Tag: Brussels Belgium

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Yves von Wartburg Shares Swaggering “Feel My Bass”

Yves von Wartburg is Swiss producer and DJ, who spent the early part of his career contributing to multiple gold- and platinum-certified productions, which have achieved international chart success. That experience continues to shape his own approach to electronic music production.

Recording and performing under his own name, von Wartburg specializes on high-impact techno for club and festival settings. His first release on ISMUS, an imprint of Brussels-based label KNTXT, “Feel My Bass” is a swaggering, high-energy club and festival banger, featuring twitter and woofer rattling thump, glistening synth arpeggios, an in-your-face hip-hop-styled vocal sample and big hooks.

Perfect for clubs in Berlin and Ibiza, as well as festival stages, “Feel My Bass” reminds me of JOVM mainstays Boys Noize and LutchamaK, while showcasing a producer with a big, crowd-pleasing sound.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Golden Hours Returns with Krautrock-like “The Same Thing”

Currently split between Berlin and Brussels, post punk outfit Golden Hours — Hákon Aõalsteinsson, Wim Janssens, Tobias Humble and Rodrigo Funtealba Palavacino — features a collection of seasoned players, who have performed as part of Gang of Four, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Fuzztones, Tricky‘s backing band and a lengthy list of others. 

The post-punk outfit rumbled into the scene with the release of 2023’s self-titled debut. Their sophomore album  Beyond Wires was recently released through The Third Sound/Fuzz Club Records.  The album was knit together in between the tours and other obligations of its four members, written and recorded in rehearsal rooms in Berlin and an old mansion in Brussels. “The latter definitely put its stamp on the record with its noisy electric static bleeding into every song”, Golden Hours’ Wim Janssens says. However, Golden Hours never shies away from these things: they boldly learn into it and welcome those ghostly appearances with open arms and then, just try to out-fuzz the buzz with layers of noise and strong melodic elements that can cut through it.

The sophomore album is essentially the sound of four musicians gathering in a Berlin rehearsal room, punching oles in a wall and picking up the fallen bits to create something new over the course of a few days. Employing a creative process centered around trial and error, the members of the band swears by a simple rule: “A light shakin’ of the head to the left and right will kill a weak idea in a heartbeat, when no-one says anything the idea is likely accepted. You’ve got to keep the roads clear, to let all the good stuff pass through. You can throw up road blocks in your own time.”

“With the new album, the band is stealthily moving closer to a sonic space that we can call our own,” Janssens adds.

Beyond Wires features the previously released singles “The Letter,” “Arctic Desert,” and the album’s latest single “The Same Thing.” Anchored around a relentless motorik groove and a shimmering guitar paired with a brooding baritone vocal, “The Same Thing” strikes me as being a bit of a hypnotic synthesis of krautrock and post punk that expresses an existential sense of dread and unease.

“’The Same Thing’ leans heavily on Tobias deadpan drum groove and shows the band in full repetitive kraut modus,” Janssen explains. “The song was the last one added to the long-list for the album. When all tracks were recorded, the question was asked: did anyone still have any gems hidden up their sleeves? Hakon started playing this guitar riff, and we all instantly locked in, and within 15 minutes, a song structure appeared. After 2 takes, the basic track was nailed. The song took a slight turn when vocals and extra layers were added in post-production, away from the obvious and into more atmospheric realms, in sync with the overall sound of the album.”

“The song is about the inevitable that comes for you, mostly in moments when you let your guard down. Good things, bad things…The ground beneath your feet can disappear in an instant,” Janssen adds. “It’s the stuff you can never prepare for unless you want to live your life in fear, hiding in a bunker somewhere in a desert where the floods can’t reach you. And it hardly ever happens to you alone, even when no one else gets hit, there’s always collateral damage, stuff that pops up and rears its ugly head years after the avalanche turned your world upside down. It’s a cleansing ritual at best if you’re able to get from under the snow. You can’t keep an eye on everything all the time, and you probably won’t see or hear it coming anyway, but as Tom Waits so beautifully put it: ‘We’re all gonna be just dirt in the ground,’ so no need to go check on your car that fell into that sinking hole before your time is up.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Golden Hours Shares Broodingly Cinematic “Arctic Desert”

Currently split between Berlin and Brussels, post punk outfit Golden Hours — Hákon Aõalsteinsson, Wim Janssens, Tobias Humble and Rodrigo Funtealba Palavacino — features a collection of seasoned players, who have performed as part of Gang of Four, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Fuzztones, Tricky‘s backing band and a lengthy list of others. 

The post-punk outfit rumbled into the scene with the release of 2023’s self-titled debut. Their sophomore album Beyond Wires was released last week through The Third Sound/Fuzz Club Records and features brooding album track “The Letter,” and the album’s latest single “Arctic Desert.”

“Arctic Desert,” is a slow-burning, cinematic tune that’s one part post-apocalyptic post punk, one-part Morricone-era Spaghetti Western film score anchored by Hákon Aõalsteinsson’s world weary delivery.

“‘Arctic Desert’ leans into our love for French and Italian cinema from the age of lead,” Golden Hours’ Wim Janssens explains. “The beat and opening guitar pull you in before waves of noise flare up, sounding like the house band on Anton LaVey’s ritual ceremonies at his Black House in San Francisco. Hakon’s weary croon invites you for a walk to fully disappear into the ice cold desert night.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: DJ Piscine Shares Summery “Born Again”

Maximillian De Vos, is a Brussels-based producer and DJ, best known as DJ Piscine. He’s a founding member of the Belgian DJ collective echte ra — and is also one half of The Haze.

De Vos’ latest DJ Piscine EP, Pray, Pt. 1 is slated for a June 27, 2025 release through SWIM Records. The EP reportedly sees the Belgian producer crafting a radiant fusion of club energy and emotional depth. The EP’s first single “Born Again” is a swaggering and slickly produced banger, featuring a big, coquettish pop starlet vocal paired with glistening Euro-house synths and rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses.

Although it’s a chilly Memorial Day Weekend here in New York, “Born Again” is a summery, Ibizia-styled banger with a playfully mischievous bit of 00s nostalgia.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: clo Shares Vibey Neo-Soul Track “appetite”

clo is an emerging, 20-something, San Francisco-born, Brussels-raised, neo-soul/R&B and jazz singer/songwriter, who’s currently splitting her time between New York and Paris, where she’s simultaneously pursuing studies in Neuroscience while modeling, and starting a professional music career. 

The emerging Belgian-born artist can trace the origins of her music career to when she started receiving classical and jazz training in piano when she turned four. Since then, clo has spent much of her formative years creating her own original music, inspired by Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Snoh Aalegra, and CELESTE. 

The young emerging artist’s recently released debut EP Brut derives its name from the French word for “raw.” The EP sees the San Francisco-born artist balancing vulnerability with strength while showcasing her effortlessly soulful vocals.

Brut EP’s latest single “appetite” continues a run of vibey neo-soul tracks that reveals a young artist, who’s not only remarkably self-assured for her relative youth, but who possesses an effortlessly soulful, powerhouse vocal. But let’s not forget, that the new track also showcases an artist whose lyrics come from a real, lived-in place; so, the hurt and heartache at the core of the song was deeply experienced — and in turn, deeply felt.

women who kick ass by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Initial Orchestra Shares Hypnotic “Dynamic Tube”

Currently splitting her time between Paris and Brussels, Sarah Chièze is a classically trained multi-instrumentalist, composer, singer, filmmaker and visual artist, who can trace her curiosity and passion for sound to growing up in a family of musicians.

Chièze started studying at the conservatory before she could actually write. But as a musical prodigy, she learned piano, flute, guitar and singing. And although piano is her preferred instrument, singing has informed her compositional approach and the thematic concern of her work — the construction of language.

When Chiéze went to college, she studied cinema and visual art, which have become important parts of both her professional and personal lives: She composes scores for film and has developed a digital graphics price that allows her to create the artwork for her releases.

Her multimedia project Initial Orchestra sees her crafting compositions that draw from a range of influences, including flamenco, prog rock and classical music among others — and pairing that with sci-fi-inspired images that invite the listener and viewer’s mind and body to freely wander.

Chièze recently released her debut EP, the six-song Resolution. The EP sees the emerging multimedia artist taking the listener on an epic journey while crafting melodies that are simultaneously euphoric and deep. Throughout the run of the EP, its six songs echo and contrast each other.

Anchored around a painterly layers of a looping and repetitive, twinkling melodic phrase that twists and turns around skittering and pulsing trap-like thump, the EP’s latest single “Dynamic Tube” is a mind-bending, cinematic bit of electronic music that channels Trans Europe Express-era Kraftwerk.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Brussels’ We The Living Share Lush and Brooding “We Shall Return”

Brussels-based ambient, indie outfit We The Living features two highly accomplished artists in their own right:

  • Andorra-born and-based composer and singer/songwriter José Papí, best known for his work in hard rock outfit Yearn

  • British-born, Brussels-based ambient, electronic music legend David Morley

We The Living can trace its origins back to 2015: Papí and Morley discussed starting a project together, but the project started in earnest earlier this year, when teh duo went into the studio to write and record their full-length debut, Making The Living Great Again, an effort, which was released earlier this month, that the band describes as “an obstinately melodic trip into existential challenges and the unresolved issues of today’s world.”

Making The Living Great Again‘s latest single “We Shall Return” is anchored around a supple and propulsive bass line, twinkling keys, and a glistening, reverb-soaked guitar figure. The arrangement serves as a lush and dreamy bed for Papí’s yearning delivery. The result is a song that seemingly recalls Softspot‘s gorgeous, fever dream of an album, 2017’s Clearing — but with a sense of existential dread.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Ugandan-born, Brussels-based producer and musician, born Alban Murenzi is best known as a founding member of successful sibling indie R&B outfit YellowStraps. The accomplished duo released their 2018’s Blame EP through Majestic Casual. They performed on the tastemaker platform COLORS back in 2019. 

They followed that up with 2020’s Golddress EP and last year’s tentacle which saw Murenzi adopt the moniker Halibab Matador, before he stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist. 

Murenzi’s full-length debut as Halibab Matador, Souvenirs is slated for release this year, and the album sees the Ugandan-Belgian producer and musician focusing on largely instrumental and beat-driven material that fuses elements of hip-hop, jazz and soul. 

Earlier this month, I wrote about album single “Lili,” which saw the acclaimed Brussels-based musician and producer collaborating with Léa Kadian, who contributes a supple bass line, twinkling keys from Tim de Fontaine and soulful vocal harmonies from Stacy de Bruges. The result is a vibey, neo-soul lullaby of sorts that evokes the comfort of a warm blanket on a chilly day — or seeing your lover smile after a period of absence. 

“This song is dedicated to my lover. For me, it represents light, warmth and freedom,” the Ugandan-Belgian producer and musician explains. “It represents the good fortune of being alive and experiencing beautiful moments of joy.

“Léa Kadian on bass and Stacy de Bruges on vocal harmonies. I love what they do and feel privileged to be able to collaborate with such talented people.  My friend Tim de Fontaine also chipped in with some sweet piano notes.”

“White Pages,” Souvenirs‘ latest single is a built around a looped, finger-plucked, shimmering guitar melody paired with atmospheric synths. While seemingly being a synthesis of Nick Drake-like folk and ambient electronica, the ethereal “White Pages,” possesses a wistful and nostalgic air.

“This track is the most nostalgic track on the project. It was created two years ago with my friend Tim when we were flatmates. Tim came up with these chord ideas and I instantly loved it,” the acclaimed Ugandan-Belgian artist explains. “Then we started playing this loop with two guitars and just jammed on it. It was a great feeling. We both love the nostalgic feels of music in general – it always has some beauty in it I think. 

“For me it was a nice track to conclude the album because it’s an accurate summary of what I tried to share with those  tracks. In this album I tried to share a feeling of nostalgia linked to the souvenirs we can have in a lifetime. A happy nostalgia that reminds us how lucky we are to have experienced all these moments, and the hope of reliving many more in the future. 

I also like the fact that the song ends with this ‘reverse’ effect, as it gives the impression of a flashback to the past.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Ugandan-Belgian Artist Halibab Matador Shares Vibey “Lili”

Ugandan-born, Brussels-based producer and musician, born Alban Murenzi is best known as a founding member of successful sibling indie R&B outfit YellowStraps. The accomplished duo released their 2018’s Blame EP through Majestic Casual. They performed on the tastemaker platform COLORS back in 2019.

They followed that up with 2020’s Golddress EP and last year’s tentacle which saw Murenzi adopt the moniker Halibab Matador, before he stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist.

Murenzi’s full-length debut as Halibab Matador, Souvenirs is slated for release this year, and the album sees the Ugandan-Belgian producer and musician focusing on largely instrumental and beat-driven material that fuses elements of hip-hop, jazz and soul.

Souvenirs‘ latest single “Lili” is song that sees the Brussel-based musician and producer collaborating with Léa Kadian, who contributes a supple bass line, twinkling keys from Tim de Fontaine and soulful vocal harmonies from Stacy de Bruges. The result is a vibey, neo-soul lullaby of sorts that evokes the comfort of a warm blanket on a chilly day — or seeing your lover smile after a period of absence.

“This song is dedicated to my lover. For me, it represents light, warmth and freedom,” the Ugandan-Belgian producer and musician explains. “It represents the good fortune of being alive and experiencing beautiful moments of joy.

“Léa Kadian on bass and Stacy de Bruges on vocal harmonies. I love what they do and feel privileged to be able to collaborate with such talented people.  My friend Tim de Fontaine also chipped in with some sweet piano notes.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: clo Returns with Vibey “Big Smile”

clo is an emerging, 20-year-old, San Francisco-born, Brussels-raised, neo-soul/R&B and jazz singer/songwriter, who’s currently splitting her time between New York and Paris, where she’s simultaneously pursuing studies in Neuroscience while modeling, and starting a professional music career. 

The emerging Belgian-born artist can trace the origins of her music career to when she started receiving classical and jazz training in piano when she turned four. Since then, clo has spent much of her formative years creating her own original music, inspired by Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Snoh Aalegra, and CELESTE. 

Earlier this year, I wrote about clo’s debut single “room,” a slow-burning and vibey ballad centered around the young Belgian-born artist’s sultry vocals paired with a brooding production featuring skittering, tweeter and woofer rattling trap beats, twinkling jazz piano and atmospheric synths. The song reveals an artist, who’s remarkably self-assured beyond her relative youth — while showcasing an artist, with an uncanny knack for mature, lived-in lyricism and a well-placed, razor sharp hook. 

Her second single “Big Smile” is a vibey, neo-soul-like ballad that finds the emerging young artist collaborating with a live band, which gives the song a lush, cinematic sound and a vibrant, you’re-there-in-the-studio immediacy — all while continuing to reveal a singer/songwriter with a mature beyond her years self-assuredness.

The accompanying video for “Big Smile” primarily features home video shot footage of the young San Francisco-born artist as a small child. The video hints at the very origins of the young artist’s passion and career and a loss of innocence and simplicity.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Belgian-born Artist clo Shares Sultry and Self-Assured “Room”

clo is a 20-year-old, emerging, Brussels-born neo-soul/R&B and jazz singer/songwriter, who’s currently splitting her time between New York and Paris, where she’s simultaneously pursuing studies in Neuroscience while modeling, and a professional music career.

The emerging Belgian-born artist can trace the origins of her music career to when she started receiving classical and jazz training in piano when she turned four. Since then, clo has spent much of her formative years creating her own original music, inspired by Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Snoh Aalegra, and CELESTE.

clo’s debut single “room” is a slow-burning and vibey ballad centered around the young Belgian-born artist’s sultry vocals paired with a brooding production featuring skittering, tweeter and woofer rattling trap beats, twinkling jazz piano and atmospheric synths. The song reveals an artist, who’s remarkably self-assured beyond her relative youth — while showcasing an artist, with an uncanny knack for mature, lived-in lyricism and a well-placed, razor sharp hook.

The accompanying video follows the young Belgian-born artist on a glorious summer day through beautiful Paris.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Belgian JOVM Mainstays Whispering Sons Share Gorgeous Visual for Brooding “Tilt”

Initially started in 2013 as a hobby for its then Leuven, Belgium-based founding members Kobe Linjen (guitar), Sander Hermans (synths), Lander Paesan (bass) and Sander Pelsmaekers (drums), the rising Brussels-based post punk act Whispering Sons have evolved a great deal. As the story goes, the band then-in search of a singer, recruited Fenne Kuppens, who at that point had been uploading covers of bands like Slowdive to Soundcloud.

Already fostering deep ambition, Kuppens rigorously prepared for the gig. “I’d always wanted to sing in a band, but I never had friends who made music, they weren’t in my surroundings,” Kuppens recalled in press notes. “They were talking about this post-punk thing that I’d never heard of before, so I had to read into it. I could see myself in it, I felt the music.”

Leuven is a quiet, European university town and its mainstream-leaning music scene didn’t connect with Kuppens. But after a year studying abroad in Prague, where she immersed herself in the city’s DIY scene, Kuppens was galvanized — and inspired. “I made friends there who did things with their lives! There was a guy who had a DIY record label and who made music, all from his bedroom. I thought, if they can do this, why can’t we at least try?” Kuppens recalls. As soon as she returned from Prague, she relocated to Brussels. The remaining members of the band — Linjin, Hermans, Pelsmaekers and Paesan — later joined her. And immediately, the band quickly began honing their live show and sound. 

Inspired by Xiu Xiu and Chinawoman, Kuppens’ distinctive, low register vocal style emerged early. “I started to feel more comfortable on stage, to express myself more rather than just singing a song,” she says. “I started feeling the music more, identifying more with the sounds and what I was doing.” Kuppens stage presence became known for being transfixing and trancelike, defined by compulsive movements. “People have said it looks like I’m fighting my demons onstage, I guess there’s some truth in that,” she says.

During the summer of 2015, the band went into the studio to record material. “Fenne was really pushing us saying ‘We have to go for it, not just make another demo,” Whispering Sons’ Kobe Linjen recalls in press notes. The result was their goth-inspired debut EP, 2015’s Endless Party EP. Just a few months after its initial release through  Wool-E-Tapes, the Brussels-based post-punk act won Humo’s Rock Rally, one of Belgium’s most prestigious music competitions.

With the increased attention and accolades came bigger shows, bigger tours across Europe and larger crowds. “People started to expect things from us. We had to adapt quickly,” Linjen adds. The demands of a growing profile and the attention brought onto the band, saw the band setting new, more ambitious targets for themselves. While writing new material for the increasingly longer sets their increased status required, they began to grow tired of the limits of post-punk and eagerly sought ways to push past them as much as possible. “We wanted to evolve, we wanted to attract larger audiences and not just play in one scene,” Kobe continues.

The Belgian post-punk quintet released two 7 inches, 2016’s “Performance”/”Strange Identities” and  2017’s “White Noise” — while going through a lineup change: the band’s friend Tuur Vanderborne replaced Paesan on bass. Their Micha Folders and Bert Vliegen co-produced 2018 full-length debut Image was released through  Cleopatra Records here in the States and Smile Records throughout the rest of the world.

Recorded over a ten day period at Waimes, Belgium’s GAM Studios, Image found the band crafting a dark, brooding blend of experimental and frenetic post-punk that expressed the alienation, loneliness and anxiety that each individual member felt when they relocated to Brussels, Belgium’s largest city. Image garnered praise from music press across the globe — and it amassed millions of streams across digital service providers.

Before pandemic-related quarantines, lockdowns and restrictions, the Brussels-based post punk quintet was establishing themselves for a ferocious, must-see live show while sharing stages with the likes of The Murder Capital, Patti Smith, The Soft Moon, Croatian Armor and Editors. “We were very happy with Image, and at that point it was the best thing we could have made,” Fenne Kuppens says. “But from the moment we finished it we started to look at it in a critical way. ‘This is something we should do again. This is something we don’t like.’ So very quickly we found the direction we wanted to go in for the next album.”

During the summer of 2020, the members of Whispering Sons retreated to the Ardennes to work on new material. And in those writing sessions, the band took what they believed were the strongest part of their earliest work and refined them even further, with a focus on their greatest strength — sheer, unpretentious intensity. “We tried to create an album that’s more direct and more dynamic. More in your face,” Kuppens says. 

Kuppens can trace the origins of the lyrics for the band’s sophomore album  Several Others from one sentence she’d scribbled in a notebook “Always be someone else instead of yourself.” “It’s terrible advice,” Kuppens says in press notes. “But it resonated with me and my personal ambitions.” She stared writing about her uncompromising perfectionism that was partially responsible for the band’s success and yet was becoming stifling and overwhelming. “I was at a stage where it was becoming unhealthy. You always think things have to be better, that you can always do more.”

The album, which featured “Satantango” and “Surgery,” went straight to #1 on the Belgian album charts and was released to critical acclaimed across Europe. Their dark and brooding blend of experimental and frenetic post punk paired with their ferocious live shows have helped to cement the Belgian post-punk band’s reputation as one of Europe’s most exciting new bands.

The Belgian act’s latest single “Tilt” was written during the Several Others sessions but was eventually cut from the album because the band felt it didn’t fit in with the rest of the tracks. “Tilt” is a slow-burning and brooding song centered around a sparse arrangement of metronomic-like drumming, twinkling bursts of keys, atmospheric synths, a propulsive and sinuous bass line paired with Kuppens distinctive, baritone-like vocals. With the freneticism dialed down, the introspection behind the lyrics come to the forefront.

“Tilt’ was really a group effort. We had all been working on the song for a long time, trying out different arrangements and different parts, before eventually settling on its final form,” Whispering Sons’ Kuppens says in press notes. “When we went to the studio to record our second album Several Others the track quickly became the odd one out. It became a more intimate and stripped-down version of what we initially intended. We felt that it didn’t fit with the rest of the album, but that it still deserved a release on its own.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Belgian Artist Solstice Releases a Coquettish Visual For Latin-Tinged “Amis”

Solstice is an emerging 24 year-old, Brussels-born and-based singer/songwriter, pianist and composer. The emerging Belgian artist can trace the origins of her career to her childhood: Solstice took piano lessons throughout her life — and she eventually attended the Dalcroze Institute before spending couple of years. She also wrote her own poetry. Gradually, she began pairing the poetry in her notebooks with original compositions. Interestingly, her work has been deeply inspired by her mother and her mother’s record collection, which included classical music, psych rock, French chanson, swing and several others — and all of those influences find their way into her music.

In 2015, the Belgian artist joined Zones À Défendre, a French environmentalist group, where she met a collection of poets, activists, thinkers, assorted radicals — and producer/musician Guy Waku.

Waku went on to produce the Belgian artist’s debut ep Amis venez à moi. Released last November, the EP features the Roland Devresse co-written “Amis.” Featuring a lush vocal arrangement for three part harmony, delivered in a coquettish French “Amis” is a slickly pop song that’s centered around a looping, tango-inspired production.

Directed by Gilet Jaune Guillemette Dur, the recently released video for “Amis” sees the emerging Belgian artist meet up at a local club and leads the entire club to a night of Latin-influenced dancing.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Brussels’ Romina Palmeri Releases a Gorgeous Bachata Ballad

Romina Palmeri is a Brussels-born and-based, Italian-Belgian singer/songwriter and dancer, who can trace the origins of her music career to her childhood: growing up in a family of musicians and performers, Palmeri was surrounded by the music and rhythms of the Mediterranean and of her Italian heritage. At a very young age, the Italian-Belgian artist trained in classical dance and hip-hop and began singing.

After studying sports and animation in high school, Palmeri’s love of the stage and of performing led her to the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, where she earned a Master’s Degree in theater and speech. Upon graduation, she landed several roles as an actor including Solange in Lucy Mattot’s A coups de ciseaux de couture, a montage of Jean Genet’s Les Bonnes. Since 2016, the Brussels-born and-based artist has landed roles in Festival Bruxellons! productions of musicals like Evita, Sunset Boulevard and My Fair Lady. Palmeri has also played Studio 100’s and Ketnet’s Mega Mindy.

In late 2019, the Italian-Belgian artist played Yvette in Bertolt Brecht’s Mére Courage et set enfants, directed by Christine Delmotte. She then joined the cast of the musical Notre Dame de Paris, playing the roles of Esmeralda and Fluer-de-Lys. And since last year, she has has been the understudy for the roles of Maria, Elvira and Isabel for he musical, Don Juan.

Despite what seems like an already busy schedule, Palmeri has managed a music career: she has contributed backing vocals to several albums by Francesco Palmeri and Frédéric François‘ 2013 effort Amor Latino. She is currently working and recording her own original material, as well as covers in French, Spanish, Italian and English.

Earlier this year, Palmeri released a gorgeous cover of Selena’s “Dame un beso.” Building upon the momentum of that cover, the Italian-Belgian’s latest single is an original track, “Dulce Miel,” written in the traditional bachata ballad style. Centered around shimmering acoustic guitars and bachata rhythms, “Dulce Miel” is roomy enough for Palmeri’s gorgeous and expressive pop star-like vocals. As a native Queens boy, the song brought back memories of hearing bachata out of the windows of local house parties — but as Palmeri explains, the song is a passionate love song with a very simple message: love always wins.

Directed by Georges Vanev, the recently released and sensual video for “Dulce Miel” stars Palmeri and Julio César Gutarra as a beautiful, young couple, who are madly in love.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Acclaimed Kinshasa-Based Collective KOKOKO! Releases a New Banger

Led by Makara Biano and prolific French producer débruit, the pioneering and acclaimed Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo-based DIY electronic collective KOKOKO! is fueled by growing spirit of protest and unrest among their hometown’s young people. And much like young people across the globe, Kinshasa’s young people have begun to openly question centuries’ old norms and taboos, and they’ve openly begun to denounce a society that they perceive as being paralyzed by fear — namely,. the fear of inclusiveness and much-needed change.

The collective and their local counterparts have done this with a fearless in-your-face, punk rock sort of ethos. This isn’t surprising: the acclaimed Congolese collective’s name literally means KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! — with the collective viewing themselves as the sound and voice of a bold, new generation defiantly banging on the doors and walls, yelling out “OUR TIME IS NOW!”

The Kinshasa-based collective’s creative processes are centered around the notion that poverty and the desperately urgent need to survive often fuels wild creativity. And unsurprisingly, they operate in a wildly inventive DIY fashion, creating self-designed and self-made instrument made from recycled and reclaimed flotsam and jetsam and recovered junk. They even built a recording studio out of old mattresses, reclaimed wood and an old ping-one table.

The collective exploded into the national and international scenes with their critically applauded, full-length debut 2019’s FONGOLA was a forward-thinking, urgent effort featuring a difficult to pigeonhole, global orientated sound with elements of disco, post-punk, hip-hop, reggae, retro-futuristic funk, Afro-futurism and the region’s traditional folkloric sounds. The end result, was a sound that seemed to come from an alien yet familiar, near-dystopian future like our own, where the ghetto and the club where one and the same.

The Kinshasa-based collective’s latests ginned “Donne Moi,” is the first bit of new material since their full-length debut. Featured on the soundtrack of FIFA 22, “Donne Moi” sees the act expanding upon their forward-thinking, sound: while still pairing their handmade instruments with electronic production, the new single is a percussive, house music leaning club banger centered around chanted and shouted call and response vocals, rousingly anthemic hooks.

“We recorded ‘Donne Moi’ in Brussels just before the pandemic hit, and we are happy it’s finally seeing a release. The song is about giving back. Giving, as well as receiving, shouldn’t be always one way.”

The collective is currently working on new material, which is slated for release next year.