JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Beck’s 55th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 64th Birthday, Andy Fletcher!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 64th anniversary of the birth of Depeche Mode’s Andy Fletcher.
New Video: bat zoo Returns with Aching “Lemon”
bat zoo is a rising American-born, Berlin-based singer/songwriter and producer, who has developed a reputation for boundless creativity — and for genre-agnostic work.
As a child, the rising artist and producer was immersed in a melting pot of musical influences, as a result of his father’s eclectic record collection. He grew up listening to soul, R&B, hip-hop and much more — and it opened his young years to kaleidoscope of sounds and styles, which helped informed his genre-blurring sound and approach.
He also brings his artistic vision to life by seamlessly blending his work with dynamic visuals. Embracing authentic and innovation, the American-born, Berlin-based artist continues to push boundaries as a jack-of-all-trades creative director of his solo recording project, a culmination of many years of trial and error. He’s extremely busy: while developing his own sound as a solo artist, he’s also a part of the acclaimed Berlin-based vocal ensemble A Song For You and one-half of R&B duo GOLDA.
bat zoo’s forthcoming EP, The Upward Bird is slated for a July 22, 2025 release through Lekker Collective. And in the lead-up to the EP’s release in just a few weeks, I’ve written about “Frozen Milk,” and “Diamond Lane.”
The EP’s third and latest single “Lemon” is a classic soul-tinged ballad that seemingly channels contemporaries like Monophonics and Bobby Oroza while featuring warped guitar, a supple bass line, bursts of twinkling synths as a lush bed for bat zoo’s achingly tender falsetto, which expresses urgent, desperate yearning defiant pride within the turn of a phrase. But throughout the sense of yearning and pride simmer with an unresolved, uneasy tension that churns and shifts without resolution.
The accompanying video for “Lemon” sees the American-born, Berlin-based artist reflecting back on the bittersweet moments of a presumably recent breakup, seemingly focusing on the moments in which he should have done better, said more, worked for the relationship and so on — with the ache of regret and shame.
New Audio: Berlin’s Nilipek. Shares Expressive and Expansive “Yalan Söyledik”
Turkish-born, Berlin-based singer/songwriter Nilipek. has developed a sound and approach that has shaped the landscape of Turkish language alternative music for the past decade. Her critically applauded debut, 2015’s Sabah marked the arrival of a unique voice in the scene.
Since then the Turkish-born, Berlin-based artist has continually evolved, exploring new textures and sonic landscapes. 2017’s Döngü and 2020’s Mektuplar found Nilipek. embracing a decided shift towards a richer, more layered sound that blended introspective lyrics with bold, experimental arrangements.
Her striking reinterpretations of Turkish classics like “Gözleri Aşka Gülen” and “Bir Gün Beni Arzularsan Gel” helped to further cement her reputation for reimagining familiar songs in unexpected ways. Building upon a growing profile, much of her work has appeared in popular TV and streaming series, like 2019’s One Love Two Lives and Halka which have helped introduce her sound to a much wider audience. She has also collaborated on several boundary-pushing efforts like “Castles” with French indie pop artist Oscar Anton and “Vazgeçtim” with Turkish producer Taner Yücel, expanding her creative universe beyond the lines of genre and geography.
Nilipek.’s fourth album, last year’s Uydurduğumuz Oyunlarla (“The Games We Made Up”) was arguably one of the more interactive and emotionally resonant batches of material she’s written and recorded to date that sees her weaving poetic Turkish lyrics with cinematic arrangements and haunting melodies.
Album single “Yalan Söyledik” manages to recall PJ Harvey and Juana Molina with the song being anchored around an expansive arrangement with cinematic flourishes paired with Nilipek.’s sultry delivery. The song evokes a complex and confusing emotional landscape with seemingly lived-in sensibility.
Throwback: Happy 85th Birthday, Ringo Starr!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Ringo Starr’s 85th birthday.
New Audio: Rëa Shares Cathartic “Living Without You”
Rëa is an emerging, Black, queer, Canadian alt pop artist, who has quickly developed a sound that draws from early 2000s rock and meshes elements of dark pop, rock and ethereal soundscapes, anchored around haunting melodies, ethereal harmonies and gritty, fuzzy guitars. Thematically, her work sees her telling stories of love, loss and survival while exploring feminine rage, heartbreak and survival. She describes her work as “cathartic anthems for the beautifully unhinged.”
The Canadian artist’s debut single “Living Without You,” will appear on her forthcoming debut EP House on Fire. But in the meantime, “Living Without You” is a cathartic tune that’s built around a grunge rock song structure featuring alternating atmospheric verses and arena rock-like anthemic hooks and choruses with fuzzy power chords paired with Rëa’s enormous, pop belter delivery.
The result is a song that’s simultaneously cinematic and yet powered by deeply lived-in personal experience.
New Video: Paris’ Bliss My Heart and Cliff Estatof Team Up on Anthemic “Sinner Sinner”
With the release of their debut EP, 2020’s Morningstar, the Paris-based artist Bliss My Heart quickly developed a sound that draws from Bauhaus, Depeche Mode and Lana Del Rey. Thematically, the EP’s material touched upon love, travel, childhood and life.
The Parisian’s latest single, the Cliff Estatoff co-written and co-produced “Sinner Sinner” continues a run of material that channels Bauhaus and Depeche Mode while showcasing an artist with an uncanny knack for a catchy hook and a rousingly anthemic chorus.
Thematically, “Sinner Sinner” focuses on how you can take control of your life back through your choices and emotions — if you trust in yourself, your own energy and in your energy. “Everything is possible, just see it and believe it,” the Parisian artist says.
The accompanying video is shot in a cinematic yet subtly glitchy black and white, and features the Parisian artist and her collaborator, Cliff Estatoff singing and performing the song in a stylish series of closeups.
Throwback: Happy 50th Birthday, 50 Cent!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates 50 Cent’s 50th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 56th Birthday, The RZA!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates The RZA’s 56th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 75th Birthday, Huey Lewis!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Huey Lewis’ 75th birthday.
