Tag: electro pop

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Parra for Cuva’s Chilled Out Remix of Christian Löffler’s “A Life”

Christian Löffler is an acclaimed German musician, producer and DJ, whose work is widely celebrated across electronic music circles for a distinct sound that seamlessly blends elements of ambient music, techno and house. 

Released earlier this year, Löffler’s third album A Life sees the German-born musician, producer and DJ continuing to push his sound and approach in new directions while exploring new emotional depths. The album features “Y,” a lush and flirty, crowd pleasing banger featuring Mogli‘s yearning delivery paired with woozy and glistening synth arpeggios, thumping tweeter and woofer rattling low end, skittering beats and a rousingly anthemic, euphoric set of hooks and choruses.

Album single and album title track “A Life” is a lush electro pop tune featuring bursts of twinkling piano, glistening Giorgio Moroder-like oscillations that slowly boil dup in intensity, skittering beats paired with a yearning cooing vocal sample that’s chopped up and pitched down. The result is a song that’s mediative and cinematic yet intimate.

Recently Parra for Cuva remixed “A Life.” The Parra for Cuva remix retains the yearning and cooing vocal sample but places it within an lush and soulful production that pairs squiggling, reverb-soaked The Edge-like guitars, skittering beats and woozy synth oscillations. Sonically bringing Washed Out and Brothertiger to mind, the Parra for Cuva remix retains the original’s intimate feel but while giving it a moody, chilled out vibe.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Janiq Shares Lush and Hook Driven “Dior”

Trinidadian-born, London-based artist Janiq has made a name for herself in the local scene for music that draws from her Trini roots and her experiences living in London and meshes elements of R&B, dancehall, soca, reggae, and Latin American music. Her work explores themes of love, self-discovery and female empowerment. She also has received attention across the British capital for a high-energy live show.

Her third and latest single “Dior” is a lush and slickly produced bop featuring glistening and blocky synth stabs, skittering beats, a supple and funky bass line. Bringing Estelle‘s “American Boy,” and The Weeknd‘s work to mind, “Dior” reveals and artist with an uncanny knack for catchy hooks, with the production being a lush bed for the Trinidadian-born, London-based artist’s coquettish delivery boldly telling the listener that you can’t afford her, so don’t bother.

The stylish and slick accompanying video plays on magazine photo shoots — and Instagram.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: GLOSSER Shares Woozy “Silver Star”

Washington, DC-based electro pop duo GLOSSER — Riley Fanning and Corbin Sheehan — developed an ethereal yet dance floor friendly sound that draws inspiration from Phantogram, Lorde and Beach House paired with lyrics that conveys a visceral truth.

After 2021’s self-titled debut EP, Fanning and Sheehan wanted to do something different. They started writing without any particular direction. And as a result, Fanning built her craft as a singer/songwriter. They eventually wrote the material that would comprise their full-length debut, last year’s DOWNER. With DOWNER, the pair created a more immediately gratifying pop experience that helped redefine who they are and what they’re capable of.

To celebrate the album’s first anniversary, the DC-based duo released a deluxe edition of DOWNER earlier this year that features a remix by Half Waif collaborator Zubin Hensler, a new version of “The Artist” with indie pop artist Sophie Coran, and a new take on “Disco Girls” remixed by Foxing‘s Eric Hudson.

Building upon growing momentum, the duo will be releasing their latest effort, Angel Dust EP on November 15, 2024 through If This Then Records. The EP reportedly sees the DC-based duo diving further into the depths of a murky, pop tinged world through the subtle incorporation of grit in the duo’s brooding dreamscapes.

Angel Dust EP‘s latest single “Silver Star” is a woozy track that features stuttering and skittering beats, glistening and arpeggiated synths, swirling guitars serving as a lush and dreamy bed for Fanning’s ethereal cooing, expressing the longing, desire, self-doubt and self-flagellation of a crush or a love that’s potentially unrequited.

The duo explain, “’Silver Star’ is about having an all-consuming, extreme infatuation with a person, and how that obsession can drive you to the edge. We really wanted to contrast the electronic and rock elements to mirror the emotional ups and downs of that kind of state of mind.”

Directed by Riley Fanning and Corbin Sheehan, the accompanying video for “Silver Star” was shot with a grainy Super 8-like feel and follows a brooding Fanning as she walks around DC and sitting on a stoop singing the song.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Terciopelo Returns with Soulful “Nothing Can Stop Me”

Terciopelo is the solo recording project of a mysterious and emerging Costa Rican-born and-based electronic music producer and artist, who blends diverse instrumental elements, trap beats, jazz and soulful melodies into a unique and moody sound that has been described as thought provoking.

The mysterious Costa Rican-born and-based electronic music producer and artist’s forthcoming full-length debut, The Breakaways reportedly sees him collaborating with a talented and diverse group of female vocalists. Thematically, the album focuses on women and their journeys through life — with each vocalist singing lyrics that detail the trials, tribulations and joys of their life through their perspective. The album’s material delves into the depths of passion, love and all of the various aspects of human life. 

“This album represents a significant chapter in my musical journey,” the mysterious producer and artist says. The Breakaways is not just a music album, it’s a celebration of life, love and the magnetic power of music. We poured our hearts into every note, and we hope it resonates with our audience on a profound level.”

Late last year, I wrote about “Your Love . . .,” a brooding and slickly produced synthesis of Portishead-like trip hop, trap beats and contemporary electro pop paired with yearning vocals and evocative lyrics. The song thematically is a deep dive into the lives of women trapped in abusive romantic relationships. The song’s narrator paints a poignant and haunting picture of the internal and external struggles that domestic abuse victims face with a seemingly lived-in specificity. 

The Breakaways’ latest single “Nothing Can Stop Me” continues a run of slickly produced material that pairs contemporary pop with trap beats, shimmering acoustic guitar, bursts of twinkling Rhodes with a soulful vocal, pop starlet delivery. Much like its predecessor, the song capture the interior world of its narrator with a lived-in specificity.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Lowly Light Teams up with Nouvelle Vague’s Liset Alea on 80s Synth Pop-Inspired “Chill Child”

Matt Gorny is an award-winning, New York-based songwriter and producer, best known as Lowly Light, who has collaborated with dance music artists like Ultra Naté, Amanda Lepore, Luca Perra and others. As a producer, Gorny’s work has show continually evolution, ranging from nu-disco jams like “Get Over Yourself,” the chilled out groove of “Prayin'” and “Candy Lied,” to the energetic indie pop of “Down the Coast.”

“Do You Feel Me” amassed over 115,000 Spotify streams. And building upon a growing profile. “Lose You (John “J-C” Carr & Bill Coleman 808 Beach Remix) along with The Weekend remix on Acid Stag and was on regular rotation on SiriusXM channel 312.

Gorny’s latest single “Chill Child” is a collaboration with Nouvelle Vague‘s frontperson Liset Alea. Alea’s ethereal pop starlet cooing floats over a percussive and ebullient, 80s synth pop and dance pop-like production that recalls Madonna‘s 1984 self-titled debut, Banarama‘s “Cruel Summer” and St. Lucia.

The New York-based songwriter and producer explains that the song lyrically is a meditation on the much-needed art of patience and perspective. Ultimately, it’s about “giving time a chance to work its magic to reveal what’s truly worth fighting for,” he says. He goes on to say that the collaboration came about when he pitched the song to Alea, who has been on the top of his list of artists he wanted to work with. She loved the track and the lyrical message and was eager to bring her own vision to the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Nature Loves Courage Shares Sleek and Dance Floor Friendly “Elevation”

Initially starting her career as a singer/songwriter and pianist, who drew comparisons to Annie Lennox and Kate Bush, McKenna Rowe (vocals, keys) found herself increasingly driven by an obsession with samples and beats when she founded the Los Angeles-based pop outfit Nature Loves Courage back in 2020 as a way to create her own take on lush, atmospheric grooves, inspired by the likes of Massive Attack and others. Rowe recruited Jacob Bergman (bass), Garrett Smith (drums) and Joe De Sa (guitar) to flesh out and polish the project’s overall sound.

The quartet aims to bridge electronic soundscapes with a dynamic rock sound, enveloping the listener in a pseudo live experience. Typically, the band’s material counterbalances airy string and piano arrangements with quirky synths and heavy rock and funk-inspired riffs.

Nature Loves Courage’s recently released and aptly named EP III managers to encapsulate the band’s sound and approach while seemingly drawing from Annie Lennox, Blondie, The Chemical Brothers and LCD Soundsystem. Thematically, the EP’s material dives into a completely storyline while touching upon heartbreak, practicing kindness to one another and more.

III EP‘s lead single “Elevation” is a dance floor friendly bop featuring a supple and funky bass line, twinkling, Larry Levan-like synth arpeggios and bursts of Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar paired with Rowe’s sultry pop starlet delivery and remarkably catchy hooks. Sonically meshing elements of house music and dance pop, “Elevation” thematically nudges the listener towards practicing some much-needed kindness towards others.

The Los Angeles-based quartet collaborated with Holy Smoke Photography on the accompanying video, which sees the band playfully experiment with animation to express different versions of themselves in a Nature Loves Courage multiverse.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Shrines Shares Eerie “Witch Season”

Arguably best known for stints with Ponyhof and Will Butler, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter and musician Carrie Erving is the creative mastermind behind the indie electro pop recording project Shrines. Erving’s work, which sees her deftly weaving elements of pop, electronic music, indie rock and Irish sean-nós (traditional Irish folk singing) into a shimmering take on art-pop that The New York Times has described as “spellbinding.”

Erving’s latest Shrines EP, the four-song Rosana Cabán-produced Seasons is slated for an October 18, 2024 release. The EP’s material explores the fragility of the individual seasons, documenting the collective cognitive dissonance of the fluctuations between celebration and trepidation that come about during a time of rapidly escalating climate change. Each of the EP’s songs lyrically suggest to the listener that allowing ourselves to save the present moment may be one of the keys to grappling with one of the largest challenges of our moment.

Seasons‘ latest single “Witch Season” is an eerie and brooding bit of electro pop featuring buzzing bass synths, gently oscillating atmospheric synths, skittering beats paired with Erving’s soaring vocals. Sonically, the song reminds me of a synthesis of Stevie Nicks, Bjork and Portishead while being a homage to fall and spooky season, evoking creepy crawlies and spirits lurking around the corner.

Directed by Brody Bernheisel, the accompanying video follows the Brooklyn-based artist in a flowing, black dress, driving to the woods where she fittingly dances around a bonfire. Visually, the video seems to draw from Madonna‘s “Like A Prayer” and Victoria + Jean’s “Harlight Sverige.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Real Mack The Knife Returns with Sensual “Paris Séduit”

The Real Mack The Knife is the creative project of a rather mysterious and prolific American-based electronic music producer. His latest single “Paris Séduit” is a lush and sensual dance pop tune featuring layers of arpeggiated synths, skittering beats and remarkably catchy hooks paired with a sultrily delivered vocals in French and English.

Resembling a sleek synthesis of Ibiza house and French touch, “Paris Séduit” was inspired by a trip to Paris during the 2024 Olympic Games and captures the seductive spirit of one of the world’s most beautiful cities.

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Paris’ Superjava Shares A Breezy, Hook-Driven Bop

Paris-based electro rock outfit Superjava can trace its origins back to when its founding duo Archi and Alex met in 2015 while they were studying at Berklee College of Music. Upon graduation, they relocated to Paris, where they met the band’s then-third member Arnaud. Although the band has gone through a lineup change, the members of the Parisian outfit — currently Archi and Arnaud — have managed to spread their music around the world, as a result of several global advertising campaigns.

After the release of several EPs, which were supported with tours in France and China in 2019, the duo recently released their highly-anticipated full-length debut, Get Sick, Get Better. Drawing influence from the likes of Phoenix, Justice, Jamaica, Air, Cassius, MGMT, Empire Of The Sun and Foster The People among others, the album sees the band embodying the spirit and feel of a new wave of French Touch while featuring elements of rock, pop and electro pop.

“Slowdown,” Get Sick, Get Better‘s latest single is a breezy bop featuring glistening synths, a strutting bass line and the pair’s unerring knack for crafting remarkably catchy, rousingly anthemic hooks. While seemingly indebted to Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix-era Phoenix and Oracular Spectacular-era MGMT, “Slowdown” to my ears, also subtly brings Tame Impala to mind, too. And at its core, the song is anchored in a much-needed reminder that we need to slow down and just enjoy the moment — whether it’s with our dear ones or just by ourselves.

Directed by Jules Salters, the accompanying video for “Slowdown” features the duo wandering the French countryside while being part of a pleasant psilocybin trip or while wandering a slightly alien yet familiar world — or perhaps even both.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Virginie B Shares Sleek and Breakneck “Astral 2000”

Virginie B is a rising, Montréal-based self-taught singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and self-described “extravagant mess” influenced by a wide range of music, including experimental electronic music, classical, old-timey jazz, 90s R&B, art pop, art rock and more. The French Canadian artist and her collaborator and co-produced Louis Jeay-Beaulieu have received attention across the province and elsewhere for crafting a unique take on hyper pop that incorporates elements of nu-jazz, funk and R&B with a refined conceptual approach informed by art pop. 

Thematically, her work is informed by her studies in psychology and sees her exploring her psyche, femininity and her relationship with technology and nature. For the rising French Canadian artist, her work is an outlet which she expresses her desires and excesses with an unvarnished honesty that reflects her vulnerability and confidence, while not taking herself too seriously. 

The rising Montréal-based producer and artist collaborates with a number of local acts including  Super Plage, Maggie Lennon, Georgette, Félix Dyotte and Marie-Gold among others. 

Her full-length debut, 2022’s INSULA garnered praise from ICI Première, Le Devoir, La Presse, Montreal Rocks!, and PAN M 360, which led to a nomination for Pop Album of the Year nomination at 2022’s GAMIQ.Adding to a growing profile, Virginie B played sets across the provincial festival circuit, including Francofoiles de Montréal, Coup de Cœur Francophone, Le Phoque OFF, Santa Teresa Festival, Taverne Tour, 2022’s M for Montréal — and last year’s SXSW. 

The Montréal artist’s highly-anticipated sophomore album Astral 2000 is slated for a Friday release through Bonsound. Reportedly, her Bonsound debut is at once quirky and accessible, visceral and sophisticated, synthetic and deeply human with its songs exploring conflicting personal themes: Throughout the album, the rising Montréal-based artist wavers back and forth between her love of nature and fascination with new technologies, her longing for lazy days and the urgency of her mortality, her desire for simple pleasures and need to perform (and to be)in the spotlight, her relationship with her femininity, her desires and the resulting excesses.

Conceived alongside producer, multi-instrumentalist and longtime collaborator Louis Jean-Beaulieu, Astral 2000 is one of la belle province’s first hyper pop albums. The album’s latest single, album opener and title track “Astral 2000” is set during an escapist night out, partying at a karaoke bar. Anchored around a breakneck BPM, thumping kicks, glistening and blocky synth arpeggios, “Astral 2000” is meant to evoke a white-knuckle ride through a wild cycle off partying, the pressure to perform and the soul-crushing search for authenticity through the perception of others. But throughout, Virginie B’s coquettish melodic delivery is a sharp and almost playful contrast to the song’s breakneck nature.

Directed by Rosalie Bordeleau, the accompanying video for “Astral 2000” is an homage to Wong Kar Wai and Sofia Coppola, meshing the two influences to evoke a woozy and dizzying sense of solitude. Flashing between intimate karaoke jam with friends, a motorcycle race through tunnels and a disorientating night-time wander through the city, the Montréal-based artist seems to find herself both isolated and connected to the world and people around her.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay TR/ST Shares Brooding and Uneasy “Performance”

Toronto-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and producer Robert Alfons is the creative mastermind behind the acclaimed JOVM mainstay project TR/ST. For well over a decade, Alfons has captivated audiences with a unique blend of dynamic vocals, emotive lyrics and late night sensuality. 

Alfons’ fifth TR/ST album, the TR/ST and Nightfeelings co-produced Performance is slated for a Friday release through Dais Records. The album’s title alludes to a friend’s offhand remark about the Canadian-born, Los Angeles-based artist’s intrinsically performative nature. Recorded in Los Angeles, the album’s material reportedly seethes with dread, lust, reckoning and abandon. Sonically, the production pair achieved a thick, smoky balance of eerie synths and fog machine low end paired with bruised, crooning vocals. The result is an album of material that moves between beauty and bitterness, rousing anthems and crushing anguish rooted by emotional turmoil, the lingering ghosts of guilt and the memories of those wronged and those still unforgiven. 

Alfons’ voice is the anchor in the storm, singing a collage of impressions and confessions with a smeared, stream of consciousness logic. He’s both observer and instigator, performer and playwright, liberated by the stage and the night.

Last month, I wrote about the Cecile Believe and Nightfeelings co-produced “Dark Day,” an ethereal yet uneasy track featuring eerily atmospheric and glistening synth arpeggios, skittering industrial clang and clatter serving as a foggy and unsettlingly brooding bed for Alfons’ bruised and aching vocal. “I think there’s something in the song about the flashes that come to you when you try to fall asleep, flashes that show you where you have unfinished business,” Alfons says of the song. “It was such a pleasure working with Cecile Believe and Nightfeelings on production for this track.”

Performance‘s latest single, album title track “Performance” continues a run of brooding and uneasy material, anchored around a foggy, strobe-lit fueled production featuring bursts of glistening synth arpeggios, skittering, reverb-soaked beats. Alfons’ aching and bruised delivery ethereally floats over the menacing soundscape.

Directed and edited by Bryan M. Ferguson and featuring cinematography by George Harwood, the accompanying video for “Performance” follows Alfons as he arrives at a grim karaoke bar. While he’s lost in his own performance, the sparse crowd is lost in their thoughts. You can almost feel the despair through the screen.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: RYAL Shares a Dance Floor Friendly Bop

JOVM mainstays RYAL is a New York-based synth pop duo that features:

  • Jacque Ryal, a producer, singer/songwriter, keyboardist and pop artist, who first emerged into the local scene as a member of pop outfit Strip Darling. When she first stepped out as a solo artist, she started out crafting Portishead-inspired trip-hop. 

  • Aaron Nevezie, an in-demand producer, engineer, mixer and songwriter, who has worked across a wide range of genres and styles, primarily out of Brooklyn-based Bunker Studio. Nevezie works with acts sculpting sounds and honing arrangements rooted in a passion for creative sonics informing musical performances. He has extensive work in composing and arranging electronic music with a focus on analog modular synths.

The JOVM mainstays have received attention from the likes of The Best Line of Best Fit, Time Out New York, LadyGunn, Popdust and elsewhere.

The duo’s latest single “On The Inside” is a hook-driven, early 80s-inspired disco synth pop tune that recalls Evelyn “Champagne” King‘s “I’m In Love,” Prince‘s “U Got the Look” and a few others. It’s the sort of song that should get you up to the dance floor or the rolling skating rink — unless you’re somehow soulless and dead.

The duo explain that the song is about how good vibes come from within, and that it’s ultimately up to you to have a good time. Let that be a reminder y’all.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Aramis Teams Up with Jules Vert on Flirty “Baby”

Founded and led by Québec-based singer/songwriter, musician and producer Urhiel Madran-Cyr, the alt pop/electro pop project Aramis can trace its history back to when Cyr along with two classmates and friends in CEGEP, a Québécois […]