Category: Pop

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Natalie Closner and her two younger twin sisters Meegan and Allison, Portland, OR-based pop trio Joseph derive their name from their grandfather Jo and the tiny Oregon town in which he lived, Joseph, OR. And although the Closners grew up in a musical household, the sibling trio hadn’t sung together until a few years ago when Natalie Closner, seeking a creative jolt asked her twin sisters if they’d like to form a band together — and they quickly discovered that they had an immediate simpatico and began writing songs together, based around a use of three part harmony.

“White Flag,” the first single off the trio’s forthcoming full-length debut I’m Alone, No You’re Not employs the use of the Closner’s gorgeous harmonies, swirling and ambient electronics and handclap-led percussion in a song that quickly builds up to an anthemic and cathartic hook while pairing them with a powerful message — that one should never give up to attain what they desire. Sonically, the Portland-based sibling trio’s sound reminds me quite a bit of Pearl and the Beard and Lucius as the Closners’ latest single possesses a swooning and forceful urgency.

The Closner sisters will be embarking on a lengthy tour that includes a September stop at Radio City Music Hall. Check out tour dates below.

TOUR DATES:

6.9 – Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo

6.22 – Bristol, UK – Summer Series – Harbourside *

6.24 – Somerset, UK – Glastonbury Festival

6.27 – Luxembourg, LUX – Rackhal *

6.29 – Munich, GE – Toll wood Festival *

7.1 – Nr. Brandon, Suffolk, UK – Thetford Forest (Forest Live) *

7.6 – Manchester, UK – Castle Field Bowl *

7.8 – Cannock, UK – Cannock Chase Forest *

7.12 – Scarborough, UK – Scarborough Open Air Theater *

7.14-17 – Beccles, UK – Latitude Festival

7.17 – Dublin, IE – Longtitude Festival

7.18 – London, UK – St. Pancras Old Church

7.20 – Hamburg, GE – Knust Acoustic Session

7.22 – Berlin, GE – Berghain Kantine

7.23 – Haldern, GE – Haldern Pop Bar

7.24 – Nurnberg, GE – Fold Im Park

7.29 – Los Angeles, CA – FIG at 7th // Arts Brookfield Series

8.5-7 – Happy Valley, OR – Pickathon

8.10 – Boulder, CO – The Fox – Triple A Summit

9.19 – Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live *

9.21 – Miami Beach, FL – The Fillmore Miami at Gleason Theater *

9.23-24 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium *

9.25 – Charlotte, NC – The Fillmore Charlotte *

9.27 – Richmond, VA – The National *

9.28 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE *

9.30 – New York, NY – Radio City Music Hall *

10.1 – Boston, MA – Blue Hills Bank Pavilion *

10.3 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Theater *

10.4 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit *

10.6 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave / Eagles Ballroom *

10.7 – Saint Louis, MO – The Pageant *

10.8 – Kansas City, MO – Arrest Bank Theatre at The Midland *

11.3 – Antwerp, BE – Trix Hall #

11.5 – Copenhagen, DK – DR Koncerthuset #

11.6 – Oslo, NO – Folketeateret #

11.9 – Berlin, DE – Postbahnhof #

11.10 – Munich, DE – Technikum #

11.11 – Zurich, CH – Kaufleuten #

11.13 – Milan, IT – Fabrique Milano #

11.14 – Montpellier, FR – Le Rockstore #

11.16 – Barcelona, ES – Bikini Barcelona #

11.18 – Bardeaux, FR – Rock School Barbey #

11.20 – Lyon, FR – Epicerie Moderne #

11.21 – Stasbourg, FR – La Laiterie #

11.22 – Cologne, DE – Kantine #

* Supporting James Bay

# Supporting Michael Kiwanuka

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Born in Elst, a small village in the Utretcht Province of The Netherlands, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Marjan Alise Theodora van Viegan, best known as iET (pronounced as “eet”) discovered at an early age that music could be used as a way to transport herself to a different reality outside of her small village life — and as a result, van Viegan gradually wanted to connect with the world outside of her small village. Certainly, even as Americans there’s something about van Viegan’s story that feels — well, deeply universal. After all, how many of us have desperately yearned for something more in our personal and professional lives?

With the release of her debut EP The Kitchen Recording Series 1, which was literally recorded in her own kitchen, van Viegan caught the attention of several artists including Bonobo’s Szjerdene and Pink Oculus, with whom she collaborated on The Kitchen Recording Series 2. The Kitchen Recording Series 2 eventually caught the attention of Grammy Award winning producer and engineer Russell Elevado, best known for his work with D’Angelo and Erykah Badu, who offered to work with van Viegan debut effort, So Unreal, an effort that received international praise for it’s meshing of a variety of sounds and styles including electro pop, soul, singer/songwriter confessionals and more.

Friday will mark the release of So Unreal‘s follow up, the Inhale EP and the effort is reportedly a change in sonic direction and aesthetic for the Dutch singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist as van Viegan wanted to go for a much more intimate and direct sound. Co-produced by van Viegan and her friend and frequent collaborated Budy Mokognita, the album features van Viegan writing and recording most of the EP’s material herself with her collection of vintage instruments and gear, including her guitar, trumpet and double bass, which she inherited from her uncle and a recently acquired 1930s Schimmel upright piano.

Much like Inhale‘s first single “Inhale Your Love,” the EP’s latest single “As She Moved” focuses on an atmospheric and straightforward songwriting and sonic approach as van Viegan’s ethereal and sultry coos with a propulsive drum programming, cascading and swirling keyboard chords, handclap-led percussion, gently undulating bass and strummed guitar in a carefully crafted, swaggering song that owes a debt to experimental pop, neo-soul and rock simultaneously while revealing a songwriter who has an innate ability to write a subtle yet infectious hook.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Mikey Wax is a New York-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, whose profile has exploded nationally and internationally as a number of his singles and albums have achieved commercial success and placement in a number of major TV series. After “In Case I Go Again,” off his debut effort Change Again won South Florida-based WRMF 97.9 FM‘s Unsigned Artist contest, the song was featured on CBS‘s Ghost Whisperer, NBC‘s 2012 Summer Olympics coverage and ABC Family‘s Pretty Little Liars  — and the music video was featured as part of YouTube‘s Music Tuesday spotlight, which garnered over 500,000 views. Wax’s 2011 self-released sophomore effort Constant Motion landed at number 6 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter Chart, number 47 on Billboard Heatseekers Chart, with album single “Counting On You” receiving major radio airplay on major Adult Top 40 stations across the country.

As as a result of his rapid success, Wax was selected by New Music SeminarNew  as one of their “Artists on the Verge” and was featured by iHeartRadio as an “Artist To Watch” in 2012 — and “Counting On You” was featured during the elimination montage on every episode of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance that season. Additionally, the song was featured in the trailer for the major motion picture Playing for Keeps which lead to coverage from USA Today and Young Hollywood. “For Better Or Worse” was featured on Lifetime‘s Dance Moms while “So Crazy” appeared in a promo teaser for Brazilian TV network GNT, which led to the song charting on the Top 100 iTunes Pop Chart Brazil and a sub-publishing deal with Warner/Chappell South America.

 

The New York-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist’s self-titled, third full length effort was released in 2014 and featured “You Lift Me Up,” which debuted on iTunes US Top 200 Pop Charts and has since been placed on MTV‘s The Real World and The Challenge: The Battle of the Exes II, the season 10 promo for E! Entertainment‘s Keeping Up With The Kardashians and all Fox Sports NBA games throughout the second half of the 2015 season. Building on the success he’s received to date, Wax’s “Love Always Wins (#LoveWins)” was also featured on the promo for E! Entertainment’s I Am Cait and on the SoundHound app homepage.

I have to add that the New York-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has toured with the likes of Parachute, Andy Grammer, Jon McLaughlin, Matt Wertz, Rachel Platten, Howie Day, Tyler Ward, Ryan Cabrera, Tyler Hilton, Tony Lucca and others.

“Bottle of Jack,” Wax’s most recent single pairs Wax’s soulful vocals with a neo-soul-like arrangement of shimmering keyboard chords, loose and funky guitar chords, propulsive drumming, soaring synths and a sinuous bass line to craft an radio-friendly pop confection that has its narrator describing the sensation of being in love to drinking a bottle of Jack Daniels. And at points, it certainly can feel that way! In any case, Achtabahn released a house music remix of “Bottle of Jack” that pairs Wax’s effortlessly soulful vocals with a warm, Random Access Memories-era Daft Punk production consisting of a sinuous bass line, warm blasts of Nile Rodgers-like guitar shimmering neo-soul like keys, handclap-led percussion, swirling electronics, bleeps and bloops and wobbling, tweeter and woofer wobbling drops that makes the song dance floor friendly while retaining the radio-friendly pop confection spirit of the original.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Last December, I wrote about Sophie Stern, the Los Angeles-based creative mastermind behind the (mostly) solo recording project Sophie and the Bom Boms. Initially, Stern’s career began behind the scenes as a songwriter, who was signed to mega-hit producer and songwriter Dr. Luke’s camp. After spending couple of years as a go-to songwriter, Stern decided that it was time for her to go out on her own as a solo artist.

 

Inspired by a diverse array of artists including diverse array of artists including Erykah Badu, Tom Tom Club and a lengthy list of others, Stern began collaborating with two rather renowned producers, David Elevator, who won 3 Grammys for his work on Beck‘s Morning Phase and Dan Dare, who’s best known his work with Marina and the Diamonds, Charli XCX and M.I.A. for her debut EP. The EP’s first single “Big Girls” was a breezy and infectious pop confection that paired big boom-bap beats, cascading synths, anthemic hooks and Stern’s effortlessly soulful vocals in a way that was reminiscent of Nu Shooz‘s “I Can’t Wait” while sounding remarkably contemporary.

The EP’s second and latests single “Appetite” will further cement Stern’s reputation for crafting incredibly infectious, breezy and anthemic pop as you’ll hear boom bap beats, handclaps, twinkling synths and an anthemic, hashtag worthy hook paired with Stern’s ballsy and bratty vocals in a song that’s a tell off to fuckboys, deadbeats, drama kings and queens and parasites everywhere — with the sort of sense of humor that would likely remind you of things you may have heard or said back in the schoolyard.

Sonically and thematically speaking the song manages to nod at Australian-born, Berlin-based indie pop artist Phia, Gwen Stefani‘s “Ain’t No Holla Back Girl,” and TLC‘s “No Scrubs” as it possesses the same “girl power/girl, drop that loser/girl, drop that deadbeat friend” air but backed by slick, modern production techniques.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

If you’ve been frequenting JOVM for a while, you may remember that I’ve written about Norwegian electro pop duo, BLØSH. With the release of their breezy and infectious debut single “Can’t Afford to Lose You,” the duo comprised of of Madrid-born, Oslo, Norway-based cellist and vocalist Teresa Bernabé and guitarist Jørgen Berg Svela, an Oslo native, quickly found themselves with an expanding international profile as the duo saw praise and attention from JaJaJa Music, Indie Shuffle and airplay on Amazing Radio.

“Give It Away,” which I wrote about last November further cemented the duo’s burgeoning reputation for crafting infectious pop as the song paired an upbeat melody, punchy bass lines, a looping guitar line and a soaring, anthemic hook with with Bernabé’s breezy vocals  while sonically drawing from African music and African-inspired pop  — in particular Paul Simon‘s Graceland, the legendary Ali Farka Touré and Afrobeat. Now the Oslo, Norway-based duo is continuing to build on the buzz of “Can’t Afford to Lose You,” and “Give It Away” with the release of their latest single “When Love Is Alive.” Beginning with a steady bass line, the song pairs reverb-y guitars, propulsive drumming and Bernabé’s ethereal vocals in a slow-burning song that expresses an aching longing and yearning for giving and receiving the love that the narrator desperately wants and deserves — but with the sad realization that love is often short-lived. And as a result, the song possesses the same breeziness as their previous singles but with a subtle sense of mourning.