Tag: electro pop

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Liv Eli Shares Brooding and Cinematic “17 Million Fucking Files”

Liv Eli is an emerging, Norwegian artist, who cites David Bowie, Radiohead, The Smile, Massive Attack, Ane Brun and a list of others. Although she has songwriting experience in previous musical efforts, as solo artist songwriting not only reflects a rich tapestry of inspirations but a much deeper exploration of songwriting. “After so many years, I have finally allowed myself to immerse myself in this side of my life.”

Eli’s upcoming album The Struggle For Peace Of Mind thematically sees the Norwegian artist delving into the profound impact of life’s coincidences and conflicting choices on one’s quest for inner harmony and peace. Last month, I wrote about “Goodbye Innocence,” a cinematic and dramatic bit of pop built around glistening synth arpeggios, gated reverb-soaked percussion and twinkling keys paired with Eli’s expressive and melodic delivery. Seemingly indebted to Kate Bush, Tori Amos and Massive Attack, “Goodbye Innocence” tells a story about the grave consequences of a life-altering decision that shatters preconceived notions of goodness and justice to reveal a life overshadowed by insecurity and constant vigilance. 

The Struggle For Peace Of Mind’s latest single “17 Million Fucking Files” is anchored around a shimmering and arpeggiated synth melody, skittering beats serving as a broodingly cinematic vehicle for the Norwegian artist’s expressive and earnest delivery, singing lyrics that paint a lived-in portrait of a heartbroken and desperate person yearning for peace and harmony in a tempestuous life. But there’s a tacit understanding that the peace and harmony the song’s narrator desperately longs for may be out of reach.

“Yes, the lyrics are about myself. It’s probably due to a mix of personality, lifestyle, and habits that are hard to break out of. But, I know that many people feel the same way, something I believe is a symptom of the times we live in,” Liv Eli says.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Baltimore’s Devin Nash Shares a Sultry Club Banger

Devin Nash is a Baltimore-born and-based singer/songwriter and musician, who quickly established a sound that blends contemporary R&B and 80s synth pop with the release of his full-length debut, 2016’s Her.

Her achieved commercial success with the album’s songs appearing on VH1’s Black Ink Crew Chicago and MTV’s Teen Mom — and he performed at the BET Awards.

Nash’s forthcoming EP Pretty.Sexy.Love reportedly features material that channels Frank Ocean, Miguel and others, while giving listeners “a genuine outside-the-box soul transformation” — with a soulful sophistication. The EP’s latest single “Swayze” is a sleek, club friendly banger featuring glistening synth arpeggios, skittering beats paired with the Charm City-based artist’s soulful delivery and uncanny knack for a catchy hook. While seemingly channeling Usher, Miguel, Frank Ocean and Steven A. Clark‘s Fornication Under Consent of the King, “Swayze,” tells a story about a guy who fell for the wrong girl and having a difficult time moving past it — to the point that he’s obsessed with both the girl and the heartbreak as a result. Lyrically, the song seems rooted in the specificity of lived-in experience.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: L’Impératice Shares Sleek, French Touch-Meets-Disco Bop “Me Da Igual”

Acclaimed Paris-based electro pop sextet and JOVM mainstays L’Impératice — founder Charles de Boisseguin (keys), Hagni Gown (keys), David Gaugué (bass), Achille Trocellier (guitar), Tom Daveau (drums) and Flore Benguigui (vocals) — formed back in 2012. In a relatively short period of time, they quickly established a reputation for being extremely prolific: In their first three years together, they released 2012’s self-titled debut EP, 2014’s Sonate Pacifique EP and 2015’s Odyssée EP. 

In 2016, the Parisian outfit released a re-edited, remixed and slowed down version of Odyssée, L’Empreruer, that was inspired by a fan, who mistakenly played a vinyl copy of Odyssée at the wrong speed. They followed that up with a version of Odysseé featuring arrangements centered around violin, cello and acoustic guitar. 

During the summer of 2017, the Parisian electro pop act signed to microqlima records, who released that year’s Séquences EP. 2018’s full-length debut Matahari featured the attention grabbing single “Erreur 404,” which they performed on the French TV show Quotidien. They followed with an English language version of Matahari. 

2021’s Renaud Letang co-produced sophomore album Taku Tsubo derived its name from the medical term for a broken heart, also known as takutsubo syndrome ((蛸 壺, from Japanese “octopus trap”). The condition usually manifests itself as deformation of the heart’s left ventricle caused by severe emotional or physical stress — i.e., the death of a loved one, an intense argument with someone you care about, a breakup, a sudden illness or the like. Yes, a broken heart can actually kill you.

The French JOVM mainstays are about to embark on their Double Trouble International Tour, a tour which sees the sextet playing two shows back-to-back in London, Berlin, Paris and here in NYC — with an April 9, 2024 show at Racket NYC and an April 10, 2024 show at Music Hall of WIlliamsburg. I’ve caught them once, and they’re a must-see act that will have the entire room dancing the night away. So I’m not surprised that all the shows on this run of tour dates are sold out. Along with that, they’re going to make a return to Coachella with sets April 12, 2024 and April 19, 2024, as well as stops at Austin City Limits and Outside Lands.

L’Impératice’s latest single “Me Da Igual,” is a sleek and elegant, hook-driven Giorgio Moroder-era-disco-meets-French touch tune anchored by a strutting bass line, a squiggling Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar line and glistening synths serving as a sinewy and silky bed for Flore Benguigui’s sultry and ethereal delivery. Further cementing the French outfit’s reputation for crafting infectious, sensual, dance floor friendly bops, “Me Da Igual” features lyrics sung in Spanish and French while being a call to free ourselves from the injunctions to please at all costs, to reclaim your body by abandoning yourself to the euphoria of strobe lights and the dance floor — and listening to the sensations that movement and sound provides you.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Bolis Pupul Shares Driving “Kowloon”

Acclaimed Ghent-based electronic duo Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul exploded into the national and international scenes with the release of 2019’s critically applauded David and Stephen Dewaele-produced Zandoli EP, which featured Paténipat” and “High Lights,” tracks that received airplay on UK Radio and were playlisted by  BBC Radio 6. 

Their official full-length debut as a credited duo, 2022’’s Topical Dancer was co-written and co-produced by Soulwax and the acclaimed Belgian duo, and was released through Soulwax’s label DEEWEE. The album’s material was deeply rooted in two things. The duo’s perspectives as Belgians with immigrant backgrounds: Adigéry proudly claiming Guadeloupean and French-Martinique ancestry and Pupul proudly claiming Chinese ancestry. And the wide-ranging conversations they’ve had between each other that touch upon cultural appropriation, misogyny, racism, social media vanity, post-colonialism, and more.

The album thematically is a snapshot of their thoughts and observations on pop culture in the early 2020s while sonically seeing the Belgian duo cementing their sound and approach. The material features thoughtful songs that slap — and slap hard — but are centered around their idiosyncratic, off-kilter and satirical take on familiar genres and styles. “We like to fuck things up a bit,” Pupul laughs. “We cringe when we feel like we’re making something that already exists, so we’re always looking for things to combine to make it sound not like a pop song, not like an R&B song, not a techno song. We’re always putting different worlds together. Charlotte and I get bored when things get too predictable.”  

The album’s songs are generally fueled by a restless desire to not be boxed in — and to escape narrow perceptions of who they are and what they can be. “One thing that always comes up,” Bolis Pupul says, “is that people perceive me as the producer, and Charlotte as just a singer. Or that being a Black artist means you should be making ‘urban’ music. Those kinds of boxes don’t feel good to us.” But they manage to do all of this with a satirical bent. For the Belgian duo, it’s emancipation through humor. “I don’t want to feel this heaviness on me,” Charlotte Adigéry says. “These aren’t my crosses to bear. Topical Dancer is my way of freeing myself of these issues. And of having fun.”

Pupul stepped out into the spotlight as a singer/songwriter and solo artist with his full-length debut, the Soulwax co-produced Letter To You. The album which was released earlier this month came on the heels of a whirlwind couple of years touring the globe to support Topical Dancer. Thematically, the album is love letter to his beloved mother, who was killed in a 2008 traffic accident. 

Born to a Belgian father and Chinese mother and growing up in Ghent, Pupul had not negated his Chinese roots exactly — his mother was born in Hong Kong — but he hadn’t exactly embraced them either. However, in the wake of his mother’s death, he began coming to terms with his heritage. “When I started to think about my roots, I started to embrace them. And it became more and more important for me to get in touch with them,” the acclaimed Chinese-Belgian singer/songwriter and producer says. ““I went to evening school and began learning Chinese. I did that for four years. That was the first step.”

His first visit to Hong Kong back in 2018 further cemented how he wanted to incorporate his Chinese roots into his own music. A primary intention on his first trip to Hong Kong was to find where his mother — Yu Wei Sun — was born. Not wanting to forget this overwhelming experience, Pupul began writing a letter to his mother, so he could properly grasp his thoughts. Some time later, when the album began to take shape, the acclaimed Ghent-born and-based producer remembered the letter. “It became the centerpiece of this album,” he says matter-of-factly.

Fittingly, the creation and recording of Letter To Yu has proven to be a pivotal and liberating experience for Pupul. “Even though this trip was very emotional and at times sad, I also had some great times that just made me really happy,” he concludes. “This resulted in a very uplifting melody where I felt like I could handle my life.”

In the lead-up to the album’s release, I wrote about two of the album’s previously released singles:

  • “Completely Half,” a track which saw Pupul pairing a glittering Chinese-influenced melody, skittering beats and wobbling synths with his dreamily yearning delivery describing the sensation of searching for your looks — and the desire to understand someone, who can no longer speak for, let alone explain themselves. The track also features field recordings recorded on the Hong Kong subway, which adds a vital and forceful sense of place to the proceedings. 

  • “Spicy Crab,” a techno pop ode to the city’s signature dish, spicy crab, which Bolis ate during his first visit to Hong Kong. Built around a relentless motorik groove, skittering boom bap and glistening synth oscillations with a brief woozy breakbeat-like bridge, “Spicy Crab” subtly recalls late period Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder while being a slinky club banger.

Letter To Yu’s third and latest single “Kowloon” is a driving dance pop track built around hypnotically whirring and driving, machine-like synths and skittering and wobbling beats. “This dance track is inspired by this part of Hong Kong and it contains a recording of a mother with her child, who didn’t want to listen to her. They were having a situation on the street,” Pupul says.

Indie Electro Pop by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Rhythm Scholar Shares a Club Friendly Remix of Duran Duran’s “Wild Boys”

Throughout the course of this site’s close to 14 year history, I’ve managed to spill copious amounts of virtual ink covering the ridiculously prolific, New York-based producer, DJ, remixer and JOVM mainstay Rhythm Scholar. And during that same period, the New York-based JOVM mainstay has built a profile both nationally and internationally for crafting slickly produced, crowd-pleasing mashups and remixes. 

Earlier this week, I wrote about Rhythm Scholar’s woozy remix of one of my favorite Tears for Fears tunes “Change.” Continuing upon his reputation for being remarkably prolific, the JOVM mainstay artist gave Duran Duran‘s 1984 track “Wild Boys” a sleek remix that features chopped up vocals for the hook, several Duran Duran samples peppered throughout, some blazing guitar work form Andy Sexton and a club friendly thump while retaining Simon Le Bon‘s vocal, the memorable hook and the synth melody among others.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay Rhythm Scholar Shares Woozy and Club Friendly Remix of Tears for Fears’ “Change”

Throughout the course of this site’s close to 14 year history, I’ve managed to spill copious amounts of virtual ink covering the ridiculously prolific, New York-based producer, DJ, remixer and JOVM mainstay Rhythm Scholar. And during that same period, the New York-based JOVM mainstay has built a profile both nationally and internationally for crafting slickly produced, crowd-pleasing mashups and remixes.

Earlier this year, Rhythm Scholar released a woozy remix of one of my favorite Tears for Fears tunes “Change” that retains familiar and beloved elements of the song, including the vocal melody, the chiming and percussive synth line, the squiggling New Wave guitar figure and the acclaimed duo’s uncanny knack for anthemic hooks paired with a spacious and dreamy, club friendly production.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Suzie & The Rocket Shares Breezy Disco Bop “The Light”

French duo Suzie & The Rocket — vocalist Manon Zouiche and Mlle Caro and Franck Garcia‘s multi-instrumentalist Franck Garcia — specialize in cinematic sound that draws from the 70s AM Radio California pop sound with nods to several Italian film score composers. 

The duo’s full-length debut, The Karel Show is slated for a May 2024 release. While reportedly revealing their undying eagerness for musical innovation, the album’s material sees the duo pairing Zouiche’s dreamy melodies and thematic concerns with Garcia’s prowess for catchy hooks and science and tech background. The result according to the duo is music that will lead the listener to dancing through a breezy pop that’s dreamy, trippy and a bit melancholic. 

Late last year, I wrote about the duo’s debut single — and their full-length debut single “Scared Of The Wind” was a carefully crafted and breezy bit of psych pop featuring twinkling keys, a supple bass line and a steady rhythm paired with Zouiche’s dreamily yearning delivery and some remarkably catchy hooks. Rooted in bittersweet nostalgia “Scared Of The Wind” was written while the duo was in Southern France during ga hot summer with a strong wind called a sirocco. As the duo say “That Sirocco is a vivid wound, the one that appears after a series of failures.” The song questions “our ability to overcome anxiety and melancholy.”

The Karel Show‘s second and latest single “The Light” is a sleek and breezy bit of disco pop that channels Daft Punk‘s “Get Lucky,” JOVM mainstays Say She She and Escort, as well as 79.5. With the weather being a bit warmer here in NYC, it’s a reminder that summer is just around the corner.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Beharie Shares Quirky Video for Buoyant and Catchy “Desire”

Acclaimed and rising Norwegian singer/songwriter and pop artist Beharie released his highly-anticipated, 12-song full-length debut, Are You There Boy? last year. The album met the artist where he was at that particular moment and invited listeners into a carefully curated sonic world that featured vibrant melodies and delicate, smooth.

Thematically, the album touched upon love. self-doubt, desire, longing and pain with his heart unironically and proudly worn on his sleeve — and with a remarkable sense of nuance. Throughout, the album follows a multifaceted, fully-fleshed out character, who seeks meaningful connections, follows his curiosity wherever it takes him and ultimately discovers himself. And as result, the album sees its main narrator — and in turn, its creator — exploring the ever-changing, versatile aspects of their own humanity and identity while showcasing his insecurities, complexities, passions and growth in a very real fashion.

“This album has given me the opportunity to delve into various aspects of my own identity, and in the process, I have explored the complexity inherent in my personality and expression,” Beharie explains. “We have nurtured different characters and played with their distinct expressions. These characters have been assigned unique names: Washed-out jeans boy, float in space boy, constant fear boy, make believe boy, and lost in thought boy.” Each of those characters represents fragments of Beharie’s soul, personality and essence — all in search of a sense of belonging.

The album also features collaborations with two rising singer/songwriters — Dublin‘s Uly and The Netherlands’ Judy Blank. 

Album single “Desire,” is built around a buoyant melodic groove, skittering boom bap serving as an ethereal and silky bed for Beharie’s tender and yearning delivery. The song’s narrator sweetly wants to prove to a prospective love interest, that he’s the right one for them — and for the rest of their lives. Beharie explains that “Desire” is a confident love song about “insisting on being the right one for someone you like and telling them without any doubt, and being willing to do anything to make it happen.” 

“Desire” reveals a songwriter, who seems to effortlessly craft a catchy, buoyant songs rooted in earnest, lived-in lyricism that playfully eschews cliches and formulas.

Directed by Martin Kopperud, the accompanying video features the acclaimed and rising Norwegian artist as part of a weird, sociological and psychological experiment in which he discovers — much to his own frustration — that he can’t fit a square peg into a round hole. At some point, Beharie gets up and escapes into the streets. The video offers two important lessons: learning self-acceptance and standing firm in being yourself and in your beliefs, even in the face of a world that often enforces conformity and the path of least resistance.

“We explore the idea of self desire, to do and be yourself, and how we often meet forces that don’t necessarily agree or comply with what you believe in, that’ll rather tell you how something works,” the video’s director Martin Kopperud says on the video. “We hope this can be a reminder to always stay true to yourself and to stand for your beliefs.” 

“It has been a really fun and interesting experience working with Martin Kopperud,” Beharie explains. “The track is a quite playful and energetic tune, but put together with this visual universe it becomes a bit more mysterious and quirky.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Naomi Shares Club Friendly “Phénoméne”

Over the past couple of years, I’ve spilled quite a bit of virtual ink covering rising Montréal-based multi-disciplinary artist, singer/songwriter and pop artist Naomi. After studying theater, the Canadian artist first made a name for herself acting in roles on both the small and big screen by the time she turned 14.

Naomi went on to study dance École de danse contemporaine de Montréal. As a dancer, she has appeared in and/or choreographed music videos for the likes of Rihanna, Marie-Mai, Cœur de Pirate and others, as well as for local dance performances.

While she was establishing herself as an actor and dancer, the Montréal-based artist quietly developed a passion for singing — without giving herself permission to explore it fully. However, Cœur de Pirate, a.k.a. Beátrice Martin saw potential and took Naomi under her wing. Encouraged by Martin’s mentorship, the rising Canadian artist began to realize that she was never far off from making her own music. All she needed was a bit of a push. 

Naomi signed with Martin’s Bravo Musique, the label home of JOVM mainstay Thaïs, Cœur de Pirate, Chocolat and lengthy list of acclaimed local Francophone acts, and began writing her own original material. Since then, the rising Montréal-based artist has taken a bold leap into a career as a singer/songwriter and pop artist. Her first two singles “Tout à nous” and “Zéro stress” received airplay on WKND, Rouge FM, Arsenal, POP, CVKM and several other regional radio stations across Quebec.

She went on to release a batch of sleek, slickly produced singles that I’ve written about on this site, including last year’s “Hot Ex,” a song that paired the JOVM mainstays’ sultry delivery with a soulful, Larry Levan-like house music-inspired production featuring twinkling keys, bursts of sexy Quiet Storm-like horn, skittering beats and a remarkably catchy hooks. Despite the sultry exterior, “Hot Ex” was part break-up song, part tell-off, part revenge fantasy, full of the bitterness disappointment over a relationship ending, tiger heartbreak over what could have been, the crazed desire for revenge, and the stupidly desperate and dim hope for reconciliation that can only come from randomly running into an ex-lover on the street — or at a party.

The French Canadian JOVM mainstay’s latest single “Phénomène” is a slickly produced bit of dance floor friendly bop built around a hook-driven house music-meets- Rihanna-like production featuring glistening synth arpeggios, a propulsive and infectious groove serving as a lush, silky bed for Naomi’s sultry delivery singing lyrics in both French and English.

Thematically, the song has a powerfully feminist message — that it’s time to take responsibility for your life and your life’s path, to be proud of yourself and accomplishments and perhaps more important, to just be your damn self.

Directed by Ariana Tara, the video is set at a nightclub and captures the ebullience and joy of the nightclub — everywhere.

women who kick ass by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Italian Outfit Cut Cut Shares a Genre-Defying Cover of Muse’s “Supermassive Black Hole”

Formed back in 2020 Cut Cut is a genre-defying, experimental, Italian outfit. Since their formation, they’ve released a handful of singles.

Their latest single is a swaggering, club and mosh pit friendly take on Muse‘s “Supermassive Black Hole” that sees the Italian outfit meshing elements of industrial electronica, electro rock and techno house while retaining the bonkers arena rock bombast of the original.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: ALIAS Teams Up with Virginie B and Meggie Lennon on Woozy “TRUTH OR TRUST”

Emmanuel Alias is a French-born, Montréal-based singer/songwriter multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, dilettante and polymath who had had a varied career in music before he started his eponymous psych rock project ALIAS. After spending nine years studying jazz […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Anthony DiBella is an emerging, 23 year-old, Long Island-born, Boston-based singer/songwriter. Currently studying songwriting at renowned Berklee College of Music, DiBella’s love of music was sparked when he was in fifth grade and began playing trombone.

Since then, the emerging Long Island-born, Boston-based artist has busily explored every aspect of music and performance, including classic, muscle theater, country, alternative and more. DiBella’s latest single “Can’t Let You” is a hook-driven. slickly produced bop with glistening synth arpeggios, a relentlessly driving groove paired with soulful, yearning vocals that reminds me a bit of Rush Midnight, St. Lucia and other contemporary acts, whose sound channels 80s synth pop.

Underneath the breezy song’s remarkably catchy hooks, the song tackles a universal experience: The inability to let go of someone and move on with your life.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: Québec’s Ghostly Kisses Shares Uneasy and Brooding “Keep It Real”

With the release of their acclaimed full-length debut, Heaven, Wait, Québec City-based indie pop outfit Ghostly Kisses — singer/songwriter Margaux Sauvé and Louis-Étienne — received attention both nationally and internationally for crafting hauntingly gorgeous and spectral electro pop that pairs Suavé’s ethereal delivery with moody productions featuring swirling and ambient electronics, twinkling keys, propulsive drumming and so on.

After touring with Ry X, Men I Trust, Lord Huron, and Pomme, the Québec City-based outfit launched their “Box of Secrets” initiative, which gave their fans an anonymous place to share their most deeply personal thoughts. What the duo quickly discovered a global, post-pandemic, postmodern era of pain — an intense and strange loneliness felt around the world. “We heard from a lot of fans from countries where they couldn’t openly love the person they were in love with for political or social reasons,” Sauvé says. “I felt that pain, identified with it in my own way, and knew many others would too.” The duo would up synthesizing the missives they received into their highly-anticipated sophomore album Darkroom. 

Slated for a May 17, 2024 release through Akira Records, Darkroom sees the acclaimed Canadian duo willing those inner monologues they received into view, finding mystic connection in the darkest, electronic corners — with tears falling on the dance floor. The duo’s long-held writing style reflects their ability to bridge the gap between people, who may feel far away. In fact, the duo would each set up in a different room, sharing snippers via email and only meeting up to finalize ideas. “Writing separately ensures we’re not influenced by anything else, and we can bring more depth to our process,” Sauvé explains. 

For Darkroom, the Box of Secrets project provided an unusual baseline for the material’s influence, rather than just their own individual experiences. After compiling demos, the duo brought in new collaborators to further bolster their new electronic palette: co-producers George FitzGerald and Oli Bayston. Longtime engineer and Santais’ cousin Alex Ouzlileau further shaped the album in the studio and Gabriel Desjardins’ string arrangements also help to add depth and drama to the overall proceedings. 

Unlike their previously released material, the duo tested the material while touring, a new step in their creative process that also served as portal into connecting more with their music and their fans. 

Last month, I wrote about Darkroom‘s lead single “On & Off,” a looping, hook-driven bit of spectral pop built around Sauvé’s ethereal yet expressive delivery, glistening synths and squiggling bursts of funk guitar that evokes the tumult of an inconsistent, confusing and complex love. The track “depicts a complex and tumultuous cyclical relationship where two people constantly break off and get back together,” Ghostly Kissses’ Margaux Sauvé explains. “The lyrics draw inspiration from a revelation in the ‘Box of Secrets,” which was the conceptual inspiration behind our new album.” 

“Keep It Real” may arguably be one of Darkroom‘s most brooding and uneasy tracks built around glistening and buzzing synths, skittering beats paired with the duo’s uncanny knack for remarkably catchy, dance floor friendly hooks and Sauvé’s achingly plaintive delivery. At its core, is the doubt and longing of a narrator, who’s desperately trying to decipher the thoughts of others — particularly dear ones — to help shed light on a complicated, uneasy situation that is rooted in an almost novelistic attention to psychological detail.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: KOKOKO! Shares Club-Rocking Ode to Kinshasa’s Nightlife

Since exploding into the scene back in 2017, the acclaimed Kinshasa-based collective KOKOKO! have captivated audiences globally with a striking, forward-thinking, dance floor friendly sound. The Congolese outfit’s full-length debut, Fongola was released to widespread critical acclaim with DJ Mag writing that it was “quite unlike anything else you’ll hear,” and The Guardian calling the collective a “commanding new voice.”

Building upon a growing profile, the band played attention grabbing sets across the global festival circuit, including All Points East, SXSW, Green Man and Pitchfork Festival. The Congolese outfit was named bad live band by the likes of AIF, NPR Tiny Desk and Boiler Room.

Thematically and aesthetically, the acclaimed Congolese outfit has had a long-held, fiercely activist and political slant. The Democratic Republic of Congo continues to experience serious human rights violations, including mass killings within the context of armed conflict and inter-communal violence, as well as crackdown on dissent and ill-treatment of detainees. People residing in regions affected by a variety of armed conflict are deeply impacted amid mass displacement and other deepening humanitarian crises. Additionally, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s wealth of natural resources are routinely exploited by large, multi-national tech companies and other conglomerates, which helps to fuel even more conflict in the region.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, political protest using words carries a risk of imprisonment, so dissidents and performers often work with their bodies and sounds to express and signal their critiques and commentary. The acclaimed Congolese outfit’s highly anticipated sophomore album BUTU is slated for a July 5, 2024 release through Transgressive Records. The album reportedly sees the collective continuing to pair a resistant, punk-like energy and attitude, informed by the attitude and thoughts of a new generation of Congolese artists and young people with their attention grabbing block party alchemy, but pushed to new, global heights.

Kinshasa’s after-dark buzz was one of the major inspirations behind BUTU, which means “the night” in Lingala, and the album dives deep into the heart of the chaotic, throbbing city, celebrating and championing the joyful and creative spirit of its inhabits. Continuing their ongoing collaboration with Belgium producer Xavier Thomas, a.k.a. Débruit, the forthcoming album reportedly sees the collective led by Makara Bianko channeling a more electronic-driven, upbeat sound while replicating the frenetic feel of their hometown’s dynamic nightlife: equipment is pushed to its limits through saturated and distorted speakers and the sonic push-and-pull of nighttime sounds.

The band employs field recordings, recorded from the city’s nighttime sounds and “ready-made percussion” like detergent bottles,. the collective fed those sounds through distortion to get closer to those nighttime sounds. “Compared to Fongola, this album is intentionally way more intense, because it’s quite upbeat and quite full-on,” Xavier Thomas says. The album’s material also pulls from much wider influences and span across West Africa and South Africa, influenced by Bianko’s global travel, which introduced him to new types of alternative electronic music and punk.

BUTU‘s first single “Mokili” is a house music-informed banger featuring glistening synth arpeggios, relentlessly skittering hi-hats, tweeter and woofer rattling thump serving as a slickly produced bed for Bianko’s crooning and impassioned shouts. Continuing a remarkable run of club friendly material with an in-your-face punk attitude and ethos, “Mokili” captures the frenetic and sweaty energy of their hometown and its nightlife scene with an uncanny, novelistic realism. But along with that, the song is a forceful and joyous reminder that Africa is the present and the future. (If y’all didn’t know, by 2050 close to a quarter of the entire world will be African.)

“’Mokili’ is about moving the world so much that it’s going to tip over sort of,” the acclaimed Congolese collective explains. “This track was a track we were used to trying live in a more improvised way, we never got the chance to record till recently where we added the right touch for the studio. It was the last addition to our album BUTU and became the first single, so it’s really fresh. It has obviously influences from Kinshasa but also Kwaito and 90’s dance music.”

Filmed by Erick Abidal Editing with Creative FX BY Myrtille Moniot in Kinshasa, the video sees the Congolese collective taking over the media seemingly by force, even without Internet signal. And throughout they let the world dive into the surreal and energetic scenes and people they come across in their hometown.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Black History Month/Happy 61st Birthday, Seal!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month and Seal’s 61st birthday.