Category: Single Review

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay SHOLTO Returns with Dreamy “Tied to the Mast”

Initially known as being one-half of indie outfit Sunglasses for Jaws, the rising London-based producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Oscar “Sholto” Robertson grew up with with a deep and abiding love of jazz, soul, krautrock and soundtracks from the 60s and 70s. As a producer, Robertson honed his production skills under the guidance and tutelage of Allah-Las‘ Nick Waterhouse and Inflo.

A handful of years ago, Roberston stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist with his recording project, SHOLTO. And with SHOLTO, the rising London-based multi-instrumentalist has firmly cemented a cinematic take on instrumental, psychedelic soul.

Robertson’s highly-anticipated sophomore SHOLTO album, The Sirens is slated for a November 21, 2025 release through DeepMatter Records. Recorded at the London-based composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist’s Hackney-based SJF Studio, the 12-song album sees Robertson continuing an ongoing collaboration with a familiar cast of musicians, who have helped flesh out the gorgeous, string section accentuated, groove-driven soundscapes he’s developed, including Syd Kemp (bass), Clementine Brown (strings) and Rachel Horton Kitchlew (harp).

The album will see Roberson and his collaborators crafting an album of material that’s emotionally unflinching and explores themes of duality, temptation and emotional dislocation, in Robertson’s words “blurring grief wit groove, seduction and surrender.” Sonically, the album’s material sees Robertson building upon the groove-driven, strings-soaked soundscapes and ethereal textures that has won him attention in the UK and elsewhere but inverting that beauty into a haunting fever dream.

Using the world of myth and the carnivalesque as a vehicle for exploring the intricacies of the human condition, The Sirens emerged from a period of uncertainty and spiritual fatigue. Drawing from ancient allegory to navigate through the inner turbulence he experienced, the album’s material is rooted in quiet defiance and tension that sometimes never quite resolves. While being deeply cinematic, the album’s material is anchored by Robertson’s rhythmic sensibility and dramatic vocal cues that drift in and out, evoking the ancient tale of the Sirens calling out to sailors while evoking dream sequences seemingly caught mid-thought. “The Sirens trades the ethereal shimmer of my earlier records with something a little more nuanced and emotionally unflinching, slightly darker. It doesn’t really resolve, just resonates – a love letter to the parts of ourselves we usually avoid.”

The Sirens‘ third and last pre-release single “Tied to the Mast” opens with a bursts of glitchy vocals being swallowed by breathtakingly gorgeous, twinkling strings before morphing into a swaggering, Motown/Daptone/Big Crown-like soul groove with an ethereal cacophony of vocals calling out from the swelling storm of sound. The song evokes a small boat out at sea that gets caught and pulled into — and then under — a swelling storm, before breaking apart and tossing its sailors into the sea.

“’Tied to the Mast’ is a stormy, myth-soaked odyssey. It opens with distant, glitchy siren-esque vocals – spectral and seductive, like ancient voices cutting through static,” Robertson says. “Then comes the drop – Odysseus lashed to the mast, as the storm climaxes the track unravels into a slow more haunting coda, melodies scattered like the wreckage. You’re left drifting and floating in the aftermath, unsure if you have survived or where always meant to crash.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Play Paul Reimagines the Work of Beloved French film Music Composer Francis Lai

Over the course of an incredibly lengthy seven-plus decade long career, acclaimed and pioneering French film score composer Francis Lai (1932-2018)’s work spanned across and meshed several different styles and genres, including orchestral music, jazz, electronic music and avant-garde experimentation.

Throughout his career, Lai displayed an uncanny ability to anticipate technological advancements and developments in music — and to quickly adopt or adapt to them. He was among the first to embrace and incorporate electronic instruments in his compositions and arrangements as soon as they emerged, boldly pushing the boundaries of what film scores sound like. Unsurprisingly, that readiness to boldly push sonic boundaries in his work attracted filmmakers, musicians, the cognoscenti and others interested in forward-thinking work.

Among his dozens of film scores and soundtracks, his compositions for Claude Lelouch‘s films, Un homme et une femme (1966), L’Aventure c’est l’Aventure (1972) and Les Uns et les Autres (1981), as well as David Hamilton’s 1977 film Bilitis and his Golden Globe-winning and Oscar Award-winning score for Arthur Hiller‘s 1970 film Love Story are known globally — with the Love Story score being one of the more popular scores written and recorded. Unsurprisingly, Lai is one of the world’s best-selling film music composers, selling over 130 million records globally.

And although he died back in 2018, the acclaimed French film score composer’s work still remains incredibly popular. After a Paris tribute concert, the Francis Lai Orchestra embarked on a fall 2023 tour across Japan, playing shows in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya — with filmmaker Claude Lelouch attending the Nagoya show.

He has over 3 million followers on Spotify, proving that his work has managed to transcend generations while inspiring a global audience. Recently, his score for Michel Boisrond‘s 1968 film La Leçon Particulière went viral, becoming one of TikTok’s top tracks while amassing over 200 million streams on Spotify and Deezer. And adding to his reach across multiple generations, contemporary artists have remixed and reinterpreted his work.

Play Paul is French touch pioneer, making his debut in the disco house scene in the electronic production duo The Buffalo Bunch, alongside Raw Man back in the 90s. The duo quickly made a name for themselves and the attention of the acclaimed and internationally renowned duo Daft Punk with each member signing them to their respective labels — Thomas Bangalter’s Scratché and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo’s Crydamoure. Play Paul began to stand out on his own with an attention grabbing remix of Phoenix‘s “If I Ever Feel Better.”

By 2003, Play Paul stepped into the spotlight as a solo artist. And as a solo artist, the French tour pioneer moved towards a more underground and electronic dance music-leaning sound. He released material through prestigious labels like Gigolo Records and Kitsuné while working on remixes and reworkings, furthering establishing himself as a key figure in the global electronic music scene.

Play Paul recently contributed to a remix compilation, paying tribute to Francis Lai and his work Play It Like Francis, which was released earlier this month. His contribution to the compilation saw him tackling a Lai deep cut, Lai’s theme for Claude Lelouch’s 1978 film, Robert et Robert, “Concerto pour la fin d’un amour.”

Anchored around a looping, brooding yet breathtakingly gorgeous piano figure and a swelling string section, Lai’s “Concerto pour la fin d’un amour,” slowly builds up in intensity, evoking classic film scores — and a swooning romanticism. The Play Paul remix, manages to retain the original melody while completely reimagining it, giving it a decidedly 70s disco/glam feel, seemingly inspired by Station to Station-era Bowie. The result is a reworking that sounds as though it could have been released around the time of the original that inspired it, and subtly contemporary.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Henry Aberson Shares Sultry “Lay It On Me”

Henry Aberson is a Tulsa-based composer, producer and drummer, who has developed a reputationfor bringing in top-tier talent for seamless collaborations and for lush, live instrumentation.

The Tulsa-based composer, producer and drummer’s latest single “Lay It On Me” is a sultry, Quiet Storm-meets-neo-soul-inspired tune that seemingly channels Erykah Badu, Maxwell, D’Angelo and others, while thematically reflecting on vulnerability, desire, longing and emotional connection.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Miss Grit Shares Dreamily Cinematic and Propulsive “Tourist Mind”

New York-based, Korean-American singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Margaret Sohn (they/she) is the creative mastermind behind the solo recording project Miss Grit. And with Miss Grit, Sohn has developed reputation for being a bold experimentalist and architect of sculptural texture. Defly moving between analog and digital instrumentation, the New York-based artist creates an immersive comms of sound with futuristic frameworks for their deeply probing and introspective lyricism and sound.

Sohn’s full-length debut, 2023’s Follow The Cyborg saw the New York-based artist building a fluid future beyond gender and genre binaries, where a non-human machine goes in pursuit of liberation. The album received praise from i-D Magazine and saw the Miss Grit creative mastermind profiled by Rolling Stone as an “Artist You Need To Know,” featured in DJ Magazine‘s “Get To Know” named as an “Artist to Watch” by BrooklynVegan, and named “Breaking” artist by FLOOD Magazine. And adding to a rapidly growing profile, they performed for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert‘s “#LateShowMeMusic” series.

“Tourist Mind” is the first bit of original material from Sohn’s Miss Grit project since the release of their critically applauded debut. Sonically, “Tourist Mind” sonically channels the likes of Goldfrapp and Portishead as a dreamily cinematic string arrangement is paired with oscillating synth bleeps, stomping and propulsive industrial techno-like beats. The production serves as a lush, dream pop-meets-trip hop-meets-techno bed for Sohn’s defiant delivery.

Throughout their career, Sohn often themself intrigued by other people’s inner worlds. Thematically, “Tourist Mind” sees Sohn meditating on the idea of self-erasure while embracing the power and intimacy of self-reliance and solitude. “It’s about how curiosity for other people’s thoughts can slowly disorient you and make it harder to return to yourself,” the Miss Grit mastermind says.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Single: Carmel Shares Gorgeous Ballad “Mariposa Al Fuego”

Spanish-based singer/songwriter Carmel proudly boasts having mixed Moroccan, Argentine and Middle Eastern heritage. And her music reflects that heritage, as she blends flamenco, soul and other global sounds with lyrics written and sung in Spanish, English and Hebrew.

Her debut EP, Contraste will see her continuing her genre-blending sound and approach through collaborations with musicians and producers from diverse backgrounds, including Spanish flamenco guitarist José De Maria, as well as Latin and global producers.

The Spanish-based singer/songwriter’s latest single “Mariposa Al Fuego” is a flamenco-tinged pop ballad that according to Carmel is inspired by the image of a butterfly being irresistibly drawn to a flame with the song diving into the pull of destructive relationships and the struggle to break free from dysfunctional patterns. The song’s cinematic arrangement serves as a lush bed for the Spanish-based artist’s pop ballad belter-like voice. At its core is a message of self-awareness, self-love, resilience and resolve, seemingly rooted in lived-in experience.

“We’ve all been that butterfly at some point—drawn to what we know will hurt us .This song is that mirror, but also an invitation to choose ourselves,” Carmel says.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: XO BLAKELY Shares a Playful and Fun Club Banger

XO BLAKELY is an American electronic music producer, who specializes in bilingual pop that sees her blending Latin rhythms, upbeat beats and her unique and bold sense of flair. The result is music that channels the euphoria and freedom of the dance floor — glitter, strobe lights, thumping beats and late-night emotion.

Her latest single “Normalmente” is a slickly produced, Spanish language club banger that’s one-part Miami club, one-part Ibiza, anchored around hypnotic and propulsive beats, glistening synths and sultry vocals. At its core, “Normalmente” celebrates letting go and giving into the night; of getting on to that dance floor and dancing your troubles and concerns away.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Devantier Rain Teams up with kiana on Vibey “CONSERVATIVE INC.”

Devantier Rain is rising, Berlin-based Cameroonian-German singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, whose work sees him blurring the lines between R&B, hip-hop and Afrobeat paired with soulful melodies, intricate, jazz-like drums and a cutting-edge production approach. He has quickly become a standout in Berlin’s vibrant scene, playing at events like Poetry Meets alongside Tan Brown, bat zoo, Monica Mussungo and Dini Rompos.

Beyond music, Devantier Rain is a fashion world staple — as a model and stylist. Formerly signed to VIVAMODELS, he has collaborated with ADIDAS, Puma and BMW and walked for Kitschy Couture and Afrobodega at Berlin Fashion Week 2024, where he serves as in-house model.

Adding to a busy year, last year also saw the release of three striking singles, each brimming with his signature flair, which teased the forthcoming release of his highly-anticipated full-length debut.

Last year, the rising Cameroonian-German artist released three striking singles which teased the arrival of his highly-anticipated full-length debut, MELATONIN. MELATONIN‘S latest single “CONSERVATIVE INC,” a collaboration with kiana is a vibey, swaggering and hooky mix of hip-hop, neo-soul and R&B.

Throughout the track Devantier Rain and klana trade confident yet vulnerable, heartfelt verses that dive deep into themes of self-worth, betrayal, heartache and resilience with grizzled, hard-fought experience: Devantier Rain’s verses focus on strength forged through being underestimated. klana’s verses focus on standing firm without remorse after being wrong. Throughout the song, the pair offer the sort of much-needed lessons the old heads would try to give the young bloods at a gathering — or the sort of intimate “real life” conversation you’d have with a dear one, late at night as the party winds down.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Womack Sisters Share Strutting “If You Want Me”

Los Angeles-based soul and R&B trio The Womack Sisters — BG, Zeimani and Kucha — are proudly carrying on their family’s legendary musical legacy. And if you had been frequenting this site earlier this year, you might recall that I wrote about the sibling trio’s “I Just Don’t Want You (To Say Goodbye).”

“I Just Don’t Want You (To Say Goodbye)” is the B-side to their Daptone Records debut, “If You Want Me”/”I Just Don’t Want You (To Say Goodbye).” The sibling trio just shared the A-side, “If You Want Me.” Anchored around a percussive piano attack and the sisters call and response vocal, the new single is a hard swinging and strutting bit of old-school-inspired soul that sounds as though it could have been released in Motown‘s early days.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Copenhagen’s Smag På Dig Selv Shares Pulsing, Dance Floor Friendly “Let’s Go!”

With the release of last year’s full-length debut, SDPS, Copenhagen-based jazz punks Smag På Dig Selv (SPDS) — Oliver Lauridsen (tenor sax), Thorbjørn Øllgaard (baritone sax, bass sax, vocals) and Albert Holberg (drums) — firmly cemented the trio’s reputation as one of most boundary pushing groups out on the contemporary Danish scene. With a sound that’s an explosive, party starting mixture of acoustic techno, punk energy, jazz and 90s EDM, the Danish trio have begun to make the round of the international festival and touring circuit, playing sets at Roskilde Festival, SXSW, The Great Escape, Eurosonic, Winter Jazzfest NYC and Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage.

SPDS’s highly-anticipated sophomore album is slated for a March 2026 through Stunt Records. The album’s second and latest single, the TMI Tammi-produced “Let’s Go!” The track is a mix of sneering, in-your-face punk attitude, ambient electronics, pulsing beats, thunderous Viking drumming and modal-influenced jazz that’s mind-bending, mischievously unhinged yet accessible and dance floor friendly.

“Let’s Go!” was composed last October. The band retreated to Albert Holberg’s 200 year-old summer cottage in the idyllic landscapes of North Zealand for a weeklong writing session. Originally, the plan was to create techno, but the autumnal, Bon Iver-like atmosphere shifted the overall mood. Instead, the trio leaned into simply being a band, playing together n silence and letting the music speak. And what would up emerging was a compromise between their initial intentions and a newfound urge to explore the idea of “ambient Viking band” — brought to life with TMI Carmen’s swaggering, maximalist production.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Kelly Cappuccio Shares a Sleek Club Banger

Kelly Cappuccio is an Italian electronic music producer, whose classical training as a child helped shaped her melodic sensibility and musical ear. Her discovery of electronic music unreleased a creative epiphany: Cappuccio quickly realized she could craft a sound that flows seamlessly between techno and tech house that bridges nostalgia and innovation.

Every track she creates represents an emotional journey frequently drawing from blues foundations paired with irresistibly funky grooves and sleek, contemporary production techniques.

The Italian producer’s latest single “In My Heart,” is a sleek and melodic, deep house banger anchored around glistening synths, a relentless and hypnotic groove and skittering beats that feels simultaneously cinematic and intimate.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: London’s Oliver Beardmore Teams Up with Brooklyn’s Punchlove on a Yearning “120 Minutes”-era MTV-like Single

Rising London-based singer/songwriter Oliver Beardmore has built up a reputation as a highly sought-after opener, playing alongside Gia Ford, Junodream, Late Night Drive Home and Steven Mason. The London-based artist has also played a number of sold-out headlining sets across the UK. And adding to a growing profile, Beardmore has received airplay from BBC Radio 1 and BBC Introducing.

The rising British artist’s latest single, the Beardmore and Xav Sinden co-produced “Ammonite” is a 120 Minutes-era MTV-like, wistful slow-burn, anchored around Beardmore’s yearning falsetto that slowly builds up into a stormy and textured climax played by Brooklyn-based shoegazers Punchlove. Sonically channeling The Bends-era Radiohead, “Ammonite,” manages to convey an uneasy push and pull of self-flagellation and blame in a dysfunctional relationship between two equally dysfunctional, hurt people.

“The song is about being drawn to people who share the same insecurities or flaws. We project our issues onto each other, but that weight often causes hurt that no one else is really to blame for,” Beardmore says. “There’s freedom in no longer searching for your flaws in someone else, and relief in calling off that search. In the end, you can hurt yourself more than anyone else ever could – but there’s something almost hedonistic in giving yourself away to someone who’ll let you.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Jerk Shares Slinky, Chilled-Out “stealthy, she moves!”

Prolific Brooklyn-based producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Joshua Kinney is the creative mastermind behind Jerk. And with Jerk, Kinney has released five albums and several EPs that has seen him craft a sound that draws from J. Dilla, Madlib, Patrice Rushen, Earth, Wind & Fire, Louis Cole, Knower, and Roller Trio. Never content with just music as a creative output, Kinney is also an avid writer and video essayist.

Kinney will be releasing the first part of a two EP narrative cycle, continuing the rollout of as night falls. Slated for a November 14, 2025 release through DeepMatter Records, the two EP cycle reportedly sees Kinney pushing his solo project’s sound into new territories, taking listeners on a journey through a single night while exploring the darker side of human nature through a fusion of electronic influences, midnight funk and forward-thinking jazz.

Created with long-time friend and collaborator Martine Wade (drums), the EP is the follow-up to last year’s Mood Swings, which received airplay from BBC 6 Music’s Huey Morgan and Jazz FM’s Tony Minvielle.

The EP’s latest single, the Wyatt Rydleweski (bass) co-written “stealthy, she moves!,” is a slinky bit of chilled-out and groovy, 70s jazz-fusion-inspired funk jazz that — to my ears, at least — manages to recall JOVM mainstays Mildlife and Confusions-era L’Eclair, but with an earthier, grittier quality. “In our journey through the night, this is the soundtrack to those that must move without trace,” Kinney says of the new single.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Fuzz Lightyear Shares Expansive and Bruising “Aberfan”

Rising Leeds-based indie outfit Fuzz Lightyear — Ben Parry (vocals, guitar), Josh Taylor (drums), Varun Govil (bass) and Alex Calder (synth, guitar) — have built up a staunch and rabid following across the UK through tours opening for acts like English Teacher, Adult DVD, Lambrini Girls, and Jasmine.4.T.

Building upon a rapidly growing profile across the UK, their two previously released singles “Sit Awake,” and “Berlin 1885” have received praise from NME, DIY Magazine, Clash Magazine, So Young, The Line Of Best Fit, Rough Trade and Under The Radar, as well as airplay on BBC 6 Music‘s Steve Lamacq, Huw Stephens and Emily Pilbeam, and Radio X’s John Kennedy.

The British quartet’s highly-anticipated Alex Greaves-produced debut EP Zero Guilt is slated for a November 21, 2025 release through Nice Swan Records. The EP reportedly sees the band quickly establishing a chaotic and forceful blend of shoegaze, industrial noise rock and punk that some have said lands between Sonic Youth and Show Me The Body. The EP will feature their previously released singles “Sit Awake” and “Berlin 1885,” and their latest single “Aberfan.”

Arriving ahead of their set at this year’s Left Of The Dial Festival and a headlining UK tour in December, “Aberfan” is an expansive song that begins with a lengthy and broodingly atmospheric, introduction featuring shimmering and reverb-soaked guitar textures with Pary’s impassioned vocals before turning into a bruising and fiery 90s grunge-like rocker for the song’s second half.

“Coming from the South Wales valleys I have always held the story of Aberfan close to my heart. It was the Grenfell of its time, a direct example of working class neglect,” Fuzz Lightyear’s Ben Parry says. “Growing up nearby it always served as a reminder to be wary of the corporate and political class. Maturing into adolescence my friends and I would always remind ourselves of Grenfell, of Tryweryn and Mynydd Epnyt to remain skeptical of the British – we are Welsh, not British.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Red for Stop Shares Hauntingly Gorgeous “A Ghost in Love with a Ghost of You”

JOVM mainstay outfit Red for Stop is a mysterious French-based indie collective with four core musicians, who have worked in various projects based in different counties, and collaborate with others.

The French outfit’s latest single “A Ghost in Love with a Ghost of You” is broodingly cinematic song, anchored featuring a gorgeous string arrangement and bursts of gently twinkling keys serving as a lush bed for a soulful. jazz-like vocal expressing deep, aching yearning and longing.

At some point in our lives, we learn that ghosts linger and haunt — sometimes far longer and in stranger ways than what we’d expect. “A Ghost in Love with a Ghost of You” evokes the lingering and uneasy mix of heartache, bitterness, longing with an uncanny precision.