Los Angeles-based duo TANGIENTS — multi-instrumentalists Chelsea Ray and Be Hussey — specialize in a unique take on shoegaze that draws from 80s post-punk, 90s shoegaze and dream pop anchored around Chelsea Ray’s dream-like delivery […]
Category: women who kick ass
Throwback: Happy 109th Birthday, Ella Fitzgerald!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 109th anniversary of the birth of Ella Fitzgerald.
New Video: Afterlife Shares Atmospheric and Yearning “Lovers Maze”
Currently split between Paris and Copenhagen, Danish-born Olivia Danielsson is a multidisciplinary artist with a background that spans both music and fashion. Danielsson is also the creative mastermind behind the emerging indie pop solo recording project Afterlife.
With Afterlife, the Danish-born artist’s work reflects a cross-disciplinary approach in which visual and sonic elements are created in parallel. And as a result, her releases exist within a cohesive expanding universe that sees her exploring emotional and existential states unfolding through an intimate inner dialogue. Sonically, her work moves between ambient pop and experimental pop, rooted in an atmospheric, otherworldly quality.
Danielsson’s latest Afterlife single, The Bird-produced “Lovers Maze” is a hook-driven bit of electro pop featuring glistening synth arpeggios effortlessly gliding over a pulsing, Giorgio Moroder-like baseline paired with the Danish artist’s ethereal and yearning croon. The result is a song that evokes the sort of woozy, euphoric haze shared in the intimate moments between lovers with an uncanny, seemingly lived-in precision.
Shot on grainy VHS-styled analog film, the accompanying video follows the Danish artist in a long red dress wandering through a Danish forest. It’s one part music video, one-part fashion shoot.
New Video: Tricky Teams Up with Marta Złakowska on Breakneck “Out of Place”
Trip hop pioneer Tricky will be releasing his 15th studio album, Different When It’s Silent July 17, 2026 through his own label, False Idols. The new album is the first full-length effort from the legendary and influential artist and producer under his own name in six years.
Different When It’s Silent came about during a rather prolific period of activity. Since 2020’s Fall to Pieces, Tricky has released material under several different guises including, Lonely Guest‘s 2021 self-titled effort, a collaboration with Mike Theis, called Theis Thaws, which released 2024’s Fifteen Days and last year’s collaborative album with Marta Złakowska, Out The Way.
Returning to releasing an album under his own name took on a different shape. Recored between Tricky’s home in France and sessions in Bristol, the album is reportedly a direct, focused batch of material that reconnects with the distinct sonic language that has defined the legendary artist and producer’s work since 1995’s iconic Maxinquaye. And he does by drawing deeply on the musical community that has shaped him and his work. Central to the album’s sound is Bristol-based vocalist Mitch Sanders, whose soulful falsetto is featured through such of the album’s songs. Their deep connection reflects a shared musical background and an instinctive chemistry between the pair.
“In my mind it was another side project” Tricky explains. But after hearing the material, his manager Alan McGee felt the songs clearly belonged to a Tricky record.
The 14-song Different When It’s Silent sonically sees Tricky blending skeletal blues, brooding electronics, distorted guitars and stark hip-hop rhythms into a sound that’s simultaneously stripped-back and expansive. The album moves fluidly across different styles while rooted in the restless experimentation that has long defined Tricky’s work over the past three-plus decades.
“I just love making music” Tricky says. “I’m grateful I’ve had the chance to live this life and keep creating.”
Different When It’s Silent‘s first single “Out of Place” feat. Marta Złakowska features a brooding and cinematic string sample introduction before morphing to a breakneck middle section which features Tricky’s imitable gravelly vocal with a punchy, almost punk-like deliver and Złakowska’s sultry yet restrained crooning. The song closes with a boarding and cinematic string sample. The result is as song that’s simultaneously forceful, uneasy and gorgeous while evoking the sweaty, self-aware sensation of somehow being out of place in your environment through a shifting series of contrasts.
Originally written for Złakowska’s own album, Tricky ultimately reclaimed the song for the forthcoming album.
Directed and edited by Steve Gullick, the accompanying video for “Out of Place” features the collaborators shot in blurred and constant motion in the foreground. In the background we see stylishly shot footage of each artist singing their respective part — or just being in a brooding photo shoot. It further emphasizes the feeling of being out of place.
New Video: JOVM Mainstay Alewya Shares Sultry Club Banger “Saleh”
JOVM mainstay Alewya is an acclaimed London-based singer/songwriter, producer and visual artist. Born in Saudi Arabia to an Egyptian-Sudanese father and an Ethiopian mother, the acclaimed London-based artist has spent her life surrounded by diaspora immigrant communities: She grew up in West London and after a several year stint in New York, she returned to London. Upon her return home, the Saudi-British artist developed and honed her ear for music through the sounds of the Ethiopian and Arabic music of her parents and the ambient and alternative rock albums of her brother.
She’s part of a generation of artists actively redefining global music, a generation that’s generally rooted in heritage, yet unbound by it. Describing herself as a painter, who makes music, Alewya approaches sound as texture and feeling, guided more by intuition than structure. Her sound and story help to widen the Black British frame, bringing the often under heard North and East African perspective into a much-needed focus.
Back in 2020, the JOVM mainstay burst into the scene with an attention grabbing feature on Little Simz‘s “where’s my lighter,” which caught the attention of Because Records, who signed the rising artist and released her critically applauded debut, 2021’s Panther In Mode EP.
Alewya’s highly-anticipated full-length debut, ZERO is slated for a June 26, 2026 release through Because London Records. The album reportedly embodies years of artistic growth into an effort that’s both deeply personal and sonically expansive. But the album also marks a significant milestone, as it sees her boldly stepping into a new creative era, defined by fearless experimentation and cultural fluidity.
ZERO will include the previously released “Night Drive,” feat. Dagmawit Ameha and “City of Symbols,” “Eshi,” and the album’s latest single “Selah.” Produced by longtime collaborator Busy Twist, “Selah” is a sultry, club banger anchored around pulsing Afrobeats-like instrumentation and production paired with a propulsive, infectious bass line and the JOVM mainstay’s effortless, hypnotic delivery. “Selah came from playful instinct,” Alewya says.
Directed by Iggy London with creative direction by Lee Trigg and movement direction by Kitz Katila, the accompanying video for “Selah” captures the cathartic release of joy, sweat through color and dance at a Black London party. This kinetically shot video should remind you that there’s true freedom and unity on a strobe-lit dance floor — and that Black folk are fucking beautiful.
New Video: Die Spitz Shares Seething “American Porn”
Rising Austin-based outfit Die Spitz — Ava Schrobilgen, Chloe De St. Aubin, Ellie Livingston and Kate Halter — can trace some of their origins back to when Schrobilgen and Livingston met in preschool. They befriended Halter in middle school. And they brought De St. Aubin into their friend group when they started the band back in 2022.
Initially, the quartet was looking to find reasons to hang out more often, and decided they should start a band after a late-night viewing of the Mötley Crüe biopic The Dirt. They settled on the name Die Spitz over a “brown bag of Fireball,” opting for the feminine German definite article in place of the English. “It reminds me of the Grim Reaper spitting,” Livingstone jokes.
Their first live shows saw them pairing originals with covers from some of their early inspirations including Black Sabbath, Pixies, Mudhoney, PJ Harvey and Nirvana. Unsurprisingly, they express their ideas and themselves through a mischievously shameless blend of classic punk, hardcore metal, alt rock and more. They’ve also become known for riotous live show, where dueling cartwheels, members climbing rafters and solos while crowdsurfing could happen at just about any moment.
The Texan quartet’s highly-anticipated full-length debut, the Will Yip–produced Something to Consume was released last September through Third Man Records. The album sees the band combining their passion, friendship, identity and artistry to fight against the inescapable decay and chaos that surrounds modern life, “There’s a political side to it, but addiction and love can also be all-consuming,” the band’s Ellie Livingston says.
Something to Consume‘s 11 tracks contains multitudes and yet feels singular. It’s an expansive and expressive collection of songs, unified in its sense of deeply held camaraderie and freedom. “We depend on our freedom — freedom to do what we want, present the ideas we want, make the music we want,” Livingston says. “Whether it’s based in metal or something soft, no matter which of us wrote the song, we all contribute and work together. As a person, I don’t have a strong ego or voice, but within this band each one of us is capable of so much more.”
“Something to Consume is an album experience for everyone. Whether you’re craving a smack of lively metal or a melancholy wave of grungey violin, there’s a piece of all of us injected. Something to Consume is a call to the multitudes of ways we as humans allow consumption to enrapture our culture as well as ourselves.”
Though they’ve only been playing together for a few years, the album shows a maturity and technical prowess wielded and wed to the service of their deep and abiding friendship — and a hope to inspire change. “Some people aren’t interested in being political activists via music, but it weighs on me heavily and I feel misaligned with my calling if I don’t,” Chloe De St. Aubin says. “The four of us are free spirits with multiple interests, and there’s no limit or power dynamic that can derail us.”
The album features the previously released “Throw Yourself to the Sword,” a bruising mosh pit friendly synthesis of thrash metal, stoner rock and punk featuring some of the hardest and grimiest guitar riffs I’ve heard in some time. The album’s latest single “American Porn” comes as the quartet announces a lengthy list of summer and fall tour dates. The tour includes three New York City dates: November 13, 2026 and November 14, 2026 at Warsaw. Both of those shows are sold out. But don’t worry, they’ve got a February 19, 2027 stop at Brooklyn Steel. As always, all tour dates are below.
“American Porn” sees the rising Texans channeling a seething synthesis of grunge and riot grrl punk that calls out sexist record industry insiders and perverted older dudes, who come to their shows to leer and objectify them. “It’s a very angry song,” says the band’s Eleanor Livingston.” “And I want the people that come to our shows just because we’re pretty women or they want to sexualize or objectify us to listen to that song and tell us if they’re still a fan.”
Continuing an ongoing collaboration with director Emily Sanchez, the accompanying video for “American Porn” is a surreal fever dream of a visual that wouldn’t be out of place on 120 Minutes. The video calls out gender-roles, stereotypes and beauty standards with seething anger and a sense of mischief.
New Audio: Velatine Shares Forceful “Whisper Park”
Melbourne-based songwriter and producer Loki Lockwood is the creative mastermind behind the darkwave/goth recording project Velatine. For the bulk of Velatine’s history, Lockwood collaborated with different vocalists while crafting a unique and fresh take on the familiar and beloved darkwave/goth sound.
If you were frequenting this site over the course of last year, the Aussie producer and musician collaborated with Nocturna on “Till Death Do We Art” and Holly Purnell, who was discovered through an Instagram ad for “Oh See Me — The Siren.” While working on “Oh See Me — The Siren” Purnell joined Velatine as the project’s full-time vocalist.
Velatine’s latest single “Whisper Park” is a subtle change in sonic direction, seeing the band leaning more towards a forceful, goth and doom-like direction than their previously released material. Anchored around slashing, angular guitar attack and dramatic drumming, the cinematic “Whisper Park” channels contemporary fare like Bonnie Trash and others, while showcasing Purnell’s remarkable vocal.
New Audio: PATRICIJA Shares Broodingly Cinematic and Cathartic “Angel With a Broken Harp”
PATRICIJA is a Lithuanian-born, German-based alt-pop artist, who specializes in crafting a broodingly cinematic sound that blends elements of art pop, indie pop and melancholic electronica paired with powerhouse vocals, emotional intensity and a distinct goth edge. Her work explores themes of vulnerability, inner conflict and quiet resilience.
The Lithuanian artist gained international attention through her participation in Season 12 of The Voice Lithuania. She reached the Super Finals and delivered one of the most viewed performances in the show’s history on YouTube. Her performances have also been featured in global The Voice compilations, which has helped her expand her reach internationally. And adding to a growing international profile, her work has received airplay from BBC Radio 1 Introducing.
PATRICIJA’s latest single, the lush “Angel With a Broken Harp” sees her blending elements of goth, trip-hop, classic rock, ambient music and alt-pop to create a brooding, cinematic song that sounds as though it could have been part of a James Bond soundtrack — or a long lost and previously unreleased Dark Side of the Moon/Rolling Stones track. The song builds up from an intimate, whispered and cooed verses into a cathartic, arena rock-like climax, but at its core is an aching, lived-in vulnerability.
New Audio: Sizelle Shares Spellbinding “Unwords”
Sizelle is an emerging American artist, who specializes in a unique brand of alt-pop built on restraint and things left unsaid, informed by the gap between feelings that you can’t quite name and for the quiet end of a feeling.
Her debut single “Unwords” features a lush, dream-like production that — to my ears, at least — sounds like a synthesis of flamenco, Still Corners-like dream pop, Tales of Us-era Goldfrapp-like trip hop and Amy Winehouse-like soul paired with the emerging artist’s spellbinding delivery.
According to Sizelle, “Unwords” lives in the gap before grief becomes grief, before a loss becomes a loss, anchored in the instinctive sensation that something isn’t quite right, and it probably can’t be fixed.
Throwback: Happy 59th Birthday, Liz Phair!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Liz Phair’s 59th birthday.
Throwback: Happy Belated 134th Birthday, Bessie Smith!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates the 134th anniversary of Bessie Smith’s birth.
New Video: Widowspeak Share Lush and Mesmerizing “No Driver”
New York-based indie outfit Widowspeak — Molly Hamilton and Robert Earl Thomas — are one of many bands to crop up in the busy local scene around the time I started this site, almost 16 years ago. They started out shuffling their gear between now, long-shuttered — and deeply beloved — venues like Glasslands, Cake Shop, 285 Kent, Death By Audio and a lengthy list of others, and their practice space at Monster Island Basement, which now is a Trader Joe’s. New York has fucking changed, y’all. Speaking of changes: the duo is now a married couple, working day jobs in their own off-season. Thomas is a carpenter, Hamilton a waitress.
Recently, the duo announced that their highly-anticipated seventh album, Roses will be released June 5, 2026 through Captured Tracks. Deeply informed by their respective day jobs, Roses isn’t populated with dramatic overtures, but with the backdrop of the minutiae and repetition of daily acts. There’s the small observations before, during and after work: the ritual-like act of pouring water or coffee for customers, the bemusement and frustration of catching a cold on your only day off. Maybe you’re daydreaming about your life if you won the lottery — or maybe realizing that you already won.
The 10-song Roses was recorded last January at the Old Carpet Factory on the Greek Island of Hydra, a studio located in an old house, tucked into the village’s steep hills. During the winter, without the rush of tourists, it’s quiet. Longtime touring members Willy Muse, John Andrews and Noah Bond were the session backing band.
The album’s material was then taken home and slowly, lightly tinkered with before being mixed by Alex Farrar at Drop of Sun Studios and mastered by Greg Obis at Chicago Mastering.
Throughout the album, intimate spaces and stages of love are captured with a nostalgic, almost sepia-toned, vaseline coated lens. As always, the beating heart of their work is the interplay between Hamilton’s languid, dreamy and textured delivery and Hamilton’s bluesy, visceral guitar work.
Roses‘ will include the previously released “If You Change,” and the album’s second and latest single “No Driver.” “No Driver” is a lush, cinematic tune anchored around earnest, seemingly lived-in lyrics and the seemingly effortless craftsmanship that the band has long been known for. Of course, as always the stars of the show are Hamilton’s gorgeous, dreamily mesmerizing vocal and Thomas’ soulful, Crazy Horse-era Neil Young-like guitar work.
The song “is about knowing and loving people, who seem to thrive being on autopilot, at least for a while. It’s written from the perspective of trying to be supportive, and knowing it can be kind of magic when you’re in it, but also just waiting patiently for whenever they’re ready to move on from destructive behavior,” says Widowspeak’s Molly Hamilton. “I also kind of wrote it to my younger self. I’m 1000% on the other side of my wilder years (quit drinking almost seven years ago and now have a baby) but I definitely felt aimless for a long time. I care now, and caring about things and people and having a reason… is the whole point.”
“The video riffs on ‘Jesus take the wheel’; that’s it, that’s the concept,” Hamilton says of the accompanying video. “We have our friend Gary Canino from Dark Tea playing a Driver who’s kind of feeling the weight of the world, and Jesus (Johnathan Chriest) takes over as he goes about his night, dropping off the Mysterious Business Lady (Moira Spahić) and then picking up a couple other passengers. Kind of a ragtag group of people, Jesus driving them home.”
New Video: Hush Shares Lysergic “Funhouse”
Montréal-based trio Hush — Paige Barlow (vocals) and multi-instrumentalists Miles Dupire-Gagnon and Gabriel Lambert — are part of a new wave of Montréal-based acts actively reshaping psych pop. Each member of the band is an accomplished member of the local scene with the band featuring members of Hippie Hourrah, Elephant Stone, Anemone, and The Besnard Lakes.
Citing an eclectic array of influences that includes Broadcast, The Velvet Underground, Melody’s Echo Chamber, Steve Lacy, Cocteau Twins and Ariel Pink, the Montréal-based psych pop trio create a sound that’s simultaneously nostalgic and forward-looking. Their music lives in the blurred light of perception — half memory, half hallucination — and is an invitation to lose yourself inside of their hall of mirrors-like dream world.
The Montréal-based trio’s highly-anticipated full-length debut, Phasing is slated for a May 22, 2026 release through Simone Records. The album will include the previously released “The Mirrors Were Right,” the album’s opening and title track, “Phasing” and the final pre-release single, “Funhouse.”
“Funhouse” is a lush, shape-shifting tune with elements of dream pop, house music, trip-house and komische musik that’s mesmerizing, cinematic — and perfect for a deeply contemplative, neon-tinged, late night drive. The result is a song that features , hook-driven grooves with lysergic textures that seem to dissolve in front of your eyes and reassemble elsewhere while Paige Barlow’s ethereal vocal seems to coquettishly dance around and within the song’s groove.
Recorded largely live with various elements re-amplified through a Leslie speaker to create a swirling, three-dimensional feel, “Funhouse” sees the trio balancing mathematical precision with a spaced-out, almost blissy vibe.
Lyrically, the song probes the faith placed in systems meant to explain the world — romance, religion, identity — long after their answers begin to thin. As Barlow puts it, it’s a “theatrically messy interpretation of romance – a sequel of love learned.”
“It’s about the confidence people place in systems that promise meaning,” she adds. “They can start to feel like answers from a Magic 8-Ball—you shake it, wait for clarity, and sometimes the answer is just: try again later.”
Directed and filmed by the band’s Barlow, the accompanying video features looped lyrics projected onto footage of irises, further emphasizing the song’s and the album’s overall themes of perception and distortion.