Tag: Annie Mac

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Liam Brown is an up-and-coming, Liverpool, UK-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and electro pop artist, best known as Pizzagirl — and with the release of his debut EP An Extended Play earlier this year, Brown was championed by the likes of Huw Stephens, Annie Mac and Lauren Laverne, and received praise from DIY, Highsnobiety, Wonderland, The Line of Best Fit and others for an 80s synth pop inspired sound. And adding to a growing profile, Brown opened for acclaimed British act Her’s during their most recent UK tour.

Building upon a growing profile, Brown’s sophomore Pizzagirl effort season 2 is slated for a November release, and the EP’s latest single “highschool,” will further cement Brown’s reputation for crafting achingly wistful and pensive, synth pop centered around shimmering, arpeggiated synths, thumping beats and sinuous hooks — while recalling Washed Out, St. Lucia and classic 80s synth pop, complete with enormous, painfully sincere teenaged sentiment, as the song’s narrator is worried about losing his cool over someone he digs immensely.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Hazy and Dream-like Visuals for INHEAVEN’s “Sweet Dreams Baby”

With the release of their debut single “Regeneration” through Julian Casablancas’ Cult Records, the London, UK-based quartet INHEAVEN, comprised of Chloe Little (bass, vocals), James Taylor (vocals, guitar), Joe Lazarus (drums) and jake Lucas (guitar) quickly received national attention as BBC DJs Annie Mac, Phil Taggart, Steve Lamacq and Chris  Hawkins played the single on their respective radio shows. Adding to a growing profile, the London-based quartet were named one of XFM’s one to watch for in 2016 and were featured in DIY Magazine and NME — with NME naming them “One of the UK’s most exciting new bands.” 

Throughout the course of 2016 and 2017, the members of INHEAVEN opening for the likes of Sundara Karma, Circa Waves, Jamie T, Blossoms, Yak and The Magic Gang and played at a number of the world’s biggest festivals including Reading, Leeds, Glastonbury and Bilbao BBK before closing out last year with the release of their critically applauded debut album. 

The British indie rock quartet’s latest single “Sweet Dreams”  is the swooning and anthemic follow up to their buzz worthy debut and the critically applauded Acoustic EP and as the band mentions in press notes, the song was written as an anthem for those who are hoping for better things to come in 2018 — all while reminding the listener that they shouldn’t lose sight of their dreams. Sonically, the song finds the band drawing from Phil Spector’s famous “wall of sound,” complete with boy/girl harmonizing as well as 90s alternative rock, which helps the song manage to be arena rock and radio friendly. 

The recently released video manages to be stylistic yet dreamlike, as it flickers between the band performing the song and sepia-toned, intimate close ups of James Taylor and his bandmates as they perform the song, capturing the earnestness behind the song. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Up-and-coming, Watford, UK-born, London-based future soul artist Connie Constance quickly received national attention with the release of her debut EP In The Grass produced by Blue Daisy. The EP which was praised for its dreamy yet beat-driven soundscapes paired with Constance’s earnest songwriting and vocals was championed by Pharrell Williams, who played tracks on his Beats 1 Radio show and several BBC Radio hosts including Annie Mac, Huw Stephens, Mister Jam, Julie Adenuga and Giles Peterson.

Constance’s latest single “Answer,” continues her ongoing collaboration with Blue Daisy — and sonically, the single pairs propulsive and percussive African-inspired beats, shimmering guitar chords and swirling electronics with Constance’s aching and intimately soulful vocals in a confessional and earnest song with a burning, sarcastic edge. As Constance explains in press notes, the song relates to two different people in the world — “one person that knows all the answers for taking all your troubles away,” as well as “a kind of know it all person, like, they already know the answer.”

2016 looks to be a huge year for the British soul artist, as she’s currently working on material for a new effort.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

RITUAL is a London-based production and electronic music trio, who have quickly risen to both national and international attention with the release of the “Low Season,” the first single off the band’s recently released EP, The City To The Wilderness, as the group has seen airplay and praise from BBC Radio personalities Annie Mac, Huw Stephens and Jo Whitley, as well as airplay from KCRW and praise from Hot 97‘s Peter Rosenberg. Adding to a growing profile, EP single “Josephine,” which features Lisa Hannigan recently surpassed 1 million Spotify streams, and was adding to the BBC Introducing playlist on BBC 1 XTRA.

“Too Deep,” the EP’s last single, which features vocals by up-and-coming vocalist Delilah, the members of the group is largely influence by the band’s fascination with the inherent duality of male-female duets. “We’ve always been fascinated by dual female/male vocals on records — the electricity of the connection between two people, two different takes on the same emotion and the tension and harmony this creates.” Throughout “Too Deep” there’s a tension through the song that’s palpable and yet mesmerizing as Delilah’s vocals express an aching desire but with a steely confidence and an angst-filed vulnerability; after all, there’s the acknowledgement that one’s desire may well be unrequited or not taken seriously. The male vocalist expresses need but with a plaintive urgency. And this is paired with a sparse, minimalist production of skittering and stuttering drum programming, gently undulating synths, swirling electronics and bleeps and bloops that emphasize the song’s tension between fiery sensuality and hyper modern iciness — while  being a moody marvel of modern production techniques. 





Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

With the release of “Touch,” the young electronic music artist and producer Shift K3Y immediately made his name for himself across his native UK as the song landed at number 3 on the UK National […]