JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 107th anniversary of the birth of Dizzy Gillespie.
Category: Video
New Video: Talking Violet Shares Cathartic “Destroy”
Windsor, ON-based quartet Talking Violet — Jillian Goyeau (vocals, guitar), Jayden Turnbull (guitar, vocals), Jeremie Brosseau (drums) and Dylan Iannicello (bass) — have quickly developed and established a sound that sees the Canadian outfit seamlessly blending elements of shoegaze, grunge and dream pop into what they’ve dubbed “dreamo.” Thematically, their work touches upon how we wrestle with the grief of personal change — especially in personal experiences.
Earlier this year, I wrote about their Justin Meli-produced, Will Yip-mastered “In Your Mind,” a track that seemed to channel The Sundays and Tallies while capturing a very specific sense of loving someone through pain and uncertainty and not quite knowing what to do – or if there was anything you could do.
Their latest sgbnle “Destroy” continues a run of material that channels 120 Minutes-era MTV alt-rock while being anchored in earnestness and deeply lived in personal experience. Unlike its immediate predecessor, “Destroy” thematically and lyrically turns inward, offering a subtly uneasy sense of closure and acceptance. Although that relationship or chapter in your life has ended, their ghost lingers in your life — some longer than others.
“Destroy is about closing a chapter in my life where I experienced a lot of change which I talked a lot about throughout our Everything At Once record,” the band’s Jillian Goyeau says. “Before moving on I kinda needed to say goodbye, so that’s what Destroy does. It’s me finally accepting that people can both love you and hurt you at the same time and vice versa. You can love someone even when they aren’t meant to be in your life anymore.”
The Canadian band’s latest single continues the emotional thread of their latest album Everything At Once, drawing from the grief and heartache of interpersonal change. ” “These tracks draw on a lot of grief of change, most specifically, the grief of relationship changes in our lives,” Goyeau explains. “I was going through changes that I now see as necessary but were incredibly painful at the time. It made me realize how much I had depended on my relationships with others for my identity. I had to slowly relearn who I was—and spent the next few years healing my people-pleasing baseline. It’s still something I work on every day.”
Directed by Gavin Michael Booth the gorgeously shot video for “Destroy” features the members of the band smashing things to pieces — in a way that’s rousingly cathartic.
Throwback: Happy 75th Birthday, Tom Petty!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 75th anniversary of the birth of Tom Petty.
Throwback: Happy 54th Birthday, Snoop Dogg!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Snoop Dogg’s 54th birthday.
New Video: Vanille Shares Slow-Burning and Swooning “Un chant d’amour”
Rachel Leblanc is a Montréal-based singer/songwriter and creative mastermind behind the critically applauded recording project Vanille, which has seen the French-Canadian artist craft a sound that meshes elements of 60s folk and chanson in a way that brings the listener into a dreamlike world of dense, verdant forests and swooning heartbreak.
Her recently released, Christophe Charest-Latif-produced third album Un chant d’amour sees the acclaimed French-Canadian artist marking the beginning of new creative chapter, that sees Leblanc’s and a talented cast of musicians, including Jules Encore and Corail‘s Julien Comptour; Velours Velours‘ and Corail’s Philippe Noël; Carla Chanelle‘s and Roselle’s Christophe Rosset-Balcer; Allô Fantôme‘s Samuel Gendron; Arielle Soucy; and Velours Velours’ Raphaël Pépin-Tanguay crafting a sound that draws from retro soul and the mid 1960s-early 1970s sunshine pop movement. Leblanc’s melodies and lyrics are rooted in sentimental overtones. And as a result, the album’s material is meant to unfold like a scented letter received from a mysterious valentine.
Un chant d’amour‘s latest single, album title track “Un chant d’amour” is a slow-burning ballad anchored around Leblanc’s achingly melancholy delivery, atmospheric Rhodes and a syrupy slow-dance inspired backbeat. And while seemingly channelling 70s AM radio rock, “Un chant d’amour” is the sort of song you’d play when you want to slow-dance at the midnight ball with your long-held crush or your loved one.
Directed by Irina Tempea and Elizabeth Landry the accompanying video for “Un chant d’amour” is an swooningly sentimental visual featuring a mixture of dusty found footage and the rising French-Canadian artist in a wedding gown to create a wedding that never really took place.
New Video: Dreamwave Shares Mosh Pit Friendly “Moon Buggy”
Bristol, UK-based rock outfit Dreamwave — Benjamin Symons (vocals, guitar, synths), Hester Battin (vocals, keys, synths), Grant Cameron Organ (bass), and Alex Andrews (drums, percussion) — have quickly established themselves as one of the most exciting, up-and-coming bands in the UK psych scene. And with a growing presence across the European Union, the British quartet seem to be gaining momentum.
Dreamwave’s third EP is slated for release through Stolen Body Records, and the announcement of the forthcoming EP coincides with the unveiling of a new physical passing, which will feature this year’s Moon Dogs EP on Side A and the soon-to-be released Drifter EP on Side B. But in the meantime, the forthcoming third EP’s first single “Moon Buggy” is a sweaty and tense mosh pit friendly ripper, anchored around punchily delivered hooks and choruses that brings OSees and JOVM mainstays Frankie and the Witch Fingers to mind.
The new single originated as an improvised jam session during their live shows, gradually evolving over the course of two years into a fully fleshed out, polished song that found its way into their sets. The EP version was recorded in three takes and accurately showcases the band’s bruising live energy.
The self-directed and accompanying video for “Moon Buggy” was filmed at Mendips Raceway, a dirt-track in southwest UK. The chaotic and downright fun imagery of battered cars colliding in clouds of dust just feels perfect.
Throwback: Happy 99th Birthday, Chuck Berry!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 99th anniversary of the birth of Chuck Berry.
New Video: Tame Impala Shares Woozy, Self-Aware “My Old Ways”
Acclaimed Aussie JOVM mainstay Tame Impala‘s highly-anticipated fifth album, Deadbeat saw its official release today through Columbia Records.
Deeply inspired by bush doof culture and the Western Australia rave scene,Deadbeat sees Tame Impala mastermind Kevin Parker recasting himself as a sort of future primitive rave act. Conceived in various locations over the last handful of years, the album was largely galvanized between Parker’s hometown of Fremantle and his Inijidup, Western Australia-based studio Wave House during the first half of this year.
Renowned for being a perfectionist, Parker’s fifth Tame Impala album showcases an artist with a leveled-up mastery of songwriting but crafted with a newfound embrace of spontaneity. The result is a collection of remarkably catchy, hook-driven, club-friendly psych pop while being some of Parker’s most direct songwriting of his career to date. Sonically, there are timbres and textures that add new dimension to the material’s overall sound paired with a much richer, more playful vocal range.
Lyrically, the album finds Parker channeling an endless bummer with a self-deprecating fuck-up of a narrator stuck in a hopelessly negative feedback loop, when he should have long had his shit together. We all know this kind of dude — and in some cases, he is us. Thematically, the album suggests raving as self-inquiry, self-medication in lieu of self-care and the kick-on as domestic bliss. Dance and sweat your troubles, stresses and concerns away on the dance floor, y’all. Reality can wait another day or two — hell, fuck it, another three.
Deadbeat features the previously released “End of Summer,” “Loser,” “Dracula,” and its latest single, album opener “My Old Ways.” Anchored around a looping, twinkling piano figure, “My Old Ways” begins with Parker accompanying himself just on piano for about a minute or so, before the song quickly morphs into a mind-bending, trance-inducing bit of Larry Levan-like house with fluttering and oscillating synths and thumping beats. And at its core is a deeply self-aware, self-referential narrator, who is acutely cognizant that they’ve slid into a long-held negative pattern while simultaneously forgiving themselves and being self-flagellating for that backslide.
While being a serious banger, “My Old Ways” offers what may be one of the more empathetic portrayals of a fuck up that I’ve heard in some time. I’d argue that most of us could see some of ourselves in the song.
Directed by Kristofski, the accompanying video for “My Old Ways” features cinéma vérité footage the director took, following Parker throughout the process of recording the album in studios across the world, including his native Australia.
Throwback: Happy 53rd Birthday, Eminem!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Eminem’s 53rd birthday.
New Video: St. Panther Shares Slinky and Soulful “The Deal”
Los Angeles-based Mexican/Colombian producer, singer/songwriter, rapper and multi-instrumentalist Dani Bojorges-Giraldo (they/them) is the creative mastermind behind the critically applauded recording project St. Panther. Bojorges-Giraldo’s previously released work was the soundtrack to the early part of this decade for many folks, but following their departure from the major label network, the Los Angeles-based artist took time to be among their peers, friends and loved ones.
Their forthcoming EP, the McClenney and Bojorges-Giraldo co-produced Strange World is slated for a November 7, 2025 release through art label drink sum wtr — and is their first collection of recorded output since their breakout debut EP, 2020’s These Days. The new EP’s material is reportedly a defiant, genre-transforming work that features a collection of soulful, modern pop songs that narrate and confront the wider climate of uncertainty and oblivion.
Thematically, Strange World is as much about Bojorges-Giraldo’ and their world — their village, their people, themselves — but also, the very strange world we inhabit right now. Drawing from soul, R&B, jazz, hip-hop and alt-pop the EP’s material sets out to urge for a sense of purpose, security and love admits seemingly universal apathy and chaos.
“I took this long pause to really listen to my village, listen to the needs of my community, and the people around me,” the St. Panther creative mastermind says. “We’re all feeling the weight of the world on our shoulders a bit. We want hope for our listeners, we want people to feel heard and that there’s someone out there representing this feeling.”
Regarding the EP, the Los Angeles-based artist remarks: “It’s been highly impactful–to say the absolute least–to witness the world in the state in today. In so many lyrics and melodies, I’m using this set of songs as a method of putting certain messages into our ether, intentionally shouting certain things from the rooftops that a friend jokingly said ‘for world peace;’ but this music is meant to activate people in some way to meditate about our relationship to each other, which feels like a good use for music right now.”
The EP will feature, the previous released EP title track “Strange World,” which received a double premiere from KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic and FLOOD Magazine and praise from Ones To Watch, Earmilk, RIFF Magazine and others, as well as the EP’s latest single “The Deal.” Featuring an old-school Quiet Storm-meets D’Angelo neo-soul-like arrangement featuring jazzy bursts of keys and a supple bass line, “The Deal” is one-part heartfelt confession of love and admiration, one-part admission of being hurtful/neglectful and one-part yearning plea to do better that feels intimately lived-in and experienced.
“Now I’m not sure if it’s always right to, but I tend to put music where prolonged silences live,” the St. Panther mastermind explains. “I’m not sure why it’s so hard to say what sometimes only music can, but in this case I wish someone had known me better and wanted to write a song like Dido’s ‘White Flag’ shortly afterward, a song that said – if nothing else – my love was true.”
The new single is accompanied by a live performance featuring the acclaimed Los Angeles-based artist in studio with a collection of their various long-time collaborators including McClenney.
Throwback: Happy 63rd Birthday, Flea!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea’s 63rd birthday.
Throwback: Happy 56th Birthday, Roy Hargrove!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 56th anniversary of the birth of Roy Hargrove.
New Video: Aussie Punks Mini Skirt Share Bruising “Squeeze Down”
Bryon Bay, Australia-based punks Mini Skirt — Jesse Pumphrey (bass), Jacob Pumphrey (drums), Jacob Boylan (vocals) and Cam Campbell (guitar) — have received attention both nationally and internationally for a rough and tumble take on pub rock that capture the climate of present-day Australia. Their work focuses on the fact that things aren’t picturesque and idyllic; the vocals express frustration and urgency while their arrangements are melodic yet raw. But at its core, they paint a picture of hope through struggle.
The Aussie punks full-length debut, 2020’s Casino grabbed the attention of the global punk scene. Their long-awaited and highly-anticipated sophomore album, All That We Know is slated for a November 14, 2025 self-release in their native Australia and through Bad Vibrations outside of Australia.
Continuing a run of gritty, bruising punk, the album’s material is underlined by Boylan’s lyrics, which paint a picture of the modern social climate. Every verse and chorus is a well-crafted and concise assessment that ensures that the listener replays each line to make sure they didn’t miss a word.
All That We Know‘s latest single “Squeeze Down” is a bruising, mosh pit friendly ripper featuring scuzzy and wiry bursts of guitar, thunderous drumming and a chugging bass line paired with Boylan’s punchy delivery expressing pent up frustration, confusion and unease that feels sweaty, claustrophobic and inescapable in a way that reminds me a bit of Ex-Cult‘s 2014 effort Midnight Passenger.
“This track was written after our first EU/UK tour back in 2022,” Mini Skirt’s Jacob Boylan recalls. ““The lyrics are about the unshakeable sense I had of feeling isolated, misunderstood and defensive about my identity. It was the first time I realised who I am is so deeply rooted in where I am from. Cam had put the riff together for his other band Chrome Cell Torture, but they had decided it wasn’t tough enough for them, so us big whimps took it and ran with it.”
C.O.F.F.I.N.’s Ben Portnoy created the accompanying video for “Squeeze Down.” Shot on grainy VHS video, the video features live footage of the band playing in a shitty club that captures the sweaty intensity of their live performance and of their fans.
Throwback: Happy 87th Birthday, Fela Kuti!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 88th anniversary of the birth of Fela Kuti.
Throwback: R.I.P. D’Angelo
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the life and music of D’Angelo.