Category: Single Review

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: LENny (IT) Shares A Lush Club Banger

Lenny Lorenzi is a Romagna, Italy-born, New York-based electronic music producer and DJ, best known as LENny (IT). Lorenzi’s career started in earnest when he was a teenager with his first DJ sets and first original productions. 

By the time, he was 17, Lorenzi was on the decks at Titilla, a room at the Riccione-based club Cocoricò. And in a short period of time, the Italian-born, New York-based producer and DJ played some of the most important, internationally renowned clubs including Ibiza‘s Sankeys, Barcelona‘s Macarena, Brooklyn’s Output and Miami‘s Clevelander, as well as the most important clubs of the Romagna Riviera. 

Adding to a growing profile in the electronic music scene, back in 2011, Lorenzi started the Wave Music Boat, a traveling party that cuts across the Adriatic with stops in Catalonia and the Balearics that featured guests like Sam Divine, Michael Cleis, Argy, Supernova and a lengthy list of others. Wave Music Boat is a major backer of the Molo Street Parade, an event that pairs seafaring traditions with contemporary electronic music. Lorenzi also serves as the artistic director of the event. 

Currently based in New York, the Italian-born DJ continues to push the sonic and stylistic boundaries of electronic music. Earlier this year, I wrote about “Night Lights,” a lush club and lounge friendly track featuring glistening and arpeggiated synths, skittering beats, bursts of African-influenced percussion and twinkling keys.

The Italian-born, New York-based DJ and electronic music producer’s latest single “Encontarte” continues a run of lush, soulful club friendly material that recalls a slickly produced synthesis of Between Two Selves-era Octo Octa, 90s house.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: slo/tide Shares Rousingly Anthemic “Rather Be Blind”

Perhaps best known for being the frontman of the Grammy-nominated outfit Underoath, Spencer Chamberlain is the creative mastermind behind the Underoath side project slo/tide. Chamberlain collaborated with alt rock darlings Sir Sly on the project’s debut “Neck High.”

Chamberlain’s latest slo/tide single “Rather Be Blind” is crowd-pleasing synthesis of indie rock, shoegaze, indie pop and emo anchored around big power chords, twinkling synths even bigger hooks paired with Chamberlin’s plaintive falsetto. Sonically, seemingly to draw from Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here-era Pink Floyd, Tame Impala, Radiohead and others, “Rather Be Blind,” as Chamberlain explains “was a cry for help. We often struggle mentally, appearing to be at our “best” while feeling far from it. I wrote this in the throes of the hell I was in. It’s a bit different than my other band Underoath.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Pythies Return with PJ Harvey-like “I Pythie You”

Emerging Paris-based punk outfit Pythies — founding member Lise L. (vocals) with Thérèse La Garce (guitar) and Anna B. Void (drums) — was formed by Lise L. in late 2022 with the intent of starting an all-woman band. In early 2023, Lise L. met Thérèse La Garce and Anna B. Void through social media. The trio felt a very strong simpatico, rooted in the meshing of three distinct and strong personalities, and from that point on, the band’s lineup was solidified. 

The trio’s debut EP Disillusion was released last month. The EP featured “Toy,” a track that saw the French outfit further cementing a sound indebted to riot grrl-era punk and grunge, featuring fuzzy power chords, thunderous drumming and enormous hooks and choruses placed within the classic grunge song structure.

Disillusion’s second and latest single “I Pythie You” is a grunge and riot grrl-inspired ripper that reminds me a bit of early PJ Harvey, The Breeders and Hole anchored around Lise L. feral delivery. “I Pythie You” is the sort of song I can picture a crowd of sweaty young people bouncing around to in a dark and dank little club somewhere. As the band explains, the song is about a place in Paris, where people rot and become shadows of themselves.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Los Angeles’ Reindeer Flotilla Shares Wistful and Brooding “Today”

Los Angeles-based duo Reindeer Flotilla — Neal Harris (vocals, keys) and Josh Brown (guitar) — started jamming together in the basement of an Atwater Village wine store, playing covers of John Carpenter, Brian Eno and Elliot Smith. Those early days playing covers helped the ban develop their own sound anchored around synths and guitar, which they’ve managed to further refine through the release of a batch of singles and two studio albums.

The duo’s latest single “Today” is a swaying and shoegazey bit of New Wave or a New Wavey bit of shoegaze featuring glistening synths, reverb-soaked guitar textures paired with Harris’ wistful croon. The result is a song that seems indebted to Yes‘ “Owner of a Lonely Heart” and Avalon-era Roxy Music.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: BIJOU Teams Up with Jenny Voss on a Club Rocking Banger

Best known in electronic music circles as BIJOU, Ben Dorman is a rising house music producer, who exploded into the scene with 2016’s “Hello” with Dr. Fresch. Over the past handful of years, Dorman has released a series of bangers that includes “I KNOW” with Marten Hørger, “The Players Anthem” feat. Benny the Butcher and “Gang Gang,” along with chart topping EPs 2019’s Gangsta Party and 2021’s Street Knowledge. That material revealed a producer, who melds timeless hip-hop vibes with classic house undertones that remain underground while being main stage ready.

Along with production, he started his own label, Do Not Duplicate Recordings (DND RECS) while heading out on a multiple sold-out tours.

Dorman will be embarking on a Stateside tour that will see him playing sets in NYC, Seattle and Chicago, as well as making a run of the festival circuit with a set at Orlando‘s Home Bass Festival.

Dorman’s latest track, the anthemic “Seduction” is an slick and swaggering “Rhythm Is A Dancer“-like tune with skittering beats, euphoria-inducing drops and hooks and twinkling synths anchored around Jenny Voss‘ soulful, powerhouse delivery. “Seduction” reveals a producer, who can boldly craft an enormous, crowd-pleasing, club banger.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Los Angeles’ Steel Wool Shares “120 Minutes” era MTV-like “Eyes Closed”

Los Angeles-based shoegazers Steel Wool — Sean Lissner (vocals, guitar), Jaden Amjadi (bass, screaming), Evan Landi (drums) and Sam Schlesinger (guitar) — sonically find themselves splitting the difference between drawing from early post punk and sheogaze revival, blending ethereal synths and fuzzed out guitars to create soft yet abrasive anthems for sitting in traffic on the 101.

The quartet’s debut single, “Eyes Closed” features atmospheric synths, fuzzy and swirling guitar textures, reverb-soaked boom bap-like drums paired with plaintive and earnest vocals and big hooks. While seemingly indebted to the 120 Minutes era MTV alt rock-like sound that many of us love and remember, the Los Angeles-based outfit’s debut single sees the them subtly pushing the boundaries of shoegaze in a way that reminds me of BLACKSTONE RNGRS and others.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Frankie and the Witch Fingers Return with a Dystopian, DEVO-like Ripper

Since initially forming in Bloomington, IN over a decade ago, the acclaimed Los Angeles-based psych rock outfit and JOVM mainstays Frankie and the Witch Fingers — currently founding duo Dylan Sizemore (vocals, guitar) and Josh Menashe (lead guitar, synth), along with Death Valley Girls‘ Nikki “Pickle” Smith (bass) and Mike Watt’s Nick Aguilar (drums) — have a long-held reputation for restless experimentation rooted in the multiple permutations of their lineups, and for a high-powered, scuzzy, garage and thrash punk take on psych rock paired with absurdist lyrics frequently fueled by dreams, hallucinations, paranoia and lust. The result is material that can shift between mischievousness and menace. 

Last year’s Data Doom was primarily built around the cerebral yet visceral songwriting of the band’s co-founders while marking the first batch of written and recorded material featuring the band’s Smith and Aguilar. While crafting what may arguably be their most rhythmically complex work to date, the band drew influence from each member’s distinct sensibilities: Smith tapped into her extensive background in West African drumming, an art form she first discovered through her music instructor parents. Aguilar leaned into formative influences like longtime Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen.

Self-produced by the proudly DIY-minded band and recorded direct to tape by the band’s Menashe, Data Doom ultimately took shape through countless sessions in their Southeast L.A.-based rehearsal space, with the band allowing themselves unlimited time to explore their gloriously strange impulses. “There was no pressure and no real time constraint for this record, and because of that the creativity flowed in a very free way that probably wouldn’t have happened if we’d been on the clock in a studio,” Frankie and the Witch’s Dylan Sizemore says in press notes. “It showed us that the more we take the time to communicate and share our ideas with each other, the more it feeds our creative energy and helps us to make something we’re all really excited about.”

Last month, I wrote about “Bonehead,” a scuzzy, mosh pit friendly ripper that begins with a menacing opening groove that quickly drops into a distorted, double-time cacophony of blistering power chords, thunderous drums, bursts of quivering synths paire with rousingly anthemic hooks and punchily delivered vocals. 

“’Bonehead’ is a primitive, buzzy thumper, raw and stripped down,” the band says. “In a world where it’s easy to add more, we had a blast cooking out the junk and keeping it potent and pure. We wanted to capture the chaotic energy of those unfiltered live moments. Recorded the basics in one take, warts and all.

Thrashing around with a crowd of free spirits reminds us we can push back against the parasitic noise trying to keep us controlled—this is a little slice of that in recorded form.”

“i-Candy,” is the double AA side single to the previously released “Bonehead.” Beginning with a bleep and bloop-driven synth groove and propulsive drumming, “i-Candy” quickly turns into a bombastic, churning Devo-meets-King Gizz-like ripper. It’s nerdy — but goddamn it, it’s also blood thirsty.

“Bleeps and bloops tightly wound around a precise dystopian punk nodder, these were the magic digits we needed to punch in to bring ‘i-Candy’ to life,” the band explains. “This was one of the first songs to emerge from the incubator of recent demos. ‘i-Candy’ is a female sex robot, she isn’t programmed for any man’s need; she’s out to clean up the streets and settle the score in blood.” 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Miranda and the Beat Share Churning “Anxiety”

Formed back in 2018 here in NYC and now based in New Orleans, the rising rock outfit Miranda and the Beat — currently Miranda Zipse (vocals, guitar), Dylan Fernandez (Farfisa) and Alvin Jackson (bass) — have been renowned for their high-energy live shows and fearless punk approach. 

After extensive touring to support last year’s self-titled full-length debut, the rising rock outfit will be releasing their highly-anticipated sophomore album Can’t Take it on October 25, 2024 through Ernest Jenning Record Co./Khannibalism across North America and Wild Honey in Europe. 

Written and recorded in a five day burst at King Khan‘s Moon Studios Rock n Roll Vortex in a remote village on the German countryside, the album sees the band blending all the best flavors from pure punk anthems played at a eardrum shattering intensity, to grinding R&B, to hypnotic, edgy sci-fi alchemy and some heartbreaking balladry too. “If you need a soundtrack to an evening of Germs burns and mind-altering mayhem followed by warm heartfelt embraces and skid marks this is the band for you,” King Khan says. “The soundtrack to the real apocalypse has arrived and is waiting for you at your favorite record store. Real Rock n’ Roll is alive and well, the torches have been passed and the Molotov cocktails are being lit and thrown. Miranda and the Beat are the wild fire you have been waiting for to light under the collective asses to destroy patriarchies, topple kingdoms, smash colonies with a bold middle stink finger in place. Be forewarned…. And come find out what ‘Earthquake Water’ is, it may one day save your life.”

Last month, I wrote about “Manipulate Me,” a breakneck and bruising, mosh pit friendly ripper anchored around scorching riffs and Miranda Zipse’s take-no-shit delivery. It shouldn’t be surprising that the song brought back memories of sweaty, hardcore punk shows Coney Island High and The Continental.

“This song was probably the most fun to write for the album,” Miranda and the Beat’s Miranda Zipse says. “We were all in King Khan’s studio getting wine drunk and spitballing lines back and forth. We pretty much spent the whole time rolling on the floor dying of laughter, which ended up being very therapeutic and what we needed to do at the time. This song’s about some real shit and it felt really good to get it out of our system in the form of an absolute fuckin banger. Moral of the story: always be a weirdo but never be a manipulative creep.”

Can’t Take It‘s fourth and latest single “Anxiety” is a churning and chugging ripper that evokes the creeping dread, racing thoughts, racing heartbeat, sweaty palms, dry mouth and the lack of control of anxiety with an uncanny and seemingly lived in precision.

According to the band, these are the things that give them anxiety: 

1. People who wear sandals on the subway
2. The accidental text on purpose
3. When Alvin can’t find Backwoods
4. Losing a tooth

“This song legit causes anxiety. This goddamn song has got me so stumped,” the band’s Miranda Zipse adds. “I shot two different ideas for music videos and pulled two all-nighters this past week at work trying to get them together between working this job and nothing was looking good enough to put out.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Babe Rainbow Shares Breezy and Deceptively Upbeat “Long Live The Wilderness”

Acclaimed Aussie psych outfit Babe Rainbow — Angus Dowling, Jack “Cool Breeze Crowther, Elliot “Dr. Love Wisdom” O’Reilly and Miles Myjavec — recently signed to King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard‘s newly minted p(doom) records imprint. And to celebrate the occasion, the Aussie quartet shared their latest single, the Timon Martin-produced, Stu Mackenzie-mixed, sun-soaked and breezy bop “Long Live The Wilderness.”

But underneath the twinkling, reverb-drenched keys, the 70s AM rock-inspired guitar work, dusty beats and the incredibly catchy, danceable hooks, “Long Live The Wilderness” contemplates the changing of the seasons, the time rushing by, and in turn, the transient nature of everything we know and experience. All things pass, y’all. Seasons change, and we come and go like the tides.

“Hey mama, space brother, sleeptravellor [sic], dream walker. We’re keeping it indie and joining p(doom). Recorded a special session in Mullum Creek with my bruddhas, my fav record we’ve done so far,” Babe Rainbow’s frontman Angus Dowling says. “The song is a celebration of the sheer beauty of the lush Hinterland landscape, in Autumn time in particular. A stream (burn) racing down the hillside, going over a waterfall, and then passing across a dark pool, shaded by the great high hills (fells) that surround it,” Dowling continues. “The major theme of the song is the loss of innocence, which is reflected through Babe Rainbow’s reaction to the changing seasons and realization of the transient nature of life. The constellation symbolizes the carefree perspective of childhood as nature transitions from the vibrancy of life in summer . It asks a good question. What is your view of it?: ‘What would the world be like if there were only towns? If there was no wilderness left to us?’”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Homer Teams Up with MINOVA and Michael Rault on Slick and Swaggering “So Get Up!

Acclaimed New York-born and-based drummer, songwriter and producer Homer Steinweiss has a storied career that started in earnest when he was just a teenager. He has been instrumental in helping bring the raw-but-receptive soul sound back into the mainstream through his work with Amy Winehouse, Sharon Jones and Charles Bradley. Steinwess has also been behind the kit for nearly every contemporary soul outfit that has mattered. 

The New York-born and-based musician is now one of the most in demand drummers in the world, playing with the likes of Clairo, Solange, Adele, Silk Sonic and Bruno Mars, among a lengthy list of others. And much like his longtime bandmate Dave Guy, Steinweiss is stepping into the spotlight as a both a musician and producer with Ensatina, his first solo album released under the moniker Homer. 

Slated for a November 15, 2024 release through Big Crown Records, Ensatina is reflection of who Steinweiss is now and a testament of how struggle often brings about much-needed changes. He was dealing with considerable emotional turbulence; at the same time that his band Holy Hive broke up, a long-personal relationship fell apart, putting him in an uncertain place mentally. The fallout was significant enough for him to seek professional help. “I was going through these super manic highs and then very depressive lows,” Steinweiss explains. “And being in all that, it’s just so tough to imagine that the other side is there, that it’ll be ok.” But, with time, professional help, and support from friends and family, Homer made it through and has been forever changed. This album is a product of that period of his life.

For Steinweiss, creating the album was a refuge, and it put him back on track. Creatives across the world have an innate understanding of that. But the album is also a glimpse into the different energies that influences that make the man and the artist tick. And fittingly, the album is the beginning of a new, interesting chapter of Steinweiss’ life and career. 

So far I’ve written about two of Ensantina‘s singles:

  • “Deep Sea,” feat. Hether, a slow-burning and woozy love song set over a hypnotic back beat, a gorgeous, dreamy trumpet line and a strummed acoustic guitar line. The lush and meditative arrangement compliments Hether’s dreamily romantic delivery and lyrics, which includes a sweet nod to Steinwess now wife. The song seems to suggest that when we’re struggling in life’s deep sea, love — in all of its forms — can be the lifeline. The track between the two friends came together quickly, with Steinweiss remarking, “It’s my favorite song on the album. Hether, as a friend, saw me through my highs and lows, and this track captures the full energy of what was happening during the time we were recording.”

  • The album’s second single, album opening track “Rollin‘” features the self-proclaimed “granddaughter of soul” KIRBY. The song is anchored around a lush and swaggering, Quiet Storm-like soundscape with skittering and plinking 808s, broodingly regal horns, bursts of strummed guitar. KIRBY’s ethereal delivery, which alternates between scatting and cooing lyrics, floats over the lush production. Steinweiss fell in love with the melody scratch track, and, as he puts it, “the first take, that scratch take is always the one with the most feeling to it.” He ultimately decided to keep the first take for the album, loving the way it forces the listener to come up with their own interpretation of what exactly KIRBY is singing.

Ensatina’s latest single “So Get Up!” feat. MINOVA and Michael Rault is a strutting and swaggering bit of hook-driven, genre-blurring funk anchored around dusty and skittering boom bap, twinkling synth oscillations and glistening and arpeggiated synth melodies serving as a lush and euphoric bed for MINOVA’s ethereal and expressive delivery. Sonically resembling a slick synthesis of 80s synth funk, Rush Midnight and Tame Impala, “So Get Up!” reveals an artist with an adept production style.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: S.C.A.B. Shares Expansive and Brooding “Caught My Eye”

Led by Sean Carmago (vocals guitar), Queens-based indie outfit S.C.A.B. — currently Carmago, Cory Best (guitar, backing vocals), Alec Alabado (bass, backing vocals), Evan Eubanks (drums, percussion), Jordan Rich (synth, piano, production) and Sean Brennan (cello) — will be releasing their first batch of new material in two years with the October 25, 2024 release of the five-song Rose Colored Glasses EP. 

Carmago’s lyrics see him searching for distortions and distractions from the truth, and the interplay between truth and love. And over the pat give years, the band’s work has slowly developed to reflect a worldview created from an awareness of the interplay between truth, love and illusion — and the great comedy of it all. The new EP thematically focuses on love, the uneasy nature of reality, depression, songwriting and being severely, acutely alive.

Last month, I wrote about “IDK New Reality,” a woozy,  120 Minutes-era MTV alt rock-like track track anchored around jangling and distorted guitars, a driving groove paired with rousingly anthemic hooks and Carmago’s earnest croon. 

The EP’s latest single “Caught My Eye” sees the Queens-based outfit crafting a song that synthesizes elements of shoegaze,  120 Minutes-era MTV alt rock, post punk and post-punk and contemporary pop and trap glitch anchored around Carmago’s earnest croon and the band’s penchant for remarkably catchy hooks.

The band’s Carmago offers some reference points for the new single: “Noticing your own wandering eye. Exploring shame. Asking for a lot with little in return. Sharing a song with you. Non-monogamy. Fear of being seen. Thinking about someone else. FaceTime. Unemployment.”
 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: STOLEN Shares Dystopian Anthem “I-Generated”

Formed back in 2010, STOLEN is a pioneering and award-winning, Chengdu, China-based electronica quintet that specializes in a high-energy, dance floor friendly sound that features elements of techno, darkwave and post-punk. 

Since the release of their full-length debut, 2015’s Loop, the Chinese outfit has built an international profile: Through collaborations with renowned brands like Hermés, Burberry and BMW, they’ve managed to merge their unique sound with current fashion trends. And adding to a growing international profile, they opened for New Order during the British New Wave legends’ 2019 European Union tour. 

2024 has been a busy year for the Chinese outfit: Earlier this year, they released the Remanufactured EP, which featured the slow-burning and brooding “Drown With Me,” a song that reminded me ab it of Trentemøller’s “A Different Light” and Goldfrapp’s Tales of Us.

Their second EP of the year, the recently released, three-song effort, I-Generated is a journey into the world of AI. Each track is a separate chapter in the story, with each song focusing on three different moments in AI’s history. Sonically, the EP features a much more electronic sound, driven by catchy keyboard melodies and subtle guitar work.

The EP’s first single, EP opening track “I-Generated” is a Nine Inch Nail-meets-Tool-meets-Rush-like ripper featuring driving rhythms, glitchy bursts of electronics, oscillating synths, rousingly anthemic, shout along worthy hooks, arena rock friendly power chords. It’s the sort of song that sounds as though it would fit perfectly within the universe of The Matrix or some near-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller that closely misers or our seemingly dystopian world.

The song’s lyrically talks about present-day humanity in seeming free-fall, about to put its fate in the hands of AI as a desperate, last resort. Both lyrically and musically, the song evokes the hope and unease that we all feel at this particular moment.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Los Angeles’ Paradise Jonze Shares Introspective and Soulful “OLDER”

Los Angeles-based hip-hop duo Paradise Jonze — JakeyO (vocals) and Alpharo (vocals, production) — released their six-track, self-titled debut EP last month. The EP sees the pair trading verses on growth and change over dusty, chopped-up soul instrumentals.

The EP’s latest single, opening track “OLDER” features the pair trading the sort of introspective and unabashedly honest verses that recall JOVM mainstays Atmosphere paired with a dusty, chopped up and soulful instrumental that’s one-part J. Dilla, one-part Stones Throw Records.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Major Lazer’s House Music Remix of Amadou & Mariam’s “Mogolu”

Over the course of their almost 50-year career, the iconic and beloved Malian duo Amadou & Mariam have an illustrious career that has been them take the Malian blues that made them a household name in Africa and opened it up to rock, hip-hop and EDM/dance influences, spreading their unique Afropop message and joie de vivre. “We’ve always dreamed of tearing down walls and opening people’s ears to new sounds so the whole world can discover and appreciate Malian music,” Amadou & Mariam says.

Released last month, the compilation album La Vie Est Belle highlights the pairs legacy as one of Africa’s most famous duos and the massive influence they’ve had paving the way for an exciting, new generation of African artists, who have begun to dominate the Western mainstream. The Malian duo have also been ambassadors of Afro-pop, who have collaborated with some of the most iconic and biggest stars of Western mainstream music, including U2, Coldplay, Stevie Wonder and David Gilmour — with their seven studio albums selling over one million records globally.

Amadou & Mariam have made the rounds of the global festival circuit with stops at Coachella, Lollapalooza and Glastonbury, as well as at The World Cup, NPR’s Tiny Desk and this year’s Paris Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony, where they covered Serge Gainsbourg‘s “Je Suis Venu Te Dire Que Je Me’n Vais.” They’ve also made the run of the late-night TV circuits across both the US and U.K.

And adding to their global profile, the duo have collaborated with JOVM mainstays Sofi Tucker, BLOND:ISH, Santigold, Akon, TV on the Radio and Damon Albarn.

La Vie Est Belle features new and exclusive material, as well as essential songs recorded and released over the last 20 years, including material off Dimanche à Bamako, the album that propelled the duo into pop stardom, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Album single “Mogolu,” which derives its title from the Bambara word for “people” is a celebration of all things human — human encounters, travels, cultural exchange and diversity, echoing the acclaimed pair’s longstanding commitment to global peace. Featuring layers of skittering and propulsive African polyrhythm paired with the Malian duo’s gorgeous boy-girl melodies and harmonies and glistening guitarrs “Mogolu” is a sleek and incredibly catchy synthesis of the traditional and the modern that has managed to burn up dance floors while subtly recalling the likes of La Confusion‘s “Bofou Sakou.”

Mogolu Remixes EP features remixes of “Mogolu” by a series of acclaimed producers including PPJ, Busy Twist and Major Lazer, the powerhouse production outfit led by Diplo. The Major Lazer remix of “Mogolu” turns the song into a slickly produced, club banger with dense layers of oscillating synths, skittering tweeter and woofer rattling thump while retaining the gorgeous melodies and soulfulness of the original.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay Warhaus Shares Sultry “No Surprise”

Maarten Devoldere is a Belgian singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who is known for being co-lead vocalist and one-half of the core songwriting duo behind the critically applauded Belgian indie rock outfit Balthazar. Devoldere is also known for being the creative mastermind behind the equally applauded solo recording project Warhaus. 

The Belgian singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist’s third Warhaus album 2022’s Ha Ha Heartbreak was inspired by a recently broken heart, and was written during a three-week stay in Palermo. The sorrow he felt was too difficult to handle, so he went to Sicily to escape. But as it turns out, those who try to outrun life and heartache almost always discover that they can never run from themselves.

Ha Ha Heartbreak saw Devoldere attempting to wrap his sorrow into hooks, instantly singalong choruses and irresistible melodies. Sonically, the album’s material is light yet lush, featuring strings, sensual vocals, horns and bursts of playful piano. The result is an album that’s a deep and moving emotional exploration while being musically rich.

Devoldere’s fourth Warhaus album, the Jasper Maekelberg-produced Karaoke Moon is slated for a November 22, 2024 release through Play It Again Sam. Maekelberg and Devoldere spent nine months collaborating in a Bruges-based attic studio, combing through over 50 songs the acclaimed Belgian artist had written since Ha Ha Heartbreak‘s release.

The new album thematically toys with modern views on masculinity. With a quirky sense of humor and tongue-in-cheek lyrics, Devoldere effortlessly bypasses an uncomfortable conversation, mocking himself and his kid with double-edged wit. Throughout the album, it frequently seems Devoldere is battling with his own mind, diving into the deep waters of his subconscious.

“No Surprise,” Karaoke Moon‘s second and latest single in its original demo version was a pumping disco-tinged track. But the final album version is a sultry and Sade-era Quiet Storm and Avalon-era Roxy Music-like late night shuffle of a track anchored by Devoldere’s expressive crooning, shimmering guitar and organ-driven choruses featuring Sylvie Kreusch. “No Surprise” will further cement the Belgian artist’s reputation for deliberately crafted material that’s sophisticated yet simultaneously earnest and very funny.