Tag: Alone Together

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Boston’s Mel Fine Shares Soulful and Yearning “Alone Together”

Mel Fine is a rising Boston-based, non-binary singer/songwriter and producer, who cites Etta James and Joni Mitchell as influences. As an artist, the Boston-based artist has developed a sound that meshes soul, jazz and acoustic folk pop paired with a storytelling lyrical approach rooted in lived-in personal experiences. Fine’s goal is to create music for the feelings that are difficult to put into words.

In their very young career, the Boston-based artist has played over 100 stages including the Middle East, Berkshire Pride, the Red Room and countless others across both Boston and New England. Adding to a growing profile, Fine was awarded the 2021 Performance Division Voice Award by the Berklee College of Music Voice Department. They also earned second place in Berklee’s Songs for Social Change Contest with “In Between,” which honestly told of Fine’s experience growing up non-binary.

While continuing their studies at Berklee, Fine has continued to release material, including her sophomore single “Alone Together,” a slickly produced track featuring strummed, Spanish-styled acoustic guitar, atmospheric synths, thumping beats paired with the young Boston-based artist’s soulful and yearning vocal delivery and a well-placed, razor sharp hook. While subtly nodding at both contemporary pop and Quiet Storm soul, “Alone Together” manages to reveal a budding superstar in the making.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Detroit’s Ritual Howls Release Creepy and Unsettling Visuals for “Alone Together”

Over the course of three full-length albums and a number of EPs, the Detroit, MI-based trio Ritual Howls, comprised of Paul Bancell (vocals, guitar), Chris Samuels (synths, samples, drum machine) and Ben Saginaw (bass) have developed a reputation for crafting a cinematic twangy and dance floor friendly industrial post-punk — although last year’s The Body EP found the trio employing the use of more expansive arrangements paired with a sculpted sound and production.

Interestingly, the trio’s forth, full-length album Rendered Armor is slated for a March 22, 2019 release through felte records continues in a similar vein as The Body; in fact, the upcoming album’s latest single “Alone Together” is centered around twangy guitar, ominous atmospherics, shimmering synths and a dance floor friendly thump — and while sonically bearing a bit of a resemblance to acclaimed post-punk duo VOWWS, the song is the tale of a classic love song, set in a doomed world, much like our own. But at its core is a longing that verges on an increasingly perverse obsession. Created by Kirill Slavin, the recently released video for “Alone Together” features some incredibly creepy and unsettling footage from the short film Witch Zombies & The Lightbox Rave that helps to emphasize the obsession at the heart of the song. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Over the course of three full-length albums and a number of EPs, the Detroit, MI-based trio Ritual Howls, comprised of Paul Bancell (vocals, guitar), Chris Samuels (synths, samples, drum machine) and Ben Saginaw (bass) have developed a reputation for crafting a cinematic twangy and dance floor friendly industrial post-punk — although last year’s The Body EP found the trio employing the use of more expansive arrangements paired with a sculpted sound and production.

Interestingly, the trio’s forth, full-length album Rendered Armor is slated for a March 22, 2019 release through felte records continues in a similar vein as The Body; in fact, the upcoming album’s latest single “Alone Together” is centered around twangy guitar, ominous atmospherics, shimmering synths and a dance floor friendly thump — and while sonically bearing a bit of a resemblance to acclaimed post-punk duo VOWWS, the song is the tale of a classic love song, complete with an aching longing that’s set in a doomed, near apocalyptic world, much like our own. As a result, the song balances an uneasy intimacy with a wide screen cinematic quality.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Subtly Mystical Sound of Daniel Pearson’s New Single “Rivers”

With the release of his first two albums, Satellites and Mercury State, singer/songwriter Daniel Pearson received national and international attention as both efforts revealed Pearson to be a versatile and inventive songwriter as Satellites possessed a hook-laden, almost pop-orientated Americana […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

The founding members of Brooklyn-based band Summer Hours, guitarist Mike Bliss and bassist/vocalist Rachel Dannefer met at Oberlin College. Oberlin’s notable musician alumni include Liz Phair, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Trans Am, Josh Ritter, and […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

I have to admit that I’ve become a fan of Stones Throw Records artist Karriem Riggins as his work can sound a bit like the great Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit,” mixed with a bit of Kraftwerk. […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

“Summer Madness S.A.” is the latest single off Karriem Riggins’ Stones Throw Records release, Alone Together which will drop later this month. Full of swooning strings, slinky bass and brief punctuations of keyboard, followed by vocals […]