Tag: Blak Emoji

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Heroic Enthusiasts Shares Blak Emoji’s Industrial Remix of “Still Life”

The Heroic Enthusiasts — multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Thomas Ferrera and vocalist and multi-instrumentalist James Tabbi — have celebrated careers as solo artists, producers, composers and multi-instrumentalists. The duo bonded over their mutual influences of Brit Pop, New Wave and post-punk. Additionally, their education in computational mathematics and mathematical statistics help to inform work that manages to deftly combine the intellectual and emotional.

Last year was a busy year for the synth pop duo: They released two EPs last year through Meridian/ECR Music Group — Fits and Fashions EP and Crimes and Passions EP. As the duo explains Fits and Fashions “provided and introduction and an opportunity to glimpse who we are as a band: one that pulls from 80’s-based nostalgia and turns into something modern.” The duo’s Thomas Ferrera explains that the first EP is essentially Side 1 of their forthcoming album. Crimes and Passions in contrasts with — and to compliment — the first EP is a collection of five inspired, spontaneous songs meant to take the listener on a journey that convey a multitude of emotions. Crimes and Passions is essentially Side 2 of the album.

“Still Life” appears on Crimes and Passions EP. Featuring glistening synth arpeggios, mathematically precise, propulsive four-on-the-floor and bursts of angular guitar paired with Tabbi’s expressive crooning and razor sharp hooks, “Still Life” manages to sound indebted to Pet Shop Boys, New Order, and Electronic. “The song is an imagining, a metaphor, of those aspects of a still-life painting reflected into a relationship,” The Heroic Enthusiasts’ Tabbi explains in press notes. “Two lovers feeling the lightness and darkness of love, feeling alive, knowing the feelings and emotions will ebb and flow, and sadly, someday end as all of nature does, in death.”

Recently, the duo recruited JOVM mainstay Blak Emoji to remix “Still Life,” that retains the vocal and razor sharp hooks of the original but pairs them with a club friendly, industrial-leaning production featuring enormous, tweeter and woofer rattling beats and buzzing synths. “’Still Life’ was my favorite song from the Crimes and Passions EP,” Blak Emoji says in press notes. “Soon as I heard it I felt I could contribute a bit more of an industrial pop edge sonically with respect to the original. I kept visualizing how it would sound on the dance floor of a goth club. Had a total blast with it and the Heroic guys are great people, period.”

“’Still Life’ was one of our first compositions for this two-EP collection,” The Heroic Enthusiasts’ Thomas Ferrara explains. “Its lyrical content can be interpreted in several ways, and melodically and sonically the same holds true. Blak Emoji translated the song and original track into his own voice that strikes a chord with both James and me. He may have awoken a sleeping giant. Thank you Blak Emoji.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay Blak Emoji Shares Sleek and Sexy “Last Night Lost”

New York-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Kelsey Warren has had a lengthy and accomplished career: Over the past two decades, Warren has been in a number of different projects as a side man, hired gun and/or frontman, including Denise Barbarita and the Morning Papers, and Pillow Theory among others.

Warren started Blak Emoji back in 2015. Initially conceived as a solo recording project with a rotating cast of players for live shows, Blak Emoji gradually evolved into a full-fledged band led by Warren (vocals, guitar and keys) featuring Sylvana Joyce (keytar), Bryan Percival (bass, keys) and Max Tholenaar-Maples (drums). With Blak Emoji, Warren has expanded upon his sound and approach to include a slick synthesis of the soul, R&B, and pop that he was immersed in while growing up in South New Jersey, along with hip-hop, punk, minimalist classical and synth-driven music Kraftwerk, Nine Inch Nails and Prince that he loved as an adult.  

Over the past handful of years, the JOVM mainstay has been incredibly busy: With Blak Emoji, Warren has released two EPs and two albums, which have received praise from the likes of Rolling Stone, Afropunk, The Line of Best Fit, BUST, Popmuzik. Vampire Freaks, Ghost Cult Magazine, this site, and many others. “Velvet Ropes & Dive Bars, and “Poison To Medicine” appeared on ABC’s Quantico while “Sapiosexual” appeared in several indie films. Additionally, Warren has become an in-demand producer, who has collaborated with an eclectic array of artists.

Last year, Warren signed with Blake Morgan‘s ECR Music Group for a four-part, full catalog re-issue from the label. The first re-issue is a recently released, deluxe, remastered edition of Warren’s acclaimed album Eclectro. The acclaimed album has been re-sequenced and remastered by ECR Music Group’s Morgan. “I’ve loved and respected Blak Emoji’s work for years,” Morgan says. “I’m thrilled to have him join our roster, and honored to have had the opportunity to remaster his catalog for these stunning ECR reissues.”

Late last year, the JOVM mainstay shared “Mainstay,” a slinky, dance floor friendly, 80s-inspired synth funk bop featuring stuttering and wobbling bass synths, boom bap beats, a sinus bass line and squiggling Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar paired with Warren’s sultry cooing. Much like the handful of other Blak Emoji singles I’ve written about over the years, “Mainstay” is rooted in Warren’s seamless and funky meshing of his various influences and his unerring knack for well-placed, razor sharp hooks.

“Last Night Lost,” Eclectro‘s second and latest single continues a remarkable run of slinky, 80s-inspired synth funk bops featuring dense layers of oscillating synths and bass synths and thumping beats paired with Warren’s sultry cooing, dance floor friendly, razor sharp hooks and sleek, contemporary production. Interestingly, “Last Night Lost” may arguably be the sexiest song of Warren’s growing catalog.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay Blak Emoji Shares Funky “Mainstay”

New York-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Kelsey Warren has had a lengthy and accomplished career: Over the past two decades, Warren has been in a number of different projects as a side man, hired gun and/or frontman, including Denise Barbarita and the Morning Papers, and Pillow Theory among others.

Warren started his latest project Blak Emoji back in 2015. Initially started as a solo project wit a rotating cast of players for live shows, Blak Emoji gradually evolved into a full-fledged band led by Warren and featuring Sylvana Joyce (keytar), Bryan Percival (bass, keys) and Max Tholenaar-Maples (drums). Whether as a solo project or as a band, Blak Emoji has been Warren expand his sound and approach to include a slick synthesis of the soul, R&B and pop that he was immersed in while growing up in South New Jersey, hip-hop, punk, minimalist classical and synth-driven music like Kraftwerk, Nine Inch Nails and Prince, among others.

Since then, Warren has been rather busy. With Blak Emoji, Warren has released two EPs and two albums, which have received praise from the likes of Rolling Stone, Afropunk, The Line of Best Fit, BUST, Popmuzik. Vampire Freaks, Ghost Cult Magazine, this site, and many others. And adding to a growing profile, “Velvet Ropes & Dive Bars, and “Poison To Medicine” appeared on ABC’s Quantico while “Sapiosexual” appeared in several indie films. Along with that Warren has been busy as a producer, collaborating with an eclectic array of artists.


Earlier this year, Warren signed with Blake Morgan‘s ECR Music Group for a four-part, full catalog re-issue from the label. The first re-issue is a Deluxe, remastered edition of Warren’s acclaimed album Electero. Slated for an early 2023 release through ECR Music Group, the acclaimed album has been re-sequenced and remastered by Blake Morgan. “I’ve loved and respected Blak Emoji’s work for years,” Morgan says. “I’m thrilled to have him join our roster, and honored to have had the opportunity to remaster his catalog for these stunning ECR reissues.”

Electro Deluxe and Remastered’s lead single “Mainstay” is slinky, dance floor friendly, 80s-inspired synth funk featuring strutting and wobbling bass synths, boom bap beats, a sinuous bass line, squiggling Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar paired with Warren’s sultry cooing. Much like the handful of other Blak Emoji singles I’ve written about over the years, “Mainstay” is rooted in Warren’s seamless and funky meshing of his various influences and his unerring knack for well-placed, razor sharp hooks.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Blak Emoji Releases a Sexy Visual for “Love Lust Above”

Over the course of this site’s nine year history, I’ve written quite a bit about the New York-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kelsey Warren, a grizzled local scene vet, who has been in a number of projects as a side man, hired gun or frontman including Denise Barbarita and the Morning Papers, and Pillow Theory among others.

Now, as you may recall, Warren’s latest attention-grabbing project Blak Emoji began in 2015 as a solo recording project with a rotating cast of players; however, over the past couple of years, the project gradually evolved into a full-fledged  band that features Sylvana Joyce (keytar), Bryan Percival (bass, keys) and Max Tholenaar-Maples (drums). During that same period, the project released a handful of slinky, 80s synth funk-inspired singles — “Another Club Night,” “Velvet Ropes & Dive Bars” and “Honey,” — that won attention across the blogosphere and this site. And while being a decided departure from Warren’s previously recorded work, Blak Emoji reveals a songwriter, who can effortlessly craft a big, dance floor friendly hook. 

Warren and company released their highly-anticipated full-length debut Kumi earlier this year and the album continues the slinky, Rick James meets Prince mold of his previously Blak Emoji work. Kumi’s latest single is the slinky, club banger “Love Lust Above.” Centered around layers of arpeggiated synths, thumping beats and Warren’s sultry vocal delivery, the track may arguably be the most sensual track off the album, bearing an uncanny resemblance to INXS’ “Need You Tonight.” 

Directed by Jasin Cadic, the recently released and slickly shot video stars Maya Eley, Kristina Kiss, Ruth Gutierrez and Kelsey Warren further emphasizes the sultry, dance floor friendly vibe of the song. At one point, we see Warren getting painted by a love interest, as two shadowy figures convulsively dance in the background. 

singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms

(Photo Credit: Tracy Ketcher)

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(Album Photo: Niki Brody)

As I’ve frequently mentioned lately, over the almost nine years of this site’s history, I’ve written quite a bit about New York-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kelsey Warren, a grizzled local scene vet, who has been in a number of projects as a side man, hired gun or frontman including Denise Barbarita and the Morning Papers, and Pillow Theory among others.

Initially begun in 2015 as a solo recording project with a rotating cast of players and collaborators for live shows, Warren’s latest attention-grabbing project Blak Emoji has gradually evolved into a full-fledged band that features Sylvana Joyce (keytar), Bryan Percival (bass, keys) and Max Tholenaar-Maples (drums). Now, as you may recall, with the release of “Another Club Night,” “Velvet Ropes & Dive Bars” and “Honey,” Warren and his collaborators quickly won attention from this site and elsewhere across the blogosphere for crafting slinky, 80s synth funk-inspired, dance floor friendly pop — a decided departure from Warren’s previous work.

Blak Emoji’s highly anticipated full-length debut Kumi was released last Friday, and yesterday I met up with Blak Emoji’s frontman and founder Kelsey Warren at Cadillac House in SoHo in a fun and easygoing conversation about the new album and much more. Check it out.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New York music scene vet Kelsey Warren has been a JOVM mainstay as the singer/songwriter and guitarist has spent time as a hired gun, studio hand and frontman in a number of locally and nationally known projects including Denise Barbarita and the Morning Papers, pILLOw tHeORY and a number of others. Earlier this year, Warren’s latest, mostly solo recording project Blak Emoji quickly received attention with the release of Sapiosexual,” a single, which revealed a radical change of sonic direction for grizzled NYC music scene vet as the power chord-based pyrotechnics have been pushed to the background for slinky synths and a dance floor friendly sound while retaining the anthemic hooks that first caught the blogosphere’s attention.

Warren’s Blak Emoji debut EP Intro is slated for a January 20, 2017 and if you had been frequenting this site last month, you may recall that I wrote about the EP’s second single “Velvet Ropes and Dive Bars,” which continues in a similar vein as “Sapiosexual” as Warren’s seductive cooing is paired with slinky synths, a sinuous bass and guitar lines, four-on-the-floor drumming and an infectious hook in yet another slickly produced, dance-floor friendly song. “Honey,” the EP’s third and latest single pairs throbbing low-end, swirling electronics, cascading and buzzing synths and guitars with arena rock-friendly hooks — and much like “Velvet Ropes and Dive Bars,” his last two singles have proven to be among the most seductive and propulsive songs he’s written to date.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site throughout all or a portion of its history, you’d likely be somewhat familiar with New York music scene vet Kelsey Warren as Warren has spent time as a sideman, frontman and studio hired gun in a number of projects including Denise Barbarita and the Morning Papers, pILLOw tHeORY and a number of others. Warren’s solo recording project Blak Emoji received attention earlier this year with the release of Sapiosexual,”a change of sonic direction for Warren, as the power chord-based pyrotechnics have been pushed to the background for slinky synths and a dance floor friendly sound — while gently nodding at Nine Inch Nails. Warren’s second and latest single continues on a similar vein as “Sapiosexual” as the New York-based music scene veteran’s seductive cooing is paired with slinky synths, a sinuous bass and guitar lines, four-on-the-floor drumming and an infectious hook in a slickly produced, dance-floor friendly song. But underneath the sensual and slick production is a some really smart songwriting that simultaneously focuses on a romantic/sexual relationship, and a decadent and alcohol-fueled night out on the town, hitting up dive bars and trying to get into pulsating clubs — all while nodding at funky contemporaries including Boulevards, Tuxedo and others.