Tag: indie pop

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Los Angeles, CA-based quintet Hunny specialize in an infectious, hook-laden party rock/dance rock sound/pop sound that seems to channel several contemporary acts including Hands, St. Lucia, Phoenix and others — while subtly nodding at early 80s New Wave. And the act’s latest single “Vowels (and The Importance of Being Me) will further cement the act’s burgeoning reputation for hook-laden summertime anthems as the band pairs soaring synths, four-on-the floor drumming, shimmering and angular chords and an undulating bass line with deeply earnest vocals singing lyrics about ridiculously passionate, confusing and urgent, young love. Certainly, in an age of sneering cynicism and disbelief, such earnestness is a breath of fresh air; but perhaps more important, thanks to a larger-than-life anthemic hook, I can imagine a packed club full of young people singing lustily along to the song.

The band will be on a lengthy tour throughout July and August, which also will include an August 5, 2016 stop at The Knitting Factory.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Natalie Closner and her two younger twin sisters Meegan and Allison, Portland, OR-based pop trio Joseph derive their name from their grandfather Jo and the tiny Oregon town in which he lived, Joseph, OR. And although the Closners grew up in a musical household, the sibling trio hadn’t sung together until a few years ago when Natalie Closner, seeking a creative jolt asked her twin sisters if they’d like to form a band together — and they quickly discovered that they had an immediate simpatico and began writing songs together, based around a use of three part harmony.

“White Flag,” the first single off the trio’s forthcoming full-length debut I’m Alone, No You’re Not employs the use of the Closner’s gorgeous harmonies, swirling and ambient electronics and handclap-led percussion in a song that quickly builds up to an anthemic and cathartic hook while pairing them with a powerful message — that one should never give up to attain what they desire. Sonically, the Portland-based sibling trio’s sound reminds me quite a bit of Pearl and the Beard and Lucius as the Closners’ latest single possesses a swooning and forceful urgency.

The Closner sisters will be embarking on a lengthy tour that includes a September stop at Radio City Music Hall. Check out tour dates below.

TOUR DATES:

6.9 – Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo

6.22 – Bristol, UK – Summer Series – Harbourside *

6.24 – Somerset, UK – Glastonbury Festival

6.27 – Luxembourg, LUX – Rackhal *

6.29 – Munich, GE – Toll wood Festival *

7.1 – Nr. Brandon, Suffolk, UK – Thetford Forest (Forest Live) *

7.6 – Manchester, UK – Castle Field Bowl *

7.8 – Cannock, UK – Cannock Chase Forest *

7.12 – Scarborough, UK – Scarborough Open Air Theater *

7.14-17 – Beccles, UK – Latitude Festival

7.17 – Dublin, IE – Longtitude Festival

7.18 – London, UK – St. Pancras Old Church

7.20 – Hamburg, GE – Knust Acoustic Session

7.22 – Berlin, GE – Berghain Kantine

7.23 – Haldern, GE – Haldern Pop Bar

7.24 – Nurnberg, GE – Fold Im Park

7.29 – Los Angeles, CA – FIG at 7th // Arts Brookfield Series

8.5-7 – Happy Valley, OR – Pickathon

8.10 – Boulder, CO – The Fox – Triple A Summit

9.19 – Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live *

9.21 – Miami Beach, FL – The Fillmore Miami at Gleason Theater *

9.23-24 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium *

9.25 – Charlotte, NC – The Fillmore Charlotte *

9.27 – Richmond, VA – The National *

9.28 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE *

9.30 – New York, NY – Radio City Music Hall *

10.1 – Boston, MA – Blue Hills Bank Pavilion *

10.3 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Theater *

10.4 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit *

10.6 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave / Eagles Ballroom *

10.7 – Saint Louis, MO – The Pageant *

10.8 – Kansas City, MO – Arrest Bank Theatre at The Midland *

11.3 – Antwerp, BE – Trix Hall #

11.5 – Copenhagen, DK – DR Koncerthuset #

11.6 – Oslo, NO – Folketeateret #

11.9 – Berlin, DE – Postbahnhof #

11.10 – Munich, DE – Technikum #

11.11 – Zurich, CH – Kaufleuten #

11.13 – Milan, IT – Fabrique Milano #

11.14 – Montpellier, FR – Le Rockstore #

11.16 – Barcelona, ES – Bikini Barcelona #

11.18 – Bardeaux, FR – Rock School Barbey #

11.20 – Lyon, FR – Epicerie Moderne #

11.21 – Stasbourg, FR – La Laiterie #

11.22 – Cologne, DE – Kantine #

* Supporting James Bay

# Supporting Michael Kiwanuka

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Born in Elst, a small village in the Utretcht Province of The Netherlands, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Marjan Alise Theodora van Viegan, best known as iET (pronounced as “eet”) discovered at an early age that music could be used as a way to transport herself to a different reality outside of her small village life — and as a result, van Viegan gradually wanted to connect with the world outside of her small village. Certainly, even as Americans there’s something about van Viegan’s story that feels — well, deeply universal. After all, how many of us have desperately yearned for something more in our personal and professional lives?

With the release of her debut EP The Kitchen Recording Series 1, which was literally recorded in her own kitchen, van Viegan caught the attention of several artists including Bonobo’s Szjerdene and Pink Oculus, with whom she collaborated on The Kitchen Recording Series 2. The Kitchen Recording Series 2 eventually caught the attention of Grammy Award winning producer and engineer Russell Elevado, best known for his work with D’Angelo and Erykah Badu, who offered to work with van Viegan debut effort, So Unreal, an effort that received international praise for it’s meshing of a variety of sounds and styles including electro pop, soul, singer/songwriter confessionals and more.

Friday will mark the release of So Unreal‘s follow up, the Inhale EP and the effort is reportedly a change in sonic direction and aesthetic for the Dutch singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist as van Viegan wanted to go for a much more intimate and direct sound. Co-produced by van Viegan and her friend and frequent collaborated Budy Mokognita, the album features van Viegan writing and recording most of the EP’s material herself with her collection of vintage instruments and gear, including her guitar, trumpet and double bass, which she inherited from her uncle and a recently acquired 1930s Schimmel upright piano.

Much like Inhale‘s first single “Inhale Your Love,” the EP’s latest single “As She Moved” focuses on an atmospheric and straightforward songwriting and sonic approach as van Viegan’s ethereal and sultry coos with a propulsive drum programming, cascading and swirling keyboard chords, handclap-led percussion, gently undulating bass and strummed guitar in a carefully crafted, swaggering song that owes a debt to experimental pop, neo-soul and rock simultaneously while revealing a songwriter who has an innate ability to write a subtle yet infectious hook.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the December 2015 release of their debut single “I Feel,” the Bath, UK-based indie pop quintet Bad Sounds quickly emerged into the British scene as the single received praise from the likes of The Line of Best Fit and Vice Noisey, and received airplay from BBC Radio personalities Zane Lowe, Phil Taggert, Annie Mac and Huw Stephens. “Avalanche,” Bad Sounds’ latests ingle was co-produced by Duncan Mills, and the single has the band pairing fuzzy guitar chords, angular bass chords, electronic bleeps and bloops, a motorik-like groove, and a rousingly infectious hook in a song that sounds as though it was indebted to Damon Albarn‘s work with Blur and Gorillaz, complete with a similar peculiarly British wry, self-effacing irony — but with a subtly contemporary take on a familiar and beloved sound.

Adding to a growing national profile, the Bath-based quintet will be touring the UK festival circuit with appearances at The Great Escape and Dot to Dot, among others. Check out the tour schedule below, if you’re in or around the UK.

Tour Dates:

20 May – The Great Escape, Brighton
28 May – Dot To Dot, Bristol
12 June – Field Day, London
2 September – Festival No. 6, Portmeirion

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing the Shimmering and Swooning Sounds and Visuals of Wales’ Kidsmoke

Comprised of Lance Williams (vocals, guitar), James Stickels (bass, vocals), Chris Trow (drums) and newest addition Sophie Ballamy (guitar, vocals), Wrexham, North Wales-based quartet Kidsmoke formed in 2013, and with the release of their debut […]

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Stunningly Dramatic Visuals and Sounds of Victoria + Jean’s “Where We Belong”

  If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past six years, you’ve likely come across a number of posts about Victoria + Jean, a Stockholm-based avant pop duo, who have a growing international profile across […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past 15 years, singer/songwriter and musician Jordan Geiger has developed a reputation for being incredibly prolific — he’s been a member of several renowned indie rock acts including Shearwater, The Appleseed Cast, Des Ark and Minus Story, and he’s released three albums with his solo recording project Hospital Ships. Geiger’s fourth full-length Hospital Ships effort, The Past is Not a Flood is slated for a March 11, 2016 release through Graveface Records, and the album features a myriad number of Austin, TX-based collaborators including longtime friend, Swans‘ Thor Harris — and is Geiger’s sixth album with renowned producer John Congleton, best known for his work with St. Vincent, The Walkmen, Modest Mouse and others.

Thematically speaking, The Past is Not a Flood reportedly draws from Geiger’s own battles with mental illness, anxiety and depression, which will arguably make his fourth full-length album his most personal one to date. The album’s first single “You and I” possesses a gorgeous painterly quality as layers of twisting and turning piano chords undulating and chiming percussion and ominously ambient electronics are slowly added like brushstrokes upon a canvas — and then they’re paired with Geiger’s achingly tender vocals expressing vulnerability, shame, regret and confusion over a dysfunctional and fucked up relationship that’s at an impasse. While sonically bearing a resemblance to Amnesiac-era Radiohead, Remember Remember and Mogwai‘s most recent ambient experiments “You and I” manages to feel like a lingering and anxious fever dream.

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Majid Jordan’s New Video Cements The Duo’s Reputation For Slick and Seductive Visuals

  Over the past couple of years, the Toronto, ON-based electro pop production and artist duo Majid Jordan have had a rapidly growing international profile — before the release of their A Place Like This EP and the recent release […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past couple of years, Los Angeles-based, indie electro pop duo Pr0files have not only become JOVM mainstay artists, they’ve also developed a growing national profile for a sound that possesses elements of R&B, pop and electronic dance music — especially with the release of Call Yourself A Lover,”  and “Luxury.”

February 23 marks the release of the duo’s long-awaited and highly-anticipated full-length debut Jurassic Technologie and from the release of the album’s first three singles “I Know You Still Care,” Empty Hands” and “Like A Knife,” the duo’s material has revealed an urgent, insistent sensuality reminiscent of Giorgio Moroder‘s legendary work in the 1970s while at other times being incredibly anthemic in a way that owes a debt to 80s synth pop and more contemporary fare, such as Haerts and St. Lucia. Jurassic Technologie‘s fourth and latest single “Abuse U (Feel It)” pairs Sternbaum’s gauzy Quiet Storm meets 21st century production consisting of skittering drum programming, swirling electronics and layers of shimmering and cascading synths with Pardini’s sultry come hither vocals and brief bursts of guitar.  Sonically and lyrically the song sounds as though it draws from Prince‘s incredible 80s work — think of “I Will Die 4 U,” “When Doves Cry,” “Raspberry Beret,” and “Little Red Corvette” in particular, as the song may arguably be the most sensual and outright sexual song that the duo has released to date.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Last December, I wrote about Sophie Stern, the Los Angeles-based creative mastermind behind the (mostly) solo recording project Sophie and the Bom Boms. Initially, Stern’s career began behind the scenes as a songwriter, who was signed to mega-hit producer and songwriter Dr. Luke’s camp. After spending couple of years as a go-to songwriter, Stern decided that it was time for her to go out on her own as a solo artist.

 

Inspired by a diverse array of artists including diverse array of artists including Erykah Badu, Tom Tom Club and a lengthy list of others, Stern began collaborating with two rather renowned producers, David Elevator, who won 3 Grammys for his work on Beck‘s Morning Phase and Dan Dare, who’s best known his work with Marina and the Diamonds, Charli XCX and M.I.A. for her debut EP. The EP’s first single “Big Girls” was a breezy and infectious pop confection that paired big boom-bap beats, cascading synths, anthemic hooks and Stern’s effortlessly soulful vocals in a way that was reminiscent of Nu Shooz‘s “I Can’t Wait” while sounding remarkably contemporary.

The EP’s second and latests single “Appetite” will further cement Stern’s reputation for crafting incredibly infectious, breezy and anthemic pop as you’ll hear boom bap beats, handclaps, twinkling synths and an anthemic, hashtag worthy hook paired with Stern’s ballsy and bratty vocals in a song that’s a tell off to fuckboys, deadbeats, drama kings and queens and parasites everywhere — with the sort of sense of humor that would likely remind you of things you may have heard or said back in the schoolyard.

Sonically and thematically speaking the song manages to nod at Australian-born, Berlin-based indie pop artist Phia, Gwen Stefani‘s “Ain’t No Holla Back Girl,” and TLC‘s “No Scrubs” as it possesses the same “girl power/girl, drop that loser/girl, drop that deadbeat friend” air but backed by slick, modern production techniques.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of their 2014 debut EP, Magic, the New York-bsased dream pop/electro pop duo Paperwhite, comprised of sibling duo Katie and Ben Marshall exploded into the blogosphere; in fact, they earned the title of “Most Blogged About Artist” twice — and that shouldn’t be surprising as their (highly contemporary) sound pairs lush melodies and anthemic hooks. Building on the buzz that they’ve received a few years ago, the New York-based duo’s forthcoming EP Escape is slated for release this spring. And the EP’s first single “Unstoppable” will further cement the duo’s reputation for pairing lush melodies and anthemic hooks with Katie Marshall’s ethereal in a way that’s contemporary  as it’s reminiscent of St. Lucia and yet is also reminiscent of radio friendly 80s synth pop.

Interestingly, the single as the duo notes is a “reminder to find strength in the chaos and beauty in the unknown.” Certainly, considering life and its brutality and wonder, it’s something that we all need to remind ourselves at some point — while dancing with a bunch of sweaty kids in a club, right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Hauntingly Gorgeous and Mournful Visuals for Victoria + Jean’s “Härligt Sverige”

As you can imagine, over the course of the six year history of this site, there have been an increasing number of artists who have become mainstays — including Victoria + Jean, a Stockholm, Sweden-based avant […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past couple of years, you may know that the Swedish cities of Umea, Sweden’s third (and most Northern) and Malmo, Sweden’s twelfth (and most Southern) have emerged with reputations as being Sweden and Scandinavia’s newest, most exciting creative hotbeds as an increasing number of artists and bands from both cities have started to receive international recognition — including the likes of JOVM mainstays Moonbabies, Cajsa Siik, Frida Selander and YAST and others.  I have to add to that list, Umea, Sweden-bornsinger/songwriter, producer and sound designer Catharina Jaunviksna, who splits time between her home country, Italy and Ireland and who has received attention with her solo recording project Badlands. With the release of 2012’s Battles Within EP and single “Tutu,” Jaunviksna’s Badlands project received attention from the likes of The 405 and Under the Radar for a sound that many of my colleagues have described as possessing elements of trip-hop and experimental pop.

April will mark the release of her forthcoming full-length effort Locus and album’s first single “Echo” reveals yet another change in sonic direction for Jaunviksna, as the single is a dance floor-ready song consisting of layers of staccato synth stabs and layers of cascading and twinkling synths, swirling electronics and an infectious hook paired with Jaunviksna’s ethereal coos bubbling and floating over the mix’s hazy surface, which give the song an eerie and spectral undercurrent.  Thematically and lyrically the song reportedly discusses self-censorship and the inherent dangers self-censorship can entail. As Jaunviksna explained in press notes “Even though the first intentions might be good, it always ends as a witch hunt and nobody daring to speak their mind.” But sonically speaking to my years, the song channels the likes of Depeche Mode, Still Corners and others as the song possess a captivating pull, begging the listener to come up closer.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Initially emerged in 2014 as the recording project of Los Angeles, CA-based electro pop production sibling duo Alex and Ben Kazenoff, Mood Robot expanded to a trio when they enlisted vocalist Jenny Helms (no relation to yours truly) to complete the project’s sound. And from what I understand, the early buzz across the blogosphere has been favorably comparisons to CHVRCHES and The Naked and Famous among others.

Continuing on the early buzz that they’ve received over the past year, the Los Angeles-based electro pop trio will be releasing their debut EP, The Story We Tell Ourselves next month, and the EP’s first single “Drip” pairs Helms’ buoyant, pop starlet vocals with a densely layered production featuring layers of shimmering and undulating synths, electronic bleeps and bloops, blasts of funky and angular guitar chords, tweeter and woofer rocking low end and an infectiously anthemic hook. Admittedly, comparing the trio’s sound to the likes of CHVRCHES is a fair one — although to my ears I also hear the likes of White Prism, Class Actress, and several others, and as as a result of such a crowd pleasing, club-friendly and radio-friendly sound, I expect that the blogosphere will be big on them throughout 2016.

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