Category: singer/songwriters

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Tame Impala Performs “Love/Paranoia” on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”

Initially developed as the solo recording project of its  Melbourne, Australia-based creative mastering, the multi-instrumentalist, producer and singer/songwriter Kevin Parker, Tame Impala quickly received national and international attention with the release of Innerspeaker and Lonerism. Parker’s third and most current full-length effort, Currents was released to critical praise two years ago, and from album singles “Cause I’m a Man” and “Let It Happen” reflected a decided change in Parker’s songwriting approach with the result being some of the most emotionally direct material he’s written to date. Along with that, sonically Parker expands upon the sound that has won him both national and international attention, with album material drawing from synth pop, prog rock and R&B, creating not only a modern take on psych pop, but also a much more nuanced, textured sound. 

After playing a critically applauded Panorama Festival set at the end of July, Parker and his touring band made an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where they performed the slow-burning and ethereal “Love/Paranoia,” a track that draws equally from synth pop, R&B and psych pop simultaneously; but underneath the shimmering and glistening surface is a plaintive plea from a severely screwed up man that has let his insecurities and petty jealousies (among other things) interfere in a meaningful relationship, and naturally, the song is an earnest plea for forgiveness; but unlike countless other songs based around a similar experience and emotion, there’s a sense that the song’s narrator recognizes that he has potentially fucked things up for good — and a result, the pleading possesses a sincere urgency. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Danish-born Los Angeles-Based Artist Dinner Releases Americana-Inspired Visuals for “Un-American Girl”

Anders Rhedin is a Danish-born, Los Angeles, CA-based producer, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who may be best known for a brief stint collaborating with Danish-born singer/songwriter and guitarist  Jannis Noya Makrigiannis in Copenhagen -based Choir of Young Believers, an act that had multiple chart topping hits in Denmark and was named “Best New Act” in 2009’s Danish Music Awards. Since relocating to Los Angeles several years ago, Rhedin started his own solo recording project Dinner, which received attention with the release of his debut EP collection and his full-length debut Psychic Lovers. 

With his sophomore effort New Work, which is slated for a September 8, 2017 release through renowned indie label Captured Tracks Records, Rhedin had a desire to do things differently.  “I just needed to get back to the approach I used when I was still self-release cassettes back in Copenhagen,” Rhedin explains in press notes. “I spent way too much time on the previous record. I was sitting in front of a computer screen alone for seven months working on it, obsessing over it. This time, I wanted to work very fast in order think less. I wanted to collaborate more. I hoped that other people’s presence would keep my perfectionism in check.” Rhedin enlisted Regal Degal’s and Ducktails’ Josh Da Costa to co-produce New Work, and the album features guest spots from Tonstartssbandht’s Andy White, and unlike the previous album, an array of American-born and-based musicians including Blouse’s Charlie Hilton, Infinite Bisous’ and Connan Mockasin’s Rori McCarthy, The Paranoyds’ Staz Lindes and Sean Nicholas Savage. The recording sessions found Rhedin, Da Costa and company working during the late night, off-hours at a  studio in an industrial section of downtown Los Angeles, with material being recorded on the spot — with little preparation time. “A lot of my favorite music is American. I thought it would be fun to go a little bit less Euro on this one,” Rhedin says in press notes. “I’m pretty Euro by myself, some might say. I wanted to add a different color.” 

In between sessions, Rhedin recoded and overdubbed material in his apartment with a 4 track recorder from the early 80s. We did very little editing, we just tried to record what was there. You’ll hear a lot of first-takes on the record,” Rhedin informs us in press notes. “The best part of the process was driving home early in the morning though the empty streets of LA, listening to the night’s recordings. Because it was such an immediate experience.”

Reportedly, New Work and its first single “Un-American Woman” was inspired a by William Blake’s “Proverbs of Hell” and Rhedin’s own personal experiences. “‘Un-American Woman’ is a song I wrote just before I stopped going out, just before I stopped sleeping around with woman,” the Danish-born, Los Angeles-based producer, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist says in press notes. “The song seems to be about disillusionment and a fear of being stuck in a certain lifestyle. But it also also touches upon the potential transformational aspects of ‘bad things.’ Nothing’s black or white, good or bad. There is just life-force moving. A constant movement. ‘The road of excess leads to the place of wisdom’ in the words of Blake.” 

Sonically speaking, New Work’s first single manages to be a mischievously anachronistic and effortless meshing of Joy Division and The Smiths-like post-punk, 60s guitar pop and psych pop with Around the World in a Day-era Prince, as the song manages to possesses a similar moody Romanticism paired with an ability to craft a slick and infectious hook. 

Interestingly, the recently released visuals for the song were shot in and around Las Vegas and manages to evoke the song’s haunting loneliness and swooning Romanticism; but interestingly enough the video features Mac DeMarco’s brother Hank dancing with his ballet troupe, and a sequence featuring a bunch of young people roughhousing in a seedy motel room. It’s decidedly American but from an outsider’s point of view. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay Cold Specks Returns with a Haunting and Vulnerable New Single

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past couple of years, you may recall the with the release of her first two critically applauded and commercial successful albums, 2012’s I Predict A Graceful Expulsion! and 2015’s Neuroplasticiy, the Canadian-Somali, Toronto, ON-based singer/songwriter Ladan Hussein and her recording project Cold Specks received national and international attention; in fact, both albums received Polaris Music Prize nominations and a Juno Award nomination for Breakthrough Artist of the Year, with the release of Graceful Expulsion! And in between writing, recording and touring, Hussein collaborated with Moby, Joni Mitchell and Herbie Hancock, Swans and others.

Up until recently, two years had passed since I had last written about Hussein but as it turns out, the renowned singer/songwriter had been busy. After touring throughout 2015 and 2016 to support Neuroplasticity, Hussein returned back to home to Toronto, where she began working on her third full-length album, Fools Paradise, which is slated for a September 22, 2017 release through renowned Canadian indie label, Arts & Crafts Records. As you may recall earlier this summer, I wrote about Fools Paradise’s first single “Wild Card,” a slow-burning and hauntingly atmospheric song, largely inspired by the refugee experience. There was a man in my family’s store, a new refugee, who had travelled from Somalia to Canada. By water and by foot he had travelled half way around the world to establish a better life for himself and his family who were still at home,” Hussein explains. “My mother had never met him before. He was a complete stranger from a familiar place. She took him to a local restaurant, fed him and found him somewhere to stay. I was astonished by her selflessness and kept humming ‘I’ll be there for you. Don’t know why’.”

Fool’s Paradise’s second and latest single, album tittle track reveals that the new album consists of what may arguably be her most personal work to date, as the song — and in turn, the album — finds her exploring her identity as a Somali-Canadian and as a black woman, while simultaneously focusing on existing through difficult times. And while the new single further cements her reputation for crafting moody, slow-burning pop, it’s a subtle yet decided change in songwriting approach as the song’s narrator expresses an aching longing and vulnerability; but just under the surface is a steely resolve to survive and thrive. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Perhaps best known as a founding member, vocalist, pianist and primary songwriter of Los Angeles, CA-based indie quintet Local Natives, an act that’s received attention nationally for a sound that has been compared favorably to the likes Arcade Fire, Fleet Foxes, Vampire Weekend and Grizzly Bear, Kelcey Ayer steps out from behind the auspices of a band for his solo side project, Jaws of Love. Unsurprisingly, Ayer’s new project reportedly sees Ayer honing in on what he’s best known for — sparse yet emotive piano ballads, as highlighted on his primary gig’s critically applauded sophomore effort Hummingbird.

 

Tasha Sits Close to the Piano, Ayer’s Jews of Love. debut takes was named by Ayer’s wife, who named the album after the their dog, Tasha — and the album is slated for a September 22, 2017 release through House Arrest Records, and Ayer’s Jaws of Love. debut single, the eponymous “Jaws of Love,” begins with a spectral arrangement in which he accompanies his plaintive and aching vocals with a gorgeous and mournful pianos before turing into a moody, and ambient synth pop track seemingly inspired by Narrow Stairs-era Death Cab for Cutie, Postal Service and Brian Eno; but at its core is a sweetly swooning love song that reveals a visceral vulnerability as the song, much like the rest of the album’s material, focuses on love’s trials and tribulations, with the recognition that love may arguably be one of the more difficult, insane and absolutely necessary things in our lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

As a mixed-race daughter in middle America — small town Ohio to be precise — the Nashville, TN-based singer/songwriter Becca Richardson has always lived with the surrounding questions of what it means to belong and connect with others, and because she grew up with the constant reminder of being different than her counterparts, she found an immediate connection through music; in fact, she grew up in a rather musical home in which Fleetwood Mac, Phoebe Snow and Cat Stevens were on heavy rotation in her home.  After learning piano, guitar and to sing, she discovered a deep passion for songwriting, which still manages to be a powerful tool for discovering herself and carving out a space in the world.

As a young adult, Richardson went to study at Stanford University while honing her overall sound and songwriting approach. After spending a few years playing and hustling in the Bay Area music scene, Richardson relocated to Nashville, where she began work on her Roger Moutenot and Courtney Little-produced full-length debut We Are Gathered Here. “Wanted,” the album’s lead single, thematically explores womanhood, otherness and autonomy — but in a way that captures the innermost thoughts and desires of a modern woman; the sort of woman you’ve befriended, dated or even gone to work with. Sonically speaking, the song paris Richardson’s coolly self-assured and sultry vocals with an slick and ambient-leaning production consisting of blasts of bluesy guitar chords, a sinuous bass line, gentle layers of shimmering and undulating synths and soaring yet tight hook to create an overall sound that’s incredibly crafted and thoughtful while being rather radio friendly.

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Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of her 2013 debut effort (Songs from) The Sandbox, Dutch singer/songwriter Tessa Rose Jackson quickly received attention nationally and Stateside for upbeat, happy-go-lucky, infectious pop; in fact, unsurprisingly several singles from the album received quite a bit of airplay back in The Netherlands, and were placed in a number of TV shows and commercials, including Fox‘s acclaimed series New Girl. However, as Jackson was beginning to write the material for her highly-anticipated sophomore effort, she felt as though the river had run dry. Several years had passed from her debut and she was older, wiser, and as she discovered far more interesting than the teenager, who wrote The Sandbox. Along with that, three years working as a composer for TV and feature films found Jackson growing as a songwriter and producer, who took on broadening influences and techniques, as well as a growing, dusty synthesizer collection.

With her songwriting and creative approach taking on a different direction, Jackson felt it was a perfect time to start anew. Explaining how she came about with Someone, her latest musical project, Jackson explains  “I wanted a name that meant: Don’t worry about who I am. Just check out what I make. I make a lot. Some you may like, some you may not. But I’ll like it. And you know what, I’m someone too.” While still possessing the anthemic hooks that first caught the attention of the blogosphere, “Say Something,” Jackson’s latest Someone single manages to nod at several disparate things — guitar pop and indie rock with subtle, ambient, electronic flourishes; but the song manages to reveal a cool, swaggering self-assuredness with some ambitious, pop-leaning songwriting. Simply put, it’s a radio-friendly track that has an arena rocking feel.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past few years, I’ve written quite a bit about the Bay Area-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and JOVM mainstay Tim Cohen, who has written, recorded and toured with a number of different bands and creative outlets, including Magic Trick, The Fresh & Onlys (with whom, he may be the best known) and as a solo artist. And during that period do time, Cohen has managed to be remarkably prolific. Last year alone, the Bay Area-based singer/songwriter spent time touring with both Magic Trick and The Fresh & Onlys, wrote, recorded and released Magic Trick’s fourth album Other Man’s Blues and his solo debut — all while balancing the responsibilities of being a new father.

Cohen continues a prolific and busy period with a new Fresh & Onlys album, Wolf Lie Down, the first Fresh & Onlys effort in over three years. Slated for an August 25, 2017 release through Sinderlyn Records, the album reportedly finds collaborators and bandmates Cohen and Wymond Miles (guitar, production) stripping the layered sound and feel of their last few albums, with Cohen and Miles aiming to imbue the material with an uplifting and swooning romanticism paired with Cohen’s wry humor. Last month, I wrote about album title track and first single “Wolf Lie Down,” a track that found Cohen and Miles pairing layers of chugging guitars, an old-timey rock ‘n’ roll bass line, and an infectious, chant worthy hook with Cohen’s mischievously metaphysical musings in a summer road trip-worthy song that nods at the Ramones.

“Impossible Man,” Wolf Lie Down‘s second and latest single continues along a similar vein of its predecessor as it finds Cohen and Miles playing jangling power pop that mischievously nods at Cheap Trick, 50s and 60s rock and 70s AM rock simultaneously, but as Cohen explained to the folks at Consequence of Sound, “‘Impossible Man’ came from a song I came up with called ‘Invisible Man,’ based loosely on Ralph Ellison’s sole but legendary novel. In It, I fancied myself figuratively invisible, like Ellison’s protagonist, but realizing it would be construed as either a purge homage to another, expressly literal character or as a literal ghost story, I quickly changed the title to ‘Impossible Man.”  And while always possessing a wry, winking, hyper-literate irony, “Impossible Man,” much like its predecessor its wrapped around a populist sensibility and an anthemic hook.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past month or so, you’ve come across a couple of posts featuring  Seattle, WA-born, Berlin, Germany-based singer/songwriter, guitarist, and producer Gordon Raphael. As a producer, Raphael has worked with an impressive, who’s who list of contemporary indie rock artists including  The Strokes, Regina Spektor, Damon Albarn, Ian Brown, The Cult‘s  Ian Astbury, Hinds and others; however, Raphael primarily sees himself as a singer/songwriter and guitarist.  “I love producing, but playing guitar and writing songs is what I’ve always done,” Raphael explains in press notes. “I wanted to show what I can do on the other side of the desk all the time, but producing kept getting in the way.”

Raphael’s full-length debut Sleep on the Radio draws from Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie, Mick Ronson, Kimono My House-era Sparks, Frank Zappa and prog rock among others. Reportedly “View From Blue,” the album’s first single was part of over 1,000 songs he had written over years; but it came from the most unlikely source — from a dream. But in particular, “View From Blue” is a part of a selection of 12 songs that were carefully honed and perfected to the point that they were living, breathing and fully fleshed out songs that needed to be played, recorded and heard – – right now.  And as a result, while the song clearly nods at Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie — think “Queen Bitch,”
“Panic in Detroit,” and others — the anthemic, hook-laden song possesses a forceful urgency underneath its boozy, free-flowing psychedelia.

 

“Savage,” Sleep on the Radio‘s latest single sounds as though it draws from Evil Heat-era Primal Scream and Brit Pop as twinkling synths, buzzing and whirring electronics are paired with blazing guitar pyrotechnics, an anthemic hook and a  spacey, psychedelic vibe that belies an incredibly sensual nature.  And much like its preceding single, “Savage” reveals a songwriter, who can craft an incredibly catchy hook and an ability to simultaneously be a musical chameleon while having a signature sound and aesthetic.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

So, if you’ve been frequenting this site for some time, you’d be familiar with Swedish singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and JOVM mainstay David Alexander and his solo electro pop/dream pop recording project Summer Heart. And with Summer Heart, Alexander has received international attention for a wistfully nostalgic sound that draws from 60s psych pop, 80s electro pop and lo-fi rock, and has been compared favorably to the likes of  Caribou, Washed Out, In Ghost Colours-era Cut Copy, Painted Palms and others. Interestingly, Alexander’s international profile has grown as a result of several songs being placed in TV series such as the NBC series, Whitney, which brought him and his work to the attention of millions of American TV viewers; but perhaps more important, the Swedish singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer is considering among the first wave of Malmo, Sweden‘s growing indie pop and dream pop scene — a scene that includes several internationally recognized acts (some of whom, you’ve heard about here), including Moonbabies, The Land Below, Hey Elbow, Blind Lake and Emerald Park.

It’s been over a year since I’ve personally written about him but within that period the Malmo Sweden-based artist and producer has been very busy touring and writing and recording his latest effort, 101, which is slated for release next month — and while 101‘s latest single “Hotel Beds” will further Alexander’s reputation for crafting swooning pop as the single consists of a buoyant and summery production featuring shimmering synths, stuttering House music-leaning drum programming, boozy blasts of guitar and Alexander’s laconic falsetto paired with a anthemic and dance floor. But underneath the buoyant and breezy pop stylings is a bittersweet rumination on the life of a touring musician — and in a way the song feels much like a rushing blur from place to place, without really knowing how long you’ll be around. In fact, as the Swedish pop artist explains in press notes “‘Hotel Beds’ is about touring, going from city to city, hotel bed to hotel bed. About meeting new people every night. It’s about a feeling of being detached from reality. Don’t get me wrong. I love to tour but after a while, it becomes a big blur . . . the lyrics were written in the back of a tour bus. It was recorded in Stockholm, mixed in Brooklyn and mastered in Jersey City.”

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Skyler Cocco is a Floral Park, NY-born, New York-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumetanlist, producer and model, who began writing songs as a child, and by the time Cocco was 11, she learned to operate the eight track recorder in her late father’s studio, how to program drums and then taught herself bass, guitar and piano to accompany her songs. Her career started in earnest as a a pop artist, writing hooks and collaborating with rappers as a cowriter, usually by writing hooks or producing beats but while studying studio composition at SUNY Purchase’s Music Conservatory, she further fleshed out her sound, eventually transitioning to a hard rock-leaning pop sound that’s largely influenced by Nirvana, Grimes, Soundgarden and others.

Cocco’s full-length debut Reverie was co-produced by Zach Miller and is slated for release sometime this year and from the album’s latest single “Some Nerve,” the up-and-coming, Floral Park, NY-born, New York-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and model specializes in the sort of anthemic and radio friendly hard rock — er, hard pop? — that’s reminiscent of Paramore, if they had decided to cover A Perfect Circle/Tool; and in fact similar to the work of Holy Wars, Cocco’s latest single, as well as the rest of the material on the album focuses on learning to live in the face of profound grief and heartache.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

JOVM mainstay Nicole Atkins is a Neptune, New Jersey-born, Nashville, TN-based singer/songwriter, best known for a sound that draws influence from 50s crooner pop, 60s psych rock and psych pop, soul music and Brill Building pop; in fact, some critics have compared her sound favorably to the likes of Roy Orbison and others; in fact, Atkins has publicly cited the favorites of her parents’ record collection as being major influences on her, including The Ronettes, Johnny Cash, The Beach Boys, The Sundays‘ Harriet Wheeler and Cass Elliot.

And as you may recall, Atkins started playing piano when she turned nine, and taught herself to play guitar at 13. By the time she was attending Belmar, NJ’s St. Rose High School, she was playing in pick-up bands and playing gigs at local coffeehouses. Upon graduating from high school, Atkins attended the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, where she studied illustration and ingrained herself within the city’s independent music scene. While in Charlotte, she began writing original songs and befriending a number of local musicians; at one point, she was a member of a local supergroup Nitehawk that, at one point had close to 30 members. She also joined Los Parasols and released an EP with them, The Summer of Love in 2002; however, later that year, she moved to Brooklyn, where she began to be influenced by the Rainbow Quartz Records roster, and began writing songs more along the lines of Wilco and Roy Orbison.

By early 2005, Atkins ran into keyboardist Dan Chen, who she had known from her days playing at The Sidewalk Cafe. And as the story goes, Chen approached her about forming a new band, a band which eventually became Nicole Atkins and The Sea. During a residency at Piano’s, the band won the attention of music industry attorney Gillian Bar and Atkins along with her backing band quickly found themselves in a bidding war between several record labels before signing with Columbia Records in early 2006. At the end of that year, Atkins and her backing band went to Sweden — Varispeed Studios in Kalegrup, Sweden and Gula Studion in Malmo — to record their Tore Johansson-produced debut effort Neptune City, which was released in October 2007 to accommodate re-mastering of the album. The album was a critical and commercial success, debuting at number 20 on Billboard‘s Top Heatseekers Chart and reached number 6 on the Heatseekers Middle Atlantic Chart.

2011 saw the release of her critically applauded, Phil Palazzolo-produced sophomore effort Mondo Amore. Recorded at Brooklyn’s Seaside Lounge Studio, Atkins’ new backing band The Black Sea featured Irina Yalkowsky (guitar), Mike Graham (drums) and Jermey Kay (bass). Atkins and her backing band played that year’s SXSW and were named by Spin Magazine as “the best live band of the festival,” and Mondo Amore received attention from the The New York Times and Rolling Stone.

During the winter of 2012 Atkins returned to Malmo, Sweden to record her third full-length effort Slow Phaser with Tore Johansson. Released in February 2014 to critical applause, the album landed at number 143 on the Billboard 200 based on the strength of singles “Girl You Look Amazing” and “Who Killed the Moonlight?” Adding to a big 2014 Atkins appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, where she performed a new rendition of “War Torn” off her Live from the Masonic Temple, Detroit album, an album which was recorded while she toured as the opener for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

Recoded at Fort Worth, TX‘s Niles City Sound, with a production team featuring Austin Jenkins, Josh Block and Chris Vivion and mixed by the Alabama Shakes‘ Ben Tanner, Atkins’ fourth album Goodnight Rhonda Lee marks two different but important occasions in the renowned singer/songwriter’s career — it’s her first album in three years, and more important, it marks a sonic departure from her previously released work. As I mentioned earlier, Goodnight Rhonda Lee‘s first single “A Little Crazy,” a collaboration with Chris Issak was a delicate and soulful ballad that clearly nods to some of Atkins’ earliest influences — in particular, Roy Orbison with a hint of Patsy Cline. However, “Darkness Falls So Quiet,” the album’s second single was a stomping and soulful track that nodded at  Dusty Springfield — and much like Springfield’s legendary work, Atkins’  vocals, which manage to simultaneously express swaggering self-assuredness and aching loneliness are paired with a warm and soulful arrangement that features a gorgeous string section, twinkling keys and a Daptone Records-like horn section. Interestingly, the album’s third and latest single “Sleepwalking” continues the soulful vein of its predecessor; however, with a shuffling arrangement featuring guitar, bass, twinkling keys and bold blasts of horn the song manages to nod at early Motown Records — to my ear, I thought of Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, Marvin Gaye, and even Charles Bradley. 

Atkins will be touring throughout the summer and fall to support the new album, slated for release in a few weeks. The tour will include a September 9, 2017 stop at Mercury Lounge. Check out the rest of the tour dates below.
Tour Dates:

7/20 – Lexington, KY – The Burl
7/21 – Florence, AL – WC Handy Festival
7/23 – Nashville, TN – 3rd and Lindsley
7/25 – Annapolis, MD – Rams Head on Stage w/Robert Ellis
7/26 – Fairfield, CT – Stage One
7/29 – Freehold, NJ – Monmouth County Fair
7/30 – Newport, RI – Newport Folk Festival w/Steelism and Ruby Amanfu
8/7 – Ann Arbor, MI – The Ark
8/8 – Chicago, IL – Space
8/10 – Davenport, IA – The Raccoon Motel
8/11 – Iowa City, IA – The Mill
8/12 – Minneapolis, MN – Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant
8/18 – Asheville, NC – Altamont Theatre
8/19 – Athens, GA – Wildwood Revival 2017
8/26 – Arlington, VA – Lockn’ Festival
9/8 – Philadelphia, PA – Boot & Saddle
9/9 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
9/10 – Asbury Park, NJ – Shadow of the City Festival @ Stony Pony Summer Stage – Shadow of the City Festival

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The 80s-Inspired Sounds and Visuals for Moon King’s “In & Out”

Initially formed as a solo recording project of its Toronto, ON-born creative mastermind, primary songwriter, multi-insrumentalist and producer Daniel Benjamin, Moon King may arguably be best known as a duo featuring Maddy Wilde (guitar, vocals) for the bulk of the project’s existence to date; but with Wilde’s departure from the project in 2016, the project has returned to its roots — as a solo project. And interestingly enough, around the same time, Benjamin relocated to Detroit, MI  — notably, the Detroit neighborhood of Hamtramck, which unsurprisingly inspired a new batch of material, Hamtramck 16, a mixtape that not only documents his arrival into a new and unfamiliar place but serves as a radical change in sonic direction for him, as the material on Hamtramck 16 captures Benjamin’s growing obsession with electronic dance music. 

Finally having some time to himself after years of relentless touring, Benjamin began collaborating with local artists and musicians, until he formed a new band — with the intention of crafting a sound that currently draws from disco, classic, Detroit house, synth pop — and even pop. In fact, as you’ll hear on Hamtramck 16’s latest single “In & Out,” Benjamin pairs his dreamy falsetto with a dance floor-friendly production that channels Nile Rodgers-era Madonna (i.e.,  “Lucky Star” and “Holiday”), Tom Tom Club (i.e., “Genius of Love”) and Larry Levan-era house as a driving groove is paired with fluttering, shimmering and cascading layers of synths, a sinuous bass line, four-on-the-floor-like beats and a razor sharp hook. And much like the sound and period, Benjamin is drawing from, the song manages to be incredibly accessible; in fact, if it wasn’t for the subtly modern production, the listener may have been tricked into believing that the song may have been released in 1983. 

The recently released visuals for “In & Out” feature neon-bright animation from Jordan Minkoff that channels the visuals for the aforementioned “Genius of Love” and George Clinton’s “Atomic Dog.” 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Producer for The Strokes and Regina Spektor Releases Mischievous and Psychedelic Visuals for “View From Blue”

Gordon Raphael is a Seattle, WA-born, Berlin, Germany-based singer/songwriter, guitarist, and producer, who has worked with an impressive array of contemporary artists including The Strokes, Regina Spektor, Damon Albarn, Ian Brown, The Cult‘s Ian Astbury, Hinds and others; however, Raphael primarily sees himself as a singer/songwriter and guitarist. “I love producing, but playing guitar and writing songs is what I’ve always done,” Raphael says in press notes. “I wanted to show what I can do on the other side of the desk all the time, but producing kept getting in the way.”  Interestingly, Raphael’s long-awaited full-length debut Sleep on the Radio draws from Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie, Mick Ronson, Kimono My House-era Sparks, Frank Zappa and prog rock among others, as you’ll hear on the album’s latest single “View From Blue.”

Reportedly “View From Blue” came to the renowned producer, singer/songwriter and guitarist in a dream and was part of over 1,000 songs he wrote over a period of time — and a section of 12 that were carefully honed and perfected to the point that they were living, breathing songs that needed to be heard, now.  And as a result, the anthemic hook-laden song possesses a forceful urgency underneath its boozy, free-flowing psychedelia.

The recently released visuals for the single features Raphael performing the song in the studio in front of psychedelic projections and playing with balloons but at one point Raphael is inexplicably in a purple wig — because why the hell not?