Category: Single Review

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Christian Löffler Teams Up with Mogli on Flirty and Summery “Y”

Christian Löffler is an acclaimed German musician, producer and DJ, whose work is widely celebrated across electronic music circles for a distinct sound that seamlessly blends elements of ambient music, techno and house.

2021’s Parallels featured reinterpretations of classical arrangements by Beethoven, Chopin and several other composers paired with his crowd-pleasing electronic music production approach. The following year saw the German producer pushing the boundaries of his sound further through live shows that captivated audiences across the globe.

Released earlier this year, Löffler’s third album A Life sees the German-born musician, producer and DJ continuing to push his sound and approach in new directions while exploring new emotional depths. Album single “Y,” a collaboration with Mogli is a lush and flirty, crowd-pleasing banger anchored around Mogli’s yearning delivery paired with woozy and glistening synth arpeggios, thumping, tweeter and woofer ratting low end, skittering beats and a rousingly anthemic, euphoric set of hooks and choruses.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

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

Four years ago, Robertson stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist with his latest project SHOLTO, which sees him crafting a unique take on instrumental, psychedelic soul. Last year was a big year for the rising London-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer: He signed to Deep Matter imprint Root Records, who released his SHOTOL debut, The Changing Tides of Dreams EP. 

The rising British artist’s work has received airplay from Jazz FM‘s Tony Minvielle and BBC Radio 6‘s Huey Morgan, Deb Grant and Gilles Peterson. Building upon a rapidly growing national profile, Robertson’s latest track “Ligurian Storm” continues a run of gorgeous and mischievously anachronistic material that seemingly channels The Ironsides, Mildlife, Adrian Younge/The Midnight Hour, David Axelrod and Quincy Jones — but with a cinematic quality.

Conceived on a stormy train ride from Milan to Liguria, the compositions blend of swelling and building harp, strings, vibraphone and synths evoke the build up on a growing storm swallowing and overwhelming a beautiful landscape.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay MAGON Shares Nick Drake-like “Portobello’s On The Run”

Over the course of the past handful of years, I’ve spilled copious amounts of virtual ink covering the remarkably prolific, Israeli-born, Costa Rican-based singer/songwriter, musician and JOVM mainstay MAGON. The JOVM mainstay’s recently released eighth […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Mariaa Siga and Oddy Team Up on Empathetic and Soulful “Immigration”

If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past couple of years, you’d recall that I’ve spilled quite a bit of virtual ink covering Senegalese-born and-based singer/songwriter, musician and JOVM mainstay Mariaa Siga. 

Siga recently collaborated with ODDY and Rascat on an effort that features five distinct versions of the Siga and ODDY co-written tune “Immigration.” Each version showcases distinct mixes and arrangements, including a dub interpretation by Oddy and Rascal, an intimate acoustic version and a Nyahbinghi/rasta drum version.

The Senegalese JOVM mainstay shares a dub version of “Immigration.” Anchored around a mournful horn line, a shuffling riddim and a rubbery, throbbing bass line, the song’s arrangement serves as a lush and soulful bed for Siga’s gorgeous and expressive vocal. The song is written from the perspective of the immigrant and the migrant — in particular, young Africans — who have been forced to leave their homelands for safety, for a better life or to live out big dreams and so on. But it’s written from a place of much-needed empathy with the understanding that close to one-billion humans across the world are picking up what’s left of their lives and are on the move right now.

The question will be how will those in the global north respond? So far, it’s been with selfishness, cruelty and recrimination. Shame on us.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: LYV and Semi Team Up with Mistah FAB on a Summery and Club Friendly Bop

LYV is an emerging San Francisco-based, Mexican-American singer/songwriterand marketing manager at EMPIRE. The emerging San Francisco-based artist comes from an R&B and gospel background — but she has writing and co-writing credits for artists across a variety of genres. 

Over the past 18 months or so, the emerging San Francisco-based artist has been steadily releasing material, including last year’s “Haunted,” a track that paired her sultry pop starlet vocal with an atmospheric, Quiet Storm-inspired production featuring skittering trap-like beats and ethereal synths. But at its core is an earnest expression of yearning and desire. 

Her latest single “Fantasy” is hook-driven and summery, club friendly bop that’s a slick synthesis of elements of old-school house, contemporary R&B and Jungle Brothers era hip-hop that’s lush and roomy enough for LYV and Semi to croon with yearning — and for Oakland-based legend Mistah FAB to spit a few bars discussing a young, passionate, fervent love. It’s the sort of song you’d want playing in the background while you’re trying to seduce that long-held crush/love interest/sitautionship.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Since their formation back in 2013, the Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia-based post-punk trio and JOVM mainstays PLOHO — Victor Uzhakov (vocals, guitar), Andrei Smorgonsky (bass) and Igor Starshinov (synths) — have firmly established themselves as being at the forefront of a contemporary, new wave of Russian music. Inspired by Joy Division and late Soviet-era acts like Kino, the Siberian act’s cold and bleak sound evokes both the bitter cold of their homeland and that uncertain and uneasy period of the Soviet Union just before its inevitable collapse. 

The Russian post punk trio have released nine albums, several EPs and more than 10 standalone singles, which the band has supported with tour stops at over 40 European cities. They’ve also made stops across the major international festival circuit with stops at Боль in Russia, Kalabalik in Sweden, and Plartforma in Lithuania. And adding to a growing profile globally, the band’s music has been added to over 16,000 listener-made Spotify playlists, as well as seeing various adds on Apple Music to playlists like Inspired By and New Russian Alternative. 

PLOHO’s 10th album Почва is slated for an August 30, 2024 release through Artoffact Records. Почва will feature the previously released “Я буду жить для тебя,” and “Гештальт,” a brooding bit of post-punk anchored around eerily atmospheric synths, shimmering and reverb-soaked guitar, angular bass lines and industrial clatter serving as an icy bed for Uzakhov’s sonorous and dramatic baritone. While seemingly channeling 4AD Records heyday and Japanese Whispers-era The Cure, the new single continues a run of sociopolitically incisive material that comments on contemporary issues and concerns.


“‘Гештальт (Gestalt)’ is a song about the inevitable consequences of karma and the universe’s reaction to humanity’s actions,” the band explains. “We aimed to convey the simplicity of this phenomenon, illustrating how effortlessly things can disappear if the elements desire it. This is why the video was filmed in an anti-capitalist style, symbolizing the collapse of capitalism, the foundation of modern human society.”

Почва‘s third and latest single “‘ФАРФОРОВЫЕ ПТИЦЫ” is another brooding bit post punk anchored around a relentless motorik groove, a glistening 80s like synth melody, angular bass lines and a shimmering guitar solo. While continuing a run of material that sounds indebted to 4AD Records, The Cure and the like, the new batch of material will remind listeners that the Siberian JOVM mainstays have an unerring knack for pairing catchy hooks with incisive sociopolitical messages.

“This song is dedicated to our hometown. Siberian life, which was very different,” the band explains. “About what I saw from the window of my apartment in Novosibirsk, what surrounded me, what I felt when I lived there. ‘We’re just porcelain birds in nests and concrete slabs.'”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Solid Spark Shares Summery “Higher”

Solid Spark is a rising electronic music producer and DJ, who has caught the attention of the global electronic scene with a sound that seamlessly blends contemporary pop sound with golden age EDM nostalgia. For the rising electronic music producer and DJ, the result is material that’s dance floor friendly but packs a deep emotional and energetic resonance. 

Earlier this year, I wrote about “Dream,” a slick, club friendly banger featuring glistening synths, a sultry and yearning vocal sample, skittering beats and euphoria-inducing hook and drops. The production revealed a producer with an uncannily sophisticated sense of soulful craftsmanship.

Building upon a growing profile, the rising producer’s latest single “Higher” is a club friendly bop featuring glistening synths, a chopped and screwed vocal sample-driven, incredibly catchy hook, a yearning female vocal sample for the verses, skittering tweeter and woofer rattling thump. While continuing to cement his reputation for crafted and soulful electronic music, “Higher” may arguably be the most summery and catchiest song of the producer’s growing catalog to date.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Autumns Eyes Shares Brooding and Pummeling “Betwixt Wind & Water”

New England-based multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter Daniel Mitchell is the creative mastermind behind Autumns Eyes, a goth metal solo project inspired by a range of dark and goth-like sources ranging from Tim Burton to Type O Negative. Since starting the project back in 1999, Mitchell has released 12 albums of Halloween-themed and inspired material that reminds those who love the darkness that it can be fun to live in the shadows. 

Earlier this year, I wrote about the ear drum shattering, early Metallica-meets Bauhaus-like, mosh pit friendly “Faith In Cycles,” which featured pummeling Headbanger’s Ball-like riffage, thundering drumming, Mitchell alternating between crooned-vocals for the verses and howling for the choruses and a scorching guitar solo. Play loud — and open up that pit!

Continuing to cement his reputation for being remarkably prolific, Mitchell recently released his 13th album Grimoire of Oak & Shadow. The album’s latest single “Betwixt Wind & Water” is a slickly produced ripper that sonically and thematically nods at Headbanger’s Ball-era metal and Tool — but with a cinematic quality.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: John Finbury and Bruna Black Team Up on Breezy and Expressive “Para Me Entender”

Andover, MA-based Grammy and Latin Grammy-nominated drummer, composer and JOVM mainstay John Finbury collaborated with rising São Paulo-based singer/songwriter Bruna Black on his latest album Vã Revelação, which was released earlier this year.

Vã Revelação presents a broad array of subgenres under the large umbrella of Brazilian jazz. So there are the beloved and classic bossa nova and samba tunes. But there are also Baião, Partido, Alto, Forró and Afoxê among other styles.

In the lead-up to the album’s release, I wrote about three previously released singles:

  • “Chão De Nuvem,” a soulful year breezy tune featuring an arrangement of fluttering accordion, a supple bass line, shuffling percussion. The song gorgeously — and effortlessly — meshes elements of samba, jazz fusion and pop while being a perfect vehicle for Bruna Black’s languorous yet soulful delivery. 

  • “Será,” a song built around a gorgeous arrangement of shimmering acoustic guitar by Chico Pinheiro, a supple and sinuous bass line from John Pattiucci that’s roomy enough for Black’s expressive vocal. Fittingly released at the end of last year, the song is a meditation on the passing of time, the choices and plans we make that work out and the ones that fail — with the understanding that all of it influences who we are, and who we will become. 

  • Album title track “Vã Revelação,” a breathtakingly gorgeous yet bittersweet tune, anchored around the classic shuffle and sway of bossa nova featuring shimmering, strummed guitar, a supple bass line, twinkling and expressive bursts of piano serving as a lush bed for Black’s stunning vocal turn. Much like its predecessors, “Vã Revelação” is meditative yet breezy, a blast of summer — but full of the recognition of the passing of time, and of regrets, hopes dashed and hopes to be had again. 

Vã Revelação‘s fourth and latest single “Para Me Entender” is a much jazzier take on Bossa nova than its predecessor, anchored around a loose, swinging arrangement that displays each musician’s chops with a self-assured swagger. But the true star of the affair is Bruna Black, who reveals herself as a stylistic chameleon, whose voice can shift in colors, registers and expression within the turn of a phrase.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Delaware’s Bad Robot Shares Enormous Banger “Supermassive”

Micheal Ricker is a Delaware-based electronic music producer and artist best known as Bad Robot. His latest single is “Supermassive” is fittingly built around skittering, tweeter and woofer rattling thump, scorching bass synths, and a woozy and wobbling synth melody. It’s a festival and club banger that sounds as though it should knock a building over.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Bubba Brothers Share 90s House-Inspired “I’m Your DJ”

Over the past handful of years of this site’s 14 year history, I’ve spilled quite a bit of virtual ink covering Portuguese DJ and production outfit and JOVM mainstays Bubba Brothers — Eliseu Correia and Justino Santos […]

Video by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: Shonali Shares Brooding and Vibey “Driving Nowhere”

Shonali Bhowmik is a Nashville-born, New York-based singer/songwriter, actor, comedian, filmmaker, lawyer and writer, whose musical roots developed in Nashville, where she began making music on an 8-track recorder with her childhood best friend Michelle Dubois in Ultrababyfat, an act that opened for the likes of Pavement and PJ Harvey while she was in law school. 

She was pulled into the NYC comedy scene by her close friend David Cross after touring with him during his Let America Laugh tour. Since then, she started the groundbreaking and influential comedy collective Variety Shac alongside Chelsea Peretti, Heather Lawless and Andrea Rosen, and she was the host of The Shac’s popular Upright Citizen’s Brigade live show. Bhowmik has also worked with renowned comedians like Fred Armisen, John Early, John Roberts, Nimesh Patel, Dave Hill, Wyatt Cenac, and Amy Poehler. She currently released comedy albums by rising comedians on her own label Little Lamb Recordings. And lastly, she co-shots her own live variety show podcast series We Don’t Know, which showcases comedians, artists and musicians. 

Throughout her lengthy music career, Bhowmik has released nine albums with Ultrababyfat, including three with her current band Tigers and Monkeys and her 2011 solo debut, 100 Oaks Revival. The Nashville-born, New York-based artist steps back out into the spotlight again as a solo artist with her long-awaited sophomore album One Machine At A Time. 

Slated for a July 26, 2024 release through Little Lamb Recordings, One Machine At A Time reportedly sees Bhowmik touting her clever songcraft and evocative lyrics while culminating in genre-bending material that feels ubiquitous yet unique to her own experience as an Indian-American woman from Nashville. The album’s songs playfully explore and mesh different genres and eras but within a cohesive, carefully curated musical universe — and overall, a well-rounded album. 

The strength and bravery of Bhowmik’s artistic drive is rooted in the steadfast support of her mother and father, professors who immigrated to the States and constantly encouraged her musical and creative efforts. For her, that support is a significant influence on why her music is so unabashedly emotional and fearless. 

The forthcoming album sees Bhowmik honoring her father Dr, Dilip Kumar Bhowmik, who recently passed away after a full life of kindness, humor and academic achievement. The album’s cover art, a photo of a young Shonali, taken by her father demonstrates their love and lasting connection. That love and spark of her father’s life continues to fuel her artistic life. Now, she’s able to say “Farewell, sweet one,” while showing how, in the face of loss, how her delicate spark shines on. 

For the album, the Nashville-born, New York-based artist wrote a personal statement on the album, which I’m including below:

“A year to-the-date, after losing my father in 2022, I came to the realization I had to share my music with the world again. My dad always encouraged me to take risks, to be true to myself and to ‘go for it.’ In an effort to embrace his wisdom, there was little thinking to be done; I went for it. Once I made the decision to record a new full-length release everything came together quickly. I had a stockpile of demos recorded on my GarageBand which I suddenly realized were worth sharing with the world. I left New York City to go record in Atlanta, Georgia with my OG musical family, friends with whom I formally started my musical career. In July 2023 in Peoplestown, Georgia, I sat with my insanely talented producer friend Dan Dixon, drummer Darren Dodd (along with other talented friends K. Michelle DuBois, Shannon Wright, and Jeff Holt) and recorded my album.

The result of our therapeutic time together is One Machine At A Time, out July 26, an album which combines aspects of all the music I am inspired by – indie rock, soul, psychedelic and retro sounds of the 70s, 80s, and 90s along with the folk singer-songwriter and country influences of my time growing up in Nashville, Tennessee. It takes you on a journey through many genres. 

“One of my BFF’s asked his 24-year-old nephew to listen… to which he said “this is really fucking good. It’s like a different genre every song.” Another one of my favorite quotes comes from a friend who said “there’s something retro feeling about these songs that tug on my heart strings in the best way…without feeling retro or dated, if that makes any sense.

As the daughter of Indian professors who immigrated to the United States during the Civil Rights Movement and a woman who grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, I have always been drawn to stories that amplify voices minimized by mainstream media outlets – so here I am pushing myself to be louder and prouder. I considered sharing my music under a pseudonym, but realized that this album reflects my personal journey – pondering the meaning of our lives (including past loves), the state of our world, where love of machines has taken over love for each other, and the celebration and difficulty of life. 

My name is Shonali (pronounced Show-nalley.) I am a southern girl with Indian parents, who has been recording my songs on a tape recorder since childhood. My first doll was named Johnny Cash. My goal is connection – our goal should be connection – and I continue to be unable to resist the need to share my voice.   It’s my hope that this album fills in the gaps musically, sonically and emotionally for those who feel like they are watching life from the outside in.”

Last month, I wrote about “Up All Night,” a disco pop-tinged bit of post punk anchored around squiggling guitar stabs, oscillating synths, propulsive polyrhythm and a sinuous bass line. The new single sonically channels a slick synthesis of Talking Heads“Stay Up Late,” Entertainment-era Gang of Four and Stevie Nicks‘ “Stand Back” but while evoking a mischievous coquettishness and achingly earnest yearning. The song also showcases Bhowmik’s uncanny knack for crafting ridiculously catchy hooks and larger-than-life, Karen O-like delivery. 

One Machine At A Time’s latest single “Driving Nowhere” is a brooding and vibey bit of 80s post punk and pop that seems to stylistically and thematically nod at Billy Idol‘s “Eyes Without a Face,” The Cars “Drive,” David Lynch soundtracks and JOVM mainstays Still Corners while anchored around strummed rhythm guitar, reverb-soaked twang and Bhowmik’s penchant for pairing earnest lyricism with big, catchy hooks. But at its core, the song captures a narrator hitting the road with the endless blacktop ahead of them, and their past looming just behind.

“I was fortunate to hook up with director Andrew Hooper (Jon Spencer, Marcellus Hall, The Dollyrots) who is prolific when it comes to coming up with video ideas and also has a great enthusiasm for music and understanding an artist’s vision,” Bhowmik explains. “He instantaneously understood the Lost Highway vibes of this song. Andrew was based in Thailand at the time we shot the video.  He sent me a minutely detailed treatment and our Director of Photography Justin Joseph Hall translated that outline,  I think perfectly.  And of course Dave Hill, nailed the comedic beats of our community theater production.

“We made an English lyric video along with Spanish and Hindi lyric translation videos with the hopes of including listeners across the world on this universal journey.  The song captures how our past is always with us.  Our minds wander down the directionless road of our past relationships fully aware that there is no true final destination.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Love Letter! Shares Bruising and Satirical “Inferno”

New Jersey-based post punk trio Love Letter! — founding members Bruce Macchione (guitar) and Marc Norton (drums) along with Emily Terzano (vocals, bass) — can trace their origins back to 2021: The band’s founding members Macchione and Norton met through a mutual friend, who worked at a local Dairy Queen. The group played for about a year and were on hiatus when they met Terzano last winter — and as a result of that meeting, the band rebranded itself both through its name and through its sound, moving form a pop/indie rock-leaning sound to a goth-inspired take on post punk.

The New Jersey-based trio’s debut EP, the four-song Mother Superior introduces listeners to their new sound, a sound that features elements of jazz, grunge, goth, shoegaze and metal. Thematically, the EP’s material aims to bring awareness to issues like climate change, LGBQT+ rights, abuse and mental health while encapsulating the feelings of isolation, anger and fear that often come with uncertain and uneasy times.

“Mother Superior is about feeling every emotion that finds its way to the soles of your feet and back up through your spine again,” the band’s Emily Tarzano explains. “It is a work of strength, persistence, and the acceptance of change not just lyrically, but instrumentally as well.”

Mother Superior‘s latest single “Inferno” is a bruising track that sounds like a synthesis of Hole, Veruca Salt and Ganser: angular power chords are fed through copious amount of fuzz and distortion and pared with thunderous drumming and a sing-songy, and ironically detached vocals. At its core, “Inferno” is an incisive bit of satire that pokes fun at celebrities who are too materialistic to even care about climate change — or its impact on themselves and others.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Kenon Chen Shares Glistening and Propulsive “Sunday”

Kenon Chen is a prolific, electronic pop singer/songwriter and producer, who over the course of last year released four albums — Electric Winter, The Tide: Wave I, Electric Spring, Electric Summer and Electric Fall. 

Chen also released the Electric Seasons Remixed album earlier this year. The album features “Safe In Your Arms (Lunar New Year Edit),” a slickly produced hook-driven bop featuring skittering beats, strummed guitar and glistening synth arpeggios serving as a lush and cinematic bed for Chen’s plaintive falsetto. Rooted in deeply heartfelt and earnest lyrics, the song seems to channel Get Ready-era New Order and St. Lucia.

Continuing a wildly prolific run, Chen released the Sunday EP earlier this month. The EP features, EP title track “Sunday (Radio Edit),” is a sleek banger featuring glistening synth arpeggios, skittering tweeter and woofer rattling thump, a relentless motorik groove paired with rousingly anthemic hooks and bursts of twinkling reverb-drenched keys. The production serves as a lush bed for Chen’s achingly tender falsetto singing some deeply earnest lyrics.

“‘Sunday’ is an anthem to summer Sunday drives and spontaneous adventures, from its infectious melodies to its heartfelt lyrics,” Chen explains.