Tag: electronic music

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: London’s IFULKI Shares Broodingly Cinematic “Something Greater”

London-based trio IFULKI features musicians shaped by a culture of improvisation, openness and collaboration:

  • Queen Kaltoun, a Moroccan-Italian vocalist, who relocated to London when she was 189 to pursue a career in music

  • Charlie, an English-born bassist and synth player with Irish and Ghanian roots

  • Ayman, a Sudanese drummer and percussionist

Each member of the trio have spent years performing across London’s live music circuit, playing sets at Ronnie Scott’s, Jazz Cafe and Village Underground and a long list of others, while collaboration with a collection of boundary-pushing artists including David Mrakpor, Rebekah Reid, Mei Kirby, Ayo Salawu, Arowah, Tay Grace, and NK-OK.

The London-based trio have quickly established a unique blend of Gnawa inferences, electronic textures and live instrumentation helps to create a sound that’s deeply rooted in ancient traditions while being remarkably modern. Rather than remaining within the boundaries of jazz, the project for the trio became the meeting point of everything the inspired them — the freedom of improvisation, the emotional depth of electronic music, trip-hop and soul, and the philosophy of Queen Kaltoum’s Amazigh heritage.

“Ifulki means ‘beautiful” in the Amazigh language,” Queen Kaltoum explains. “It’s a celebration of the beautiful people and beautiful connections we encounter in this life.” For Queen Kaltoum beauty isn’t something superficial. Beauty exists in kindness, generosity, solidarity and the relationships we build and maintain with each other. Those values, which are deeply embedded within Amazigh culture, quietly shape every aspect of the emerging London-based trio’s creative vision — one, ultimately born, as Queen Kaltoum says, “from a need to bring people together.”

IFULKI’s debut single “Something Greater,” which was released through [PIAS]’s new important SOURCE serves as the trio’s bold introduction to the outsider world. Featuring a broodingly atmospheric production with brassy castanet-driven gnawa percussion, tweeter and woofer rattling tump, twinkling jazz-inspired keys and a gently buzzing bass synths beneath Queen Kaltoum’s bright and effortlessly soulful vocal, “Something Greater” is a lush and cinematic blend of Bristol-era trip hop, jazz and soul that’s simultaneously headphone and club friendly.

The song is about surrendering to the unknown and trusting that thing will ultimately fall into place, and having the faith that whatever the outcome, that’s what is meant to happen. Queen Kaltoum adds, “An unsettling and mysterious atmosphere is present in the music, and thematically matched by the lyrics. This energy never leaves, but combines with tones of positivity and hopefulness brought in by dancey rhythms, with the piano ending the song with a bittersweet melody, contrasting the dark and brooding intensity found in the bass and drums.” 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: belac Shares a Sultry, Club Friendly Banger

belac is a rising, Perth-born and-based producer, who is a product of the Internet Generation: After discovering a Martin Garrix breakdown of his hit song “Animals” when the Aussie producer was 11, he has spent the past decade consuming — and sometimes forming — internet tends and turning them into club bangers. Before music, he was one of the best beach sprinters in Western Australia and a qualified physicist. But as he explains, he went all-in on music, when he heard his own music being blasted by the electronic music club while walking around his university’s open day.

Since then, he has signed with [PIAS] Électronique, who has released recent singles “need it, breathe it” and “be with me 2009,” which manage to be simultaneously nostalgia-inducing and fresh, while giving younger fans a cache to experience an era of EDM that they might not have originally been around for. And interestingly, gamers have claimed that his work is the perfect soundtrack for massive gaming sessions.

Now while there’s a cheekiness to his music and his online presence, the Perth-born and-based producer has an unerring knack for understanding what delights dance music fans and brings them to the dance floor. And as a result, he’s become one of Australia’s most recognized, rising electronic producers, specializing in club friendly bangers with elements of 2010s EDM, Memphis trap, jazz and more.

The Aussie producer’s latest single “late night visions” is a subtly brooding and atmospheric take on tech house with a sultry vocal sample that reminds me of French JOVM mainstay LutchamaK and a lengthy list of others, while showcasing a producer who can craft a euphoric, remarkably catchy hook.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: TOMORA Shares Expansive, Live Version of “IN A MINUTE”

TOMORA is a collaborative project featuring:

  • The Chemical Brothers‘ Tom Rowlands: As one-half of The Chemical Brothers, Rowlands has produced and recorded six widely acclaimed UK #1 albums and won six Grammy Awards.

  • Norwegian artist AURORA: AURORA has released four studio albums and has quickly become one of Norway’s most influential and globally recognized contemporary artists. Her single “Runaway” has amassed over one-billion Spotify streams to date.

TOMORA builds upon a creative relationship that can be traced to the recording sessions for The Chemical Brothers’ 2019 album No Geography. AURORA contributed vocals to three tracks, including “Eve of Destruction.” Rowlands then went on to contribute to AURORA’s 2024 effort, What Happened to the Heart?, which landed on the UK Top 10.

Initially, speculation was rife as to who — or what — the then-mysterious TOMORA was or could be, after the name appeared on Coachella’s 2026 Festival lineup post without any additional information last year. Then, last December, the duo released their debut single “Ring The Alarm,” which received praise from Spin, BrooklynVegan, Stereogum and DJ Mag. “Ring The Alarm” also received DJ support from Erol Alkan, ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U and a long list of others.

The duo’s TOMORA debut single was then released on a very limited and collectible white label vinyl, alongside B-side “The Thing,” which showcases a glimpse of the tender and hauntingly beautiful downtempo tracks that appear on the duo’s full-length debut, COME CLOSER.

Released earlier this year through Capitol Records, COME CLOSER was written and produced jointly by Rowlands and AURORA. The 12-song album sees the duo pairing the Norwegian artist’s distinctive vocal with the acclaimed British producer’s unparalleled studio expertise. The album sees the duo creating their own unique space, somewhere they can produce the kind of magic that comes from flicking through a perfect record collection, flowing from wigged-out 1960s psychedelia to the hyper-futurism of sounds imagined for the 2060s. 

The album is less about two separate and distinct artists finding a fertile middle ground and more the sound of two tenacious individuals connecting in the studio and hitting massive creative peaks together. 

“This is our album COME CLOSER, it is everything we dreamt of. We made it without obligation or expectation, just a joy in creation,” the duo says. “It’s the sound where we meet, the landing zone of our musical escape pods. It is a special place to us. We hope you dig it as much as we do.”

The album also includes singles “COME CLOSER” “SOMEWHERE ELSE” and “I DRINK THE LIGHT.” After a successful Spring tour to support their debut effort together, the pair went to Rowland’s Sussex, UK-based Rowlands Audio Research Studio to record a live version of album closing track “IN A MINUTE” that’s inspired by their ever-increasing extended performances of the song as part of the encourage of their first-ever live shows together, including two rapturously received sets at this past year’s Coachella.

Whereas, the album version of “IN A MINUTE” distills the duo’s quickly established euphoric push-pull chemistry into a tight, breakneck structure, the Live in the Studio version of the song, clocks in at 10 minutes gives the duo the ability to stretch out and to roam a bit musically, building from the song’s central refrain into an extended dreamy sequence of densely layered shifts, shifting rhythms beneath otherworldly harmonies, before returning to the song’s hook, giving the song even more of a mind-bending, lysergic quality.

Directed by Adam Smith the gorgeously shot accompanying video for “IN A MINUTE (LIVE FROM THE STUDIO VERSION)” captures the feverish euphoria of a life TOMORA set.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 61st Birthday, Trent Reznor!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor’s 61st birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: BRIXTONE Shares Glitchy and Brooding “The Mirror Stars”

BRIXTONE is an experimental music duo — half-brothers Paul and Pete Brixtone — that features members, who were raised in opposite musical worlds and yet drawn to the same aesthetic: One member works by instinct, noted in abrasiveness, aggression and noise. The other words with structure, discipline and an architectural melodic sensibility.

The duo’s debut Never Play To The Gallery was released earlier this year to positive reviews across music media with the album being describes as an “electro rock-post punk-jazz entity,” and a restless, shape-shifting mass of sound pulled tight between decay and precision.

Never Play To The Gallery‘s latest single “The Mirror Stars” is anchored around an industrial electronica pulse and skittering beats, bursts of scorching guitar, distorted vocal samples, eerie electronic textures, and a brooding lead vocal. Seemingly channeling early Nine Inch Nails and Earthling-era David Bowie, “The Mirror Stars,” possesses a creeping sense of dread that feels uneasy, familiar and of our deeply fucked up moment.

Throwback by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 86th Birthday, Giorgio Moroder!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Giorgio Moroder’s 86th birthday.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: TOMORA Returns with Luminous and Euphoric “I DRINK THE LIGHT”

TOMORA is a collaborative project featuring:

  • The Chemical Brothers‘ Tom Rowlands: As one-half of The Chemical Brothers, Rowlands has produced and recorded six widely acclaimed UK #1 albums and won six Grammy Awards.

  • Norwegian artist AURORA: AURORA has released four studio albums and has quickly become one of Norway’s most influential and globally recognized contemporary artists. Her single “Runaway” has amassed over one-billion Spotify streams to date.

TOMORA builds upon a creative relationship that can be traced to the recording sessions for The Chemical Brothers’ 2019 album No Geography. AURORA contributed vocals to three tracks, including “Eve of Destruction.” Rowlands then went on to contribute to AURORA’s 2024 effort, What Happened to the Heart?, which landed on the UK Top 10.

Initially, speculation was rife as to who — or what — the then-mysterious TOMORA was or could be, after the name appeared on Coachella’s 2026 Festival lineup post without any additional information last year. Last December, the duo released their debut single “Ring The Alarm,” which received praise from Spin, BrooklynVegan, Stereogum and DJ Mag. “Ring The Alarm” also received DJ support from Erol Alkan, ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U and a long list of others.

The duo’s TOMORA debut single was then released on a very limited and collectible white label vinyl, alongside B-side “The Thing,” which showcases a glimpse of the tender and hauntingly beautiful downtempo tracks that appear on the duo’s full-length debut, COME CLOSER.

Officially released today through Capitol Records, COME CLOSER was written and produced jointly by Rowlands and AURORA. The 12-song album sees the duo pairing the Norwegian artist’s distinctive vocal with the acclaimed British producer’s unparalleled studio expertise. The album sees the duo creating their own unique space, somewhere they can produce the kind of magic that comes from flicking through a perfect record collection, flowing from wigged-out 1960s psychedelia to the hyper-futurism of sounds imagined for the 2060s. 

The album is less about two separate and distinct artists finding a fertile middle ground and more the sound of two tenacious individuals connecting in the studio and hitting massive creative peaks together. 

“This is our album COME CLOSER, it is everything we dreamt of. We made it without obligation or expectation, just a joy in creation,” the duo says. “It’s the sound where we meet, the landing zone of our musical escape pods. It is a special place to us. We hope you dig it as much as we do.”

The album also features the previously released “COME CLOSER” “SOMEWHERE ELSE” and its latest single “I DRINK THE LIGHT.” “I DRINK THE LIGHT” is a euphoric and luminous song featuring glistening synth arpeggios and skittering boom bap as a lush yet woozy bed for AURORA’s remarkably Björk-like delivery. Sonically nodding at a slick synthesis of Madonna‘s “Ray of Light,” Come with Us-era Chemical Brothers, “I DRINK THE LIGHT” evokes the otherworldly and almost childlike sense of awe and delight of seeing a natural wonder for the first time.

“We wrote ‘I DRINK THE LIGHT’ whilst watching the light glitter and dance off the shimmering fjord in Norway. We wanted to write a song that felt like witnessing the wonders of Earth for the very first time,” TOMORA explains. “The song is an exploration of light sensations and fluid dynamics. We taste the earth, we swallow the sun, we are one with the fabric of life, and most importantly of all, we drink the light.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 79th Birthday, Florian Schneider!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 79th anniversary of Florian Schneider’s birth.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Public Circuit Shares Muscular Remix of “Damager”

Rising New York-based electro punks Public Circuit — Ethan Beaumont (vocals), Sean Holloway (drums) and Nelson Fisher (electronics) — exploded into the scene with 2024’s full-length debut Lamb, which they supported with sold-out shows across 30 states, including a run across the domestic festival circuit with sets at New Colossus Festival, Hopscotch and MACROCK.

The trio’s sophomore album Modern Church was released last September through Á La Carte Records. The album saw the band swapping the pretense of retro-revivalism for something much sharper, darker — and entirely their own. Sonically rooted in the trio’s newfound sense of collaboration between each other, the album’s material features angular electronic instrumentation and raw percussive rhythms bathed with the high gloss ache of sophsitipop. 

Thematically, the material is overtly religious. But it’s used as an analogical tool to explore sexual identity, the fleeting faith of society and the illicit repercussions of unresolved trauma. And much like its immediate predecessor, the new album continues a run of material deeply influenced by New York’s constant feed of noise and relentless energy. 

Today, the New York-based trio announced the April 28, 2026 release of Modern Church R//MIX//S. The trio recruited Brooklyn music scene friends Lip Critic, shower curtain, Grumpy, The Wants, smush, ideasforconversations and Crate to rework Modern Church album tracks. “We wanted to put out the remixes to not only highlight all our amazing friends who make amazing music, but also to revive these songs into all the different worlds we believe they belong to exist in,” the band explains.

Modern Church R//MIX//S‘ first single sees Public Circuit remixing their favorite song off Modern Church, “Damager.” Clocking in at 94 seconds, the original version is a punchy, club friendly bit of industrial synth pop. Their remix gives the song a muscular and swaggering thump that’s one-part old school hip hop-driven 808 and one-part 80s industrial club music.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Los Pulpitos Share Hypnotic “Mola Mola”

Berlin-based electronic duo Los Pulpitos features two acclaimed electronic producers: The duo follow last year’s debut EP, Octopean Union with their latest single, “Mola Mola,” the first single of their forthcoming debut album. “Mola Mola” […]

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Tinlicker Shares Defiant and Euphoric “I Want My Freedom”

Acclaimed Utrecht-based electronic music outfit Tinlicker — founding member Micha Heyboer, Jordi van Achthoven and their newest member Hero Baldwin — can trace their origins back to 2012, when the project was founded as a solo project of its founder Heyboer. As a solo project, Heyboer released Tinlicker’s debut EP, 2012’s My First Time Here and the 2012’s Remember The Future demo compilation through his own label, Zero Three Zero.

Jordi van Achthoven was introduced to Heyboer through a mutual contact in 2014. The pair bonded over their mutual inspirations of Paul Kalkbrenner, Trentemøller and Moderat, and at that point, Tinlicker expanded to a duo, releasing three EPs through Feed Me‘s Sotto Voce, 2014’s Like No Other, 2015’s Into The Open and The Space In Between, which featured “Oudegracht,” a track that amassed significant attention online.

2017 saw the duo releasing material through Anjunadep, Armada Music and deadmau5′s mau5trap before singing a record deal with Anjunadeep, who released their breakthrough full-length debut, 2019’s This Is Not Our Universe, which featured contributions from alt-J, Run Rivers, Thomas Oliver and Belle Doron. The album reached #1 on the dance charts in the US, Australia, India, Canada and Finland and #2 in the UK, The Netherlands and Poland.

The duo’s sophomore album In Another Life was released in February 2022. But by November 2023, the duo announced that the third album, last year’s Cold Enough for Snow would be released through [PIAS] Électronique. The album featured collaborations with Brian Molko, Editors‘ Tom Smith and Circa Waves. The Dutch duo supported the album with sets at Pinkpop Festival, CRSSD Festival, Crystal Palace Bowl, Coachella and Sziget Festival.

Back in 2020, as the Dutch duo were achieving commercial and critical success, they had started a successful collaboration with London-based signer/songwriter and producer Hero Baldwin that has continued through a series of singles including their most recent single “I Started A Fire,” which was released earlier this year. Heyboer and van Achthoven recently invited Baldwin to be a full-time member of the band. “Jordi and Micha seem to pull something out of me that resonates with my emotional landscape every time we make a song,” the London-based singer/songwriter and producer says. “I think it’s so important to feel creatively and emotionally secure, and Jordi and Micha always afford me that privilege.”

The act’s Melkweg Amsterdam show was their official debut as a trio. She also joined the duo for their biggest live show to date, Tinlicker In The Park at Crystal Palace Bowl.

Tinlicker’s highly-anticipated fourth album — and first as a trio — is slated for an early 2026 release. But in the meantime, the trio’s latest single “I Want My Freedom” showcases what has made the Dutch outfit a titan in electronic music: Beginning with a slow-burning piano intro that seemingly nods at Radiohead‘s “Everything In Its Right Place,” the track quickly morphs into a festival and club banger featuring skittering beats, glistening and melodic synth arpeggios, a string section sample-led bridge, and a euphoric bridge and hook, which serves as a slickly produced and lush bed for Baldwin’s defiant and resolute vocals.

Throughout the song’s runtime, Baldwin’s lyrics are especially pertinent right now, as many countries across the world seem to be sliding backwards into a brutally abusive, authoritarian hellscape that many of us don’t want — and will resist until death.

“These lyrics circled in my mind for a long time” Baldwin says. “I started writing from that feeling of disconnection as a woman in my mid-twenties with a sharp awareness of the world moving backwards. But over time, the song grew into something bigger. ‘I Want My Freedom’ isn’t just about me, it’s about all of us. The heartbreaking truth is that the abuse of freedoms reaches far beyond gender. I wanted to create a song of inclusion, with a nod to what I personally feel I’ve lost. Freedom is never handed to us, it’s something we fight for, and I no longer have that softness in me to apologize for that.”

The accompanying video for “I Want My Freedom” consists of footage shot from their Crystal Palace Bowl set.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Swedish Instrumental Outfit Automatism Shares Languorous Cover of Kraftwerk’s “Neon Lights”

Swedish instrumental psych rock outfit Automatism — Hans Hjelm (guitar), Gustav Nygren (guitar), Mikael Tuominen (bass) and Jonas Yrlid (drums) — will be releasing their long-awaited fourth album Sörmland Friday through German-based label Tonzonen Records.

Five years have passed since the release of 2020’s Immersion. The hiatus wasn’t completely voluntary, so when the band reconvened in September 2023 to begin the creative process for their fourth album, it felt like a special occasion for the band — much like a family reunion. Recorded in a former chapel in the Swedish rural county of Sörmland, the building’s high ceilings and open atmosphere helped set the overall tone of the soon-to-be-released album. As they were recording, they could see the verdant landscape from the building’s tall windows, which inspired them to name the album after the province.

Sörmland‘s latest single “Neon Lights” is an instrumental take on Kraftwerk‘s “Neon Lights.” Clocking in a roughly the same time as the original, which appeared on 1978’s The Man-Machine, the Automatism rendition slows both the tempo and melody down, giving the song a languorous and dreamy, psilocybin-fueled buzz.

“Another one of those occasions when the best stuff comes out when you stop trying,” the band’s Mikael Tuominen says. “We had been working on a version of ‘Neon Lights’ for a while, even played it live, that was much closer to the original in feel and tempo. We did a couple of recordings of that version and they were okay. Then, without deciding anything, we just fell into playing the theme really slowly and softly, and again, luckily enough I hit the red button. First it was almost as if we didn’t take it seriously, but soon we entered the zone, and listening to the versions back to back there was no question of which one to choose.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Lomotor Returns with Scorching “Second Sun”

Josh Rathburn is a Northern Massachusetts-based electronic music producer best known as Lomotor. Drawing comparisons to Boards of Canada and JOVM mainstay Rival Consoles, and inspired by the hills and valleys of his rural surroundings, Rathburn’s work sees him blending modular and analog synthesizers with found sounds and early childhood cassette recordings to create songs that often feel like a scratched and faded memory of a melody heard long ago. 

The Northern Massachusetts-based producer’s latest single “Second Sun” is a broodingly hypnotic track built around a glitchy, growling and warped synth melody paired with skittering beats. While seemingly channeling Tobacco and Black Moth Super Rainbow, “Second Sun” evokes sun-scorched landscapes and grainy, analog fuzz, making the song sound as though it was a distant transmission from a malfunctioning satellite.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 60th Birthday, Trent Reznor!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Trent Reznor’s 60th birthday.