if you’ve been frequenting JOVM for some time now, you know that there are a number of artists you will hear about repeatedly over some time, which shouldn’t be terribly surprising over the course of an album or a tour. Comprised of singer/songwriter Jen Hirsch and producer/songwriter Scott Smith, the duo of Monogem initially gained the attention of a blogosphere for a sound that many of my colleagues described as resembling the like of CHVRCHES and Solange. However, based on “Stay With Me,” the song bore more of a resemblance to the slickly produced electro-based R&B; in fact, to my ears, it reminded me more of Bear in Heaven‘s I Love You It’s Cool, Beacon‘s For Now EP and Ways We Separate and even Steven A. Clark‘s Fornication Under Consent of the King — but with a dizzying denseness. 

Hirsch and Smith’s latest single “The Glow” sounds as though it could have been released in 1984 or so – or through Cascine Records. The song pairs Hirsch’s soulful vocals with cascading layers of shimmering synths, a sinuous and seductive bass line, and a bit of polyrhythm that subtly owes a debt to St. Lucia. Every time, I’ve played this song I’ve felt quickly can hear this track being played after Evelyn “Champagne” King’s “Love Come Down” or Patrice Rushen’s “Forget Me Nots."