Tag: indie electro pop

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: SHUB and Sebastian Gaskin Team Up on Sleek, Intimate “I Know”

Dan “SHUB” General is a Mohawk producer and member of the Six Nations of the Grand River, the largest First Nation reserve in Canada. As a co-founder of the trailblazing and acclaimed, Juno Award-winning Indigenous electronic music outfit A Tribe Called Red, now known as The Hallucci Nation, General has been instrumental in the development of powwow-step, a blend of the ancient rhythms of powwow music with scratching, hip-hop, and modern, bass-heavy electronic music production.

In 2014, General left A Tribe Called Red and stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist and producer. His debut, 2016’s six-song PowWowStep EP featured collaborations with the Northern Cree Singers, smoke dance singer Frazer Sundown and a Blackfeet Nation-based drum group, Black Lodge Singers. Th EP won an Indigenous Music Award for Best Instrumental Album and the Canadian Organization of Campus Activities (COCA) named him DJ of the Year in 2017.

Since then, the Canadian producer and DJ has released two albums, 2020’s War Club and last year’s Heritage (Part One). Conceived as part of a two-part series, Heritage (Part One) saw General stepping beyond the DJ both and boldly stepping forward as a composer, storyteller and artist dedicated to expanding the reach of Indigenous music on a global scale.

The second part of the series, Heritage (Part Two) is slated for a May 1, 2026 release. Across Heritage, SHUB brings together Indigenous artists across generations, using collaboration as a way to explore identity, community and continuity within contemporary music. The Canadian producer and artist is helping to actively expanding the space Indigenous artists occupy within modern music. Heritage (Part Two) completes that vision, bringing together voices across cultures and styles into a single body of work. “This album is about movement and growth,” SHUB explains. “It’s not trying to be one genre — it’s just where I’m at right now.”

Heritage (Part Two)‘s latest single “I Know,” feat. Sebastian Gaskin is a sleek, hook-driven bit of club friendly, contemporary R&B/contemporary pop featuring glistening synth arpeggios, thumping beats serving as a lush bed for Gaskin’s yearning and plaintive falsetto. While SHUB’s work has been known for being centered on blending traditional Indigenous sounds with electronic production, “I Know” is a deliberate and thoughtful shift in sound, stripping the more ceremonial aspects of his sound for an emphasis on intimacy and personal connection that will feel familiar — and universal.

The song also captures the organic and seemingly effortless chemistry of the duo’s collaboration. “Working on this one with Sebastian was one of those sessions where the chemistry was instant,” SHUB explains. “We actually ended up writing two songs that day, but this one stood out straight away. Sometimes a record just finds its own lane when the right people are in the room.”

That sense of connection carried into the song’s overall themes. “Shub & I wrote this imagining our cultures as a lover,” Sebastian Gaskin says. “It’s about returning to where we come from and remembering that our roots don’t just ground us — they hold us.”

Directed by Matt Guarrasi, the accompanying video for “I Know” feat. Sebastian Gaskin follows the duo through a late-night drive through Toronto, with the city’s light reflected on windshield that features stops on various rooftops for the duo to rock out on. Fittingly, the video further emphasizes the deeply reflective, almost brooding energy of the track.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: I WANT POETRY Share Lush, Nostalgia-Inducing “Backyard Astronauts”

German indie electro pop duo I WANT POETRY — Tine von Bergen (vocals) and Till Moritz Moll (keys) — have received attention for crafting music that simultaneously feels cinematic and deeply human, blending emotional depth with luminous pop soundscapes. 

While developing a reputation for an immersive live show and striking visuals, the German duo have earned critical acclaim and a nomination at the European Songwriting Awards. The duo have played over 100 shows across their native Germany, Poland, Sweden and elsewhere, while making the run of the European showcase festival circuit. And adding to a growing national and international profile, the duo’s single “Light” landed on iTunes charts in several countries, amassing over 500,000 streams globally — and was selected for the soundtrack for the Canadian film, La mécanique des frontières. 

2026 looks to be a breakthrough year for the German indie electro pop duo: Their highly anticipated third album, Future Selves is slated for a May 29, 2026 release. The album is reportedly hopeful and transformative, inspired by a brief moment in time when the future still felt like a promise, channeling the spirit of past dreams of utopia and progress. And as a result, the new album offers a forward-thinking vision shaped by memory, imagination and the will to create what comes next.

Sonically, the album’s material marks an evolution from the reflective tones of Solace + Light, featuring layers of shimming synths and soaring melodies. 

Future Selves will include the previously released “Mirrors Of The Sky,” the Michael Micheal Vanja, Ghian Wright and The EmU-co-produced “No Is a Full Sentence,” and it’s latest single “Backyard Astronauts.”

“Backyard Astronauts” continues a run of lush, hook-driven synth pop but unlike its immediate predecessors, the new single sees the German duo showcasing a balance of earnestness, childhood whimsy and wonder — the sort of wonder and joy inspired by brave astronauts and space travel. But along with that is the of dream of scientific and technological progress informing a desperately needed sense of hope and unity, much like the recent Artemis II mission.

“‘Backyard Astronauts’ captures the feeling of childhood summers when imagination could turn a backyard into a space mission,” the German duo explain,. It’s our song for everyone who still has a sense of wonder about space travel, a quiet dream of unity and progress that feels as present now as it did back then. It’s a reminder of how closely we’re connected – and how far imagination and friendship can take us.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Cherry Bomb Shares Glistening and Anthemic “Digital Girl”

For over a decade, the Los Angeles-based artist Mandy Lee has led acclaimed alt pop outfit MisterWives with her distinctly compelling vocal and commanding stage presence through four studio albums, a live album and a deluxe album, several tours and a run of the global festival circuit.

Earlier this year, Lee debuted her solo recording project Cherry Bomb with the attention-grabbing, upbeat banger “Never Be Me (M★ther★cker),” which sees the MisterWives frontperson boldly shaping a sonic universe that’s completely her own — while blending party bops with profundity.

Lee’s latest Cherry Bomb single “Digital Girl” is a slickly produced, rousingly anthemic bop anchored around glistening synth arpeggios that seemingly channels early Lady Gaga and Madonna while confessing a deep-seated frustration and annoyance with the hyper-connected social media world.

Directed by frequent collaborator Matty Vogel, the accompanying video for “Digital Girl,” evokes the constant overstimulation of the modern world with harsh contrasts, flashing images and impossible shapes crammed together– in the same frame.

“Who doesn’t want to smash their phone in 2026 and be met with confetti to celebrate?” Lee asks. “In this hyper-digital day and age, it’s near impossible to not fall down the algorithmic rabbit hole of comparison spirals, curated perfection, and infinite doomscrolling. I wanted to visually represent the tension that exists between conforming to the pressure or rebelling against it and what it feels like when the two coincide.”

Through “Digital Girl,” Lee sees Cherry bomb as a symbol of fiery resistance to the pressures of modernity. “I hope she is a much needed reprieve from the Digital World that lives in the palm of our hand.” She adds, “‘Digital Girl’ is my love/hate confessional to my dreams and the systems they exist within. An unsettling reflection of modernity and how much we sacrifice who we really are in response to who we are told to be.” As her first song she wrote for her solo project, the new track “ignited the spark and unapologetic energy that I needed for this project — a total rejection of the impossible shapes we are constantly pressured to bend to.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay Alewya Shares Broodingly Cinematic “Eshi”

JOVM mainstay Alewya is an acclaimed London-based singer/songwriter, producer and visual artist. Born in Saudi Arabia to an Egyptian-Sudanese father and an Ethiopian mother, the acclaimed London-based artist has spent her life surrounded by diaspora immigrant communities: She grew up in West London and after a several year stint in New York, she returned to London. Upon her return home, the Saudi-British artist developed and honed her ear for music through the sounds of the Ethiopian and Arabic music of her parents and the ambient and alternative rock albums of her brother.

She’s part of a generation of artists actively redefining global music, a generation that’s generally rooted in heritage, yet unbound by it. Describing herself as a painter, who makes music, Alewya approaches sound as texture and feeling, guided more by intuition than structure. Her sound and story help to widen the Black British frame, bringing the often under heard North and East African perspective into a much-needed focus.

Back in 2020, the JOVM mainstay burst into the scene with an attention grabbing feature on Little Simz‘s “where’s my lighter,” which caught the attention of Because Records, who signed the rising artist and released her critically applauded debut, 2021’s Panther In Mode EP.

Alewya’s highly-anticipated full-length debut, ZERO is slated for a June 26, 2026 release through Because London Records. The album reportedly embodies years of artistic growth into an effort that’s both deeply personal and sonically expansive. But the album also marks a significant milestone, as it sees her boldly stepping into a new creative era, defined by fearless experimentation and cultural fluidity.

ZERO will include the previously released “Night Drive,” feat. Dagmawit Ameha and “City of Symbols,” along with the album’s third and latest single “Eshi.” “Eshi” weaves broodingly atmospheric electronics, shimmering keys thumping beats and gnawa-like percussion with a looping figure played on an Eritrean and Ethiopian instrument, masenqo, a single-stringed bowed lute that features a diamond-shaped resonator. Alewya’s expressive delivery ethereally floats over the song’s widescreen production and instrumentation as it builds up and intensifies to a chant-driven crescendo. The result is a song that feels woozily anachronistic, in the sense that it draws from ancient traditions and pairs them with contemporary, Western/pop-influenced sounds and production techniques. “Eshi is rooted in tradition but unbound by it too, which is one of the pillars of ZERO,” Alewya explains.

The accompanying video was co-directed and co-produced by Yonas Tadesse, Frehiwot Berhane, Tedos Teffera and Alewya, and was shot in Lalibela, Ethiopia, during the celebration of Gena, Ethiopian Orthodox Christmas. The gorgeous, cinematically shot video captures and reinforces a strong sense of community and culture, both of which are central and defining forces in the JOVM mainstay’s work.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Paris-Born, London-Based Allix Shares Slickly produced, Hook-Driven “Motion”

Alexandre Allix is a Paris-born, London-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, whose work is rooted in retro-inspired textures paired with contemporary production. He is the creative mastermind behind the solo indie electro pop project Allix, which sees him creating music that explores urgency, emotion and intensity.

The Paris-born, London-based artist’s latest single “Motion” is a slick and deftly produced, hook-driven bop that — to my ears, at least — channels the likes of The Weeknd and 80s synth funk while showcasing a seemingly effortless, swaggering pop star delivery.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Total Fucking Darkness Shares Deceptively Upbeat “Beaten to Write”

Electronic music outfit and JOVM mainstays Total Fucking Darkness features: 

Over the past year or so, the trio have released a handful of standalone singles, including four that I’ve written about, “Desolation Boys,” “Take It Easy,” “Give Me Everything You Own” and “Horizontal Rain.”  

The trio’s latest single, “Beaten to Write” is a world weary tune paired with a deceptively bright, playful and hook-driven production that seemingly channels mid 80s New Order. Anchored around a relentless motorik pulse, the song is perfectly designed for getting your energy up for another day of drudgery at a soul-sucking day job. And its core, the song seems to suggest that as adults, we have to find ways to accept and deal with drudgery and bullshit, and then push past it — as much as possible.

Continuing the visual approach of its immediate predecessor, the accompanying visualizer/video for “Beaten to Write” features a masked man in a hoodie dancing and shadow boxing an abandoned factory space, with glitchy imagery projected around him.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: BRDN Shares Woozy and Brooding “Unparalleled”

German electronic outfit BRDN (pronounced as “burden”) has quickly established a sound that sees them pair powerful synth structures with smooth vocal sequences and driving rhythms. Their work takes listeners to the more brooding side of introspection with his work thematically touching upon self-doubt and the desperate search for purpose. The result is a fever dream, ripe for interpretation and analysis.

The German outfit’s sophomore EP Maybe in another life is slated for release in June. The EP’s first single, “Unparalleled” is an eerily minimalist tune, featuring glistening synths and skittering beats serving as an uneasy and brooding bed for BRDN’s yearning delivery. Sonically, recalling The Ways We Separate and Escapements-era Beacon, “Unparalleled,” conveys a woozy sense of regret-fueled self-doubt.

Shot at dusk and at night, the accompanying video follows two lonely souls, full of brooding self-doubt and regret.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: I WANT POETRY Shares Flirty “No Is A Full Sentence”

German indie electro pop duo I WANT POETRY — Tine von Bergen (vocals) and Till Moritz Moll (keys) — have received attention for crafting music that simultaneously feels cinematic and deeply human, blending emotional depth with luminous pop soundscapes. 

While developing a reputation for an immersive live show and striking visuals, the German duo have earned critical acclaim and a nomination at the European Songwriting Awards. The duo have played over 100 shows across their native Germany, Poland, Sweden and elsewhere, while making the run of the European showcase festival circuit. And adding to a growing national and international profile, the duo’s single “Light” landed on iTunes charts in several countries, amassing over 500,000 streams globally — and was selected for the soundtrack for the Canadian film, La mécanique des frontières. 

2026 looks to be a breakthrough year for the German indie electro pop duo: Their highly anticipated third album, Future Selves is slated for a May 29, 2026 release. The album is reportedly hopeful and transformative, inspired by a brief moment in time when the future still felt like a promise, channeling the spirit of past dreams of utopia and progress. And as a result, the new album offers a forward-thinking vision shaped by memory, imagination and the will to create what comes next.

Sonically, the album’s material marks an evolution from the reflective tones of Solace + Light, featuring layers of shimming synths and soaring melodies. 

Future Selves will include the previously released “Mirrors Of The Sky,” and the album’s latest single the Micheal Vanja, Ghian Wright and The EmU-co-produced “No Is a Full Sentence.” “No Is A Full Sentence” is self-assured, flirty and defiant pop tune, anchored around glistening synth stabs and the duo’s unerring and effortless knack for catchy hooks and sleek, dance floor friendly grooves.

But under the flirty, dance floor friendly vibes is a song that’s a one-part bold feminist anthem, one-part confidence booster for those who’ve had enough. The song says that it’s perfectly normal to stand up for yourself, to go out there and get what you want, no matter what anyone else.

The accompanying video features the duo, strutting and vamping it up in a modern metropolis — mostly at night. But it emphasizes the playful, confidence boosting nature of the song.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Moulod Shares Sparse, Hook-Driven “Socialites”

Moulod is an emerging Stockholm-born artist. And for the Swedish artist, his music typically begins with lyrics. He writes constantly, using his lyrics as a way to strip down experiencers and uncover what’s real. Only the rare songs that carry honesty are released, for him about 10% of anything he writes, with each carrying his raw vocal delivery at the center. His words are paired with productions that run the gamut from lo-fi, hip-hop, R&B, indie rock and blues — or whatever best carries the story and song forward.

The Swedish artist’s latest single “Socialites” feat. Rûn is a sparse tune that’s simultaneously menacing and sultry, warmly introspective yet chilly and evasive. And while showcasing an artist, who cab pair unflinchingly honest lyrics with sleek production and incredibly catchy hook.

At its core, “Socialites” feat. Rûn conveys the uneasy contrasts between one’s public image and private life, and the demands and sacrifices that public image requires.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Nation of Language Shares Tom Sharkett Rework of “Inept Apollo”

Last year was a big year for acclaimed Brooklyn-based synth pop trio and JOVM mainstays Nation of Language. The trio — Ian Richard Devaney (vocals, guitar), Aidan Noell (synths) and Alex MacKay (bass) — signed with Sub Pop Records, who released their Nick Milhiser produced and mixed fourth album, Dance Called Memory, continuing an ongoing collaboration that included 2023’s Strange Disciple.“What’s so great about Nick is his ability to make us feel like we don’t need to do what might be expected of us,” says Nation of Language’s Aidan Noell.  

Sonically, the album is imbued with a subtly shifted palette: On some tracks percussion is smashed through a synthesizer as a nod to early-2000s electronic music. Chopped-up drum break samples also make appearances.

But ultimately, for the trio, the hope was to weave raw vulnerability and humanity into a synth-heavy album. “There is a dichotomy between the Kraftwerk school of thought and the Brian Eno school of thought, each of which I’ve been drawn to at different points. I’ve read about how Kraftwerk wanted to remove all of the humanity from their music, but Eno often spoke about wanting to make synthesized music that felt distinctly human,” Nation of Language’s Ian Richard Devaney says. “As much as Kraftwerk is a sonically foundational influence, with this record I leaned much more towards the Eno school of thought. In this era quickly being defined by the rise of AI supplanting human creators, I’m focusing more on the human condition, and I need the underlying music to support that… Instead of hopelessness, I want to leave the listener with a feeling of us really seeing one another, that our individual struggles can actually unite us in empathy.”

The album features “Inept Apollo,” which continues a remarkable run of nostalgia-inducing 80s New Wave-inspired material that showcases the trio’s unerring knack for crafting slickly produced bops, anchored around earnest lyricism and songwriting.

Recently the JOVM mainstays shared Tom Sharkett‘s bold rework of “Inept Apollo.” Sharkett’s rework retains Devaney’s yearning vocal and some of the original’s New Wave/synth pop-inspired feel but noticeably increases the BPM and adds a strutting disco-like bass line. The result is a something that’s earnest, achingly yearning and yet even more dance floor friendly. It’s one-part Madchester-scene, one-part NYC dance club.

“We’re big fans of WH Lung, as well as Tom’s excellent recent LCD Soundsystem rework, so we were super excited when he reached out saying he wanted to take a crack at a new mix of ‘Inept Apollo,'” Devaney says. ” Our initial enthusiasm only grew when we received the end product a couple months later and were able to test it out in a club environment a few times. Can confidently report it sounds fantastic in a loud and crowded room. Here’s hoping it sees its way to a few dance floors in 2026.”
 
“I had an affinity with Nation of Language as soon as I heard their music,” Tom Sharkett says. “It felt like it came from the same place as the music I was making myself and with W. H. Lung, and the more of their music I heard, the more I felt it. It was hard initially to find a way in with remixing ‘Inept Apollo,’ as I loved the original so much. I knew I wanted to nod to the connection between NYC and Manchester started by the artists and DJs I feel we both love, without even having to name check them. It had to be wonky, and it had to be loose and lively. Hope you enjoy!”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: KITTY@ Shares Propulsive, Club Banging “When I Think Of You”

KITTY@ is a São Paulo-born, Italian based singer/songwriter and electronic music producer who has always been connected to the arts and creative endeavors. She began working marketing product design and media with a focus on fashion, textiles, color and visual culture, which has helped shaped her perspective and the way she builds ideas.

After taking a pause for health concerns, she rediscovered her passion for creativity through music. As a singer/songwriter and producer, her work largely draws from her experiences, her memory and from her sensitivity.

KITTY@’s latest effort, Disco Vibes is a 12-song effort that features material that sees her effortlessly blending disco, soul, R&B, pop, electro pop and techno. Disco Vibes‘ latest single “When I Think Of You,” is a catchy, club banger anchored a hypnotic and downright euphoric, Ibiza-like bass line and glistening synths that serves as a lush, hook-driven bed for her Taylor Dayne-like delivery. It’s the sort of song specifically meant for dancing — with your eyes closed, longing for that special one.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Total Fucking Darkness Returns with Club Banging “Horizontal Rain”

Electronic music outfit and JOVM mainstays Total Fucking Darkness features: 

Last year, the trio released have released a handful of standalone singles, including three I wrote about on this site, “Desolation Boys,” “Take It Easy” and “Give Me Everything You Own.”

The trio begin 2026 with “Horizontal Rain,” an off-kilter, propulsive, hook-driven banger that recalls the days of sweaty, illegal basement raves. (Those who know, know, you know?) But underneath the good times, is the feverish unease, the sickening sense of sliding into a totalitarian and fascistic hellscape and the desire to connect to others. This is the party music of a dying world.

The accompanying video is a mind-bending blend of a middle aged guy dancing in various locations with video glitch, edited stock footage and more.