Tag: Alone

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Berlin’s Wind Mile Shares Dreamy and Atmospheric “Alone”

WIND MILE is a Berlin-based emerging and mysterious singer/songwriter, musician and photographer, also known as Antonin Côme. Music allows the emerging Berlin-based artist to shut down the scientific/logical mind and follow his instincts.

Côme debut EP was written during a rather liminal period of his life: between Germany and France, and between his time as a student and adulthood. The EP’s material is rooted in the ambition to craft a coherent batch of songs that the listener can dive into repeatedly — built around guitar arpeggios, glistening synths and propulsive bass lines paired with dreamily delivered vocals.

The EP’s latest single, the dreamy”Alone” is built around glistening guitar arpeggios, twinkling synths, the Berlin-based artist’s dreamy and plaintive delivery and enormous hooks. While sounding indebted to 80s pop, “Alone” is rooted in a lived-in earnestness — and is inspired by personal experience: The one was written between two different conversations with his six new roommates, who were — thankfully for him — becoming his friends. And as a result, the song is an ode to socializing and meeting new friends while reflecting his own need to be surrounded by people.

The accompanying video is comprised of footage of Côme hanging out with friends at various locales in Berlin, playing a house show and pensively hanging out on rooftops. The end result is an intimate visual portrait of a young, emerging artist.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Up-and-Coming Belgian Post -Punk Act Whispering Sons Perform “Alone” on “Muziek bij een”

Initially formed in 2013, the Brussels, Belgium-based post punk act Whispering Sons, comprised of Fenne Kuppens (vocals), Kobe Linjen (guitar), Sander Hermans (synths), Tuur Vanderborne (bass) and Sander Pelsmaekers (drums) received attention nationally with the release of their debut EP, 2015’S Endless Party through Wool-E-Tapes with a vinyl reissue in March 2016 through Minimal Maximal. The following year, the band won one of their homeland’s most prestigious music competitions Humo’s Rock Rally, which they followed up with two 7 inches, 2016’s “Performance”/”Strange Identities” and  2017’s “White Noise.” 

Building upon a growing profile across Belgium, the Brussels-based post-punk quintet released their full-length debut, the Micha Volders and Bert Vliegen-produced Image through Cleopatra Records here in the States and Smile Records throughout the rest of the world last year. Recorded over a ten day period at Waimes, Belgium’s GAM Studios, the album finds the band attempting to capture their live sound — and more importantly, the sense of anxiety and alienation that each individual bandmember felt when they relocated to Brussels.  Now, as you may recall Image’s second single “Alone” was centered around shimmering and angular guitar lines, a propulsive and sinuous bass line, thunderous and mathematically precise drumming, an arena rock-friendly hook that’s derived from a cryptic bit of dialog spoken during Twin Peaks’ first season and Kuppens’ Ian Curtis-like vocal delivery.  And while naturally drawing some comparisons to the likes of Joy Division, Actors, Deathlist, True Moon, Second Still and others, the song bristles with an icy ominousness. 

Check out this incredible live footage of the up-and-coming Belgian act on Muziek bij een on EEN Belgium’s Dutch language station. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay denitia and sene Return with Slick Visuals Paired With Their Slick, Hyper- Modern Sound

Up until recently, it had been some time since we had heard from the duo, as Odigie and Marc had been busy with individual creative pursuits: Marc has gotten into acting, as he’s part of the cast of Netflix‘s Luke Cage, has starred alongside Emma Roberts in Nerve and a had lead role in White Girl while Odigie’s solo recording project ADESUWA received attention after the release of the Air Light EP earlier this year. Interestingly, the duo found the time to write and recored the material that would comprise their sophomore effort love and noir. Now, as you might remember, last month I wrote about love and noir’s second single open wide,” a single that paired a chilly and subtly industrial production with a swooning and sultry sensuality. The album’s third single “favorite” consisted of a sleek, super contemporary production that dipped and swooned and evoked waking up next to a lover, after making love.

The album’s fourth and latest single “alone” pairs Odigie’s ethereal cooing with an industrial house-leaning production that consists of stuttering drum programming, swirling electronics and a swooning hook; however, unlike the preceding singles, “alone” may arguably be the moodiest and wistful single they’ve released to date — and in some way, the song possess a stubborn resolve that says “yes, I’m alone but I have my dignity and respect — and that’s more than enough.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Slick Electro Pop Sounds of Belgium’s Selah Sue

With the release of her acclaimed, multi-platinium debut effort, five years ago, Belgian singer/songwriter  Selah Sue quickly became a household name across the European Union. The Belgian singer/songwriter’s forthcoming, long-awaited sophomore effort Reason is slated for […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

In the five years I’ve been running JOVM, I’ve heard from an increasing number of labels, artists, bands, band managers and publicity firms located in some rather interesting and far-flung places across our little blue […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Depeche Mode released their 13th full-length album, Delta Machine last March, and the album was the last of a trilogy of albums produced by Ben Hiller. And interestingly, the album was considered by critics and fans as one of the […]