Tag: Cut Copy In Ghost Colours

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

David Alexander is a Swedish singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, whose solo electro pop/dream pop recording project Summer Heart has received attention internationally for a wistful, nostalgic sound that draws from 60s psych pop, 80s synth pop and lo-fi rock and has been compared favorably to the likes of  Caribou, Washed Out, In Ghost Colours-era Cut Copy, Painted Palms and others. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past couple of years, you may recall that that Alexander’s profile has grown as a result of several songs being featured in TV series such as the NBC series, Whitney, which brought him and his work to the attention of millions of American TV viewers. Along with that, Alexander is largely considered to be among the first wave of Sweden’s internationally renowned and growing indie pop and dream pop scene — a scene the includes a number of internationally recognized acts that I’ve written about at some point or another, including Moonbabies, The Land Below, Hey Elbow, Blind Lake and Emerald Park.

Up until last month, some time had passed since i had written about Alexander and Summer Heart, but as it turns out, the Malmo, Sweden-based dream pop artist had been busy writing and recording the material that would comprise his forthcoming full-length effort 101. “Hotel Beds,” the single I wrote about last month further cemented the Swedish dream pop pioneer’s reputation for crafting swooning yet buoyant and summery productions — in this case featuring shimmering synths, muttering house music-like drum programming, boozy blasts of guitar and Alexander’s laconic falsetto and a rousing hook with a dance floor-friendly vibe; however, underneath the buoyant and breezy pop stylings is a bittersweet rumination on the life of a touring musician. And in a extremely subtle fashion, the song evokes the sensation of rushing off from place to place, without ever really getting to know a town beyond the fact that you have to be there by a specific day or time. “‘Hotel Beds’ is about touring, going from city to city, hotel bed to hotel bed. About meeting new people every night. It’s about a feeling of being detached from reality,” Alexander explained in press notes. “Don’t get me wrong. I love to tour but after a while, it becomes a big blur . . . the lyrics were written in the back of a tour bus. It was recorded in Stockholm, mixed in Brooklyn and mastered in Jersey City.”

101‘s latest single “Follow” continues in a similar vein as its predecessor as it features a percussive yet swooning production consisting of syrupy cascades of shimmering synth, Afropop-like percussion, finger snaps, tweeter and woofer rocking beats paired with Alexander’s breathy falsetto and layered vocal samples, and while being equally as buoyant and summery, the song manages to possesses an underlying, unresolved frustration. As Alexander explains in press notes. “To follow your dreams, you must figure out what they are. ‘Follow’ is about that  moment when you think you have it all figured to, only to realise you’re not one bit wiser. Those things you do, which you imagine will change everything . . . when all is said and done, afterwards you feel exactly the same.”

Alexander will be embarking on a handful of live dates to support the new album and it includes a October 18, 2017 stop at Sunnyvale. Check out the tour dates below.

 

Live Dates: 

9/7/17  Birthdays, London

10/18/17 Sunnyvale, NYC

10/23/17 Bootleg Theatre, LA

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

So, if you’ve been frequenting this site for some time, you’d be familiar with Swedish singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and JOVM mainstay David Alexander and his solo electro pop/dream pop recording project Summer Heart. And with Summer Heart, Alexander has received international attention for a wistfully nostalgic sound that draws from 60s psych pop, 80s electro pop and lo-fi rock, and has been compared favorably to the likes of  Caribou, Washed Out, In Ghost Colours-era Cut Copy, Painted Palms and others. Interestingly, Alexander’s international profile has grown as a result of several songs being placed in TV series such as the NBC series, Whitney, which brought him and his work to the attention of millions of American TV viewers; but perhaps more important, the Swedish singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer is considering among the first wave of Malmo, Sweden‘s growing indie pop and dream pop scene — a scene that includes several internationally recognized acts (some of whom, you’ve heard about here), including Moonbabies, The Land Below, Hey Elbow, Blind Lake and Emerald Park.

It’s been over a year since I’ve personally written about him but within that period the Malmo Sweden-based artist and producer has been very busy touring and writing and recording his latest effort, 101, which is slated for release next month — and while 101‘s latest single “Hotel Beds” will further Alexander’s reputation for crafting swooning pop as the single consists of a buoyant and summery production featuring shimmering synths, stuttering House music-leaning drum programming, boozy blasts of guitar and Alexander’s laconic falsetto paired with a anthemic and dance floor. But underneath the buoyant and breezy pop stylings is a bittersweet rumination on the life of a touring musician — and in a way the song feels much like a rushing blur from place to place, without really knowing how long you’ll be around. In fact, as the Swedish pop artist explains in press notes “‘Hotel Beds’ is about touring, going from city to city, hotel bed to hotel bed. About meeting new people every night. It’s about a feeling of being detached from reality. Don’t get me wrong. I love to tour but after a while, it becomes a big blur . . . the lyrics were written in the back of a tour bus. It was recorded in Stockholm, mixed in Brooklyn and mastered in Jersey City.”

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Joakin Buddee is a Stockholm, Sweden-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumenliast and producer, and with his solo recording project foreverandever<3, Buddee has received airplay from P3 Radio and attention from major Scandinavian music blogs Ja Ja Ja Music, Nordik by Nature and Popmani for crating thoughtful, dance floor-friendly, escapist electro pop that is for “people who love electronic sounds and club music, but are a little too introvert to go to a rave. They dance at home in their heads.”

“so guuud,” a collaboration with internationally renowned Stockholm, Sweden-based dream pop artist David Alexander, best known as Summer Heart, is the first single off his  soon-to-be released debut EP, Late Walk/Space Walk and it will further cement Buddee’s reputation for thoughtful, dance floor friendly electro pop as it features a slick, hypermodern, house music-inspired production featuring layers of stuttering drum programming, thumping beats, swirling and whirling electronics, shimmering arpeggio synths, plaintive vocals and a big, crowd pleasing hook — and while nodding at both Octo Octa’s Between Two Selves and In Ghost Colours-era Cut Copy, the song evokes both the swooning passion of a summer fling and the liberating feeling of abandon on the dance floor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Andy Crosby and Luke Hamel, the Australian/American psych pop duo Vox Eagle can trace its origins to when Crosby and Hamel met while touring together in a previous band. And during their time on the road together, the duo bonded over their mutual interest and desire to create experimental, electronic-leaning psych pop. The duo’s soon to be released self-produced and self-engineered EP was written and recorded in several different locales across the country — including Colorado, Upstate New York, the Mojave Desert, Midtown Manhattan, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, a number of Air BNBs, hotels trains and planes using the duo’s mobile recording rig. And as a result, the material on the EP is influenced by the duo’s travels as well as the changing environments the duo employed throughout their creative process. “i think the new locations help to keep the music fresh to us, and to inspire different ideas, while keeping us focused exclusively on the songs and not distracted by our respective lives,” Vox Eagle’s Luke Hamel explained in press notes.

“Come Over,” off the forthcoming EP features a production featuring big, propulsive beats, undulating electronics and arpeggio synths, buzzing guitars fed through effect pedals, and a rousingly anthemic pop hook paired with plaintive vocals — and in some way, the duo’s sound reminds me of Tame Impala, Painted Palms and In Ghost Colours-era Cut Copy as the song manages to seamlessly mesh 60s psych pop, indie rock and dance floor and radio-friendly electro pop but with slick, modern production that will win over some new fans.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Guy Brown is a Sydney, Australia-based producer and electronic music artist, best known as Mammals — and as Mammals, Brown has seen attention both nationally and internationally for a production style and sound that effortlessly bridges and shifts between indie rock and electro pop. In fact, if you had been frequenting this site earlier this year, you may recall his shimmering, slow-burning and spectral cover of Telepopmusik‘s “Breathe,” as part of Istanbul, Turkey-based dream pop/electro pop label Drug Boulevard‘s debut compilation, DRUG BLVD.

Adding to a growing profile, Brown’s collaboration with renowned electronic music artist and producer Goldroom “‘Til Sunrise” has received 9 million Spotify streams, has had his work playlisted in the Lost in the Woods (UK), Deep Dark Indie, Evening Chill and Boho + Chill Spotify Playlists and as a result, his own work has received over 7 million Spotify streams. Along with that Brown has opened for internationally acclaimed electro pop/electronic dance music production and artist duo PNAU during their March national tour, and he’ll be opening for fellow countrywoman, singer/songwriter Vera Blue during her national tour, before his headlining tour to support his soon-to-be released EP Chase Your Bliss later this year.

Interestingly enough, Brown has managed to achieve his early successes without having management, without being on a label, having a publisher or a publicity firm to back him. And considering that I had written about him a little while ago, receiving an email from him about his latest single, EP title track “Chase Your Bliss,” was a pleasant surprise. The new single features Brown’s tender and aching falsetto floating over a glistening and shimmering production that features layers of arpeggio synths, buzzing guitar chords, a sinuous bass line, cowbell and handclap-led percussion and a soaring hook — and while further cementing his reputation for a sound that meshes indie rock and electro pop, the single manages to sound as though it draws from In Ghost Colours and Free Your Mind-era Cut Copy and Tame Impala, as the song manages to subtly nod at psych pop.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the better part of the past 6-9 months or so, you’d likely be familiar with JOVM mainstay producer and electronic music artist KC Maloney, and although he’s best known as being one-half of renowned electro pop act Radar Cult,  Maloney has received an increasing national profile with the release of last year’s LXII EP with his solo side project Adult Karate, a project that expands upon the sound of his primary project a is it draws from several different styles and sub-genres of electronic music — including house, acid house, techno, ambient electronica and others. And building upon the buzz that LXII received, Maloney’s Adult Karate follow up Indoors is slated for a March 31, 2017 and the effort will reportedly see Maloney’s side project taking on a decided sonic departure as the material generally possesses elements of post-punk and post-rock reminiscent of mid 80s New Order and In Ghost Colours-era Cut Copy.

“From The Dust,” Indoors‘ first single while being a marked sonic departure, also managed to be a thematic departure as the song is less introspective than the material off LXII; however, the song possessed a swaggering confidence — the sort of confidence that can only come from living a fully-lived in life, in which the song’s narrator has had his heart broken made mistakes, and has found some hard-fought wisdom, by living life in his own terms. And Maloney does all of this in what may arguably be one of the breeziest songs he’s released to date.  The EP’s latest single “Friction” consists of an ethereal, Kate Bush meets contemporary electro pop production featuring featuring thumping 808-like beats, swirling yet ambient electronics and twangy blasts of guitar, shimmering cascades of synths and a swooning hook paired with Maloney’s and Adeline’s breathy cooing. Lyrically, the song continues in a similar vein as its preceding single; but in this case, the song captures the sensation of attempting to break forward from heartbreak or a dysfunctional past, towards a new relationship — with the hope that this time, that blind leap of faith will be result in something different than all the previous ones.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Perhaps best known as being one-half of renowned electro pop act, Radar Cult, KC Maloney has received an increasing national profile with the release of 2016’s LXII EP under his solo side project Adult Karate, a project that expands upon the sound of his primary project. And while arguably being a bit more minimalist, the project’s sound and aesthetic draws from several different styles and sub-genres of electronic music — including house music, acid house, techno, ambient electronica and others. Building upon the buzz that LXII EP received, Maloney will be releasing its follow up Indoors on March 31, 2017, and the album will reportedly see the Maloney’s solo project taking a decided sonic departure as the material possesses elements of post-punk and post-rock reminiscent of mid 80s New Order and In Ghost Colours-era Cut Copy. Also, as you’ll hear on Indoors‘ first single “From The Dust,” the material manages to also be a bit of a thematic departure. Although the song is less introspective than the material off its predecessor, the new single possesses a swaggering confidence; the sort of confidence that comes from a fully lived in life in which the song’s narrator has loved, had his heart broken, made mistakes and has found some hard-fought wisdom by living a life in his own terms — all while being one of the breeziest and summery songs Maloney has released to date.

Now while being a departure from his previously released material, Maloney’s latest single retains some of the elements that have won the attention of this site and the rest of the blogosphere as the song has a soaring hook, earnest and thoughtful songwriting paired with a sinuous bass line, along with shimmering and ethereal production.

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Up-and-Coming, French Producer Zimmer Performs “Lost Your Mind”

With the release of a string of high-profile remixes of MØ, Vallis Alps, Gallant, Fakear and others, and his first two original singles “Galapagos” and “Saturday Love,” the Paris-based producer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Zimmer quickly established himself as part of a new crop of Paris-based producers and electronic music artists including fellow labelmates Darius, FKJ and Kartell, who have been busily redefining French electronic music — sonically, thematically and lyrically.

Zimmer’s 2015 EP Coming of Age may have arguably been his breakthrough effort, as the material possessed a refined, minimalist sound with songs that oscillated between euphoria and nostalgia. However, the up-and-coming French producer’s recently released EP Ceremony reportedly finds him further expanding upon his sound as the material draws from downtempo electro pop, dream pop and dance floor-friendly house music — sometimes simultaneously as you’ll hear on the EP’s latest single “Lost Your Mind,” which features ethereal guest vocals from Fhin paired with shimmering cascades of undulating synths, twinkling keys, warm blasts of guitar and propulsive beats. Sonically speaking, the song is somewhat reminiscent of In Ghost Colours-era Cut Copy and of Moonbabies’ gorgeous Wizards on the Beach.

Recently, the French producer released live footage of him with Fhin performing the song surrounded by mood-setting lights.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of primary members Guy Fenech, Oly Marlan and Nick Franklin Sydney, Australia-based indie electro pop/indie rock act Australia independently released their full-length debut Portraits of People, Places and Movies earlier this year to national attention for a sound that channels their homeland’s early 80s pub rock scene and 80s New Wave — in other words, as you’ll hear on Places and Movies‘ latest single “Breathe In,” anthemic hooks paired with propulsive four-on-the-floor-like drumming, angular guitar chords, a sinuous bass line, shimmering and undulating synths and Fenech’s baritone crooning to craft a sound that will remind listeners of INXS‘ “Listen Like Thieves” and In Ghost Colours-era Cut Copy — but with a dance floor-friendly feel.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of two critically applauded EPs, We Are Sound and Everything You Imagine Is Real, the New York-based electro pop duo Corbu received praise from the likes of NYLON, Stereogum, The Guardian, NME and others for a sound that’s heavily influenced by the Warp Records roster, sci-fi imagery,  psychedelia and their own dreams. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past couple of weeks you may recall that I wrote about the cinematic “Battles,” one of the first singles off the duo’s highly-anticipated, soon-to-be released, full-length debut effort Crayon Soul; a track that has the band pairing a soaring and anthemic hook with a shimmering and breezy melody and plaintive vocals in a way that’s reminiscent to Moonbabies and M83.

Crayon Soul‘s latest single “Better Better Off” is a lush and shimmering psych pop, psych rock track that has the duo pairing angular guitar chords fed through gentle reverb and delay pedals, layers upon layers of gorgeous harmonies, shimmering synth cascades,  a soaring and anthemic hook, and a propulsive rhythm section in a song that sounds indebted to trippy 60s psych rock as much as it does to the likes of In Ghost Colours-era Cut Copy and the dream pop of the aforementioned Moonbabies, Summer Heart – but with a palpable bittersweet wistfulness under the song’s breezy surface.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Yeasayer’s Ethereal and Psychedelic New Single

Yeasayer, the New York-based experimental/psych/electro pop trio comprised of Chris Keating (vocals, songwriting and production), Ira Wolf Tuton (vocals, songwriting and production) and Anand Wilder have been blogosphere darlings for the better part of a decade […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Swedish singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist David Alexander and his solo dream pop/electro-pop Summer Heart has received international attention for a wistfully nostalgic, 60s psych pop-leaning, lo-fi sound that compares favorably to Caribou‘s earliest material, Washed Out, In Ghost Colours-era Cut Copy, Painted Palms and others; in fact, his 2011 Please Stay EP received praise from The Guardian and The Star topped Hype Machine‘s charts. In his native Sweden, Alexander has a reputation for being a pioneer of Sweden’s burgeoning dream pop movement, a movement that includes Moonbabies, The Land Below, Hey Elbow, Blind Lake and Emerald Park.

Interestingly, Alexander’s international profile has grown as several of his songs have appeared in TV series — including the NBC series, Whitney, which brought him the attention of millions of American TV viewers. Now, if you were frequenting this site last year, you might recall that I wrote about “Nothing Can Stop Us Now,” a song that consisted of jangling guitars, washboard-led percussion, layers of ethereal vocals and cascading synths with a warm buzzing summer afternoon warmth. His latest single “The Forbidden” off his forthcoming EP also named The Forbidden is a slow-burning and shoegaze-leaning single that pairs Alexander’s ethereal cooing with shimmering guitars and synths played through gentle amounts of reverb  and jazz-like drumming. And although the song evokes the sensation of waking up from a pleasant dream, just underneath its placid surface is a wistful melancholy that will remind the listener that all things will eventually dissipate.

Alexander along with a backing band featuring some of his dearest friends will be making Stateside appearances at SXSW and Williamsburg Brooklyn’s The Knitting Factory later this month. Check out tour dates below.

 

SXSW:

Wednesday 16th March

The Townsend – 1:05am

 

Saturday 19th March

Icenhauer’s – 1am

 

NYC:

Wednesday 23rd March

Live In Brooklyn – The Knitting Factory –

http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=6437785

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Lust For Youth’s “Sudden Ambition” Reveals Small Slices of Daily Life in Amager, Copenhagen

If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past two years, you’d be pretty familiar with Copenhagen, Denmark-based electro pop trio, Lust For Youth as I’ve written about them a handful of times in that period. The […]