Category: Synth Pop

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of signer/songwriter Max Greenhalgh, multi-instrumentalist Bryce Outcault and a revolving cast of musicians and collaborators, San Diego, CA-based project Inspired and the Sleep emerged locally and regionally with the 2015 release of Eyelid Kid, a collection dream pop; however, with “Sweet Company,” the Southern California-based duo have turned towards a breezier and lighter sound with the band returning to self-production combining electronic production techniques with live instrumentation. And in fact, you’ll hear a buoyant melody and hook paired with layers of shimmering and gently undulating synths, Greenhalgh’s plaintive vocals, subtle layers of guitar to craft a song that feels both wistful and yet deeply appreciative over both the good and bad times of one’s life and how they all influence and inform one’s life; after all, even in the most miserable of breakups, there was something positive — those relationships and their heartaches taught you something about yourself and what you want,  and even the lingering ghosts of those past lovers can serve to remind you that even if you’re not in love now, you had been and you will be again.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Phoebe Lou and Joey Clough, the Melbourne, Australia-based duo Two People‘s debut single “Falling” received over 700,000 streams, was on regular rotation on renowned, Australian radio station Triple J and reached the Top 10 on Hype Machine‘s Popular Charts. Building on the buzz they’ve already received, the duo’s second and latest single “If We Have Time” pairs Phoebe Lou’s aching vocals with an atmospheric production comprised of swirling electronics, stuttering drum programming, twinkling keyboards and guitars played through reverb in a song that manages to  be simultaneously intimate and cinematic in a way that reminds me quite a bit of both Portishead and Goldfrapp‘s gorgeous Tales of Us.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Film Noir-Inspired Visuals for ASTR’s Sensual, New Single

Building upon a growing national profile, the duo recently released their highly-anticipated sophomore EP Homecoming, which features “Bleeding Love” and have completed a North American tour with Ryn Weaver and Holychild. “Get So High,” the duo’s latest single pairs Silverman’s sultry and soulful pop-belter vocals with a slick and chilly production consisting of Silverman’s chopped up vocals to create a lushly layered harmonies, stuttering and skittering drum programming, subtly ominously swirling electronics and an anthemic hook to craft a hyper-modern, radio-friendly song that manages to be a bit of a lament and an urgent plea as the song’s narrator seems to be losing a realistic view of their relationship.

Produced by Dre Films, the video for “Get So High,” “continues my visceral obsession with horror film noir and twisted dark fantasy. The song is about crossing the line and losing site of reality. In this instance my character poses as an undercover bandit who takes it too far and kills her victim. This video tells a black widow tale, what starts as a fun night turns south and we question the illuslsion of who we really are. False Intentions shift from good times and cocaine highs to a murder and take all,” the duo’s Silverman explains about the seductive and fucked up video.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Best known as Goldroom, Josh
Legg is a prolific, Boston, MA-born, Los Angeles, CA-based singer/songwriter, electro pop artist and producer, who has taken the blogosphere by storm with the release of two EPs, 2011’s Angeles, 2013’s Embrace and a series of singles  — all of which have been influenced by Daft Punk, Phoenix, Alan Braxe, LCD Soundsystem and others.

September 23 will mark the release of Legg’s long-awaited full-length effort, West of the West, an album title inspired by Teddy Roosevelt, who popularly referred to California as “West of the West” during his presidency. And as Legg explains in press notes “It’s always resonated with me because it feels like a destination past the Wild West – an oasis where anything is possible. To me, West of the West is also the Pacific Ocean, where so much of my life and inspiration lies.” But more importantly as Legg explains further in press notes, the album and its material is centered around honest songwriting. “I was aching to write something more simple and earnest, devoid of cynicism,” Legg says.

West of the West‘s first single “Silhouette” sounds as though it were inspired by Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories and 80s synth pop and R&B as a sinuous and sensual bass line is paired with atmospheric electronics, shimmering, cascading, arpeggio synth stabs, an anthemic hook and Legg’s plaintive and aching crooning to craft a dance floor and radio-friendly jam that manages to be both breezy and sexy.

Over the fall, Goldroom will be on a co-headlining 30+ date tour North American tour with Autograf that includes a NYC area stop at Terminal 5 in October. Check out the tour dates below.

Goldroom’s and Autograf’s National Tour Dates:
09/30
10/01
10/04
10/05
10/06
10/07
10/08
10/12
10/13
10/14
10/15
10/16
10/19
10/20
10/21
10/22
10/25
10/26
10/27
10/28
10/31
11/02
11/03
11/04
11/05
11/09
11/10
11/11
11/12
 Nashville, TN
Atlanta, GA
Portland, ME
Boston, MA
Philadelphia, PA
New York, NY
Washington, DC
Montreal, QC
Toronto, ON
Columbus, OH
Detroit, MI
Chicago, IL
Madison, WI
Omaha, NE
Denver, CO
Boulder, CO
Kansas City, MO
St. Louis, MO
Oklahoma City, OK
Austin, TX
Albuquerque, NM
San Diego, CA
Los Angeles, CA
San Francisco, CA
Arcata, CA
Eugene, OR
Portland, OR
Vancouver, BC
Seattle, WA		 Basement East
Aisle 5
Port City Music Hall
Royale
The Theatre of Living Arts
Terminal 5
A.I.
Fairmount Theatre
Mod Club
Park Street Saloon
Majestic Theatre
Concord
Liquid
Slowdown
Cervantes
Boulder Theatre
Riot Room
Firebird
OKC Farmers Market
Vulcan
El Rey
Observatory North Park
The Novo
The Fox
Arcata Theatre
HiFi Music Hall
Wonder Ballroom
Imperial
Neptune
Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Phenomenal Handclap Band‘s Daniel Collas (keyboards, production) and Morgen Phalen (vocals guitar) and members of Stockholm, Sweden-based bands Dungen and The Amazing, indie psych pop act Drakkar Nowhere can trace their origins to when Collas and Phalen had been making music in the kitchen of a rented apartment in Stockholm. And in a relatively short period of time, Collas and Phalen’s kitchen-based music project caught the attention of the members of Dragen and The Amazing, who then joined the project to flesh out its sound, a sound that’s largely influenced by cosmic jazz, soul, jazz fusion, prog rock and psych pop among others — while being influenced by their direct surroundings, including the forests that surround the Bagarmossen and Midsommarkransen neighborhoods of Stockholm.

“How Could That Be Why?,” is the first single off the band’s forthcoming self-titled effort slated for a September 23, 2016 release through Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records — and the shuffling and trippy single has the band pairing twisting and turning synths and keyboards, a sinuous bass line, an infectious sense of melody  to craft a song that sounds as though it could have been released in 1973. And in some way, the song naturally reminds me a bit of Collas and Phalen’s work with Phenomenal Handclap Band as well as Shawn Lee‘s collaborations with AM and Tim “Love” Lee with a subtle nod to Afrobeat — but with a subtle, cosmic glow at its core.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Pusher is a Toronto, ON-based electronic music artist, producer and DJ who specializes in a style that he has dubbed “neon,” which is comprised of elements of trap, electro pop, house music, 90s R&B, jazz and other genres in a slickly produced mix that manages to be simultaneously retro-futrutistic and futuristic while being wildly crowd pleasing.

“Tell You” is the first single off the Canadian producer’s forthcoming New Laces EP is a propulsive bouncy production consisting of skittering drum programming, cascading layers of synths, twinkling keys and wobbling bass lines and pairs it with Hunnah’s soulful 90s R&B-leaning vocals in a summery and club-friendly track that sonically reminds me of SWV with a slick, neon polish.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Daniel Ellsworth and the Great Lakes’ Daniel Ellsworth and Kyle Andrews, Nashville, TN-based electro pop duo Chaos Emeralds specialize in a sensual and swooning electro pop paired with earnest, heart-wrenching lyrics. As the duo’s Ellsworth explains in press notes “We wanted to make dreamy, sexy, sad, evocative pop music that sounded like it was dipped in gold.”

The duo’s latest single “Untied” pairs Andrew’s sultry cooing with an enormous yet slick production consisting of thundering tom drums, shimmering and cascading layers upon layers of synths and subtly buzzing low end with the sort of anthemic hook you can imagine deliriously shouting along to while at the club — while being incredibly radio and club-friendly.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Last month, I wrote about Adult Karate, the solo recording project of Radar Cult‘s KC Maloney. Sonically, Maloney’s solo project expands upon the sound that first captured the attention of the blogosphere with his primary gig  — by being much more minimalist, while still drawing from several styles of electronic music, including house, acid house, techno and ambient electronica. “So Low,” the first single off Maloney’s  forthcoming LXII EP was a collaboration with Toronto, ON-based vocalist Adaline that paired the up-and-coming Canadian singer/songwriter’s sultry and smoky vocals with a sleek and hyper-modern production consisting of gentle cascades of shimmering synths, stuttering drum programming, a Nile Rodgers funky guitar line, a wobbling bass line, swirling electronics and an anthemic hook in a breezily club-friendly and radio-friendly track.

LXII‘s latest single “Chased” is an intimate and eerily chilly track that pairs Maloney’s achingly plaintive vocals with an ambient, house music leaning production consisting of skittering drum programming, clattering snares fed through reverb, horror movie-like minor piano keys, tweeter and woofer rocking boom bap beats and subtle hints of other instrumentation to craft a song that’s full of lingering regret, self-flagellation and guilt; in some way, it feels like the sort of self-examination and recurrent doubt that seems to naturally come about after a particularly bitter and heartbreaking end of a relationship.

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

If you’ve been frequenting this site for some time, you’d know that over the past 18-24 months or so, New York-based electro pop duo Sofi Tukker have become blogosphere darlings, as well as JOVM mainstay artists. And over the course of that time, the electro pop duo comprised of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern have developed a national profile for crafting accessible, pop-leaning world music, meant to reach as wide of an audience as humanly possible. 

The duo’s released much-anticipated debut EP Soft Animals was released last week and several singles off the EP have been written about here and elsewhere; in fact, if you had stumbled across this site towards the end of last month, you may have seen a post on “Awoo” is a mischievous collaboration with vocalist Betta Lemme that pairs propulsive and tribal drum samples with samba-styled keys. Lemme and Hawley-Weld’s contribute sultry vocals and gleeful, child-like shouting — as though they were losing their minds to the song in the club. The EP’s latest single “Moon Tattoo” is a breezy song that possesses elements of classic house music and tribal house in a slow-burning and sensual song that also sounds as though it owes a debt to Quiet Storm-era R&B while playfully hinting at salsa.

Sofi Tukker is embarking on a lengthy series of tour dates — some opening for M83 and a number of headlining shows, including a hometown set at Baby’s All Right  at the end of July. Catch them at a music venue near you.

Tour Dates:

Supporting M83*

July 15 – Salacgriva, Latvia @ Positivus Festival (TICKETS)

July 17 – One Love Festival Istanbul (TICKETS)

July 20 – Portland, ME @ State Theatre (w/ Chairlift) (TICKETS)*

July 21 – Boston, MA @ Blue Hills Bank Pavilion (w/ Chairlift) (TICKETS)

July 25 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant (TICKETS)*

July 27 – Council Bluffs, IA @ Stir Cove (TICKETS)*

July 28 – Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theatre* (SOLD OUT)

July 30 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right (TICKETS)

August 19 – San Francisco, CA @ Popscene at Rickshaw Stop (TICKETS)

August 20 – Los Angeles, CA @ Pershing Square (w/ Todd Rundgren) (FREE SHOW)

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the 2013 release of Forget Your Future and its follow-up Real Virtual Unison Richmond, VA-born, Ridgewood, NY-based electronic music artist and producer Lindsey French and her solo recording project Negative Gemini exploded on to the national scene as she received critical praise from the likes of Gorilla vs Bear, Pigeons and Planes, KEXP and others, and she even gained recognition from FACT Magazine‘s 20 Best Bandcamp Releases of 2015. Adding to a growing profile, French released “You Never Knew,” which was was the Best Songs of 2015 lists of Pigeons and Planes and Gorilla vs. Bear and “Body Work,” which was released earlier this year received praise from NYLON, The 405, Earmilk and was adding to NPR’s “Songs We Love” playlist.

“Nu Hope,” the latest single off her forthcoming sophomore full-length release Body Work is the first completely instrumental track French has ever released and the track may arguably be the most straight-forward, club-friendly track she’s ever released as cascading layers of shimmering synths are paired with propulsive drum programming and ambient electronics to craft a sound that’s reminiscent of Octo Octa‘s Between Both Sides — or in other words, carefully crafted and moody house music that sounds as though it could have been released in 1988 as well as now.

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Phoebe Ryan’s Modern, Feminist Anthem “Dollar Bill”

With the early 2015 release of a trippy, post-modern mashup/cover of of R. Kelly’s “Ignition” and Miguel’s “Do You Like,” followed the release of by her highly-anticipated full-length debut effort, Mine, Texas-born, New Jersey-reared and Los Angeles-based pop artist Phoebe Ryan exploded both across the blogosphere and nationally — and throughout the past year, Ryan has developed a reputation for a breathily coquettish vocal style, emotionally and sexually frank lyrics paired around infectiously catchy hooks and slickly contemporary electronic productions. Her latest single “Dollar Bill,” is a collaboration with Kid Ink and it will likely further cement her attention for infectiously catchy and coquettish pop while the song thematically focuses on the big dreams and the life of constant hustle that many artists have but just underneath the surface is a feminist anthem similar to Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin’s “Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves,” says — that a woman can clearly have dreams of taking over the world and picturing her own face on a dollar bill, just like the dudes.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Although little is known about up-and-coming Los Angeles, CA-based electronic music production unit and electronic music act The Dedbtz; they  recently collaborated with up-and-coming electro pop artist BRĒZY, who the Southern California-based production unit discovered on Spotify’s Weekend Buzz playlist and quickly reached out to collaborate with for their latest single “How Much I Need You.” Consisting of a buoyant and club-rocking production consisting of handclap-led percussion, layers of wobbling and shuffling synths, glitchy background electronics, tweeter and woofer rocking low end along with BRĒZY’s expressive vocals. Lyrically, the song focuses on a relationship between complete opposites that the song’s narrator recognizes is confusing and unusual and yet is something she feels inexplicably pulled towards — and in a way that’s both frightening and thrilling. Combined with the production, the song evokes the swooning confusion and self-doubt filled days of a newfound love in a way that feels and sounds familiar.

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Quietly Post Apocalyptic Visuals for Tuskha’s “First Date”

“First Date,” Moore’s first Tuskha single pairs his aching and tender vocals with gently undulating synths, skittering drum programming and twinkling keys in a song that captures both a sense of melancholy and hope, while reminding the listener that not only are both necessary, that both inform each other in rather profound ways –in some way the song feels as though it’s mourning over the end of a relationship while being grateful that it had happened. Sonically speaking, the song manages to effortlessly mesh the intimacy and earnestness of a singer/songwriter confessional, slickly produced electro pop and jazz; and interestingly, it’s also a song that gains slightly different interpretations with increased plays.

As the video’s director Elise Tyler explains in press notes “When I heard ‘First Date,’ I was struck by how sweetly melancholy it was- hopeful but somewhat reserved. I wanted the imagery to possess the same qualities, a balance between simplicity and depth. We filmed at the nearly-abandoned Hickory Hollow Mall in Nashville, which was once a bustling spot like any other mall in America. It is still open, but what remains is a strange coming together of no-name stores and a food court with three Salvadorian restaurants. Dustin Lane did a fantastic job building on quiet moments and allowing the performance to shine through. We shot on 35mm and I couldn’t be happier with the finished product.” And as a result, the video possesses an eerie, post apocalyptic feel.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Sibling is a somewhat mysterious Los Angeles, CA-based electro pop duo who first came to the attention of the blogosphere with the release of their debut “Easy” earlier this year. Building on the buzz they’ve received so far, the mysterious Southern California duo’s latest single “Westside” has the duo pairing an atmospheric production consisting of industrial clang and clatter, sparse yet shimmering cascades of synth and pop star belter vocals with an rousingly earnest, anthemic hook — but just underneath the song’s breezy and radio-friendly air is a swooning and bittersweet longing as the song lyrically is based on lead vocalist’s Elodie’s estrangement from her sisters.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

25-year-old producer and classically trained multi-instrumentalist Paul Dixon, best known as Fyfe, first caught the attention of the blogosphere with the release of “Solace,” a single that topped the Hype Machine charts and gained a number of renowned fans including Childish Gambino and London Grammar — all without the support of a label, manager or publicist. Building on the buzz that he’s received, he released his full-length debut, Closer, an album that thematically was about having a stronger sense of who you are and what you want.

“Better Man,” Dixon’s latest single is a collaboration that features Peter Greyson and The Iskra String Quartet is a mournful single that pairs sparse, electronic production featuring skittering percussion, shimmering synths paired with a gorgeous string arrangement and achingly plaintive vocals to craft a sound that sounds as though it were inspired by Bonobo’s The North Borders.