Tag: Allegories

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Allegories Shares Bleak and Yearning “The Next Life”

Since the release of 2022’s Endless, the Canadian experimental pop duo and JOVM mainstays  Allegories — childhood friends Adam Bentley and Jordan Mitchell — have released a growing collection of standalone singles. 

Over the course of last year, the duo shared DREAMCRUSHER” “Stay Out Of The Basement,” “Baker’s Lung,” and “Mid Century Nothing,” the first four of a series of singles that originally started out as bare-bones ukulele sketches, which gradually transformed into idiosyncratic electronic music sound sculptures.

The Canadian JOVM mainstays begin 2026 with “The Next Life,” a shoegazer textured tune that may arguably be the most unflinchingly bleak, song that the duo have ever written or recorded. Inching towards being an anthem but stubbornly refusing cathartic release, the song sees the duo staring into existential despair, exploring nihilism and deferred hope, while asking “What if there’s nothing besides this? What then?”

“There’s no way around it,” Allegories’ Adam Bentley explains. “This is the most pessimistic reflection on life and existence I’ve ever put forward.”

Like its four immediate predecessors, “The Next Life” was originally written on ukulele and underwent multiple transformations before the final version. Beginning as a skeletal folk sketch was first recontextualized through electronic instrumentation, then reshaped again using the organic, analog tools and instruments typically associated with a rock band. “Just as it feels ready to lift its skinny fists to the heavens and brush against hope, I instead dig deeper into a nihilistic, defeated worldview,” Bentley says. In the next life, we’re told, our prayers will be answered. Our dreams are achieved. The world is at last in harmony.”

The accompanying video features the duo performing the song in the studio, filmed on warped, fucked up VHS tape. For those of you who remember, y’all know.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Allegories Share Dreamy and Uneasy “Mid Century Nothing”

Since the release of 2022’s Endless, the Canadian experimental pop duo and JOVM mainstays  Allegories — childhood friends Adam Bentley and Jordan Mitchell — have released a growing collection of standalone singles. 

Earlier this year, the duo shared “DREAMCRUSHER” “Stay Out Of The Basement,” and “Baker’s Lung,” the first three of a series of singles that originally started out a bare-bonded ukulele sketches, which gradually transformed into idiosyncratic electronic sound sculptures.

The Canadian duo’s latest single “Mid Century Nothing” is a spacey and subtly uneasy fusion of shoegaze, electronic rock and electro pop that’s arguably the most band-orientated release from the duo in some time, while also capturing the tension between introspection and assertion. And as a result, the song possesses a quiet, unguarded defiance.

“It came from our ukulele songs and slowly turned into one of our weirdo electronic tracks,” the duo shares. “We were about 85 percent of the way through arranging it when we decided to perform it at a winter festival. We don’t play live very often – we’ve only done it twice in the last 10 years. Something about rehearsing and being on stage changes the way we approach the music. This song became more defiant, touched on what’s happening in the world, and ended up way more assertive and confrontational than anything we made in the studio.”

“It reminded us that we actually come from jamming things out in a rehearsal space,” they add. “Maybe we should spend more time in that mode. Either way, we could probably play live more than twice a decade.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstays Allegories Return with Atmospheric and Shoegazer-like “Baker’s Lung”

Since the release of 2022’s Endless, the Canadian experimental pop duo and JOVM mainstays  Allegories — childhood friends Adam Bentley and Jordan Mitchell — have released a growing collection of standalone singles.

Earlier this year, the duo shared “DREAMCRUSHER” and “Stay Out Of The Basement,” the first two of a series of singles that originally started out as a bare-boned ukulele sketches that were gradually transformed into idiosyncratic electronic sound sculptures.

“Baker’s Lung,” the third single in the Canadian duo’s ongoing ukulele sketch series is a lush, dreamily ruminative track that sees the JOVM mainstays pairing introspective lyrics focusing on the inevitability of morality, the search for meaning in the face of mortality and the always elusive pursuit of fulfillment with swirling, shoegazer-like electronic and acoustic instrumental textures.

As the duo explain, the song sees the duo asking several questions: As you imagine the future, how do you build when the foundation of what you thought mattered no longer fills that space? What do you do when your time is consumed by the hours of a career — especially a career that’s not super fulfilling or what you’ve dreamt of doing? Can you just contemplate everything to death? Or can you follow the breadcrumbs to fulfillment, maybe even enlightenment? Probably not. But it’s worth asking. And worth trying.

The result is arguably, one of the duo’s more cinematic and otherworldly songs — while retaining the uneasy quality that they’ve been known for.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Allegories Shares Broodingly Eerie “Stay Out Of The Basement”

Since the release of 2022’s Endless, the Canadian experimental pop duo and JOVM mainstays  Allegories — childhood friends Adam Bentley and Jordan Mitchell — have released a growing collection of standalone singles, including the first cover of their history, their take on Talk Talk’s 1984 smash-hit “It’s My Life” and “DREAMCRUSHER.“

The duo’s latest single “Stay Out Of The Basement” sees the duo mischievously blurring the lines between playful fantasy and broodingly eerie undertone, anchored around Bentley’s plaintive Thom Yorke-like delivery ethereally floating over a minimalist production featuring skittering beats and swirling. reverb-soaked, shoegazer-textured synths. The song evokes the simultaneous feeling of snuggling in a warm blanket — but then feeling something grab at your toes.

“‘Stay Out Of The Basement’ is the second in a series of songs that started on ukulele—but this one took a left turn. I wrote the original idea, dropped it into Pro Tools, and handed it off to Jordan. Usually, we keep parts of that first take—vocals, lyrics, melodies—but in this case, none of it made the cut.

The original version had solid ideas, but it didn’t fit the new direction. The vibe, the vocal phrasing—it just didn’t connect. So we started fresh. What you hear now is entirely built around Jordan’s instrumental, and the final vocal fits it naturally.

Each song in this series lands somewhere different. Some stay true to the original demo, others evolve into something completely new. ‘Stay Out Of The Basement’ is one of the rare ones that left the ukulele version behind entirely.”

The accompanying visual features the duo performing the song in studio, as reel-to-reel tape machines run. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Allegories Return with Dreamy and Mournful “DREAMCRUSHER”

Canadian experimental pop outfit Allegories — childhood friends Adam Bentley and Jordan Mitchell — can trace their project’s origins to their members’ penchant for indulging in unconventional musical pursuits. Bentley and Mitchell founded anthemic indie rock outfit The Rest — but after doing that, they happily embraced any opportunity to indulge their more outeé inclinations and desires. 

Back in 2014, Bentley and Mitchell began writing and recording material with no clear destination in mind, dabbling in everything from neoclassical compositions to hip hop. Gathering further inspiration from DJ’ing house and hip-hop nights, the act began to create electronic music that often shifts between the mainstream and underground spectrum. 

Throughout the past decade plus or so, the duo have had extremely busy schedules: Currently, Bentley works behind the scene in the music industry. Mitchell operates a restaurant. And yet, Allegories almost always found a way to creep back into lives — even if only as a private amusement between the pair.

During that same decade or so period, the pair winnowed down 35 song ideas into their nine song album, 2022’s  2022’s Endless. Endless marked their first full-length album in over 14 years. “There’s a moment during the makng of an album, where you don’t know if you’ll finish it,” the duo say.“Endless was riddled with these cynical epiphanies. It’s unavoidable when you’ve spent over half a decade tinkering away. But as we closed in on the finish line, there was a sense that this could be the last work you ever complete. That spurs the process on, giving urgency. If you spend 14 years between albums, you want to make every note count.”

Since the release of Endless, the JOVM mainstays have released a growing collection of standalone singles, including their first cover, their take on Talk Talk’s 1984 smash-hit “It’s My Life,” which was also famously covered by No Doubt back in 2003.

The duo’s latest single “DREAMCRUSHER” a dreamy and ethereal, lullaby of a track that sees the duo meshing elements of ambient electronica, dream pop, shoegaze and experimental pop in a way that’s simultaneously mournful yet contented, anchored around a lived-in, hard-won wisdom. Thematically, the song is reflects on ambition, failure, disillusionment and the inherent hope of creative rebirth, of a new door opening towards something better — or bigger.

Initially conceived as a simple ukulele sketch, “DREAMCRUSHER” took on a life of its own through the duo’s unorthodox creative process. Without hearing any melody or lyrics, Mitchell built an entirely new arrangement, based on Bentley’s initial chord progression. Bentley then responded with a final version that drew from his original version and Mitchell’s atmospheric reimagining.

“I think there’s an almost conflicting nature to the song in both the overall narrative and the sound design,” the duo’s Bentley says, “This song embraces the annihilation of dreams but also the beauty of what grows in their place.”

The song’s title turns out to be a recurring personal moniker that Bentley uses with tongue-in-cheek self-awareness. “I have jokingly referred to myself as the ‘DREAMCRUSHER,’ not because I’m cynical, but because of my own outsized goals and working with others. who also chase wildly ambitious dreams,” he explains. “The song holds both the devastation and the quiet hope that something even more magical might emerge.”

The accompanying visual features the duo performing the song in studio, as reel-to-reel tape machines run.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Allegories Tackle Talk Talk’s Smash-Hit “It’s My Life”

Canadian experimental pop outfit Allegories — childhood friends Adam Bentley and Jordan Mitchell — can trace their project’s origins to their members’ penchant for indulging in unconventional musical pursuits. After founding anthemic, indie rock outfit The Rest, Bentley and Mitchell embraced any opportunity to indulge their more outeé inclinations and desires. 

Back in 2014, Bentley and Mitchell began writing and recording material with no clear destination in mind, dabbling in everything from neoclassical compositions to hip hop. Gathering further inspiration from DJ’ing house and hip-hop nights, the act began to create electronic music that often shifts between the mainstream and underground spectrum. 

Throughout the past decade or so, the duo have had very busy schedules: Bentley currently works behind the scenes in the music industry. Mitchell operates a restaurant. But Allegories almost always found a way to creep back into their lives — even if only as a private amusement between the pair. 

The duo spent the better part of a decade winnowing down 35 song ideas into their nine-song album. 2022’s Endless, their first full-length album in over 14 years. “There’s a moment during the marking of an album, where you don’t know if you’ll finish it,” Bentley and Mitchell say. “Endless was riddled with these cynical epiphanies. It’s unavoidable when you’ve spent over half a decade tinkering away. But as we closed in on the finish line, there was a sense that this could be the last work you ever complete. That spurs the process on, giving urgency. If you spend 14 years between albums, you want to make every note count.”

Since then, the Canadian duo have released a handful of standalone singles, including their first ever cover, Talk Talk’s 1984 smash-hit “It’s My Life,” which was also famously covered by No Doubt back in 2003. As the story goes, the duo’s Adam Bentley has long been skeptical of the song, associating it with the No Doubt cover that he was forced to listen to “almost every day for five years” while working at a hardware store. However, Bentley’s bandmate Jordan Mitchell managed to get the British band’s biggest transatlantic hit stuck in Bentley’s head, which sometimes occurs for months at a time. And with his prodding, Mitchell got Bentley began to see it in a new light.

“The urgency in Mark Hollis’ vocals struck me. And by covering the song, I felt like I was taking back to a place of admiration and passion, and away from Gwen Stefani. Keep Talk Talk away from Gwen at all costs,” Bentley insists.

While the Allegories’ take on the song is for the most part fairly faithful to the original’s climbing bass melody and steady beat, paired with Bentley’s urgent, impassioned delivery. But unlike the original, the Canadian duo add some swirling shoegazer-like synth textures, which gives the Allegories cover a subtly otherworldly quality.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Allegories Shares a Woozy New Single

Allegories — childhood friends Adam Bentley and Jordan Mitchell — can trace their project’s origins to their penchant for indulging in unconventional musical pursuits. After founding anthemic, indie rock outfit The Rest, Bentley and Mitchell embraced any opportunity to indulge their more outeé inclinations and desires. 

Back in 2014, Bentley and Mitchell began writing and recording material with no clear destination in mind, dabbling in everything from neoclassical compositions to hip hop. Gathering further inspiration from DJ’ing house and hip-hop nights, the act began to create electronic music that often shifts between the mainstream and underground spectrum. 

Throughout the past decade or so, the duo have had very busy schedules: Bentley currently works behind the scenes in the music industry. Mitchell operates a restaurant. But Allegories almost always found a way to creep back into their lives — even if only as a private amusement between the pair. 

The duo spent the better part of a decade winnowing down 35 song ideas into their nine-song album Endless, their first full-length album in over 14 years. “There’s a moment during the marking of an album, where you don’t know if you’ll finish it,” Bentley and Mitchell say. “Endless was riddled with these cynical epiphanies. It’s unavoidable when you’ve spent over half a decade tinkering away. But as we closed in on the finish line, there was a sense that this could be the last work you ever complete. That spurs the process on, giving urgency. 

If you spend 14 years between albums, you want to make every note count.”

In the lead up to the album’s release earlier this year, I wrote about three singles:

  • “Pray” a bizarre yet winning mix of menace, irony and sincerity paired with an Evil Heat era Primal Scream meets Sound of Silver era LCD Soundsystem-like production.
  • “Constant,” a sugary sweet endorphin and dopamine rush centered around oscillating synth pulse and achingly plaintive vocal delivery paired with euphoric hooks. The end result is a song that simultaneously feels pleasant but also kind of off in a way that’s visceral but you can’t quite put your finger on. 
  • “Always True,” a glittery, late night, house banger centered around ominous synth pads, thumping beats and achingly plaintive vocals that slowly builds up to a woozy and dizzying crescendo before gently fading out. The song’s narrator wearily pushes on through some awkward social interaction that ironically enough they’ve desperately longed for because they’ve been isolated for so long. 

After the album’s official release, I wrote about “Funny Way,” a slow-burning and atmospheric track centered around woozy synths and skittering thump paired with plaintive vocals. While the previously released singles were off-kilter and dripping with irony, “Funny Way,” may arguably be the most earnest song of the album. 

“‘Funny Way’ is in many ways the beating heart of Endless. It is chronologically the earliest recording on this album, bridging a gap between two musical worlds in our lives,” the duo explain in press notes. “‘Funny Way’ holds a unique and earnest place within our catalogue of music.” 

Endless‘ fifth and latest single “Tell Me Before I Forget” is centered around glistening synth arpeggios, skittering beats, whispered and cooed falsetto vocals and insistent thump paired with the duo’s uncanny knack for infectious hooks. Much like its immediate predecessors, “Tell Me Before I Forget” is a woozy and mind-bending mix of earnestness, sneering irony and menace.

The accompanying video by Andrew O’Connor is a fittingly kaleidoscopic, satellite view of ocean waves crashing against a rock — with the visual pulsing in time to the music.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Allegories Share Slow-Burning and Woozy “Funny Way”

Allegories — childhood friends Adam Bentley and Jordan Mitchell — can trace their project’s origins to their penchant for indulging in unconventional musical pursuits. After founding anthemic, indie rock outfit The Rest, Bentley and Mitchell embraced any opportunity to indulge their more outeé inclinations and desires.

Back in 2014, Bentley and Mitchell began writing and recording material with no clear destination in mind, dabbling in everything from neoclassical compositions to hip hop. Gathering further inspiration from DJ’ing house and hip-hop nights, the act began to create electronic music that often shifts between the mainstream and underground spectrum. 

Throughout the past decade or so, the duo have had very busy schedules: Bentley currently works behind the scenes in the music industry. Mitchell operates a restaurant. But Allegories almost always found a way to creep back into their lives — even if only as a private amusement between the pair.

They spent the better part of a decade winnowing down 35 song ideas into their nine-song album Endless, their first full-length album in over 14 years. “There’s a moment during the marking of an album, where you don’t know if you’ll finish it,” Bentley and Mitchell say. “Endless was riddled with these cynical epiphanies. It’s unavoidable when you’ve spent over half a decade tinkering away. But as we closed in on the finish line, there was a sense that this could be the last work you ever complete. That spurs the process on, giving urgency. 

If you spend 14 years between albums, you want to make every note count.”

In the lead-up to the album’s release late last week, I’ve written about three singles:

  • “Pray” a bizarre yet winning mix of menace, irony and sincerity paired with an Evil Heat era Primal Scream meets Sound of Silver era LCD Soundsystem-like production.
  • “Constant,” a sugary sweet endorphin and dopamine rush centered around oscillating synth pulse and achingly plaintive vocal delivery paired with euphoric hooks. The end result is a song that simultaneously feels pleasant but also kind of off in a way that’s visceral but you can’t quite put your finger on. 
  • “Always True,” a glittery, late night, house banger centered around ominous synth pads, thumping beats and achingly plaintive vocals that slowly builds up to a woozy and dizzying crescendo before gently fading out. The song’s narrator wearily pushes on through some awkward social interaction that ironically enough they’ve desperately longed for because they’ve been isolated for so long.

Endless‘ fourth and latest single “Funny Way” is a slow-burning and atmospheric track centered around woozy synths and skittering thump paired with plaintive vocals. While the previously released singles were off-kilter and dripping with irony, “Endless,” may arguably be the most earnest song of the album.

“‘Funny Way’ is in many ways the beating heart of Endless. It is chronologically the earliest recording on this album, bridging a gap between two musical worlds in our lives,” the duo explain in press notes. “‘Funny Way’ holds a unique and earnest place within our catalogue of music.”

The accompanying visual is a lysergic affair featuring explosive flashes of color that look like auroras. Moving geometric shapes, which appear like flowers before quickly disappearing and reappearing are superimposed over the aurora-like flashes. Tune in and tune out to this one, y’all.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Allegories Shares a Glittery House Inspired Banger

Allegories — childhood friends Adam Bentley and Jordan Mitchell — can trace their origins to their penchant for indulging in unconventional musical pursuits. Even after founding anthemic, indie-rock outfit The Rest, they embraced any opportunity to indulge their more outré inclinations and desires. Back in 2014, Bentley and Mitchell began writing and recording material with no clear destination in mind, dabbling in everything from neoclassical compositions to hip hop. Gathering further inspiration from DJ’ing house and hip-hop nights, the act began to create electronic music that often shifts between the mainstream and underground spectrum. 

Throughout the past decade or so, Bentley and Mitchell have had busy schedules. Bentley currently works behind the scenes in the music industry. Mitchell operates a restaurant. But Allegories almost always found a way to creep back into their lives — if only as a private amusement between the duo. Eventually, they would wind up spending the better part of a decade winnowing down 35 song ideas into their 9-song album Endless, their first album in over 14 years. 

So far I’ve written about two of Endless‘ singles:

  • “Pray” a bizarre yet winning mix of menace, irony and sincerity paired with an Evil Heat era Primal Scream meets Sound of Silver era LCD Soundsystem-like production.
  • “Constant,” a sugary sweet endorphin and dopamine rush centered around oscillating synth pulse and achingly plaintive vocal delivery paired with euphoric hooks. The end result is a song that simultaneously feels pleasant but also kind of off in a way that’s visceral but you can’t quite put your finger on.

The album’s third and final single “Always True” is a glittery, late night, house banger centered around ominous synth pads, thumping beats and achingly plaintive vocals that slowly builds to a woozy and dizzying crescendo before gently fading out. The song’s narrator seems to wearily push on through some awkward social interaction that’s also strangely, something they desperately long for — because we’re all social creatures after all.

“‘Always True’ feels like the dark part at the end of the night,” the band explains. “The wrong side of 5am. A dark warehouse bouncing to ominous synth pads, and 909s. A sudden surge of energy, a second wind, one more dance while the night wears off.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Allegories Share a Euphoric New Single

Allegories — childhood friends Adam Bentley and Jordan Mitchell — can trace their origins to their penchant for indulging in unconventional musical pursuits. Even after founding anthemic, indie-rock outfit The Rest, they embraced any opportunity to indulge their more outré inclinations and desires. In 2014. Bentley and Mitchell began writing and recording material with no clear destination in mind, dabbling in everything from neoclassical compositions to hip hop. Gathering further, inspiration from DJ’ing house and hip-hop nights, the act began to create electronic music that often shifts between the mainstream and underground spectrum. 

Throughout the past decade or so, Bentley and Mitchell have had busy schedules. Bentley had worked in the music industry. Mitchell operates a restaurant. But Allegories almost always found a way to creep back into their lives — if only as a private amusement between the duo. Eventually, they would wind up spending the better part of a decade winnowing down 35 song ideas into their 9-song album Endless, their first album in over 14 years.

Late last year, I wrote about “Pray” a bizarre yet winning mix of menace, irony and sincerity paired with an Evil Heat era Primal Scream meets Sound of Silver era LCD Soundsystem-like production. Endless‘ latest single “Constant” is centered around oscillating synth pulse, an achingly plaintive vocal delivery and a euphoria-inducing hook. The end result is a sugary sweet, endorphin and dopamine rush that feels both pleasant and yet somehow kind of off.

The song is what the duo call a “timid diss track to oneself and all that you love.”

Endless is slated for an April 29, 2022 release.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Allegories Releases a Left Field Banger

Allegories was a long-dormant experimental noise duo that reappeared in 2014 as an electro pop unit that experimented with genre, meshing eclectic soundscapes with pop inclinations. Gathering further, inspiration from DJ’ing house and hip-hop nights, the act began to create electronic music that often shifts between the mainstream and underground spectrum.

The duo’s latest single “Pray” is a feverish left field take on dance music, centered around `shimmering synth arpeggios, thumping beats, euphoria-inducing hooks and pitch shifted vocals that sonically is a slick synthesis of Evil Heat era Primal Scream and Sound of Silver era LCD Soundsystem. Or in other words, it’s a bizarre yet winning mix of menace, irony and sincerity within a club banger.

“‘Pray’ feels like a tree grown out of a seed of house music, but its leaves are wild and varied,” the mysterious duo explain. “Sometimes you let gravity take over a composition; you start one way but over time music evolves naturally. At the same time, “Pray” doesn’t function in an uncomplicated fashion. It was written and recorded over many years and each new iteration added conflicting emotional layers. A menagerie of feelings. Owing as much to the overtly sincere as it does the misleading insincere. “