Made of Gold”

Deriving their name from the Yoruba word for twins ibeji, the acclaimed French-Cuban, London-based twin sibling duo Ibeyi (pronounced ee-bey-ee) — Lisa-Kainde Diaz and Naomi Diaz — can trace the origins of their music career to growing up in a deeply musical home: their father, Anga Diaz, was best known for his work as a member of the intentionally acclaimed Buena Vista Social Club and for collaborating with Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzalez and Compay Segundo. Sadly, Anga died with the Diaz Sisters were 11.

Upon their father’s death, the Diaz Sisters began studying Yoruba folk songs and the cajon an Afro-Caribbean drum that their father played throughout most of his music career. Interestingly, although Yoruba is primarily spoken throughout Nigeria and Benin, the African language has been spoken in some fashion in the Diaz Sisters’ native Cuba since the 1700s, when the slave trade brought Africans to the Caribbean. When the sisters began studying their late father’s musical culture and heritage, they had a deeper understanding of their father as a person; but they also were in touch with their ancestral history.

The duo’s 2015 self-titled debut was released to widespread critical praise. Thematically, the album dealt with the past — the loss of their father, their relationship with each other, their father’s origins, their own origins and connecting with their roots. The album’s saw the duo quickly establishing a unique sound that meshes elements of electro pop, hip-hop, jazz, the blues and Yoruba folk music. The JOVM mainstays’ sophomore album, 2017’s Ash found the duo writing songs firmly rooted in Afro-Cuban culture and history while being among the most visceral, politically charged material of their catalog to date, with the album thematically touching upon race, gender and sexual identity.

Earlier this year, the twins headed back into the studio to begin work on their third, full-length album. Understandably, feeling a sense of chaos, informed by the chaotic state of our world, the acclaimed twins set out to invoke the age-old teachings of their ancestors to remobilize the power of their birth-given destiny as Ibeyi.

The duo are currently working on the album, which is slated for release next year. But in the meantime, “Made of Gold” is the first bit of new material from the London-based JOVM mainstays since the release of Ash. Centered around a lush and textured production featuring atmospheric synths, buzzing bass synths, skittering tweeter and woofer rattling beats that evokes unease and menace while meshing contemporary Afro pop/Afrobeats, electro pop and trap in an infectious fashion. While being one of the few songs of the sibling duo’s growing catalog with lyrics sung in English, the song features swaggering verses delivered by Gambian-British emcee Pa Salieu.

“The first song we produced in the studio was ‘Made of Gold.’ Whilst we were creating the layers of the backing vocals, we could feel that we were making contact with our ancestors; that what we were recording was calling on the brujas and our ancestors for their ancient knowledge,” says Lisa-Kaindé Diaz. “‘Made of Gold’ is about connecting to our ancestors’ knowledge, to the truths of the past and the power of the ancient. The line is not broken, nor is it lost. Protected by these spells, our third album will see us conveying our reconnection to that power and channeling that magic into our new music.”

Directed by Daniel Sannwald, the recently released video for “Made of Gold” is a highly symbolic, gorgeously shot visual conceptualized by Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi. The video is inspired by Frida Kahlo’s The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth (Mexico), Diego, Me and Señor Xolotl. The video features Naomi as the Queen of Thunder, a referrence to her Yoruba god, Shango — and Lisa-Kaindé as the Queen of Water, a reference to her Yoruba goddess, Yemaya, Emerging from the sky to join the sun and the moon is Pa Salieu. It’s trippy fever dream but much like their music rooted in their Yoruba heritage and tradition.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Mexico City’s Howless Releases a Nostalgia Inducing Visual for Anthemic Single “Levels”

Rising Mexico City, Mexico-based noise pop/shoegaze quartet Howless is led by co-lead vocalists Dominique Sanchez and Mauricio Tinejro. The Mexican indie outfit’s highly-anticipated full-length debut, To Repel Ghosts is slated for a February 18, 2022 through Static Blooms Records.

Thematically, To Repel Ghosts sees the rising Mexican quartet grappling with big themes, while hinting at nervous foreboding and striking different levels of consciousness throughout the album’s eight crafted and dynamic songs that seamlessly transition into the next. And they manage to do so with the self-assuredness and effortless aplomb of a group of old pros.

“Levels,” To Repel Ghosts‘ latest single was lyrically inspired by William Garvey’s “Goodbye Horses” and centered around chiming guitars, booming 808 tom fills, arpeggiated synths, alternating boy-girl vocals and a rousingly anthemic chorus. “Levels” sees the rising Mexican indie outfit pairing old fashion pop craftsmanship with textured soundscapes and an uncanny ability to write a razor sharp hook.

The recently released video for “Levels” is features VHS shot footage of an early 90s club night and dance competition, And while being goofy and nostalgia-inducing, the video — for me, at least — captures young people at their most carefree and fun, and when things seemed far simpler.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: ADULT. Releases an Uneasy and Cringe-Inducing Visual for Glitchy “Fools (We Are . . .)”

Throughout their 25 year history, acclaimed Detroit-based multimedia and electronic music production and artist duo ADULT. — the husband and wife team of Adam Lee Miller and Nicola Kuperus — have a sprawling catalog of material released through  Mute Records, Ghostly International, Thrill Jockey, Third Man Records and a list of other labels that has seen the duo obscure and blur lines between genres and styles in a cohesive fashion in the album format.

“but for this we wanted something that’s falling apart.” Becoming Undone, ADULT.’s ninth album reportedly sees the duo explicitly aiming for that goal, while simultaneously rejecting and reflecting the planetary discord that inspired and informed it. Written between November 2020 and April 2021, Miller and Kuperus kickstarted the creative process through additions to the rig: a vocal loop pedal for Kuperus and Roland percussion pads for Miller. They also reconnected with some of their earliest influences including Test Department and Throbbing Gristle’s 20 Jazz Funk Greats, which helped spark a series of fruitful and frenetic sessions, centered on themes of impermanence and dissonance. “We weren’t interested in melody or harmony since we didn’t see the world having that,” ADULT.’s Miller bluntly reasons.

While there are still plenty of the dance floor bangers the duo is known for, Becoming Undone is also informed by deep, personal loss: Kuperus’ father died during the height of the pandemic, just before the duo were about to start working on the album. As his hospice caretakers, she and Miller faced the banality finality, surrounded by objects drained of meaning — “the joy of having a body, but also the drudgery of having one,” they say.

The end result is an album that crackles with revulsion and dissent, and it seemingly equal parts exorcism and denunciation, centered around a breadth of vocal effects: Kuperus at times sounds alternately indignant and possessed, decrying the crimes, fears, and failings of a deluded, broken world. “Humans have always been pretty terrible,” Kuperus explains. “But every year the compromises of culture just accelerate.”

“Fools (We Are . . . ) is a glitchy and uneasy bit of EBM centered around stuttering beats, dense layers of arpeggiated synths paired with an unhinged and desperate vocal performance by Kuperus, who sings lyrics describing the sensation of being stuck in a seemingly endless and foolish loop of the same ol’ things while everything around them falls apart.

The recently released, self-created video for “Fools (We Are)” is a surrealist fever dream featuring a clown in a bathroom. Initially mischievous, we see the clown playing with the toilet paper and sanitary toilet seat covers, before she daintily pretends to use the toilet. The video turns increasingly surreal when the clown goes through the repetitive actions of having to use the bathroom — with all the toilets backing up and overflowing. It’s a menacing and unpleasant nightmare.

The video’s concept can trace its origins to an idea to combine Kuperus’s recurring performance of the clown/fool theme and a series of drawings that Miller had always waned to turn into a sculptural installation — The Golden Fountains. “Inspiration came from performances by Paul McCarthy’s ‘Painter’ to Bruce Nauman’s ‘Clown Torture.’ The sculptural work of Duchamp’s ‘Fountain’ to Robert Gober’s ‘Two urinals (in 2 parts),’ and the album artwork of Fad Gadget’s ‘Incontinent.’” The duo explain. “The toilet is a universal motif, a shared human situation or in some cases shituation. We are all fools in one way or another, from war to waste to societal trends in ridiculous human behavior.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays No Swoon Release a Brooding New Visual and Single

Formed back in 2016, JOVM mainstays No Swoon — Tasha Abbott (vocals, guitar) and Zack Nestel-Patt (synths) — have received attention across the blogosphere for a sound and approach that meshes elements of dream pop, shoegaze, post-punk and ethereal wave.

2018’s EP 1 was written in Los Angeles during a self-imposed exile from the East Coast. For Abbott, a native of Ontario, CA, the idea was to get back to her geographic and musical roots: she spent a great deal of time driving around the suburbs listening to the goth and New Wave that her mom played in the car when Abbott was a little girl  (Bauhaus, Love and Rockets, New Order) and the indie rock and punk rock of her teenage years (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The White Stripes).

2019’s Jorge Elbrecht-produced, self-titled full-length debut saw the band firmly establishing their sound in an urgent and ambitious fashion. Drawing from the divisiveness of the 2016 election and its aftermath, the self-titled album featured incisive political commentary — often criticizing capitalism, unchecked power and greed, while touching upon the confusion, frustration and and uncertainty that so many of us have felt, and continue to feel.

Much like countless others across the world, the COVID-19 pandemic, the members of the JOVM mainstay act found their lives and plans thrown into disarray: their planned tour to support their full-length debut last year was indefinitely scrapped. And after spending the past five years in Brooklyn, the duo relocated to Los Angeles. Understandably, the past year spent in isolation has forced the duo to take a step back and think about their lives in new ways, as well as examine the intricacies of going through life. (This has been a period of profound reflection and reinvention — for all of us.)

The duo’s latest single “Again” marks a period of massive transitions for the band: the aforementioned move back West — and the band reworking their sound as a result. The slow-burning “Again” sees the JOVM mainstays pairing Abbott’s ethereal and plaintive vocals with a stormy backdrop of forceful and buzzing power chords, thunderous drumming by frequent collaborator Jon Smith, swirling bursts of twinkling keys and a enormous hook. Sonically, the song manages to evoke the seemingly unending doldrums of the earliest part of the pandemic, while being a sort of mix of Siamese Dream era Smashing Pumpkins and Slowdive.

“This song is about when days begin and end with no real definition. About being stuck in the loop of our life and we can’t get out. It may come to no surprise that this song was written early on in the Pandemic. Before everything shut down, I (Tasha) was constantly moving: work, music, sleep, etc., and being at stand-still all of a sudden was definitely strange (on top of the already terror and stress of the pandemic).”

Directed, shot and edited by the members of No Swoon,  the recently released video for “Again” features the band’s Tasha Abbott by herself at night, shot in a series of super tight close-ups meant to evoke the claustrophobic feeling of being trapped by yourself with your own thoughts.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: India’s Us and I Release the Slow-Burning and Aching “First Love”

Formed back in 2018, the emerging Bangalore, India-based synth pop duo Us and I — Bidisha Kesh (vocals) and Guarav Govilkar (production) — features members who come from very different backgrounds, who bonded over the fact that they share similar musical sensibilities: As the story goes, when they started to work together, Kesh and Govlikar quickly realized that they shared a unique way of crafting songs with deeply personal lyrics paired with the melancholia of the orange and yellow colors leaking from the sounds of their synthesizers. 

The duo spent the next two years developing and honing a sound that they believe will act as a bridge between the synth-driven work of Chromatics and the slow-burning, dream pop of Beach House — with subtle nods to darkwave and post-punk. Thematically, the duo’s material generally draws from everyday life and the relationships around them. 

As a result of the pandemic, the Bangalore-based duo played a few online, live-at-home livestream sessions. which helped the band gain attention for their debut EP Loveless, which was released earlier this year. Thematically, Loveless focuses on a universal subject, love — in particularly, a past love and how the nostalgia and grief of that past love can hit us like waves. Now, as you may recall, I wrote about Loveless single “Fragile,” deliberately crafted, textured pop centered around glistening synth arpeggios, sinuous bass lines, thumping beats and Kesh’s gorgeous vocals in a song that reminded me quite a bit of Dead Blue-era Still Corners.

The EP’s latest single “First Love” is slow-burning ballad centered around an atmospheric arrangement of twinkling piano, glistening synth arpeggios and Kesh’s achingly plaintive vocals. While sonically “First Love” strikes me as being a bit like Still Corners meets Tales of Us era Goldfrapp, the song as the duo explains is about “the nostalgic longing to be near someone that is distant, or that has bene loved and then lost — ‘the love that remains.'”

Fittingly, the recently released video for “First Love” is nostalgic and brims with an aching and unresolved longing for a time, place, and situation that can’t be recovered. And as a result, ghosts linger and taunt throughout.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay MAGON Releases a Trippy and Artsy Visual for Slow-Burning “Egyptian Music”

With the release of Out in the Dark, the Israeli-born, Paris-based singer/songwriter, guitarist and JOVM mainstay MAGON quickly established a sound that he has publicly dubbed “urban rock on psychedelics.” Sonically, to my ears, the material seemed indebted to Ziggy Stardust era David Bowie and T. Rex. 

Late last year, the Israeli-born, Paris-based artist released his critically applauded sophomore album Hour After Hour. Featuring tracks like  “Change,” a dreamy meditation on the passing of time, “Aerodynamic,” a decidedly glam rock-inspired take on psych rock and the No Wave meets post-punk like album title track “Hour After Hour,” MAGON’s sophomore album was a decided change in direction with the album’s material being “somewhere between Ty Segall, Allah-Las and The Velvet Underground” according to MAGON. 

MAGON’s third album In The Blue is slated for a December 3, 2021 release through Howlin’ Banana and December Square. The soon-to-be released album reportedly finds the Israeli-born, French-based mainstay drawing from two different sets of influences — 70s rock Lou Reed and Led Zeppelin and contemporary influences like Mac DeMarco and Devendra Banhart, while being centered around some of the most introspective songwriting of MAGON’s career to date.

Last month, I wrote about In The Blue single “The Willow.” Continuing a remarkable run of 70s rock inspired material paired with introspective songwriting: The song follows its characters on a trip to Egypt, where the narrator sees the titular willow. But the trip also serves as a larger metaphor for its characters, who are desperately trying to find something — themselves? some deeper, hidden truth?  

In The Blue‘s latest single “Egyptian Music” is a slow-burning vibey ballad of sorts, centered around shimmering and reverb-drenched guitars paired with impressionistic yet introspective songwriting — with the song equally evoking nostalgia and regret.

Directed by MAGON, the recently released video is split between gorgeously shot black and white live action sequences with cinematography by Justine Mangin animation and set design by Michael Mîndru.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays ACTORS Release a Horror Movie-Inspired Visual for Slow-burning “Obsession”

With the release of 2018’s full-length debut It Will Come To You, the acclaimed Vancouver-based JOVM mainstay act ACTORS — currently Jason Corbett (vocals, guitar), Shannon Hemmett (synth, vocals), Kendall Wooding (bass) and Adam Fink (drums) — quickly established a brooding yet anthemic post-punk sound centered around icy synths, angular bass lines, squiggling guitars and Corbett’s reverb-drenched croon. 

Since the release of their full-length debut, the Canadian post-punk outfit had been busy: Until pandemic-related lockdowns and restrictions put touring on pause, ACTORS had been on a relentless touring schedule to support the album, including a stop at the long-shuttered Brooklyn Bazaar for a headlining set at 2018’s A Murder of Crows Festival. Interestingly, during that same period of time, ACTORS’ frontman Jason Corbett has become an in-demand producer, who has worked with the likes of Bootblacks, Ultrviolence, SPECTRES, and a growing list of post punk acts.

The Canadian post-punk outfit’s highly-anticipated sophomore album Acts of Worship was released earlier this year through Artoffact Records. Recorded and produced at Corbett’s Jacknife Studio, the album finds the members of the JOVM mainstay act pushing their synth-driven sound in a more dance floor friendly direction, while retaining the brooding melancholy and massive hooks that have won them attention across the international post-punk scene. 

I’ve managed to write about three of the album’s singles so far:

  • “Love U More,” a single that can trace its origins to the band being on the road: While traveling the Autobahn at 190km per hour (about 120 mph), the song’s opening synth melody looped through Jason Corbett’s head. The song itself is centered around shimmering synth arpeggios, angular and reverb-drenched bursts of guitar and a relentless motorik groove in one of the act’s more sensual songs to date. 
  • “Only Lonely,” Acts of Worship‘s second single, a song that Corbett explains is indebted to Roxy Music — in particular “The Space Between” “Dance Away” and “Love Is The Drug.” And much like the sources that inspired it, “Only Lonely” manages to express a similar yearning and vulnerability. 
  • “Cold Eyes,” a leather, lace and light night come on, centered around buzzing bass synths, twinkling synth arpeggios and a relentless motorik groove.

Acts of Worship‘s fourth and latest single “Obsession” is a slow-burning yet sultry song centered around a propulsive bass line, glistening synth arpeggios, Corbett’s achingly tender crooning and the band’s unerring knack for an enormous hook. Sonically, the song — to my ears, at least — reminds me of The Cars “Drive” and Avalon era Roxy Music with a subtle nod to classic soul but while tackling loneliness and obsession gone dangerously wrong.

The recently released video for “Obsession’ is split between sequences of the band playing the song in a dark, strobe lit room and a masked killer, who stalks a punk rock couple, hanging out in a parked van.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay Miles Francis Confronts Male Privlege in “Good Man”

Over the past decade, New York-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Miles Francis has developed a reputation as a musician’s musician — and arguably one of New York’s best kept secrets. Interestingly, the longtime JOVM mainstay can trace the origins of their career to when they learned the drums at six, then guitar, bass, keys and percussion.

As a working musician, Francis has toured the world with Arcade Fire‘s Will Butler, Antibalas,  EMEFE and Superhuman Happiness — and has collaborated and performed with  Sharon Jones, Amber Mark, Angelique Kidjo, Allen Toussaint, TV on the Radio‘s Tunde Adebimpe and a lengthy list of others. And as a result of those collaborations, the New York-based JOVM mainstay has has appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and The Late Show with David Letterman.

Francis stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist with the release of 2018’s debut EP Swimmers, which earned praise from The Fader, Stereogum and KCRW for material that saw the New York-based artist blending an eclectic array of influences including David Bowie, Prince, Afrobeat and a childhood obsession with early 2000s boy band pop.

Earlier this year, Francis released two singles “Service” and “Popular.” Both tracks continue an ongoing collaboration with Lizzie Loveless and Lou Tides (best known as TEEN‘s Lizzie and Teeny Lieberson).

The New York-based artist has released two singles this year — “Service,” which was released earlier this year and “Popular,” which features Lizzie Loveless and Lou Tides (best known as TEEN‘s Lizzie and Teeny Lieberson). Both tracks will appear on Francis full-length debut, Good Man.

Whereas the Prince meets Afrobeat-like “Service,” is a darkly ironic send up of the over-the-top obsequiousness of boy band pop, “Popular” is its anthesis, featuring an ego-driven, narcissist, who craves undivided attention. “Popular” manages to be simultaneously breezy and full of the dangerous sort of menacing anxiety and insecurity — that of a man.“I grew up with Backstreet Boys posters lining my bedroom walls, floor to ceiling,” Francis recalls. That era of music is dear to my heart, but upon closer look those songs are ridden with anxiety, songs about male adolescence written by grown men. That anxiety and impulsiveness is the place from which ‘Popular’ grows out from.” 

Francis goes on to say that “Service” and “Popular” are “my own little Jekyll and Hyde. “One minute, it’s ‘I’ll do anything for you’ – the next minute, it’s ‘I don’t care for you.” They addd “I am interested in man’s two-faced-ness – our ability to show one thing to the world and someone completely different in private.” And as a result, at their core, both songs are about the male ego. “Power is essential to the male ego. That ego is a house of cards, of course, threatened by even the slightest loss of control. These songs and videos are meant to illustrate that delicate balance between control and disarray.” About “Popular,” in particular, Francis says ““Everyone indulges in having an ego and wanting to be recognized, but men seem particularly bent on the power element — whether it’s taking up space in a room or leading a country.”

Whereas the Prince meets Afrobeat-like “Service,” is a darkly ironic send up of the over-the-top obsequiousness of boy band pop, “Popular” is its anthesis, featuring an ego-driven, narcissist, who craves undivided attention. While centered around Francis’ unerring ability to write a rousingly infectious hook, “Popular” manages to be simultaneously breezy and full of menacing anxiety and insecurity, evoked through rapid-fire drumming, slinky and angular guitars, buzzing bass synths and twinkling keys. “I grew up with Backstreet Boys posters lining my bedroom walls, floor to ceiling,” Francis recalls. That era of music is dear to my heart, but upon closer look those songs are ridden with anxiety, songs about male adolescence written by grown men. That anxiety and impulsiveness is the place from which ‘Popular’ grows out from.” 

Francis goes on to say that “Service” and “Popular” are “my own little Jekyll and Hyde. “One minute, it’s ‘I’ll do anything for you’ – the next minute, it’s ‘I don’t care for you.” They addd “I am interested in man’s two-faced-ness – our ability to show one thing to the world and someone completely different in private.” And as a result, at their core, both songs are about the male ego. “Power is essential to the male ego. That ego is a house of cards, of course, threatened by even the slightest loss of control. These songs and videos are meant to illustrate that delicate balance between control and disarray.” About “Popular,” in particular, Francis says ““Everyone indulges in having an ego and wanting to be recognized, but men seem particularly bent on the power element — whether it’s taking up space in a room or leading a country.”

“Service” and “Popular” will appear on Francis’ full-length debut, Good Man. Slated for a March 4, 2022 release, the album’s material explores and questions masculinity, male conditioning and even the New York-based artist’s own gender identity — all of which led to Francis coming out as non-binary earlier this year. “At the start of the protests and the resurgence of Black Lives Matter last year, I realized the most direct way I could help was to get a drum and go out to marches and keep a beat for organizers,” says Francis, who soon assisted a friend in the founding of a New York-based collective called Musicians United. “In the beginning the goal was to get involved with anti-racist work, but the experiences I had and the people I met through the Black Trans Lives Matter movement opened up my whole world. It gave me a new mirror to see myself in, and helped me to find my own queerness and nonbinaryness.” 

From those experiences, Francis finally realized: “When I’m in my studio, it feels like being completely free of the outside world, free of gender, free of everything except me. I feel like I’m finally figuring out how to take that freedom beyond my musical expression and bring it into every aspect of my life. Now I want to share that feeling with everybody.”

Good Man‘s latest single, album title track “Good Man” is centered around Francis’ unerring knack for crafting infectious hooks paired with buzzing bass synths, shimmering and arpeggiated synths, wiry post-punk guitars,, big horns, skittering drums and beats, and the New York-based artist’s dryly ironic delivery. Sonically. the song nods at Talking Heads and Bowie while being a seething indictment of prototypical “progressive-minded” men, who — well, are still men blinded by their own privilege.

Francis explains that the title track came from conversations with “progressive-minded” men who still had blind spots around issues like the #MeToo movement: “‘Good Man’” is about a particular patriarchal phenomenon that I’ve grown increasingly mindful of in the men around me. It’s sung by a man who preaches progressive values, who identifies as ‘one of the good ones’ – -yet he fails to recognize his perpetuation of patriarchal behavior in his own life. There are lots of outwardly ‘bad’ men out there – but it’s the ones who claim their ‘good’-ness that can be particularly troublesome and capable of causing real harm. The songs on my album follow someone wrestling with their true nature, and at the heart of that process is the question of what ‘being a man’ even means.” 

The recently released video for “Good Man” continues Francis’ ongoing collaboration with director Charles Billot: The video features the JOVM mainstay as the visual’s protagonist and villain facing himself in a distorted mirror — and the end result is the video’s main character slowly cracking up as a result.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Yumi Zouma Returns with an Intimate Visual for Breezy Pop Confection “Mona Lisa”

During the course of this site’s 11-plus year history, I’ve spilled a lot of (virtual) ink covering the acclaimed indie synth pop outfit Yumi Zouma. Last year, the JOVM mainstay act, which features members residing in New Zealand, the States and the UK signed to Polyvinyl Record Co, who released their critically applauded, self-produced, third album Truth or Consequences, an album that thematically focused on distant — both real and metaphorical; romantic and platonic heartbreak; disillusionment and feeling (and being) out of reach. 

Of course, if you really follow and love music, you’re well aware of the fact that touring is often the most important — and necessary — part of the promotional camping for an artist’s or a band’s new release. Before they hit the road, that artist or band will figure out how to re-contextualize their new material and some previously released material for a live setting, imagining how a crowd will react to what — and how — they’ll play in a live a set. Like countless acts across the world, who were touring — or about to tour — as COVID-19 struck across the world, the members of Yumi Zouma were forced to cut their tour short and head home, leaving scores of their fans without the opportunity to hear the new album in a live setting.

Last October the JOVM mainstays released Truth or Consequences (Alternate Versions), an album conceived as the band’s response to the lost opportunity to re-contextualize and explore the boundaries of the original album’s material through live engagement with fans. Interestingly, since the release of Truth or Consequences (Alternate Versions), the members of the acclaimed indie pop outfit have been busy: Earlier this year, they released the standalone single “Give It Hell,” an essentially classic Yumi Zouma track featuring wistful and melancholy lyrics `paired with breezy arrangement featuring glistening synth arpeggios and a gentle yet persistent motorik groove. But underneath the song’s bittersweet air is a subtle celebratory note, a reminder that even in the most difficult of circumstances, we need to be grateful for being here now — and as an old song once said “all things will pass.”

“Mona Lisa,” the second single of 2021 by the acclaimed indie pop outfit may arguably be the most expansive song of their growing catalog: Beginning with an introduction featuring acoustic guitar, rapid fire drumming and Simpson’s imitably ethereal vocals, the song morphs into a breezy pop confection that nods at New Order and Bruce Springsteen — in part to a sultry saxophone-led coda. The song’s expansive and unusual arrangement evokes a shifting and complicated emotional state, seemingly influenced by our incredibly uncertain moment.

“’Mona Lisa’ came to us gradually over a long period of time – so its story has changed and shifted, developing new relevance with each new phase of our lives,” Yumi Zouma’s Christie Simpson explains in press notes. “It’s a song that ruminates on conflicting, shifting uncertainty – of wanting someone that maybe you can’t have – of uncertain boundaries, of confusing interactions, misunderstanding, yearning. Trying to forget an obsession – or shifting between losing all hope and giving in to the obsession – lured back by the excitement and promise – the moments of feeling so alive. The terror and joy of a big crush. And so we wanted the video to feel like a mirror to all those emotions along the passage of time – except in isolation. A year stuck inside (as we have been), alone with the big feelings, the big highs, and the low lows – dancing around your bedroom, losing it a little bit. Moving in, making it yours, moving out again. The strange phase we’ve been existing in, trying to thrive in (occasionally succeeding, but often not). The joy, the sadness, the conflict, the chaos – without ever really leaving your bedroom.”

The self-directed and recently released video for “Mona Lisa” stars the band’s Christie Simpson and is informed by real life events — namely, the jubilation, claustrophobia and mayhem of months in lockdown in both the UK and her native New Zealand: Simpson had just moved back to New Zealand after making the fortuitous decision to head to London the week before the outbreak of COVID-19. And in the video, which was filmed in Lyttleton, New Zealand, we see Simpson move into the studio apartment, make it her own and gradually lose her mind. Interestingly. the room was built by the band to match the artwork for the single.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Rising Toronto-based Act Tallies Releases a “120 Minutes” Era MTV-like Visual for Shimmering New Single

Toronto-based dream pop outfit Tallies — Dylan Frankland (guitar), Sarah Cogan (vocals, guitar) and Cian O’Neill (drums) — had a breakthrough 2019: Their self-titled, full-length debut was released to critical praise from the likes of Under the Radar, DIY Magazine, The Line of Best Fit, MOJO, Bandcamp Daily, Exclaim!, KEXP and others. Adding to a growing profile, the Canadian indie trio have opened for Mudhoney, Hatchie, Tim Burgess and Weaves.

The Graham Walsh and Dylan Frankland co-produced “No Dreams of Fayres,” was recorded at Toronto’s Palace Sound, Baskitball 4 Life, and Candle Recording and is the first bit of new material from the rising Canadian outfit since their full-length debut. While the new single continues to see the band draw influence from Lush, Beach House and Cocteau Twins, there’s a greater emphasis on shimmering guitars — paired with deeply lived-in songwriting and a razor sharp hook. Sonically reminding me of The Sundays‘ “Here’s Where The Story Ends,” the Toronto-based dream pop act’s newest single is ironically upbeat, as it documents Sarah Cogan’s struggles with depression — in particular, the moments when she was trying to work it out but 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.”

Directed and shot by Colin Medley and edited by Christopher Mills, the recently released video for “No Dreams of Fayres” follows a discman listening Sarah Cogan, as she wanders around a snow-covered Canadian town with stops at a record store, a local eatery, the lakefront, and an empty bandshell, before heading to a local bowling lane to meet her bandmates.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Rising British Act APRE Release a Shimmering 80s inspired Synth Bop

With the release of “All Mine” and “You,” the rising, British, experimental electro pop duo APRE — Charlie Brown (lead vocals, guitar, drums, keys, synths, bass and programming) and Jules Konieczny (backing vocals, keys, synths, bass, programming and drums — have exploded into the national scene, receiving critical applause from the likes of The Sunday Times, NME, DIY Magazine, Clash Magazine, Gigwise, The Line of Best Fit and Notion, as well as airplay from BBC Radio 1‘s Jack Saunders and Clara Amfo and BBC Radio 6′s Lauren Laverne and Tom Robinson. Adding to a growing profile, the duo have opened for JOVM mainstay Sam Fender, Friendly Fires and Inhaler.

“All Mine” and “You” will appear on the duo’s nine-track mixtape A001, which is slated for a February 1, 2022 release. But in the meantime, the duo have released the mixtape’s third single “Waste My Time,” a lush, hook-driven bop featuring layers of glistening synth arpeggios, stuttering boom bap breakbeats, squiggling bursts of guitar, and Brown’s plaintive vocals. And while decidedly influenced by 80s synth pop and New Wave, the duo explain that “‘Waste My Time’ is about big egos and how they take over and control you and you don’t realise it until it’s too late, leaving you taken advantage of, making it even harder to remove yourself from the relationship because you are trapped by their ego, almost forcing their morals and beliefs to become your own.” 

Fittingly, the recently released video for “Waste My Time” is given a gritty VHS like feel, featuring the duo performing the song in front of fuzzy, psychedelic imagery. Trip out while you get down, y’all.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul Release a Feverish Visual for Infectious and Off-Kilter Banger “Blenda”

Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul are a Ghent, Belgium electronic duo, who exploded into the national and international scenes with the release of 2019’s critically applauded, David and Stephen Dewaele-produced Zandoli EP. Their unpredictable and subversive take on electro pop sees the pair poking and prodding at the pop zeitgeist with a provocative and sly sense of humor. Adding to a growing profile, EP singles “Paténipat” and “High Lights” received airplay on UK Radio and were playlisted by BBC Radio 6. 

Adigéry and Pupul’s full-length debut as a duo, Topical Dancer is slated for a March 4, 2022 release through Soulwax‘s own label DEEWEE. Co-written and co-produced by Soulwax and the acclaimed duo, Topical Dancer is deeply rooted in two things: their perspectives as Belgians with immigrant backgrounds with Adigéry proudly claiming Guadeloupean and French-Martinique ancestry and Pupul being of Chinese descent, and the conversations the duo have had touching upon cultural appropriation, misogyny, racism, social media vanity, post-colonialism.

So while being a snapshot of their thoughts and observations of pop culture in the early 2020s, the album also further cements their sound and approach; they manage to craft thoughtful songs that bang hard centered around their idiosyncratic and off-kilter take on familiar genres and styles. “We like to fuck things up a bit,” Pupul laughs. “We cringe when we feel like we’re making something that already exists, so we’re always looking for things to combine to make it sound not like a pop song, not like an R&B song, not a techno song. We’re always putting different worlds together. Charlotte and I get bored when things get too predictable.”  

The album’s 13 songs are also fueled by a restless desire to not be boxed in — and to escape narrow perceptions of who they are and what they can be. “One thing that always comes up,” Bolis Pupul says, “is that people perceive me as the producer, and Charlotte as just a singer. Or that being a Black artist means you should be making ‘urban’ music. Those kinds of boxes don’t feel good to us.”But they manage to do all of this with a satirical bent; for the duo it’s emancipation through humor/ “I don’t want to feel this heaviness on me,” Charlotte Adigéry says. “These aren’t my crosses to bear. Topical Dancer is my way of freeing myself of these issues. And of having fun.”

Earlier this year, the duo released “Thank You,” an off-kilter banger, centered around Adigéry’s deadpan delivery, skittering beats, layers of buzzing synth arpeggios an an enormous hook. And at its core, the song’s narrator seeks revenge against all mansplainers and all unwarned, unsolicited and dumb opinions from outsiders.

Topical Dancer‘s second and latest single “Blenda” is an off-kilter banger centered around African inspired polyrhythm, wobbling bass synths, skittering beats, Adigéry’s trademark deadpan delivery slightly giving way to incredulousness paired with the duo’s unerring knack for crafting a razor sharp, infectious hook. “Blenda” references how “I am a product of colonialism,” Adigéry says “and I feel guilty for taking up space in a white country. The song also draws some influence from Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race. “It talks about the colonial past and post-colonial present in the UK,” Adigéry continues, “but that isn’t merely a British or American problem, Belgium is part of that as well.” She says that her home country is likewise “oblivious to a big part of its history” which “results in general ignorance and a lack of understanding and empathy towards Belgian inhabitants of immigrant descent.” 

Directed by Bob Jeusette, the recently released video for “Blenda” continues a run of visuals that are feverish mindfucks: we see two young children, a Black child and an Asian child, presumably stand-ins for Adigéry and Pupul, watching a TV show that shills cheap foreign shit, interspersed with a Black woman being chased by men wearing pigeon masks and other wild and inexplicable goings-on. Racism and self-hate are culturally ingrained y’all — and it’s fucking awful.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Pale Ramon Releases a Hallucinogenic Visual for Rousingly Anthemic “Keep Going”

Deriving their name from Wallace Stevens’ 1934 poem “The Idea of Order at Key West,” in which Stevens examines the creative powers of the human mind, and “to what extent artists are capable of creating, redefining or mastering the natural world around themselves,” Brooklyn-based indie outfit Pale Ramon features two grizzled, New York scene vets — Emanuel and The Fear‘s Emanuel Ayvas (vocals, keys) and former Monuments and Oceanographer Kevin Plessner (guitar).

Last February, the duo went to The Isokon in the Catskills to record their recently released sophomore album Annie with D. James Goodwin. When those sessions ended, they left feeling elated and continued production when they returned to Brooklyn. With pandemic related shutdowns, the duo continued working on the album in their home studios separately. Every few weeks, the pair shared their individual production work — while living through the unease, uncertainty and turmoil of the past year or so. After a few additional days at The Creamery Studio with Jeff Fetting in September, they sent the tracks back to Goodwin for the final mix and mastering.

Annie‘s latest single “Keep Going” sees the duo crafting a textured yet arena rock friendly song that sonically brings Who Are You and Who’s Next era The Who to mind: The song features glistening synth arpeggios squiggling, delay pedaled guitars, thunderous drumming, Emanuel Ayvas’ plaintive vocals and a rousingly anthemic chorus. Much like the material on their full-length debut, “Keep Going” is politically charged capturing the urgency of unique moment with an unerring accuracy. At its core, the song reminds people that although things are difficult and exhausting, that we’re all going to have to be determined to fight for the world we want for ourselves and for the future — or there will be no future.

Produced and edited by Mark Sanders, the recently released video for “Keep Going” employs the creative use of stock footage — g of small children in black and white, shot between the 30s and 50s based on the kids’ outfits; of suit-wearing businessmen; factory workers making candy and other goods — and its paired with psychedelic imagery to create a hypnotic, fever dream.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Dream Phases Releases an Expansive and Trippy Meditation on Creativity and Writer’s Block

After spending stints in notable Los Angeles-based acts like Blank Tapes, The Relationship, Levitation Room and Nacosta, Brandon Graham decided that it was time to step out into the spotlight in his own terms. Initially starting the Los Angeles-based psych rock outfit Dream Phases as a solo, home recording project, the project became a full-fledged band when Garham’s brother Shane and their friend Keveen Badouin assisted him in fleshing out the material he had written.

Creatively, the sibling bond between Brandon and Shane is at the heart of the band. “There is a special synergy between us that wouldn’t be there if we weren’t brothers,” Shane Graham says. “We share many of the same influences, but we also have some different ones as well that help make the band unique. We don’t always see eye-to-eye creatively, but then we work it out and end up with something we are both excited about.”

The then-newly launched band released their debut EP 2017’s Maybe Tomorrow, which was quickly followed by their full-length debut So Long, Yesterday. Both releases saw the band establish a sound that drew from The Byrds, The Beach Boys, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young — as well as acts like Rain Parade, Elliot Smith and Autolux among others. The band supported both of those efforts with touring that found the Los Angeles-based psych outfit replicating the dreamy vibes of their studio work with raw energy, light shows and other visual effects at SXSW and two European tours. “Our albums are very thought-out, but our live show is more primal and exciting in a different way,” Dream Phases’ Brandon Graham says in press notes. ““We never wanted to be a band that sounds exactly like it does on record.”

Dream Phases’ sophomore album New Distractions is slated for a November 10, 2021 release through Nomad Eel Records and Lunar Ruin and the album sees the band translating the experiences of its members into something compelling — and universal while pushing their sound into new directions. The album. which was written through email and Zoom meetings is also the first album, where it’s a fully collaborative affair with all of the band’s members having songwriting credits. “In the past I would make a fully fleshed out demo recording and then show the guys that,” Brandon Graham recalls.  “With this one I mostly just wrote the skeleton of the song, like the lyrics, vocal, guitar and sometimes keys and then sent that. We talked about structure, rhythm, and other elements that brought the songs to life.”

“I think there’s a lot more self-reflection in these songs,” Brandon Graham says. “They were written during the COVID lockdown, and there was so much happening in the world that you really had to look at yourself in the mirror and ask where you stood on a range of issues. Several of the songs deal with growing older and taking care of yourself both mentally and physically, as well as learning to not take things for granted.” Matters of the heart also were a new emphasis for the material. “In my previous bands, I rarely if ever wrote about relationships, but it seems like every other song on this album is about them. I guess I’m trying to be more direct now,” Brandon Graham adds.

New Distractions‘ latest single is the dreamy “In A Box.” Seemingly indebted to Summer of Love era psych rock and 70s AM rock, the song is centered around shimmering, delay and reverb-drenched guitars, Brandon Graham’s plaintive falsetto and expansive song structure that starts out a bit brooding and gets increasingly hopeful as the song moves towards its conclusion. And while decidedly trippy, the song is informed by personal, lived-in experience as the band explains.

“‘In a Box’ was the first song written for New Distractions, in fact we played this song on our 2019 European tour. The song is about overcoming writers block, and searching for the inspiration to do just that. The chorus progressively get more hopeful as the joy of writing something new is felt. The accompanying music video was made by Matthew Lingo and Styles Wolff Baker and visualizes the journey through the sub conscious mind, searching for inspiration.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay MUNYA Builds a Spaceship and Travels to Space in Playful Visual for “Voyage”

I’ve managed to spill a copious amount of virtual ink covering Québec-born and-based multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter and producer Josie Boivin, the creative mastermind behind the critically applauded recording project and JOVM mainstay act MUNYA over the past couple of years. 

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over that same period, you might recall that when Boivin was asked to play at 2017’s Pop Montreal, she had only written one song. Ironically, at the time, Boivin never intended to pursue music full-time; but after playing at the festival, she quickly realized that music was what she was meant to do. So, Boivin quit her day job, moved in with her sister and turned their kitchen into a home recording studio, where she wrote every day. Those recordings would become part of an EP trilogy with each individual EP named after a significant place in Boivin’s life: Her debut North Hatley EP derived its name from one of Boivin’s favorite little Québecois villages. Her second EP, the critically applauded Delmano EP derived its name from Williamsburg, Brooklyn-based bar Hotel Delmano. The third and final EP of the trilogy, Blue Pinederived its name from the Blue Pine Mountains in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks.

Since the release of that critically applauded EP trilogy, the Québec-born and-based JOVM mainstay has been busy: She released a string of singles, including the Washed Out-like “Pour Toi,” a single centered around the aching and unfulfilled longing of being forced to speak to a loved one from a distance. And she worked on her highly-anticipated full-length debut Voyage to Mars. 

With a background in opera and jazz, Boivin’s life has been centered around two big dreams: to be a musician — and to go to Mars. “I love space. I love aliens. I love thinking that we’re not alone in this big strange universe,” she says. “Those things give me hope.” Naturally, that hope led to Voyage to Mars, an album that derives its title from Georges Méliès’ classic silent film Le Voyage dans la Lune. Slated for a Friday release through Luminelle Recordings, the album’s material often feels as though it were beamed in from another, more beautiful and whimsical world. 

In the lead-up to the album’s release later this week I’ve written about two of the album’s previously released, official singles:

  • Deriving its title from the name of a Florida town, located about 15 miles from the John F. Kennedy Space Center, “Cocoa Beach” features a driving and funky bass line, four-on-the-floor, squiggling Nile Rodgers-like guitar, glistening synth arpeggios and Boivin’s dreamily coquettish vocals singing lyrics in English and French. The song is centered around the JOVM mainstay’s unerring knack for crafting a razor sharp, infectious hook — and fittingly, a ton of space and space travel-related imagery. 
  • A slow-burning cover of The Smashing Pumpkins‘ “Tonight, Tonight” that sees the JOVM mainstay stripping some of the original’s bombast away for an intimate, bedroom pop-like production centered around shimmering and reverb drenched guitars and skittering beats paired with Boivin’s ethereal and plaintive vocals.

“Voyage,” Voyage to Mars‘ latest single is an upbeat bop centered around glistening synth arpeggios, squiggling rhythm guitar, a driving and funky bass line, handclap driven percussion and the JOVM mainstay’s ethereal cooing. Further cementing Boivin’s unerring knack for crafting infectious hooks paired with earnest songwriting, “Voyage” manages to tie the album’s themes together while being a celebration of the journey that led her to the release of the album. But it’s also about the importance of taking the time to enjoy your dreams as they — finally! — come true. “‘Voyage’ is about willing your seemingly impossible-to-achieve dreams to come true…like building a ship and traveling to space to meet up with an old friend on Mars,” the JOVM mainstay explains.

Directed by Ashley Benzwie and Boivin, the recently released and playful video for “Voyage” begins with Boivin reminiscing about her dear Martian friend. She then researches and builds a spaceship out of wood, reclaimed metal and other scraps to visit her friend. The video ends with Boivin blasting off towards her destination.