The past few days around here have focused on artists who have become mainstays on this site, and if you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past couple of years, you may be familiar with yet another mainstay of the site, the Los Angeles-based, indie electro pop duo Pr0files. Comprised of Lauren Pardini (vocals, keys) and Danny Sternbaum, the project can trace its origins to when they were bandmates with Sonny Moore (who these days, you may known as mega-hit electronic music artist and producer Skrillex) in The Boy Traveller.
When the project split up, Pardini went on to write for DJ Khalil’s camp and has written tracks for Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and Drake; she also has collaborated with Purity Ring’s Corin Roddick and was briefly a member of the acclaimed The Silver Lake Chorus. Sternbaum on the other hand started his own band Baby Monster, an act that toured with Klaxons, Miike Snow and Metric; and developed a reputation as a producer and remixer, who has remixed tracks by Ellie Goulding, Gorillaz, Foster the Children and Miami Horror. Collaborating together, Pardini and Sternbaum first won attention across the blogosphere with the release of “Call Yourself A Lover,” “Luxury” which established the duo’s reputation for a sound that possesses elements of R&B, pop and electronic dance music.
Interestingly, “I Know You Still Care,” the first single off the duo’s long-awaited full-length debut, Jurassic Technologie, felt and sounded like a decided change in sonic direction, as the song possessed an urgent, insistent sensuality reminiscent of Giorgio Moroder‘s legendary work in the 1970s, as the song consisted of layers of shimmering and cascading synths, skittering percussion paired with Padroni’s seductive cooing to create what may arguably have been the duo’s most sensual and straightforward dance track they’ve released to date.
The duo’s latest single “Empty Hands” is slow-burning and anthemic pop song comprised of layers of cascading synth stabs, swirling, atmospheric electronics, propulsive drum programming, incredibly catchy hooks, and Pardini’s earnest, pop belter/torch song vocals to craft a song that sounds as though it owes a debt to 80s synth pop and more contemporary fare, such as Haerts and St. Lucia.
The recently released black and white video was shot in Joshua Tree, CA and is deeply indebted to Bob Dylan‘s famed “video” for “Subterranean Homesick Blues” as it features the duo performing the song with cue cards pointing out portions of the lyrics and other things that seemingly came to mind.
