Category: Single Review

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: I WANT POETRY Shares Shimmering and Upbeat “Future Selves”

German indie electro pop duo I WANT POETRY — Tine von Bergen (vocals) and Till Moritz Moll (keys) — released their highly-anticipated third album Future Selves last month. The hopeful and transformative album is inspired by a brief moment in time when the future still felt like a bright promise, channeling the spirit of past dreams of utopia and progress. And as a result, Future Selves offers a forward-thinking vision shaped by memory, imagination and the will to create what comes next.

Sonically, the German duo’s third album is an evolution from the more reflective tones of 2023’s Solace + Light, featuring layers of shimming synths and soaring melodies. 

The album includes “Mirrors Of The Sky,” the Michael Micheal Vanja, Ghian Wright and The EmU-co-produced “No Is a Full Sentence,” “Backyard Astronauts,” and the album’s latest single, album title track “Future Selves,” Built around glistening synths, rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses paired with von Bergen’s expressive, pop star-like delivery, “Future Selves” sounds a bit like it could have been part of a mid 80s movie soundtrack while pointing out to the listener that the future isn’t written yet; that it’s up to us to create that future. It’s a much-needed burst of upbeat optimism in very dark times.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Audio/Live Footage: Two from Expanded Edition of Still Blank’s Self-Titled Debut

Rising, transcontinental duo Still Blank — Kaua’i, HI-born, Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Jordy and Manchester, UK-based guitarist Ben — have quickly established a difficult to pigeonhole, often minimalist yet emotionally rich sound that draws from shoegaze, grunge and folk. 

The duo’s unique sound comes from other unlikely roots: Jordy grew up immersed in the natural rhythms of island life in Hawaii, gigging at weddings and fundraisers by the time she was in her early teens. Her early musical efforts drew inspiration from Hawaiian traditions and Kaua’i’s solitude. Ben, who ,was raised steeped in Manchester’s rich and deep musical legacy, played some of his earliest gigs in pubs with his dad’s band. He developed a love of ambient textures, citing The Durutti Column and Vini Reilly as formative influences. 

The duo’s unlikely meeting in the UK sparked a lightning-in-a-bottle creative partnership that started as casual jam sessions in a Liverpool basement and quickly evolved to sessions ranging from stripped-back recordings on a broken, classical guitar to long studio sessions fueled by long walks through rural Wales and a shared commitment to imperfect perfection. 

As a band, the transcontinental duo’s work seemingly echoes the mood and vibe of acts like Yo La Tengo, Big Thief and Cat Power paired with lyrics informed by people-watching, dreams, nature, introspection and existential observation. 

The duo released their highly-anticipated, full-length debut last fall through National Anthem/Capitol Records. The album included their debut single, “What About Jane,” “Ain’t Quite Right,”and “Same Sun.” The duo recently released an expanded edition of their full-length debut that features two new singles “Fever Dream” and “love/guilt.” But instead of tacking the new tracks at the end, as a sort of after thought, the acclaimed duo changed the tracklisting to properly accommodate the new songs.

Placed after “Desert,” the duo’s latest “Fever Dream” serves as a bit of cool down. Built around shimmering guitars, shuffling rhythms and burst of reverb soaked, dubby keys, the song’s arrangement serves as a swirling and lush bed for Jordy’s seductive siren-like vocal selling a Faustian bargain to the listener: you get stardom for a very specific price — complete submission.

“love/guilt” opens the expanded edition of their self-titled debut and is a chugging, Alice in Chains-like anthemic rocker that showcases Jordy’s powerhouse delivery and a big, arena rock take on their sound. The new single is accompanied by a live session, which was filmed in Jordy’s gorgeous Kaua’i, HI.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: La Sécurité Returns with Breakneck and Defiant “Nah Nah”

Acclaimed Montréal-based JOVM mainstay collective La Sécurité — Éliane Viens (vocals, synths, percussion and drums), Félix Bélisle (bass, synths, percussion, piano and production), Kenny Smith (drum, guitar), Laurence Anne Charest-Gagné (guitar, percussion, vocals) and Melissa Di Menna (guitar, synths, vocals, percussion and artwork) — just released their highly-anticipated Emmanuel Éthier and Félix Bélisle co-produced sophomore album Bingo! today through Mothland in Canada and the States, and Bella Union for the rest of the world.

Bingo! sees the band continuing to meander in and around the fringes of punk, New Wave, krautock and dance punk while mischievously floating stylistic form every chance they get. Interestingly. while anchored around their usage of polyrhythm, counterintuitive chord changes and subtle melodic and harmonic dissonance, the album’s material sees the band incorporating more New Wave, no wave, noise rock and even shoegaze elements of the sound that has quickly won them international acclaim.

Recorded with the band playing live off-the-floor, using rare ribbon microphones and vintage compresses, the album’s recording sessions added to the material’s free-flowing feel and vibe. Many of the album’s hooks were improvised through jazz-tinged musical flights during recording sessions. And much like its critically applauded predecessor, many of the Bingo’s! songs saw the group improvising lyrics in the studio, effectively catching lightning in a bottle. 

The album’s songs tackle knotty themes like mental health, the the autonomization of women, and dysfunctional relationships with their custom moxie. Other songs playfully muse about food or address everyday mundanity with sarcasm and irony. There’s a song that celebrates unsung heroes, like the elderly.

Bingo! features the previously released  “Detour,” “Ketchup,” album title track “Bingo,” “Snack City,” “‘Deny,” and it’s latest single “Nah Nah.” “Nah Nah” is a breakneck and defiant DEVO-like punk ripper with French lyrics spelling out boundary etiquette for the less perceptive folk out there with a “don’t-fuck-with-me” attitude. Their sophomore effort’s latest single continues to showcase the band’s unerring knack for crafting catchy, unforgettable hooks, the song sees the band playfully implementing a switcherroo with Charest-Gagné taking on lead vocal duties while Viens bashes the living shit out of the drums and Smith contributes slashing guitar attack.

The band explains, “On ‘Nah Nah,’ Éliane played the drums and Kenny the guitar. The lyrics are by Félix and Laurence Anne, dealing with the feeling of wanting to be left alone while communicating a certain madness. Meanwhile, Éliane—with a joint in her mouth—and Melissa were writing ‘Snack City,’ as the band was finalizing the demos for the album.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Moon Construction Kit Shares Cinematic “Down the West Coast”

Olivier Cornu is a a Lausanne-based singer/songwriter, musician, producer and creative mastermind behind Moon Construction Kit, And with Moon Construction Kit, Cormu specializes in a sound that draws from and meshes elements of indie pop, psych pop, synth pop, late 1960s pop and film scores.

The Swiss-based artist’s latest single, the Steve Stout co-produced “Down the West Coast” is a sun-dappled, tune featuring twinkling synths, a supple and propulsive bass line and dreamy woodwinds serving as a lush bed for Cormu’s dreamy delivery. Seemingly channeling Pavo Pavo’s retro-futuristic, 60s psych pop vibe, “Down the West Coast” is a remarkably cinematic, sun dappled tune that’s perfect for that summertime road trip with the track conveying bittersweet nostalgia, the hope of new beginnings and new experiences, the barely contained excitement for new experiences.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Pain Gain Shares Atmospheric “Prizefighter”

Formed back in 2023, Pain Gain — Kilo‘s Chloe Kaul, SWIM’s Hamish Lefevre, and CRUSH3d’s Samuel Cooke — began as a deliberate left turn for its members. Shedding their established electronic identities, Kaul, Lefevre and Cooke retreated to the beachside forests of southern Australia with guitars, modular synths and a tape recorder. What they believed was a temporary and fun moment of escape, quickly evolved into something far more profound for the trio: a thorough recalibration of sound, process and purpose.

Despite each member’s distinct musical paths, Pain Gain is about a shared musical language discovered. Rooted in instinct and play, the project became an immersive, almost familial experience for its members. The result is their self-titled, full-length debut.

Slated for a July 17, 2026 release through Play It Again Sam/PIAS, the forthcoming album reportedly sees the trio trading velocity for gravity while moving fluidly between indie rock melodrama and expansive pop balladry, all while rejecting genre as a fixed idea.

Thematically, the ten-song album traces personal upheaval with unflinchingly honesty. Kaul’s sometimes excoriating lyrics are paired with tactile soundscapes shared by Lefevre and Cooke in which no single voice dominates. Working with an instinctive creative process, the trio embraced single takes, analog experimentation and the beauty of imperfection, allowing songs to emerge organically from their surroundings, Each room of their retreat became a makeshift studio; melodies frequently drifted through kitchen conversations, while lyrics were created from late-night exchanges by the fire.

“We went away together with only the intention of starting something new, we never expected that we would end up not only with an album, but one that feels as cohesive and collectively personal as this,” Pain Gain explains. “It’s a record that looks for beauty in friction, and finding a new start in the wreckage of something past”

The self-titled album’s latests single “Prizefighter,” is an atmospheric bit of synth pop paired with Kaul’s achingly tender delivery. The song which emerged from reversed and replayed tape experiments, sonically recalls ACES and others. But as the song slowly builds up to its crescendo, the song channels the growing exhaustion, frustrations and resentments of staying too long in something that won’t change.

As the trio explain, “‘Prizefighter’ is a centrepiece to the record. Conceptually it’s about being coaxed into a cycle that never breaks. It’s always the same fight.“

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Jonathan Personne Shares Mesmerizing “Superstar”

New Audio: Jonathan Personne Shares Mesmerizing “Superstar”
@bonsound @bonsoundpromo @corridormtl

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Magi Merlin Shares Shimmering and Defiant “pixxie”

Rising Montréal-based JOVM mainstay Magi (pronounced Mahd-j-eye) Merlin makes music for fellow obsessives. There’s no soft lunch. She sings directly to the listener, face pressed up against the other side of the screen’s glass. With a propulsive, avant-garde inspired take on pop and what she dubs as “broken R&B,” the Canadian artist’s work sees her exploring life’s deep existential truths.

Now, if y’all have been frequenting this site over the past handful of years, Merlin has collaborated with co-writer and producer Funkywhat, building a shared musical language through the release of 2022’s Gone Girl EP, which led to touring with Noga Erez and an electric set opening for Omar Apollo in Mexico City — and last year’s A Weird Little Dog, which helped her establish “broken R&B,” an honest account of how she works, her artistic direction and visual world. The JOVM mainstay supported that effort opening for Nubya Garcia across the US and with festival appearances at Osheaga and Festival d’été de Québec, where she opened for Ty Dolla $ign, And recently, she opened for Yaya Bey during their European tour.

Outside of music, she made her acting debut this year in Chandler Levack’s Mile End Kicks alongside Barbie Ferreira, Devon Bostick and Juliette Gariépy. The film screened at this year’s SXSW and Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

The Montréal-based JOVM mainstay’s highly anticipated full-length debut POWER HOUSE is slated for a July 10, 2026 release through Bonsound. The 12-song album is reportedly a slickly produced, infectious and high-energy effort that conceptually is an exploration of the internal architecture we all inhabit, housing the conflicting rooms of anger, fear, vanity, and ultimately, a reclaimed sense of power. The album is very much an ode to the realization that inner work is the only true outer work.

The album also serves as a realist’s manifesto, written from Merlin’s perspective as a bisexual/ENM woman. Throughout the album, the Montréal-based artist’s narrators explores the uneasy contradictions of seeking validation in both platonic and romantic relationships. She deconstructs the plastic confidence used as modern armor, the performative standards of the beauty industry, and the systemic pressures that force women to navigate their lives with hyper-caution.

POWER HOUSE includes the previously released “POPSTAR,” SpiceKick,” and “So Smart,” which have receive attention across a number of international media outlets including Clash Magazine, Stereogum, BrooklynVegan, Wonderland Magazine, Libération, Exclaim! and RANGE, as well as airplay from BBC 6 Music, France Inter, FIP, CBC and Radio Canada. The album’s latest single “pixxie” continues a run of slickly produced synth pop, anchored around the rising Canadian artist’s self-assured and soulful, pop star delivery and her unerring knack for catchy hooks.

Thematically, the track focuses on the liberation of women from the male gaze but written and sung ironically from the perspective of the manic pixie dream girl, breaking out from a reductive caricature — at all costs.

“Female characters in film are often reduced to this trope, simply a device used to further the plot of the male protagonist,” Magi explains. “This is a role and, at its worst, an expectation many men in real life will cast onto their female counterparts. The only function of women in their eyes is being a sexual object or a tool to aid them in their growth.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Austin’s French Film Shares Bruising “Rabbit Foot”

Formed back in 2013, Austin shoegazer quartet French Film — Ash Keenum (vocals, guitar), Drake Moreno (guitar), Colby Falkner James (bass) and Joshua Harpur (drums) — quickly established a sound that draws inspiration from Blonde Redhead, Sonic Youth, Autolux and Unwound.

The Austin-based quartet supported last year’s debut ep, Yours sharing stages with Drook, Courting, Unwed Sailor, We Are Scientists and a list of others, while developing a profile in their hometown’s underground shoegaze and post-hardcore scenes for a visceral and intense live show. And adding to a growing profile, they were a standout band at this year’s SXSW.

French Film signed to Los Angeles-based label Solid Brass Records, who will be releasing the compilation album, Yours + Five on August 21, 2026 digitally and on limited-edition Ruby Red and Opaque White vinyl. Recorded with Kevin Butler at Test Tube Audio, the ten song album is full of atmospheric melodies paired with abrasive and jarring tension. Thematically, the effort explores the juxtaposition of the horrors and hopes of modern society — and matters of the heart.

Yours + Five’s first single “Rabbit Foot” is a breakneck and bruising blend of shoegaze, post-hardcore and alt rock that showcases the band’s ability to craft rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses within a classic grunge song structure. The song captures a swooning and desperate longing for someone who has slipped out between the narrator’s fingers.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Allegories Shares Broodingly Atmospheric and Introspective “Honesty, that’s enough honesty”

Since the release of 2022’s Endless, the Canadian experimental pop duo and JOVM mainstays  Allegories — childhood friends Adam Bentley and Jordan Mitchell — have released a growing collection of standalone singles. The duo’s forthcoming album, By accident, On purpose is slated for an October 16, 2026 release.

By accident, On purpose‘s first official single “Honestly, that’s enough honesty” is a broodingly atmospheric, slow-burning and introspective tune featuring shifting shoegazer-like textures. The song feels dreamily laid back yet uneasy and unsettled.

Thematically, “Honestly, that’s enough honesty” sees the JOVM mainstays questioning the very idea of authenticity. Written from the perspective of an unreliable narrator, the song reflects on how even our most honest expressions are shaped by distortion, memory and self-mythology. Fittingly, the song sees the leaning hard into contradiction: the idea that deception isn’t unavoidable, but foundational to how we move and operate through the world. “People often assume I’m a confessional songwriter,” Allegories’ Adam Bentley explains. “We’re all deceiving each other in the way we perform in public, and probably deceiving ourselves in private too,” the duo add. “Otherwise, how the hell would we keep living?”

“Honestly, that’s enough honestly” showcases the creative framework for the Canadian duo’s new album: Each track emerges from layered process of rewriting, reconstruction and transformation. What initially began as a simple sketch has been continually reshaped until it becomes something unanticipated yet instinctively right.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Yerilis Shares Gorgeous “Me Levanté”

Yerils Villamediana Hernández is a Venezuelan-born and-based singer/songwriter and musician, who performs with monoym Yerilis. She can trace the origins of her career to her childhood: She started writing her first songs when she was nine. By the time she turned 16, she joined the C.U.A.M. Choir, which strengthened her technical rigor. She complemented that with advanced training and signing under the tutelage and mentorship of Raif, the host of La Magia del Mundo Infantil y Juvenil. Hernández’s multidisciplinary background allows her to approach interpretation and stage presence with a technical precision and professionalism.

The Venezuelan artist has established a reputation as a versatile singer/songwriter, capable of bouncing between traditional Venezuelan rhythms, like the pasaje and more contemporary sounds across various styles and genres.

Her latest single “Me levanté” is a gorgeous blend of Venezuelan folk with a contemporary arrangement — in this case, a shimmering, dexterously finger plucked guitar accompanying by Hernández’s proud delivery. At its core, is a much-needed message of perseverance in difficult and uneasy times, which gives the song a timeless feel.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: maticulous and El Gant Share Eerie and Menacing “House of Cards”

Pittsburgh-born, Brooklyn-based producer maticulous will be teaming up with veteran New York emcee El Gant on the collaborative album, House of Cards, which is slated for a summer release. The album will include the previously released “Wordle,” which featured a guest spot from beloved indie emcee Brother Ali and the album’s title track “House of Cards.”

El Gant dexterously spits rapid fire bars over a menacing production featuring a looping woozy and twinkling key-driven sample paired with a droning bass and boom bap. Much like its immediate predecessor, “House of Cards” captures our particular moment, one in which we all find ourselves at some sort of crossroads in a crooked, fucked up world on the verge of collapse.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: LutchamaK Returns with Hypnotic “Side of Town”

French electronic music producer and JOVM mainstay LutchamaK continues to be restlessly prolific, contributing “Side of Town” to a compilation released by Mexican electronic label, Brown Traxx Recordings. Clocking in at a little over 5:30, “Side of Town” is a breakneck, no bullshit and no chaser bit of techno that’s specifically designed to get asses to the dance floor, while being anchored around a hypnotic, irresistible groove and his long-held unerring knack for meldocism.

“Side of Town” builds on constant tension but is roomy enough that its individual elements — the shimmering synth melody, the driving groove, the vocal sample and skittering beats can breathe on their own.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Lolabelle Shares Anthemic, Mosh Pit Friendly “Limb”

Buxton, ME-based indie rock band Lolabelle can trace their origins back to the summer of 2024, when three neighbors– Caroline Homer (vocals, guitar), Kurt Fedora (bass) and Gene Gill (drums) — met in their backyard and bonded over a shared love of 1990s alt rock. This meeting of the minds, bought together an unlikely pairing of musicians: Fedora has recorded with J Mascis and Dinosaur Jr., Mark Lanegan, Gooblehoof and a lengthy list of others — and is a grizzled national touring circuit veteran; Gill, is a music educator and saxophonist with a background in both classical music an jazz; and Homer, a former opera singer and late-in-life guitar player.

That casual meetup quickly became a vehicle for Homer’s songwriting and the trio would regularly sneak into the dusty, unfinished basement of their apartment building to jam. When Robert Samantha‘s and God’s Furniture‘s Stephen Bennett (lead guitar) joined the band, the quartet quickly established a sound that’s bittersweet, deeply visceral and cathartic yet fun and full of driving energy while making the rounds of the Portland, ME area live music circuit, including Blue Portland Maine, The Apohadion Theater, The Portland Club, Hey Sailor! and the Starboard Lounge, Hi-Fdelity Brewing, Fogtown Brewing Company, DIY shows and more.

The band went to the studio to record their debut EP, which is slated to drop sometime this month. The EP will be supported with a planned Northeast tour, too. In the meantime, their debut single, “Limb” is a melodic bit of indie pop that channels 90s alt-rock like Veruca Salt, Dinosaur Jr, Letters to Cleo and the like, complete with the classic, alternating quiet verses and loud hooks and fuzzy, distortion pedaled power chord-driven choruses. It’s a fun, mosh pit friendly party starter of a tune that can light up a room.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Afghan Whigs Return with Sultry “Jungle Roux”

JOVM mainstays The Afghan Whigs —  currently Greg Dulli (vocals, guitar), John Curley (bass), multi-instrumentalist Rick Nelson and the band’s newest member, Blind Melon’s Christopher Thorn (guitar) — will be releasing their 10th album, Soft Control on August 21, 2026 through Royal Cream/BMG.

Soft Control is reportedly a testament to the old David Bowie quote, where he describes aging as “an extraordinary process, where you become the person you always should have been.” By now, the volatile years of frontman Greg Dulli’s youth have been substituted with a wry and self-aware, Zen Buddhist-like satori. The edge and sensitive temperament remain but the unchecked conflagration of ego and rage no longer threaten personal immolation.

“I’ve worked hard on my inner peace,” Dulli explains. ““I was an angry young man, and it fueled my art, ambition and my drive. I wouldn’t change anything because I can’t.  But as I got into photography and other art forms, I realized that I’m not in competition with anyone – including myself. Now, I know what I’m doing and there’s a quiet confidence that comes with being able to back it up.” 

The band recorded 22 songs for the album in session s at Joshua Tree, CA‘s Fireside Sound, New Orleans‘ Marginy Studios, East Hollywood’s Gold Diggers Sound and Cincinnati’s Sycamore Studios. Several favorites were cut because they didn’t seamlessly fit into the album’s taut 37-minute run time. The album features guest spots from former drummer Patrick Keeler, vocalist and violinist Petra Haden, My Morning Jacket‘s Bo Koster and a list of others.

Soft Control reportedly captures the JOVM outfit’s long-held ability to craft material that can effortlessly bounce between and mesh arena rock anthems with brooding, cubist refractions of soul and R&B. The album has its Afghan Whig-style bangers — because Afghan Whigs after all. But there’a reconciliation of ear drum shattering volume and somber reflections, living life with joy and purpose while keeping one eye on the clock, while remaining aware of life’s absurdities.

The album’s latest single “Jungle Roux” is a sultry bit of R&B and soul-tinged rock with phased out guitar twang that sounds a bit like a synthesis of “Gimme Shelter,” Dr. John, and Motown, and evokes a woozy, sweaty and desperate craving. It’s arguably the album’s sexiest, song to date.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Two from Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio

2021’s I Told You So is the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio‘s best-selling and performing album to date. “Chicken Leg”/”If I Could” is the trio’s latest single, and first batch of new material from the band — currently, Delvon Lamarr (organ), Parlor Greens‘ and True Loves‘ Jimmy James, and Polyrhythmics and Champagne Bubblebath‘s Grant Schroff (drums) — in over four years.

The 7-inch 45RPM single, which features tracks originally recorded during the I Told You So sessions serves as the first batch of material from a forthcoming album. “Chicken Leg,” the A-side is a strutting bit of deep fried funk that channels Booker T and the MGs while capturing the deeply held, effortless simpatico between three grizzled vets. The B-side “If I Could” is a slow-burning and heartfelt, gospel-informed soul ballad that wouldn’t be out of place on Daptone or Big Crown.