Category: singer/songwriters

New Audio: A Cat Named Monty Shares Jangling, Hook-Driven “Welcome to Life”

David Jennings is an Aussie-born, Germany-based singer/songwriter and musician, who is an Australian Songwriting Club winner and a two-time Australian Songwriting Association runner-up, who has been a part of the Melbourne music in some fashion since the late 90s as the creative mastermind of A Cat Named Monty, which released six EPs to some critical acclaim.

Since relocating to Germany, A Cat Named Monty features members spread out across the globe. The project’s latest single “Welcome To Life” is a hook-driven tune that brings Blur, The Beatles, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, and New Zealand jangle pop to mind that take a hilarious — yet sobering — look at the difficulties of living in the modern world. Yes, first world problems but problems all the same.

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay Elisapie’s Ethereal Take on The Cranberries’ “Dreams”

Acclaimed Salluit, QC-born, Montréal-based singer/songwriter, musician, actor, activist and JOVM mainstays Elisapie‘s fourth album, 2023’s Inuktitut features inventive re-imaginings of songs by Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Blondie, Fleetwood Mac, Metallica and more, with the album being an act of cultural re-appropriation that reinvigorates the poetry of these beloved songs by placing them within Inuit traditions.

Through the album’s 10 songs, the acclaimed Montréal-based artist tells her story, while offering its songs as a loving gift to her close knit community. But the album is also a testament to the power and remarkably universality of pop music and an ode to the experiences, memories, places and people, who have shaped us.

Recorded for the CBC, APTN and Netflix original series North of North, “Sinnatuumakka (Dreams)” marks the first bit of new material since 2023’s Inuktitut and sees the acclaimed Inuk artist translating and adapting The Cranberries‘ beloved smash-hit 1992 song “Dreams” into her mother tongue. While retaining the familiar and beloved melody of the original, Elisapie’s rendition of the song is a slightly slowed down, more ethereal take that pulls a yearning, escapist thread out to the forefront.

“It’s a song that really resonates with the Inuit world,” says Elisapie. “In the North, it’s cold, and life isn’t always easy. That’s why dreams take on a special place. They’re a way to escape and imagine something else.“

North of North‘s second season, which includes episodes featuring the acclaimed Iunk artist and her new song will launch globally on Netflix later this fall. Set in the Canadian Arctic, the show’s second season sees Siaja (Anna Lambe) still making bold decisions and even bolder mistakes in her effort to level up her life and prove she’s ready to take charge as winter closes in on the Ice Cove community. “It was very moving to see Siaja’s character open up and dream throughout the episodes,” Elisapie says. “This series allows us to dream, and I think the Inuit need that.”

Elisapie was invited by Red Marrow Media and Northwood Entertainment, North of North‘s production team to take part in the show’s second season, which was filmed earlier this year in Iqaluit, NU and Toronto. In addition to making a cameo, she can be seen performing “Sinnatuumakka (Dreams)” and “Arnaq.”

“During the shoot, there were times when I wasn’t sure if it was reality or fiction,” says Elisapie. “And I was lucky enough to share this experience with my band!”
 
“When we wrapped, Elisapie played a couple more songs just for the crowd so they could enjoy a performance without having to hold back their reactions,” say Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, North of North’s co-creators and executive producers, and founders of Red Marrow Media. “She dedicated a song to any residential school survivors in the room, and there wasn’t a dry eye. There are a few hundred Inuit who will carry that experience with them for the rest of their lives, us included.”

New Video: Odette Shares Broodingly Cinematic “Don’t”

Sydney-based singer/songwriter Odette has quickly established a reputation for writing songs that feel like whispered, close-quarters confessions: soulful, sharp and unafraid of honest reflection.

Her third album, the Kiah Gossner-produced Blink is slated for a November 6, 2026 release through Beloved Records. And throughout the album’s runtime, the rising Aussie artist sings candidly about the human experience and what it means to become aware of the world around you. Album sessions began back in 2022, which was the start of the Aussie artist’s recovery from a particularly volatile period of her life — and served as a way to turn a difficult and overwhelming period into something beautiful and healing.

Blink will include the previously released tracks “AAAH!” and “Watch Me Go,” and the album’s latest single “Don’t.” Shifting crescendoing strings, percussive and melodic keys create a broodingly cinematic bed for Odette’s haunting delivery and confessional, lived-in lyricism. “Don’t” comes from a place of shame and hurt; not from the hurt someone did to you, but from the recognition that you’ve hurt someone you care about.

“Don’t’ is for someone who used to be very close to my heart. I’ve been hesitant to write a song for them because I still feel very ashamed about that time in my life,” Odette says. “I was a very volatile, scared and controlling person for many years in this friendship. I didn’t want anyone to leave me alone with how I was feeling, and I was also experiencing intermittent psychosis and delusions, and because of that, I became someone who caused a lot of harm to people I deeply love and care about.”

Directed by Meg Siejka, the accompanying video for “Don’t” is shot in black and white full of dreamily cinematic visuals. including the artist singing and accompanying herself on piano in what appears to be a dance studio.

New Audio: Nouvelle Vague’s Breathtakingly Gorgeous Cover of Depeche Mode’s “A Question of Lust” feat. Beth Hirsch

Founded by Marc Collins and the late Olivier Libaux back in 2003, Nouvelle Vague was initially conceived as a one-off tribute to post-punk songwriting in a Bossa nova style. 2004’s self-titled debut, which saw them establish their unique fusion of melancholy post-punk, Bossa nova and French re-interpretational approach, unexpectedly achieved global acclaim. Since then, Nouveau Vague has become a global phenomenon.

Their 10th album, A Date with Depeche Mode is slated for an October 30, 2026 release through Kwaidan Records/[PIAS] Recordings. And as you can probably tell, the album sees the French outfit tackling the work of pioneering British electronic outfit Depeche Mode.

A Date with Depeche Mode will include the previously released “Never Let Me Down Again” feat. Brazilian artist Flavia Coehlo, “Only When I Lose Myself” feat. Mélanie Pain, and the album’s latest single “A Question of Lust” feat. Beth Hirsch. Originally released in 1986, the original is a slow-burning and atmospheric tune that balances entirely on the edge between desire vulnerability. For Nouvelle Vague, there was one choice that felt inevitable to interpret the song — Beth Hirsch, whose voice is an integral part of Air‘s ironic Moon Safari and has been etched into the collective memories of an entire generation.

Hirsch’s imitable vocal, which expresses yearning and vulnerability with an achingly wistful quality, ethereally sways over an acoustic Bossa nova arrangement of guitar and accordion. Simply put, the Nouvelle Vague rendition is a cinematic, breathtakingly gorgeous take.

New Video: Sirintip Shares Dizzying, Introspective “Lotus”

New York-based Thai-Swedish producer, composer and singer/songwriter Sirintip creates work that sits at the intersection of avant-garde pop, jazz, electronic music and interdisciplinary art. Raised in Thailand by her recently departed father, Sirintip spent her teenaged years in Sweden, before relocating to the States to pursue her music and artistic career. Through her multilingual identity, she has learned to communicate in countless ways, with the understanding that expression is expression, and deeply human, no matter the context. Her musical work is ethereal yet impassioned, with her voice moving across sophisticated harmony, dense electronics and rhythmic experimentation, shaped by her musical roots, which span across jazz, pop, traditional Thai music and European classical music.

The Thai-Swedish artist has released two acclaimed albums, 2018’s Michael League-produced Tribus, which features Mark Guiliana and 2022’s Carbon, which landed on DownBeat‘s Best Albums of 2022 list. She’s a highly-sought after collaborator, who has contributed to over 50 recordings, as well as composed the score for the 1925 silent film, The Lost World.

Sirintip has toured internationally as a bandleader and as an opener for Snarky Puppy and Sungazer, performing at SJFAZZ, The Nobel Museum, Wonderfruit and Winter Jazzfest.

Her broader artistic practice spans scientific collaboration, orchestral composition and sustainability, including solar-powered concerts and bioplastic vinyl, driven by a desire to uncover connections between cultures, ecosystems, disciples and people. The Thai-Swedish artist’s interdisciplinary project Mycelium transforms scientific research on fungi and plankton through music, data signification, projections and dance.

The acclaimed New York-based artist’s Elliot Moss co-produced White Lilies EP is slated for an October 30, 2026 release through Birdwatcher Records. The six-song EP may arguably be some of her most personal songwriting to date. Thematically, the EP’s material engages with grief through place and memory with the EP being a transmission of vulnerability through music. The EP and its creative process helped Sirintip process the loss of both her father and her childhood home back in Bangkok, while connecting with listeners on the universality of memory and identity.

Rather than bring external research and scientific inquiry, White Liilies reportedly sees the acclaimed artist turning inward. Each of the EP’s songs captures the breadth of her creativity: Pop song forms are blended with electronic textures, deep grooves and elevated, often dissonant harmonies. This all emerged organically, almost unconsciously. “I was trying to write very intuitively,” she says.

For the EP, Sirintip assembled a backing band of musicians and artists, whose versatility served her vision: Kengchakaj (piano, effects), Nolan Byrd (drums), Ben Wendel (tenor sax, effects) with the acclaimed New York-based artist on vocals, vocal effects, programming and various production elements. As co-producer, Elliot Moss helped her achieve an open-minded “pop perspective” for the overall production and sound. “I’m really, really, really happy with the production,” she says.

Commissioned by Greenwich House Music School, White Lilies sees Sirintip extending its creative expression even further, moving from musical gesture to sense-memory experience. The release includes biodegradable vinyl pressings, the acclaimed artist’s original photography, album artwork from Nitcha Tothong and a scent activations.

“Lotus,” White Lilies EP‘s dizzying second and latest single features dusty, trip hop-meets-hip hop breakbeat with twinkling keys, a Thai choral vocal sample, oscillating synths and a Quiet Storm-like groove beneath Sirintip’s expressive, jazz-meets-pop delivery. “Lotus” references a famous Thích Nhất Hạnh saying “No mud, no lotus,” while thematically touching on complicated parent-child relationship and celebrating breaking traumatic cycles.

“‘Lotus’ was inspired by Thích Nhất Hạnh’s idea of ‘no mud, no lotus.’ It’s about recognizing how our families, cultures, and the things we inherit shape who we become, while still choosing for ourselves what we want to carry forward,” the New York-based artist explains. “I think we can honor where we come from without repeating every pattern we inherited. The lotus is beautiful, but without the mud, it never would have grown into the flower it is.”

The accompanying video was shot in the artist’s native Bangkok and follows her as she dances and vibes out to the song in various locales, along with the titular lotus. While offering a slice of her birthplace’s breathtaking beauty, the video is punctuated by the memories of people and places that have gone, and those people are places still with us, and the uneasy push forward of our lives.

New Video: Rose Gray Shares Anthemic “Blink Twice”

Rising Walthamstow, UK-born dance pop artist Rose Gray has lived her life through club music — from cloakroom shifts to dance floor epiphanies. And that spirit infuses her work with hedonism, honesty and a lot of heart.

Her long-awaited full-length debut, last year’s Louder, Please, which featured “Party People,” “Free,” “Angel of Satisfaction,” “Switch” and “Wet and Wild” was released through Play It Again Sam. Praised for its breadth of collaborators, including Justin Tranter, Zhone, Sega Bodega, Ulfie and Alex Metric, Louder, Please saw the British artist channeling the chaos, catharsis and clarity of the dance floor into a kaleidoscopic vision that meshes classic pop with rave while quickly establishing her as one of the UK’s most exciting new dance artists. Along with the album, the rising British artist collaborated with Ben Hemsley on “Tidal,” Megra on “Elixir” and TSHA on “Girls.“

Adding to a breakthrough 2025, Gray opened for Charli xcx at London’s LIDO Festival. She played Glastonbury with Shygirl. She recorded a BBC Maida Vale live session. She also played her first ever UK headlining tour. She launched her own club night, Gray Selects. And she won a MTV Push Artist of 2025 Award. That summer, she played US dates with Kesha and Scissor Sisters. And she closed out the year with last October’s A Little Louder, Please, the deluxe edition of Louder, Please, which featured two previously unreleased tracks, “April” and “Lotus” and an additional disc of remixes with features from JADE, Melanie C, Shygirl and Casey MQ, as well as string versions of and club edits from Logic1000, Peach, Clementaum and Alex Chapman.

This year has seen the rising British artist build upon that momentum: Earlier this year, she played her second, sold-out North American tour, which included dates opening for Kesha and Scissor Sisters.. She recently made a run of the European festival circuit, playing sets at Primavera Sound, Boomtown and Leeds, which also included an opening slot for Lorde at All Points East. And she collaborated with Demi Lovato on “Joshua Tree.”

This past July, she released the two-track EP “Club To Your Arms“/”Just Be Bodies,” which offers a taste of what’s to come for the rising artist. And during all of this, she signed to Polydor Records.

Gray’s latest single “Blink Twice” is a rousingly anthemic, euphoric banger that’s a seamless blend of 80s and 90s dance pop, 90s Big Beat, house music and hyper pop that showcases the rising artist’s unerring knack for incredibly catchy hooks paired with earnest, lived-in lyrics, informed and influenced by her own experiences. And as a result, the song expresses a mix of awe, wonder, gratitude and luck that comes about from a whirlwind period in which hard work, dedication and moxie have finally seemed to pay off. But there’s also an awareness that even whirlwind, massive success can be fleeting.

“God, I love this song. It’s all chaos, love and emotion. I’ve been feeling so alive lately, more than ever,” Gray says. “This last year has moved so fast, and I’ve met so many incredible people along the way. Sometimes it hits me that I’m actually doing everything I ever dreamed of..touring the world, making music, playing the clubs I used to wait in line for. With all of that comes a little bit of fear too. I want it so bad, and I also don’t wanna lose it. Blink… and you might just miss it. I wanted to write a song about it.”

Paying homage to some of the classics of Gray’s upbringing, the track is also a full circle moment as it appears on the soundtrack for EA Sports 26/27. “This song reminds me of some of my favourite music I grew up on,” Gray adds. “Primal Scream, Basement Jaxx, maybe even a little bit of Britpop in its energy. I don’t really know what exact genre it is; it kinda bends between a few.”

The accompanying, stylishly shot visual for “Blink Twice” features the rising British artist in a suburban home vamping and dancing like a pop star before moving out — presumably for good.