Tag: indie electro pop

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Total Fucking Darkness Shares a Banger

Besides being an awesome band name, Total Fucking Darkness features:

The trio’s latest single “Desolation Boys” is a slick yet chaotic synthesis of Tweekend-era Crystal Method and Come With Us-era Chemical Brothers-like big beat, LCD Soundsystem and deep house with glistening synth arpeggios delivered with a nihilistic, tongue-in-cheek absurdity. And it slaps so fucking hard that it sounds like it could be played at clubs in Manchester and Berlin back in 1999-2006 or so.

Created in the final hours of a manic, 72-hour writing spree with McFall flying in London, “Desolation Boys” encapsulates the band’s volatile energy. The song is anchored around spontaneous, stream-of-consciousness-like lyrics and a raw vocal take where Campbell can be faintly heard yelling “go fuck yourself,” mid-chorus. Who is he yelling at? Himself, perhaps?

The song reflects the band’s ongoing exploration of themes like the futility of existence, the exciting pointlessness of class war and the rejection of everything that doesn’t BANG.

The accompanying video features edited footage of a concert somewhere in Berlin, pro Palestine protests and UCLA’s dance team, a country dance team, an old pun rock show and other pop detritus.

singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms
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Live Concert Photography: Winter Jazzfest 2025: Lion Babe at Baby’s All Right 1/11/25

Live concert photography of Lion Babe performing at Baby’s All Right during Winter Jazzfest.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Super Plage Shares Breezy, Dance Floor Friendly Bop

Jules Henry is a Montréal-based singer/songwriter, electronic music producer and creative mastermind behind the acclaimed recording project Super Plage.  And if you’ve been following this site over the past couple of years, you’d recall that I’ve written about the acclaimed Montréal-based artist a bit over the past couple of years.

Last year, he released two singles:

  • “Ton chien,” a flirty bop anchored around a breezy and summery production featuring glistening synths and skittering beats as a lush bed for Henry and Parsian artist Sainte Nicole to trade ethereal and dreamily delivers verses. It’s the sort of song that’s perfect for hanging out in the park — or the beach — with the pretty someone, who’s got your heart skipping beats. 

  • A cover of  Jimmy Hunt‘s 2013 hit “Nos corps,” with longtime collaborator Virginie B and Nectar Palace that turns the disco-tinged yet atmospheric original into a New Wave-like tune that reminded me a bit of Blondie-meets-Soft to the Touch-era Jef Barbara with a Robyn-like disco groove, some squiggling funk guitar.

Henry’s fourth Super Plage album, GROSSE MAISON is slated for a May 16, 2025 release through Montréal-based label Lisbon Lux. The album’s second and latest single “Tip Top” continues a run of breezy, 80s-inspired dance floor friendly bops anchored around squiggling funk, glistening synths and a relentlessly infectious groove serving as a lush and woozy bed for Henry’s dreamy falsetto. “Tip Top” is a track that invites you to get up on that dance floor and shake your ass — while dreaming of the summer.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Jody Vukas Teams Up With Ariana Celaenio on Lush and Plaintive “Fade”

Since the late 90s, electronic music label head and artist Jody Vukas has been a mainstay in the American electronic music scene for a sound that features elements of tribal house, progressive house, tech house and techno.

Vukas’ begins 2025 with “Fade,” a lush, pop-leaning club and lounge friendly collaboration with Ariana Celaenio that pairs her plaintive and ethereal delivery with glistening synths, a driving groove and skittering beats.

As Vukas explains, the song tells a young woman’s story of the fallout from a ad relationship — and it’s done with a verisimilitude that feels as though it comes from lived-in experience.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Daniel Higley Shares Tense and Uneasy “Ultimatum”

Daniel Higley is an emerging, American-born, German-based artist. His latest single, the Brook Fraser-produced “UItimatum” Portishead-like track featuring a supple and propulsive bass line, eerie atmospheric synths that serves as a broodingly uneasy bed for British vocalist Gen’s Beth Gibbons-like delivery. The song manages to capture our exceedingly urgent and anxious zeitgeist with an uncannily lived-in precision.

Higley explains that “‘Ultimatum,’ was created with the sense of anxiety that all my friends have been going through. It seemed to be a common theme going around my circle. This moment in time seems very important, and pivotal. This is a call to action for those feelings of anxiety, and worry. This is life giving you an ultimatum. It’s saying you need to be focused, and not too extreme to get through it.

“The line ‘not too far left, not too far right’ is from the feelings after the US election, and the state of politics in the USA, and the world. Being on a side doesn’t allow one to see clearly. We’ve never seen so much tension, war, and mistrust in our lifetimes. So basically, the theme is this is something you can’t avoid, and you can either let it sweep you away, or you can use all theknowledge and training you’ve had to this point to get through. Be centered. Stay in the light and be present.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Davidé Shares Brooding and Cinematic “Nevrotik”

Davide Orsi is an Italian-born, French-based musician and producer, whose career started in earnest with a stint in Italian psych rock outfit Rubber Eggs. Orsi relocated to Grenoble, France, where he continued his musical career, eventually joining Bleu Tonnerre in 2019. And while with Bleu Tonnerre, he played alongside a collection of French artists including Izia and AARON.

Orsi also started his solo recording project Davidé in 2019. The project, which is inspired by Thom Yorke, Tears for Fears and others sees him blending futuristic and dreamy accents while exploring science fiction themes like dystopian worlds and altered realities.

Orsi’s sophomore Davidé EP, Plasticity, Pt. 2 was released a few months ago. The EP’s latest single “Nevrotik,” is a brooding and cinematic composition featuring glistening synth arpeggios and a relentless motorik groove that sounds as though it were inspired by John Carpenter soundtracks, Magic Sword, Umberto and others.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Miami’s Sara Diana Shares Brooding and Sultry “all up in my head”

Emerging 18 year-old, Miami-based singer/songwriter Sara Diana has quickly developed a reputation for introspective and poetic storytelling lyrics and soulful vocals paired with lush, atmospheric production.

Her debut EP, the Tracksion and Camilo Velandia-co-produced Can’t Be Fazed sees the emerging Miami-based artist blending heartfelt lyrics with mesmerizing melodies while exploring themes of love, growth, survival, invincibility and self-discovery. “The whole concept of not being ‘fazed’ is feeling as though nothing can hurt you anymore,” Sara Diana explains. “I’m sure many people have experienced a time in their lives where they feel they are dealing with so much that they can’t be fazed anymore. So this project is simply that. It’s about survival.”

Can’t Be Fazed‘s latest single “all up in my head” pairs a brooding, trip-hop meets alt-pop production with the young Miami-based artist’s yearning and soulful delivery describing the wooziness of love-crazed obsession that will probably result in the narrator’s own madness.

“all up in my head” reveals a remarkably self-assured artist, beyond her relative youth, and with an uncannily innate understanding of human nature and psychology.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Terciopelo Shares Coquettish and Sultry “Hey Boy!”

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.”

So far I’ve written about two of the album’s previously released singles:

  • “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. 

  • “Nothing Can Stop Me,” a slickly produced track 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 captures the interior world of its narrator with an uncanny attention to psychological detail.

The Breakaways‘ latest single “Hey Boy!” is a slick mix of strutting Brazilian and Latin jazz, complete with some fantastic solos paired with skittering trap beats and a coquettish and sultry vocal. The song — and in turn, the video — sees the woman taking charge, and getting what she desires.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: WILDES and St. Francis Hotel Team Up on Broodingly Atmospheric and Yearning “Are You Gonna Speak?”

Ella Walker is an Irish-British, London-based singer/songwriter and the creative mastermind behind the rising pop project WILDES. Walker’s critically applauded full-length debut, last year’s St. Francis Hotel-produced Other Words Fail Me featured “True Love,” a collaboration with The Flaming Lips. Building upon a growing profile, Walker released her self-produced EP Subsidence earlier this year.

Declan Gaffney is an acclaimed Irish producer, best known as St. Francis Hotel. Gaffney has worked with the likes of Little Simz, Michael Kiwanuka, Wasia Project, Lip Filler and a growing list of others.

WILDES and St. Francis Hotel recently announced the forthcoming collaborative EP, Kopfkino. Slated for a February 19, 2025 release, the EP continuing their wildly successful collaboration together while drawing from 80s synth pop acts like Erasure, The Human League and Depeche Mode, and trip-hop acts like Massive Attack and Portishead. “Though regularly collaborating for various projects, we chose to come together for this EP because of our shared experience and grounding in the emotive meaning behind the songs,” Walker says of the forthcoming collaborative EP. “Exploring and getting lost in our own minds, being shut out of the minds of others, and trying to navigate the world at the behest of our subconscious.”

Kopfkino‘s second and latest single “Are You Gonna Speak?” features bursts of reverb-drenched, strummed guitar, throbbing and oscillating synths, skittering industrial clink and clatter, which help to create a broodingly atmospheric bed for Walker’s yearning delivery.

“Drawing from the silence and suffocation that can surface towards the end of a relationship, ‘Are You Gonna Speak?’ is a plea for connection,” Walker explains. “Exposing difficult conversations but trying to inspire hope, it’s a final cry for help before the moment ends for good.”