Category: World Music

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Yerilis Shares Gorgeous “Me Levanté”

Yerils Villamediana Hernández is a Venezuelan-born and-based singer/songwriter and musician, who performs with monoym Yerilis. She can trace the origins of her career to her childhood: She started writing her first songs when she was nine. By the time she turned 16, she joined the C.U.A.M. Choir, which strengthened her technical rigor. She complemented that with advanced training and signing under the tutelage and mentorship of Raif, the host of La Magia del Mundo Infantil y Juvenil. Hernández’s multidisciplinary background allows her to approach interpretation and stage presence with a technical precision and professionalism.

The Venezuelan artist has established a reputation as a versatile singer/songwriter, capable of bouncing between traditional Venezuelan rhythms, like the pasaje and more contemporary sounds across various styles and genres.

Her latest single “Me levanté” is a gorgeous blend of Venezuelan folk with a contemporary arrangement — in this case, a shimmering, dexterously finger plucked guitar accompanying by Hernández’s proud delivery. At its core, is a much-needed message of perseverance in difficult and uneasy times, which gives the song a timeless feel.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Alewya Shares Cinematic Visual for Dancehall-like “Maktoub”

JOVM mainstay Alewya is an acclaimed London-based singer/songwriter, producer and visual artist. Her 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,” the Busy Twist-produced “Selah” and its fifth and latest single “Maktoub.” Anchored around dancehall reggae riddims, skittering industrial trap triplets, “Maktoub” continues a remarkable run of genre-defying and sweaty global club music that’s expansive yet urgent, accessible yet forward-thinking and remarkably catchy. Over the song’s dancehall riddims, the JOVM mainstay’s reggae-influenced vocal sings lyrics that touch upon themes of resistance, destiny and self-determination that are fiercely feminist and defiantly pro-Black and pan-African. 

The song features a sample from legendary Ethiopian singer/songwriter Teddy Afro, which was chosen by Alewya for sentimental reasons, as several generations of Ethiopans and Eritreans have listened to him growing up, much like she did.

“Maktoub,” which derives its title from the Arabic word “it is written,” reflects ZERO‘s recurring themes of faith, instinct and roots woven throughout. Led by feeling, rather than prescribed formula, “Maktoub” showcases the JOVM mainstay’s intuitive creative process in which rhythm and emotion guide the music before lyrics. “Sometimes songs take time to reveal themselves but ‘Maktoub’ felt immediate and effortless from day one,” Alewya says.

Directed by Lee Trigg, the accompanying video for “Maktoub” was shot in Afar, Ethiopia and follows the JOVM mainstay and a crew of friends riding motorcycles across the plains — and running. The video captures Alewya as a magnetic, carefree presence.  For the video, Alewya and the local filming crew flew two hours from the nation’s capital Addis Ababa and then drove eight across the country to reach the region, camping and hiking through its volcanic landscape along the way.

Afar lies at the junction of three tectonic plates — the Arabian, Nubian and Somali — and is one of the hottest and lowest places on the planet, where temperatures regular exceed 122º F with the land sitting at 410 feet below sea level. Despite the extreme conditions, the nomadic people of Afar have developed an unparalleled knowledge of survival and a fiercely independent culture. Historically, the Afar people have resisted colonization by neighboring empires and European powers.

“Afar is where my worlds meet — where three tectonic plates converge; Arabian, Nubian, Somali,”  says Alewya. “It is the birthplace of humanity, and a land where a new ocean is forming beneath my feet. The Afar people are warriors who have lived on their own terms for centuries, and the women carry a grace that makes me feel close to God. For ‘Maktoub,’ with Teddy’s vocals blessing the track, it felt right to create from the closest place to the beginning.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Montréal’s DONALDA Shares Woozily Euphoric “C FOU”

Montréal-based electronic dance music duo DONALDA — Florence Lafontaine and Olivier Martin-Fréchette — derive their project’s name from the name given to the first women admitted to college in Québec in the late 19th century, and is a nod to the fictional character introduced in Claude-Henri Grignon’s 1933 novel Un homme et son péché, who, for several generations, embodied the consequences of patriarchy.

Lafontaine and Martin-Fréchette both have an academic background in digital, contemporary mixed-media and instrumental composition, as well as in jazz interpretation. Inspired by UK garage, dubstep, left field bass and other British electronic music sub-genres as well as the queer nightlife scene, the duo take a pedagogical approach to music in order to deconstruct the boundaries of musical genres. While getting people onto the dance floor is their ultimate goal, they also seek to spark musical curiosity among their audience, something that is at the core of their inclusive, unifying philosophy.

Through composition, sound design and creative coding, the Montréal-based duo tap into their wide-ranging experiences to bring every stage of DONALDA’s creative process to life. And fittingly, their versatility imbued their sound with a coherent and deeply personal artistic identity rooted in a celebration of diversity and inclusion, freedom and the French language.

The duo recently signed to Bonsound, who released their debut single “C FOU.” Meshing elements of dubstep, drum ‘n’ bass, alternative R&B and Larry Levan-era house, “C FOU” sees the duo pairing glitchy beats, broodingly atmospheric synths, soulful harmonies, catchy danceable choruses and hooks, The result is a woozy, drunken euphoric feel of freedom — but with a bit of grit, sweat and grime.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay Alewya Returns with Defiant, Dancehall-Inspired “Maktoub”

JOVM mainstay Alewya is an acclaimed London-based singer/songwriter, producer and visual artist. Her 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,” the Busy Twist-produced “Selah” and its fifth and latest single “Maktoub.” Anchored around dancehall reggae riddims, skittering industrial trap triplets, “Maktoub” continues a remarkable run of genre-defying and sweaty global club music that’s expansive yet urgent, accessible yet forward-thinking and remarkably catchy. Over the song’s dancehall riddims, the JOVM mainstay’s reggae-influenced vocal sings lyrics that touch upon themes of resistance, destiny and self-determination that are fiercely feminist and defiantly pro-Black and pan-African.

“Sometimes songs take time to reveal themselves but ‘Maktoub’ felt immediate and effortless from day one,” notes Alewya. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Super Plage Teams Up with Virginie B on Summery “POOL PARTY”

Jules Henry is a Montréal-based singer/songwriter, electronic music producer and creative mastermind behind the acclaimed, JOVM mainstay recording project and Super Plage. Founded back in 2019, Super Plage sees Henry crafting slickly produced, dance floor friendly electro pop that draws from house and nu-disco. He frequently collaborates with local French Canadian artists to create a playful, fun-loving and escapist universe, where it feels good to party.

Since 2019, Henry has released four albums, including 2023’s Magie á minuit, which received an ADISQ Félix Award-nomination for Electronic Album of the Year. Building upon a growing profile, Henry has made a run of both the provincial and international festival circuits, playing sets at Francos de Montréal, FME and Festival d’été de Québec, SXSW, Wide Days and others. He has opened for Miel de Montagne, Juilen Granel, Bon Entendeur, MYD and more.

Last year’s GROOSE MAISON featured a sleek and daring blend of house, disco and French touch anchored around catchy, downright funky grooves, much like on album single “Tip Top.”

The French Canadian JOVM mainstay’s latest single “POOL PARTY” continues his longtime collaboration with Virginie B. Sonically drawing from classic house music, “POOL PARTY” is a breezy and summery, dance floor friendly bop that showcases Henry’s unerring knack for sleek production and razor sharp, catchy hooks paired with a sultry, pop starlet performance from Virginie B. It’s a much-needed, early blast of summer.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: MHUD Performs “Ô Calypso” at Mastoid Studio

The mysterious Strasbourg-born, Paris–based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, publicly known as MHUD initially began his creative career as a painter before turning to music as a creative outlet relatively recently. And within a relatively short period of time, the Strasbourg-born, Paris-based artist quickly established a genre-defying approach to his music that thematically touches upon humankind’s spiritual, emotional and intellectual split from itself.

Released last year, the Strasbourg-born, Paris-based artist’s sophomore album was largely conceived in the morning and at home with co-writer Felipe Sierra (guitar, synth). The pair wrote with the album’s material with the common thread of giving all their musical influences a chance to shine. Thematically, the album touches on consciousness and the unconscious, the chaotic noise of information overload, the lack of nuance, the inability to find a quiet moment to think or to process anything, and how easy it is to lose the thin thread of time that seems to barely hold everything to together. 

NONO features the previously released, bruising “Toucher le sol,” and its latest single “Ô Calypso.” “Ô Calypso” is a shuffling and furiously unhinged bit of Bossa Nova that simultaneously seems to draw from Osees, Population II and VICTIME, Thematically, the song asks a deeply existential question: Will the 21st century man attain happiness or merely a nauseating madness?

The accompanying live footage, filmed at Mastoïd Studio by Nicolas Giraldo sees MHUD with a backing band featuring Felipa Sierra, Pedro Barrios (percussion), Biscuit (saxophone), Thomas Chalindar (drums) and Paul Dussaux (bass, modular synth).

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 74th Birthday, Sly Dunbar!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 74th anniversary of the birth of Sly Dunbar.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: George Aletras Shares Shimmering “Τώρα”

George Aletras is a Greek singer/songwriter and musician, whose work sees him moving between indie rock, post rock and cinematic soundscapes, frequently blurring the boundaries between them. At times, his work leans into experimental territories, not as a statement of style, but a a natural consequence of exploration, where form isn’t followed but discovered,

Aletras’ latest single “Τώρα” is a shimmering, hook-driven bit of 80s-inspired post punk and New Wave that’s cinematic while channeling Heaven Up Here-era Echo and the Bunnymen and contemporaries like PLOHO.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: La Sécurité Shares Punchy, Dance Punk Anthem “Deny”

Acclaimed Montréal-based JOVM mainstay collective La Sécurité — Éliane Viens (vocals, synths, percussion and drums), Félix Bélisle (bass, synths, percussion, piano and production), Kenny Smith (drum, guitar), Laurence Anne Charest-Gagné (guitar, percussion, vocals) and Melissa Di Menna (guitar, synths, vocals, percussion and artwork) — specialize in a brand of art punk that’s equal parts jumpy beats, off-kilter arrangements and minimalistic melodic hooks run through an insomniac filter that’s the result of excessive exposure to the city’s neon-lit late night scene. 

The Canadian art punk collective’s music is about living dangerously and is prefect for being blasted at deafening levels on dance floors. But lyrically, the material is deeply inspired by and shares the ethos of the Riot Grrl movement, celebrating and defiantly advocating for the autonomization of women, friendship and benevolence. 

Since the release of 2023’s full-length debut, Stay Safe!, which landed on the Polaris Music Prize long-list, the Montréal-based art punks have released 2024’s Stay Safe! REMIXED and last year’s “Detour” and “Ketchup.” Along with receiving critical praise both nationally and internationally, the outfit has made the run of the intentional festival circuit, playing sets at M for Montréal, New Colossus Festival, SXSW, End of the Road, The Great Escape, Reeperbahn and Festival International de Jazz de Montréal. They’ve toured as an opener for The Go! Team and The Rapture. And they’ve shared stages with Mauskovic Dance Band and JOVM mainstays Automatic and Death Valley Girls. During that whirlwind period, they also signed with Simon Raymonde‘s label Bella Union. 

The JOVM mainstay act’s highly-anticipated, Emmanuel Éthier and Félix Bélisle co-produced sophomore album Bingo! is slated for a June 12, 2026 release through Mothland in Canada and the States, and Bella Union for the rest of the world. The new album reportedly sees the band continuing to meander in and around the fringes of punk, new wave krautrock and dance punk, while mischievously flouting stylistic form every change they get. While continuing to implement polyrhythm, counterintuitive chord changes and subtle melodic and harmonic dissonance, the album reportedly sees them introducing more New Wave, no wave, noise rock and shoegaze elements to the sound that has won them intentional acclaim. 

The album’s material features songs that tackles knotty themes like mental health, the autonomization of women, dysfunctional relationships with their custom moxie. Other songs playfully muse about food or address everyday mundanity with sarcasm and irony. There’s a song that celebrates unsung heroes, like the elderly. Much like its predecessor, many of the album’s tracks saw the group improvising lyrics in the studio, effectively catching lightning in a bottle. 

The album was recorded with the band playing live off-the-floor, using rare ribbon microphones and vintage compressors. Adding to the overall free-flowing feel and vibe to the album’s material, many of the song’s hooks were improvised through jazz-tinged musical flights during recording sessions. The album was mixed by Bélisle and Étheir before being mastered by Robin Schmidt. 

The result is an album that harnesses the Montréal-based art punks’ natural sound, a sound that fuses calculated musical chaos and musicality with high decibels. 

Bingo! will feature the previously released “Detour” “Ketchup,” album title track “Bingo,” “Snack City,” and the album’s last pre-release single “Deny.” “Deny” is arguably Bingo!‘s most dance floor friendly song, anchored around a driving four-to-the-floor rhythm, funky polyrhythmic bass lines, slashing guitar volleys, squiggling synth blasts paired with the occasionally complex yet groovy drum fill paired with a punchy yet stern vocal exposing a noxious, dysfunctional relationship before bolting from it.

“Initially written in French and translated to English, the song deals with dysfunctional relationships and getting rid of burdens in your life. Standing up for yourself. This doesn’t work for me; I’m out,” the band explains. “The bass hook was stolen from Standard Emmanuel, Félix’s solo project…”

Directed by Béatrice Cuierrier-Legualt, the accompanying video showcases the uniqueness of each band member — with a playful nod at Tumblr and other digital creation methods. “I wanted to visually create tableaus for each character, based on different homogeneous æsthetics, centered around the concept of denial,” Cuierrier-Legault explains. “It was by delving into the band’s intimacy and consulting their personal archives that five characters were born, each representing a member and their unique traits. I wanted each character to embody elements from their real lives amidst the alter ego.Since La Sécurité is mainly composed of millennials, I wanted to highlight 90s and post-punk influences, but also the arrival of the internet and new digital creation methods.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Marcos Jobim Shares Meditative “Silêncio”

Brazilian singer/songwriter and musician Marcos Jobim released his sophomore album, Singelinha last year. Sonically, the album sees the Brazilian artist branching out into multiple sonic directions, traversing across Brazilian popular music, folk and world music, while also featuring elements of rock and concert music. But the material is guided by the delicacy of the arrangements and the power of its poetic lyricism.

Fittingly, the album’s songs shift between intimate and expansive atmospheres. Instrumental album title track “Singelinha,” which was originally written back in 2023, was the album’s starting point — and was inspired by his desire to achieve a poetic and sonic synthesis. “I was seeking something with a synthetic character—something that could convey deeper insights through a simple, objective form,” Jobim explains.

Following the recording of “Singelinha,” the idea emerged that the Brazilian could expand upon the project. “The process was so inspiring that we realized we could create something on a larger scale,” he says. The end result was the 13-song album that featured ten songs and three compositions.

Much of the album features two versions of most of the album’s songs: one version featuring solo acoustic guitar arrangements, as originally written and another version arranged for a chamber ensemble with violin, clarinet, trombone, cello, tuba and double bass. Those arrangements were revised and edited by Pablo Schinke, who also handled production and engineering duties. “Pablo was fundamental to shaping the album’s sonic identity, in addition to performing as the cellist,” the Brazilian artist says. “He possesses a keen eye for aesthetics and brought a sense of balance and innovation to the tracks.”

Schinke went on to meticulous work to preserve the unique character of each track during the mixing process, “He always made a point
of preserving the essence of the compositions, even during moments of
greater experimentation,” Jobim adds.

Jobim will be embarking on his first international tour this year, but in the meantime, he further establishes Singelinha‘s aesthetic. The album’s latest single “Silênecio” is a meditative, introspective song anchored by a gorgeous arrangement featuring acoustic guitar, brooding strings and clarinet and gently padded drums paired with Jobim’s dreamily laid-back delivery.

Filmed by Zé Carlos de Andrade the video was shot in the Bacupari District in Mostaradas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The video follows Jobim in the desert. conveying solitude while serving as an invitation to the listener to slow down and listen to the void that surrounds us.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: El Paso’s oKMark Shares Swooning “Sin Tu Permiso”

El Paso-based outfit OkMark crafts an analog synth-driven take on space rock and psych rock, anchored by their frontman Marco’s deeply personal lyricism.

Their latest single “Sin Tu Permiso” is a brooding bit of lo-fi-like psych pop that seemingly channels JOVM mainstays Tame Impala and Kainalu but anchored around a swooning, desperate heartache and unease. The song captures a narrator, who’s paralyzed by their own fear in the face of an unbelievably difficult situation.

The band’s frontman explains that he wrote the song for anyone, who has wanted to leave a relationship but couldn’t — not because of their partners but because of what they would be leaving behind.

“I started working on the music on a Shinkansen train in Japan using an OP-1, building upon minor chords that already carried that weight of melancholy,” he explains. “The production reflects this: a Moog bassline [sic] at 90 BPM, dense layers of dark synthesizers, and vocals that crack at the emotional peak. It is dark electronica infused with the intensity of the Mexican bolero.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

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.