Category: Synth Pop

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Lowly Light Teams up with Nouvelle Vague’s Liset Alea on 80s Synth Pop-Inspired “Chill Child”

Matt Gorny is an award-winning, New York-based songwriter and producer, best known as Lowly Light, who has collaborated with dance music artists like Ultra Naté, Amanda Lepore, Luca Perra and others. As a producer, Gorny’s work has show continually evolution, ranging from nu-disco jams like “Get Over Yourself,” the chilled out groove of “Prayin'” and “Candy Lied,” to the energetic indie pop of “Down the Coast.”

“Do You Feel Me” amassed over 115,000 Spotify streams. And building upon a growing profile. “Lose You (John “J-C” Carr & Bill Coleman 808 Beach Remix) along with The Weekend remix on Acid Stag and was on regular rotation on SiriusXM channel 312.

Gorny’s latest single “Chill Child” is a collaboration with Nouvelle Vague‘s frontperson Liset Alea. Alea’s ethereal pop starlet cooing floats over a percussive and ebullient, 80s synth pop and dance pop-like production that recalls Madonna‘s 1984 self-titled debut, Banarama‘s “Cruel Summer” and St. Lucia.

The New York-based songwriter and producer explains that the song lyrically is a meditation on the much-needed art of patience and perspective. Ultimately, it’s about “giving time a chance to work its magic to reveal what’s truly worth fighting for,” he says. He goes on to say that the collaboration came about when he pitched the song to Alea, who has been on the top of his list of artists he wanted to work with. She loved the track and the lyrical message and was eager to bring her own vision to the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Nature Loves Courage Shares Sleek and Dance Floor Friendly “Elevation”

Initially starting her career as a singer/songwriter and pianist, who drew comparisons to Annie Lennox and Kate Bush, McKenna Rowe (vocals, keys) found herself increasingly driven by an obsession with samples and beats when she founded the Los Angeles-based pop outfit Nature Loves Courage back in 2020 as a way to create her own take on lush, atmospheric grooves, inspired by the likes of Massive Attack and others. Rowe recruited Jacob Bergman (bass), Garrett Smith (drums) and Joe De Sa (guitar) to flesh out and polish the project’s overall sound.

The quartet aims to bridge electronic soundscapes with a dynamic rock sound, enveloping the listener in a pseudo live experience. Typically, the band’s material counterbalances airy string and piano arrangements with quirky synths and heavy rock and funk-inspired riffs.

Nature Loves Courage’s recently released and aptly named EP III managers to encapsulate the band’s sound and approach while seemingly drawing from Annie Lennox, Blondie, The Chemical Brothers and LCD Soundsystem. Thematically, the EP’s material dives into a completely storyline while touching upon heartbreak, practicing kindness to one another and more.

III EP‘s lead single “Elevation” is a dance floor friendly bop featuring a supple and funky bass line, twinkling, Larry Levan-like synth arpeggios and bursts of Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar paired with Rowe’s sultry pop starlet delivery and remarkably catchy hooks. Sonically meshing elements of house music and dance pop, “Elevation” thematically nudges the listener towards practicing some much-needed kindness towards others.

The Los Angeles-based quartet collaborated with Holy Smoke Photography on the accompanying video, which sees the band playfully experiment with animation to express different versions of themselves in a Nature Loves Courage multiverse.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Shrines Shares Eerie “Witch Season”

Arguably best known for stints with Ponyhof and Will Butler, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter and musician Carrie Erving is the creative mastermind behind the indie electro pop recording project Shrines. Erving’s work, which sees her deftly weaving elements of pop, electronic music, indie rock and Irish sean-nós (traditional Irish folk singing) into a shimmering take on art-pop that The New York Times has described as “spellbinding.”

Erving’s latest Shrines EP, the four-song Rosana Cabán-produced Seasons is slated for an October 18, 2024 release. The EP’s material explores the fragility of the individual seasons, documenting the collective cognitive dissonance of the fluctuations between celebration and trepidation that come about during a time of rapidly escalating climate change. Each of the EP’s songs lyrically suggest to the listener that allowing ourselves to save the present moment may be one of the keys to grappling with one of the largest challenges of our moment.

Seasons‘ latest single “Witch Season” is an eerie and brooding bit of electro pop featuring buzzing bass synths, gently oscillating atmospheric synths, skittering beats paired with Erving’s soaring vocals. Sonically, the song reminds me of a synthesis of Stevie Nicks, Bjork and Portishead while being a homage to fall and spooky season, evoking creepy crawlies and spirits lurking around the corner.

Directed by Brody Bernheisel, the accompanying video follows the Brooklyn-based artist in a flowing, black dress, driving to the woods where she fittingly dances around a bonfire. Visually, the video seems to draw from Madonna‘s “Like A Prayer” and Victoria + Jean’s “Harlight Sverige.”

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Paris’ Superjava Shares A Breezy, Hook-Driven Bop

Paris-based electro rock outfit Superjava can trace its origins back to when its founding duo Archi and Alex met in 2015 while they were studying at Berklee College of Music. Upon graduation, they relocated to Paris, where they met the band’s then-third member Arnaud. Although the band has gone through a lineup change, the members of the Parisian outfit — currently Archi and Arnaud — have managed to spread their music around the world, as a result of several global advertising campaigns.

After the release of several EPs, which were supported with tours in France and China in 2019, the duo recently released their highly-anticipated full-length debut, Get Sick, Get Better. Drawing influence from the likes of Phoenix, Justice, Jamaica, Air, Cassius, MGMT, Empire Of The Sun and Foster The People among others, the album sees the band embodying the spirit and feel of a new wave of French Touch while featuring elements of rock, pop and electro pop.

“Slowdown,” Get Sick, Get Better‘s latest single is a breezy bop featuring glistening synths, a strutting bass line and the pair’s unerring knack for crafting remarkably catchy, rousingly anthemic hooks. While seemingly indebted to Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix-era Phoenix and Oracular Spectacular-era MGMT, “Slowdown” to my ears, also subtly brings Tame Impala to mind, too. And at its core, the song is anchored in a much-needed reminder that we need to slow down and just enjoy the moment — whether it’s with our dear ones or just by ourselves.

Directed by Jules Salters, the accompanying video for “Slowdown” features the duo wandering the French countryside while being part of a pleasant psilocybin trip or while wandering a slightly alien yet familiar world — or perhaps even both.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy Belated 72nd Birthday, Dave Stewart!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates Dave Stewart’s 72nd birthday.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: RYAL Shares a Dance Floor Friendly Bop

JOVM mainstays RYAL is a New York-based synth pop duo that features:

  • Jacque Ryal, a producer, singer/songwriter, keyboardist and pop artist, who first emerged into the local scene as a member of pop outfit Strip Darling. When she first stepped out as a solo artist, she started out crafting Portishead-inspired trip-hop. 

  • Aaron Nevezie, an in-demand producer, engineer, mixer and songwriter, who has worked across a wide range of genres and styles, primarily out of Brooklyn-based Bunker Studio. Nevezie works with acts sculpting sounds and honing arrangements rooted in a passion for creative sonics informing musical performances. He has extensive work in composing and arranging electronic music with a focus on analog modular synths.

The JOVM mainstays have received attention from the likes of The Best Line of Best Fit, Time Out New York, LadyGunn, Popdust and elsewhere.

The duo’s latest single “On The Inside” is a hook-driven, early 80s-inspired disco synth pop tune that recalls Evelyn “Champagne” King‘s “I’m In Love,” Prince‘s “U Got the Look” and a few others. It’s the sort of song that should get you up to the dance floor or the rolling skating rink — unless you’re somehow soulless and dead.

The duo explain that the song is about how good vibes come from within, and that it’s ultimately up to you to have a good time. Let that be a reminder y’all.

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: STOLEN Shares Brooding “Drown With Me”

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. 

The Chengdu-based outfit will be embarking on a UK tour in October. The tour will feature newly remastered old and new tracks with enhanced avant-garde VJ visual effects, which promise to be a jaw-dropping live performance.

Earlier this year, the Chinese outfit released the Remanufactured EP. The EP’s latest single, EP closing track “Drown With Me” is a slow-burning, brooding track featuring brief bursts of twinkling keys, atmospheric synths paired with yearning and eerily ethereal vocals. Sonically, recalling Trentemøller’s “A Different Light” and Goldfrapp’s Tales of Us, “Drown With Me” is a gorgeous yet uneasy dream.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Geneva Jacuzzi Shares Sultry and Swaggering “Laps of Luxury”

Geneva Jacuzzi is a Los Angeles-based multimedia artist, whose immersive and unhinged performances are considered legendary: they often involve a psychotropic gallery of masks, costumes, confrontation and massive art installations. Her recorded music frequently features catchy hooks and cryptic moods dusted in 4-track grit. 

Earlier this year, the bedroom darkwave stalwart., multimedia artist and performer signed to Dais Records, who will be releasing her third full-length album Triple Fire on Friday.

In the lead up to the album’s release, I wrote about the following tracks:

“Dry,” a brooding and swaying bit of 80s retro-futuristic synth pop anchored around layers of glistening analog synth arpeggios and skittering beats paired with catchy, razor sharp hooks. Jacuzzi’s seemingly detached vocal singing lyrics about disconnection and uncertainty ethereally float over the dreamy arrangement and production. 

“I took a little break from writing music and when I sat down at home to record, ‘Dry’ was the first song to burst out,” Jacuzzi recalls. “The music came together so instantly it’s as if it had been waiting and perfecting itself for years in the ether. The chorus lyrics came that same week after I went on a date with Mike Judge and he never called me back (haha). I wasn’t upset or anything, but I had never been ghosted before and couldn’t help but equate modern love to an appliance you buy on the home shopping network.”

“Scene Ballerina” Triple Fire‘s third single continued a run of remarkably period specific, 80s inspired synth pop, with the song featuring glistening and arpeggiated synths, tweeter and woofer rattling 808s and catchy hooks serving as a lush yet dance floor friendly bed for Jacuzzi’s expressive vocal. Sonically seeming to nod at a synthesis of Jane Child, I Feel For You-era Chaka Khan and Larry Levan house, “Scene Ballerina” describes a very specific, attention craving personality that many of us have come across at some point or another. 

“We all know that person: The Scene Ballerina. Stirring up a whirlpool of drama. Leaping to the center of the spotlight, spinning lies, twisting stories. All for attention,” Jacuzzi shares. “A tragic character. I can name a few ;)”

“Laps of Luxury,” is Triple Fire‘s fourth and final, pre-release single. And as the album opening track, it sets the template for the album’s sound and aesthetic while standing out on its own. Featuring skittering boom bap, glistening synth arpeggios and strutting synth bass paired with Jacuzzi’s sultry, siren-like cooing, “Laps of Luxury” is a strobe-lit, goth-leaning club banger that’s seemingly indebted to Pet Shop Boys, Yaz/Yazoo, New Order and early Depeche Mode.

“‘Laps of Luxury’ is one of my favorite tracks on Triple Fire,” Jacuzzi says. “We spent the most time perfecting it in the studio. I was listening to a lot of Pet Shop Boys at the time and wanted to capture the light/dark ghostly dreamscape of castles and discos from another time. The lyrics are quite haunting and vague. The character is escaping in a car late at night. Processing the experiences that flood her mind and recounting them to the driver. ‘I’ve seen so many things/no one should ever see’… What did she see?!?! Poor thing. Obviously something unspeakable. One could only imagine.”

singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Bearniez Shares a Slickly Produced, Hook-Driven Bop

Bearniez is an Indonesian-Italian singer/songwriter and sound engineer, whose travels to the major metropolitan areas across the globe has influenced her ability to mix multiple elements from different genres and cultures in her work.

Her latest single, “Safari Motion” is a slickly produced, hook-driven bop featuring dense layers of glistening synths, skittering beats, bursts of squiggling funk guitar a sinuous bas line that serve as a lush bed for Bearniez’s plaintive pop starlet delivery.

According to the Indonesian-Italian artist, the song describes the her creativity as a sort of jungle, a chaotic world of colors, beauty and danger. As you get older, imagination and creativity are supposed to be boxed and put away. The expectation is that you must follow the pragmatic, “adult” path. But the song talks about not letting external pressure to make you “grow up” and stop being creative or imaginative.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 66th Birthday, Madonna!

August is a very busy month in music history: The legendary and iconic Madonna celebrates her 66th birthday today. Jesus, we’re all getting old, eh?  Madonna’s impact on pop music has been towering. Besides being a feminist […]

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Only Twin Shares Cinematic and Swooning “Give You Up”

Initially known for his work with Forgive Durden and Cardiknox, Seattle-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Thomas Dutton is the create mastermind behind the rising, solo, synth pop project Only Twin.

Back in Seattle, every show Dutton went to gave him a sense of longing. It didn’t matter if they were playing to dozens or hundreds, the band was up on that stage tearing their hearts out in front of the world. Dutton knew he wanted to be up there on a stage, like the bands he was catching as a fan. As a teen, carpooling with his friends’ older siblings meant expose to bands and songs he had never heard before. Songs that weren’t played on the radio — and songs that opened his eyes and ears in transformative ways. “I’m always trying to capture that feeling I had when I was discovering music that changed my life,” Dutton says.

Inspired by the likes of The 1975 and Bon Iver, Only Twin emerged out of necessity. When Cardiknox split up, producing became Dutton’s full-time job, and he wanted to start a project that showed himself as a left-of-center, indie pop aesthete. But as Dutton used music to process both the dissolution of Cardiknox and a breakup, Only Twin took a life of its own. “It started as a way to carve out a little space for myself,” he says. “But as I started reclaiming tracks I’d written for other people, the project gave me closure on a huge chapter in my life.” 

Dutton’s sophomore Only Twin effort, the recently released it Feels Nice to Burn sees him bottling that sense of nostalgia. “I still feel like that wide-eyed 13-year-old at his first show in a lot of ways,” he says. Thematically, It Feels Nice to Burn continues the exploration of love, rebirth and new beginnings that he explored on his Only Twin debut, 2021’s Rare Works. Sonically, the new album sees Dutton finding the sweet spot between left-of-center indie pop and dreamy rock, while marking the next chapter of his life, one that sees him embracing the love of a lifetime and fatherhood. Unsurprisingly, the experience of falling in love, getting married and raising a child has given new meaning to his music and to himself.

When the Night-era St. Lucia-like album single “Give You Up” is slow-burning, seemingly 80s rom-com-inspired song featuring glistening synths, gated reverberated drums, bursts of twinkling keys, bursts of shimmering and squiggling guitars paired with Dutton’s plaintive delivery paired with the Seattle-born, Los Angeles-based artist’s unerring knack for crafting swooningly earnest tracks with big hooks and choruses.

“Give You Up” is rooted in lived-in personal experience with the song describing the moment Dutton and his wife “jumped into the deep end” of their burgeoning relationship.

Directed by The Director Brothers, the accompanying video for “Give You Up” stars Julianne Hough as a bored office drone, who has an odd yet adorable affair with an old office copier that plays on rom-com tropes.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Geneva Jacuzzi Shares Lush and Satirical “Scene Ballerina”

Geneva Jacuzzi is a Los Angeles-based multimedia artist, whose immersive and unhinged performances are considered legendary: they often involve a psychotropic gallery of masks, costumes, confrontation and massive art installations. Her recorded music frequently features catchy hooks […]

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 70th Birthday, Neil Tennant!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Pet Shop Boys’ frontman Neil Tennant’s 70th birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 63rd Birthday, Vince Clarke!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Yaz’s/Yazoo’s, Depeche Mode’s and Erasure’s Vince Clarke’s 63rd birthday.