Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Womack Sisters Share Strutting “If You Want Me”

Los Angeles-based soul and R&B trio The Womack Sisters — BG, Zeimani and Kucha — are proudly carrying on their family’s legendary musical legacy. And if you had been frequenting this site earlier this year, you might recall that I wrote about the sibling trio’s “I Just Don’t Want You (To Say Goodbye).”

“I Just Don’t Want You (To Say Goodbye)” is the B-side to their Daptone Records debut, “If You Want Me”/”I Just Don’t Want You (To Say Goodbye).” The sibling trio just shared the A-side, “If You Want Me.” Anchored around a percussive piano attack and the sisters call and response vocal, the new single is a hard swinging and strutting bit of old-school-inspired soul that sounds as though it could have been released in Motown‘s early days.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Copenhagen’s Smag På Dig Selv Shares Pulsing, Dance Floor Friendly “Let’s Go!”

With the release of last year’s full-length debut, SDPS, Copenhagen-based jazz punks Smag På Dig Selv (SPDS) — Oliver Lauridsen (tenor sax), Thorbjørn Øllgaard (baritone sax, bass sax, vocals) and Albert Holberg (drums) — firmly cemented the trio’s reputation as one of most boundary pushing groups out on the contemporary Danish scene. With a sound that’s an explosive, party starting mixture of acoustic techno, punk energy, jazz and 90s EDM, the Danish trio have begun to make the round of the international festival and touring circuit, playing sets at Roskilde Festival, SXSW, The Great Escape, Eurosonic, Winter Jazzfest NYC and Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage.

SPDS’s highly-anticipated sophomore album is slated for a March 2026 through Stunt Records. The album’s second and latest single, the TMI Tammi-produced “Let’s Go!” The track is a mix of sneering, in-your-face punk attitude, ambient electronics, pulsing beats, thunderous Viking drumming and modal-influenced jazz that’s mind-bending, mischievously unhinged yet accessible and dance floor friendly.

“Let’s Go!” was composed last October. The band retreated to Albert Holberg’s 200 year-old summer cottage in the idyllic landscapes of North Zealand for a weeklong writing session. Originally, the plan was to create techno, but the autumnal, Bon Iver-like atmosphere shifted the overall mood. Instead, the trio leaned into simply being a band, playing together n silence and letting the music speak. And what would up emerging was a compromise between their initial intentions and a newfound urge to explore the idea of “ambient Viking band” — brought to life with TMI Carmen’s swaggering, maximalist production.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Kelly Cappuccio Shares a Sleek Club Banger

Kelly Cappuccio is an Italian electronic music producer, whose classical training as a child helped shaped her melodic sensibility and musical ear. Her discovery of electronic music unreleased a creative epiphany: Cappuccio quickly realized she could craft a sound that flows seamlessly between techno and tech house that bridges nostalgia and innovation.

Every track she creates represents an emotional journey frequently drawing from blues foundations paired with irresistibly funky grooves and sleek, contemporary production techniques.

The Italian producer’s latest single “In My Heart,” is a sleek and melodic, deep house banger anchored around glistening synths, a relentless and hypnotic groove and skittering beats that feels simultaneously cinematic and intimate.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: London’s Oliver Beardmore Teams Up with Brooklyn’s Punchlove on a Yearning “120 Minutes”-era MTV-like Single

Rising London-based singer/songwriter Oliver Beardmore has built up a reputation as a highly sought-after opener, playing alongside Gia Ford, Junodream, Late Night Drive Home and Steven Mason. The London-based artist has also played a number of sold-out headlining sets across the UK. And adding to a growing profile, Beardmore has received airplay from BBC Radio 1 and BBC Introducing.

The rising British artist’s latest single, the Beardmore and Xav Sinden co-produced “Ammonite” is a 120 Minutes-era MTV-like, wistful slow-burn, anchored around Beardmore’s yearning falsetto that slowly builds up into a stormy and textured climax played by Brooklyn-based shoegazers Punchlove. Sonically channeling The Bends-era Radiohead, “Ammonite,” manages to convey an uneasy push and pull of self-flagellation and blame in a dysfunctional relationship between two equally dysfunctional, hurt people.

“The song is about being drawn to people who share the same insecurities or flaws. We project our issues onto each other, but that weight often causes hurt that no one else is really to blame for,” Beardmore says. “There’s freedom in no longer searching for your flaws in someone else, and relief in calling off that search. In the end, you can hurt yourself more than anyone else ever could – but there’s something almost hedonistic in giving yourself away to someone who’ll let you.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: St. Panther Shares Slinky and Soulful “The Deal”

Los Angeles-based Mexican/Colombian producer, singer/songwriter, rapper and multi-instrumentalist Dani Bojorges-Giraldo (they/them) is the creative mastermind behind the critically applauded recording project St. Panther. Bojorges-Giraldo’s previously released work was the soundtrack to the early part of this decade for many folks, but following their departure from the major label network, the Los Angeles-based artist took time to be among their peers, friends and loved ones.

Their forthcoming EP, the McClenney and Bojorges-Giraldo co-produced Strange World is slated for a November 7, 2025 release through art label drink sum wtr — and is their first collection of recorded output since their breakout debut EP, 2020’s These Days. The new EP’s material is reportedly a defiant, genre-transforming work that features a collection of soulful, modern pop songs that narrate and confront the wider climate of uncertainty and oblivion.

Thematically, Strange World is as much about Bojorges-Giraldo’ and their world — their village, their people, themselves — but also, the very strange world we inhabit right now. Drawing from soul, R&B, jazz, hip-hop and alt-pop the EP’s material sets out to urge for a sense of purpose, security and love admits seemingly universal apathy and chaos.

“I took this long pause to really listen to my village, listen to the needs of my community, and the people around me,” the St. Panther creative mastermind says. “We’re all feeling the weight of the world on our shoulders a bit. We want hope for our listeners, we want people to feel heard and that there’s someone out there representing this feeling.”

Regarding the EP, the Los Angeles-based artist remarks: “It’s been highly impactful–to say the absolute least–to witness the world in the state in today. In so many lyrics and melodies, I’m using this set of songs as a method of putting certain messages into our ether, intentionally shouting certain things from the rooftops that a friend jokingly said ‘for world peace;’ but this music is meant to activate people in some way to meditate about our relationship to each other, which feels like a good use for music right now.”

The EP will feature, the previous released EP title track “Strange World,” which received a double premiere from KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic and FLOOD Magazine and praise from Ones To Watch, Earmilk, RIFF Magazine and others, as well as the EP’s latest single “The Deal.” Featuring an old-school Quiet Storm-meets D’Angelo neo-soul-like arrangement featuring jazzy bursts of keys and a supple bass line, “The Deal” is one-part heartfelt confession of love and admiration, one-part admission of being hurtful/neglectful and one-part yearning plea to do better that feels intimately lived-in and experienced.

“Now I’m not sure if it’s always right to, but I tend to put music where prolonged silences live,” the St. Panther mastermind explains. “I’m not sure why it’s so hard to say what sometimes only music can, but in this case I wish someone had known me better and wanted to write a song like Dido’s ‘White Flag’ shortly afterward, a song that said – if nothing else – my love was true.”

The new single is accompanied by a live performance featuring the acclaimed Los Angeles-based artist in studio with a collection of their various long-time collaborators including McClenney.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Jerk Shares Slinky, Chilled-Out “stealthy, she moves!”

Prolific Brooklyn-based producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Joshua Kinney is the creative mastermind behind Jerk. And with Jerk, Kinney has released five albums and several EPs that has seen him craft a sound that draws from J. Dilla, Madlib, Patrice Rushen, Earth, Wind & Fire, Louis Cole, Knower, and Roller Trio. Never content with just music as a creative output, Kinney is also an avid writer and video essayist.

Kinney will be releasing the first part of a two EP narrative cycle, continuing the rollout of as night falls. Slated for a November 14, 2025 release through DeepMatter Records, the two EP cycle reportedly sees Kinney pushing his solo project’s sound into new territories, taking listeners on a journey through a single night while exploring the darker side of human nature through a fusion of electronic influences, midnight funk and forward-thinking jazz.

Created with long-time friend and collaborator Martine Wade (drums), the EP is the follow-up to last year’s Mood Swings, which received airplay from BBC 6 Music’s Huey Morgan and Jazz FM’s Tony Minvielle.

The EP’s latest single, the Wyatt Rydleweski (bass) co-written “stealthy, she moves!,” is a slinky bit of chilled-out and groovy, 70s jazz-fusion-inspired funk jazz that — to my ears, at least — manages to recall JOVM mainstays Mildlife and Confusions-era L’Eclair, but with an earthier, grittier quality. “In our journey through the night, this is the soundtrack to those that must move without trace,” Kinney says of the new single.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 63rd Birthday, Flea!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea’s 63rd birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 56th Birthday, Roy Hargrove!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 56th anniversary of the birth of Roy Hargrove.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Fuzz Lightyear Shares Expansive and Bruising “Aberfan”

Rising Leeds-based indie outfit Fuzz Lightyear — Ben Parry (vocals, guitar), Josh Taylor (drums), Varun Govil (bass) and Alex Calder (synth, guitar) — have built up a staunch and rabid following across the UK through tours opening for acts like English Teacher, Adult DVD, Lambrini Girls, and Jasmine.4.T.

Building upon a rapidly growing profile across the UK, their two previously released singles “Sit Awake,” and “Berlin 1885” have received praise from NME, DIY Magazine, Clash Magazine, So Young, The Line Of Best Fit, Rough Trade and Under The Radar, as well as airplay on BBC 6 Music‘s Steve Lamacq, Huw Stephens and Emily Pilbeam, and Radio X’s John Kennedy.

The British quartet’s highly-anticipated Alex Greaves-produced debut EP Zero Guilt is slated for a November 21, 2025 release through Nice Swan Records. The EP reportedly sees the band quickly establishing a chaotic and forceful blend of shoegaze, industrial noise rock and punk that some have said lands between Sonic Youth and Show Me The Body. The EP will feature their previously released singles “Sit Awake” and “Berlin 1885,” and their latest single “Aberfan.”

Arriving ahead of their set at this year’s Left Of The Dial Festival and a headlining UK tour in December, “Aberfan” is an expansive song that begins with a lengthy and broodingly atmospheric, introduction featuring shimmering and reverb-soaked guitar textures with Pary’s impassioned vocals before turning into a bruising and fiery 90s grunge-like rocker for the song’s second half.

“Coming from the South Wales valleys I have always held the story of Aberfan close to my heart. It was the Grenfell of its time, a direct example of working class neglect,” Fuzz Lightyear’s Ben Parry says. “Growing up nearby it always served as a reminder to be wary of the corporate and political class. Maturing into adolescence my friends and I would always remind ourselves of Grenfell, of Tryweryn and Mynydd Epnyt to remain skeptical of the British – we are Welsh, not British.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Aussie Punks Mini Skirt Share Bruising “Squeeze Down”

Bryon Bay, Australia-based punks Mini Skirt — Jesse Pumphrey (bass), Jacob Pumphrey (drums), Jacob Boylan (vocals) and Cam Campbell (guitar) — have received attention both nationally and internationally for a rough and tumble take on pub rock that capture the climate of present-day Australia. Their work focuses on the fact that things aren’t picturesque and idyllic; the vocals express frustration and urgency while their arrangements are melodic yet raw. But at its core, they paint a picture of hope through struggle.

The Aussie punks full-length debut, 2020’s Casino grabbed the attention of the global punk scene. Their long-awaited and highly-anticipated sophomore album, All That We Know is slated for a November 14, 2025 self-release in their native Australia and through Bad Vibrations outside of Australia.

Continuing a run of gritty, bruising punk, the album’s material is underlined by Boylan’s lyrics, which paint a picture of the modern social climate. Every verse and chorus is a well-crafted and concise assessment that ensures that the listener replays each line to make sure they didn’t miss a word.

All That We Know‘s latest single “Squeeze Down” is a bruising, mosh pit friendly ripper featuring scuzzy and wiry bursts of guitar, thunderous drumming and a chugging bass line paired with Boylan’s punchy delivery expressing pent up frustration, confusion and unease that feels sweaty, claustrophobic and inescapable in a way that reminds me a bit of Ex-Cult‘s 2014 effort Midnight Passenger.

“This track was written after our first EU/UK tour back in 2022,” Mini Skirt’s Jacob Boylan recalls. ““The lyrics are about the unshakeable sense I had of feeling isolated, misunderstood and defensive about my identity. It was the first time I realised who I am is so deeply rooted in where I am from. Cam had put the riff together for his other band Chrome Cell Torture, but they had decided it wasn’t tough enough for them, so us big whimps took it and ran with it.”

C.O.F.F.I.N.’s Ben Portnoy created the accompanying video for “Squeeze Down.” Shot on grainy VHS video, the video features live footage of the band playing in a shitty club that captures the sweaty intensity of their live performance and of their fans.