Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Kendra Morris Shares Slow-Burning and Intimate “Circle Eights”

Kendra Morris is a Florida-born, New York-based singer/songwriter, multi-disciplinary artist and newest JOVM mainstay. Now, as you might recall, as a singer/songwriter and musician, Morris can trace the origins of her music career to discovering the joys of multi-tracking and harmonizing with herself on a karaoke machine in the closet of her childhood home.

Morris then went on to play in cover bands in her home state before relocating to New York with her band, which played her original material. Her first band split up and she dealt with the aftermath by writing material alone on an 8-track in her closet. Sometime after, she met longtime collaborator and producer Jeremy Page and signed to Wax Poetics, who released her full-length debut, 2012’s Banshee. 

Morris self-released her sophomore effort 2016’s Babble. Then she went on to collaborate with the likes of DJ Premier, 9th Wonder, MF DOOM, Czarface, Ghostface Killah, Dennis Coffey and Dave Sitek among others. And while being a grizzled, New York scene vet, Morris’ work generally embodies a broader sense of American culture, drawing from a wide array of influences across music and film dating back to the mid 20th Century. 

The Florida-born, New York-based artist’s long-awaited sophomore album Nine Lives was released last week through Karma Chief Records. While being her first full-length album in a decade, the album represents a major turning point in her life both professional and personally: The album for her heralds the beginning of a new chapter; an evolution to the next level of adulthood; and the first on her new label. The album’s material encapsulates moments from what could easily be nine lifetimes lived over a chronological time period — or nine lives lived simultaneously in parallel and convergent realities in the multiverse. 

In the lead up to the album’s release last week, I managed to write about two of its singles:

  • “Penny Pincher,” a slow-burning ballad about reaching the end of the road in a relationship, fueled by regret, heartache, acceptance and steely determination to go forward with your life.
  • “Nine Lives” is a strutting, hook-driven bit of soul pop jam centered around Morris’ sultry vocals, stuttering boom bap beats, squiggling guitar, and glistening Rhodes arpeggios that sounds as though it could have been released between 1992-1996 or so. 

The album’s latest single “Circle Eights” is a slow-burning song centered around twinkling Rhodes, a sinuous bass line, a steady rhythm and Morris’ soulful vocals full of a deeply aching yearning. “Circle Eights is about the feeling of being outside of yourself and feeling kind of alone and awkward even when you’re surrounded by your friends,” the New York-based JOVM mainstay explains. “I remember hanging out at a rooftop party in Brooklyn one summer night and looking around at all the people I was with plus the groups of people I didn’t know and just lifting my glass and laughing out loud and yet feeling like I wasn’t really there. Like I was just watching a movie and I was thinking.. Where do I fit in all this right now? 

Directed by Morris, the accompanying video for “Circle Eights” sees the JOVM mainstay employing stop motion animation and live action as it follows the secret adventures of an old toy through Morris’ apartment. At points, this beloved toy seems to be watching a life as though they’re a passive observer “I made the accompanying video using what I had on hand and shot using stop motion animation combined with live action around my apartment while I had covid,” she explains. “I love a good challenge and believe that with a good idea you can make anything exciting.. and so began my covid adventure.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Black History Month: Sly and the Family Stone

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and pays tribute to Sly and The Family Stone.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: France’s Charles Like The Prince Shares a Nostalgia Fueled Visual for “Cigarette”

French singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Charles de Villers is the creative mastermind behind solo recording project Charles Like The Prince. de Villers emerged onto the French scene with 2020’s “Estonia.”

Building upon the buzz that “Estonia” received, de Villers will be releasing his Charles Like The Prince debut EP this Spring. The EP’s first single “Cigarette” is a slow-burning pop confection centered around glistening guitars, atmospheric synths, de Villers achingly plaintive vocals, and reverb-drenched drum machine. The end result is an airy yet yearning song that subtly recalls early Beach House, Washed Out and others. The accompanying visual for “Cigarette” is shot through a nostalgic and cinematic haze, full of romantic yearning and of course, cigarettes.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: PLOHO Shares a Brooding Post Punk Ode To The World’s Housing Projects

Since their formation back in 2013, the Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia-based post-punk trio PLOHO have firmly established themselves as one of most prominent purveyors of a contemporary, new wave of Russian music. Inspired by late Soviet era acts like Kino and Joy Division, the Siberian act’s sound and approach evokes the bitter cold of their homeland. 

Last year, Artoffact Records released the Siberian trio’s fifth album, Фантомные Чувства (Phantom Feelings). I managed to write about two of the album’s singles:

  • “Танцы в темноте (“Dancing in the Dark”), a nostalgia-inducing, dance floor friendly bop featuring reverb-drenched guitars, shimmering synth arpeggios, a motorik groove and rousingly anthemic hooks paired with lyrics delivered in a seemingly ironically detached Russian. 
  • “Нулевые” (in Cyrillic) or “Nulevyye” (in Latin),” a bracingly chilly bit of 4AD Records-like post punk centered around frontman Victor Ujakov’s sonorous baritone, shimmering and reverb-drenched guitars, skittering four-on-the-floor, a relentless motoik groove and an enormous hook. And much like its predecessor, is a dance floor friendly bop.

The Russian post punk outfit starts off the year with “Plattenbauten,” their first ever German-language song. “Plattenbauten,” is a translation of the band’s 2015 debut single “Новостройки (New Buildings)” featuring lyrics translated by German poet Boris Shneider and re-recorded as a standalone single.

Centered around a relentless motorik groove punctuated by forceful four-on-the-floor, Ujakov’s deadpan delivery and shimmering angular guitar attack, “Plattenbauten” is a decidedly new take on the original’s vibe, that evokes an oppressive, seemingly infinite grey, an oppressive sameness, an overwhelming poverty and frustration. As Jim Kelly’s character says in Enter the Dragon “Ghettos are the same all over the world.” It seems that he wasn’t wrong.

The song’s title refers to a new style of communist-era high-rise apartment blocks, which were at one point highly popular throughout a great deal of Europe — and for the Russian post-punk outfit, recalls the Soviet era aesthetic. “This song was playing in German in my head when I found myself in eastern Berlin,” the band’s Victor Ujakov says in press notes. “I lived in exactly the same area thousands of kilometres away in Novosibirsk (West Siberia). The atmosphere was amazing.”

Directed, edited and shot by Igor Tsvetkov, the accompanying video for “Plattenbauen” follows Ujakov on a late night walk through the back alleys of a Plattenbauen while singing the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New VIdeo: Alice Offley Shares Slinky “Pour (Your Love On Me)”

Alice Offley is an emerging London-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who comes from a deeply musical family: her family has had deep roots in jazz and soul — with her cousin being the legendary Dusty Springfield. As a child of the 80s, Offley grew up listening to Madonna, Kylie Minogue and Prince. And she recalls that her first best friend was a portable cassette player.

As a professional musician and vocalist, Offley has had stints playing bass and contributing vocals to the touring bands for Thompson Twins, Tricky, and Cyndi Lauper starting in her teens, playing arenas, venues and TV studios across the world.

Currently, her day job has her singing and playing piano in a number of London bars. But her solo project sees the London-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist specializing in funky, 80s-inspired disco pop. Offley’s first single of the year, “Pour (Your Love On Me)” is a slinky dance floor friendly bop centered around the British artist’s coquettish cooing, a strutting bass line, glistening synths and an infectious hook. Sonically, “Pour (Your Love On Me)” brings Finnish synth and funk JOVM mainstays Beverly Girl, Dam-Funk, Escort, Adeline and others to mind as it possesses a similar retro vibe paired with deliberate craft.

The accompanying visual features Offley wearing a turquoise jumpsuit with turquoise heels with her trusty cassette player/boombox and her bass in front of flashing colored lights.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Clemence Violence Shares Sultry and Self-Assured “Holy”

Clemence Violence is an emerging Paris-based singer/songwriter and pop artist. Her debut single “Holy” is centered around thumping kick drum, a sinuous bass line, twinkling keys full of malicious intent and a razor sharp hook paired with the French artist’s sultry vocals.

The song manages to reveal a remarkably self-assured young artist while sonically being a slick synthesis of Billie Eilish and Back to Black era Amy Winehouse. Thematically, the song touches upon spirituality, eco-feminism, witchcraft and one’s relationship to nature.

The emerging French artist is a graduate of ESEC (Higher School of Cinematographic Studies) and the accompanying visual was co-directed by Violence and a longtime friend, and the visual emphasizes the song’s themes — with a gorgeous and creepy air.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Black History Month: Jimi Hendrix

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and pays tribute to Jimi Hendrix.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 55th Birthday, Kurt Cobain!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates what would have been Kurt Cobain’s 55th birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Mathieu Saïkaly Shares Intimate and Yearning “Neptune”

Mathieu Saïkaly is a French singer/songwriter, electronic music producer and artist. whose career started in earnest when he turned 17: Saïkaly started a YouTube channel that initially featured recordings of the French artist doing covers, but gradually […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: DG Solaris and Jeremy Tuplin Share Gorgeous and Contemplative New Single

London-based singer/songwriter and guitarist Danny Green started his professional career as the frontman of acclaimed British folk pop act Laish. As a member of Laish, Green wrote and recorded four critically applauded albums, which were released through French indie label Tailors and supported with extensive touring across the UK, the European Union and the States.

Back in 2019, Green went through a series of major life changes: That March, he met Leanna “LG” Green — and by the end of the year, they got married. For their honeymoon, the Greens decided to spend six months traveling across South America with a simple recording setup that they carried with them in a backpack. During that trip, the couple won dup and recording a series of demos that would eventually become the earliest DG Solaris songs. “In between swimming with sea-lions, exploring sacred plant medicines and climbing mountains, we had been searching for beautiful spaces to set up our backpack studio,” the Greens explained in press notes. “All of our recordings feature the sounds of birds, cicadas and crickets.”

Returning home to London after their honeymoon, Danny and Leanna recruited Tom Chadd, Matt Canty and Matt Hardy to help flesh out the material they demoed during their honeymoon. The end result was 2020’s full-length debut Spirit Glow, which drew from and meshed elements of 70s psych pop, synth pop, krautrock and prog rock in a unique and playful fashion — with the album’s material written as a textural journey through emotional realms. “We wanted to explore the idea of two voices, two spirits, two creative minds and see where this dynamic could take us,” DG Solaris’ Leanna Green says in press notes. Danny Green adds, “It has been an incredibly inspiring trip. We came back with over forty songs and it has been a challenge to chose our favourites for this first album.”

Green has spent the past year or so, collaborating with Somerset, UK-born, London-based singer/songwriter  Jeremy Tuplin.

With the release of his full-length debut 2017’s I Dreamt I Was an Astronaut Tuplin’s sound and approach gradually evolved with the Somerset-born, London-based singer/songwriter incorporating indie rock and psych music into what he has semi-ironically dubbed “space folk.” 2019’s Pink Mirror was released to critical acclaim with the album receiving praise from The Line of Best Fit, Loud & Quiet Magazine, BBC Radio 6 and Rumore Magazine. As a result of Pink Mirror‘s success, Tuplin received funding from PRS’ Open Fund to record 2020’s Violet Waves. 

The pair’s collaboration can trace their origins through some unusual circumstances: Although Green and Tuplin have been writing and recording albums over the course of the past decade, they’ve only been vaguely aware of each other’s existence. One night in Peru, following an intense shamanic ceremony, Green had a vivid dream that he and Tuplin were floating high above the ocean. The next morning, Green contacted Tuplin to share his strange, astral encounter. And as as a result, the pair began a correspondence, which lead to their first EP together, Crashing In The Waves.

The EP was released late last week, but if you had been frequenting this site over the course of the past year, you might recall that I’ve written about three of the EP’s previously released singles:

  • “Ocean/Are You Weird Enough?,” a haunting The Church and Nick Drake-like song that Green explains thematically explores both the oneness and weirdness of people within a collective whole.
  • “In The Name of Love,” a meditative song centered around some gorgeous harmonizing and an atmospheric arrangement that thematically tackles chaos theory, the nature of the cosmos and our tendency to distort the truth — in the name of love. But the song also has a delicately wry and ironic sense of humor, pointing out that everything in the cosmos may ultimately be up to chance.
  • “Idle” is a bittersweet yet mischievous song that’s one part aching and earnest love song, one part ironic meditation on being an artist, one-part mournful meditation on the passing of time.

The EP’s fourth and latest single, title track “Crashing In The Waves” continues a run of meditative songs centered around haunting and atmospheric arrangements featuring twinkling keys, shimmering synths and strummed guitar paired with their sonorous harmonizing. Interestingly, much like “Ocean/Are You Weird Enough?,” “Crashing In The Waves” is inspired by the tumultuous nature of water, with the song capturing the complicated and conflicting emotions of a breakup — and what it means to both parties involved.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Black History Month: Salt-N-Pepa

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and pays tribute to Salt-N-Pepa.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Black History Month: Run DMC

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and pays tribute to Run DMC.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Black History Month: Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and pays tribute to Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Atlanta’s CDSM Shares Menacing and Feverish “GFH”

Atlanta-based collective Celebrity Death Slot Machine (CDSM) — Ben Presley, Tyler Jundt and John Restivo, Jr. along with live accompaniment from Jack Blauvelt, Drew Kirby and Vinny Restivo — features current and former members of local acts like Material Girls, Neighbor Lady, Mothers, and Rose Hotel.

CDSM is a decided sonic departure from its members previous and current projects: The Atlanta-based collective’s sound blends elements of dark wave, psych rock and post punk in an edgy, genre-bending fashion.

Their latest single, the LCD Soundsystem from hell meets No Wave-like “GFH” is centered around swirling synths, wobbling disco-like bass lines, driving four-on-the-floor, copious cowbell, swirling synths and saxophone skronk paired with irony drenched baritone vocals. Underneath the dance floor rocking thump is a menace and paranoia-fueled fever dream of a tale that follows a troubled young man, who gets busted by the cops and makes a deal to reduce his sentence. The troubled young man agrees to become an undercover agent and wear a wire. During an operation, his cover is busted and he’s brutally killed. But through a weird bit of fate, he’s fittingly reincarnated as a rat.

The accompanying animated video by Anna Firth is fittingly a hallucinogenic and uneasy fever dream that follows the song’s story in an immersive fashion.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: JOVM Mainstays White Lies Return with Anthemic “Blue Drift”

Acclaimed London-based post-punk act and JOVM mainstays White Lies — Harry McVeigh (vocals. guitar), Charles Cave (bass, vocals) and Jack Lawrence-Brown (drums) — released their fifth album, the aptly titled FIVE back in 2019. FIVE continued a remarkable run of commercially and critically applauded material that often found the band balancing arena rock bombast with intimate and confessional, singer/songwriter pop lyrics.

The London-based JOVM mainstays’ sixth album, the Ed Bueller and Claudius Mittendorfer co-produced As I Try Not To Fall Apart saw its official release through [PIAS] today. Recorded over two breakneck studio sessions, As I Try Not To Fall Apart features what may arguably be White Lies’ most expansive material to date with the songs possessing elements of arena rock, electro pop, prog rock and funky grooves paired with their penchant for enormous, rousingly anthemic hooks.

In the lead up to As I Try Not To Fall Apart‘s release, I’ve written about three of the album’s singles:

  •  “As I Try Not To Fall Apart,” a rousingly anthemic yet psychologically precise character study of a desperate man, who feels hopelessly stuck in a socially prescribed “appropriate” gender role, while also trying to express his own vulnerability and weakness. 
  • “I Don’t Want To Go To Mars,” one of the most mosh pit friendly, guitar-driven rippers the band has released in some time that tells a story of its main character being sent off to a new colonized Mars to live out a sterile and mundane existence. The band goes on to say: “Fundamentally the song questions the speed at which we are developing the world(s) we inhabit, and what cost it takes on our wellbeing.” 
  • “Am I Really Going To Die,” a glittery, glam rocker centered that seemed inspired by Roxy Music and Duran Duran, but thematically touches upon mortality and the uneasy acceptance of the inevitable

As I Try Not To Fall Apart‘s latest single, “Blue Drift” is an expansive, prog rock-like song centered around the rousingly anthemic hooks that White Lies has long been known for, a relentless motorik groove, Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar, thunderous drumming and glistening synths paired with Harry McVeigh’s yearning delivery. The song seems to captures a narrator on the verge of a breakdown, a broken, gaping wound and uncertain of their footing.

“Dare I say it this is another tip-toe into a more progressive-rock realm,” White Lies’ Charles Cave says in press notes. “The song feels very much a nighttime drive to me, winding empty roads, foreign air creeping in through the window. It’s a song about being humbled by the mind’s ability to lift us up and bring us down. It’s grand, full of longing and bombast, but there is an uneasiness to it too. It never quite resolves. This is going to be HUGE when we play it live!”