Tag: indie pop

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Félix Dyotte Shares Breezy Yet Melancholy “Un vent de vanille”

Félix Dyotte is an acclaimed, Montréal-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who also collaborates as lyricist, arranger and producer for Pierre Lapointe, Jean Leloup, Salomé Leclerc, Evelyne Brouchu and Cœur de Pirate.

Dyotte’s fourth album, the Felix Bélise-co-produced Aérosol was released earlier this year through Montréal-based label Bonbonbon. The album sees the acclaimed French Canadian singer/songwriter adopting a decided change in direction from its immediate predecessor, 2021’s Airs païens. Whereas Airs païens featured natural and wood-like sounds, they’ve been replaced by synths, drum machines and samplers on Aérosol. And as a result, the album’s material seemingly draws from New Wave and dream pop.

Aérosol‘s fourth and latest single, the languorous “Un vent de vanille” is a breezy track featuring a sunny synth melody, fluttering flute and a shuffling and laid-back groove serving as a lush, 80s synth pop-meets-Beach House-like dream pop bed for Dyotte’s achingly plaintive vocal. “Un vent de vanille” may be a summery sway of a tune, but it possesses an autumnal melancholy, seemingly informed by the inevitable passing of time.

The accompanying video is a decidedly lo-fi affair, that features footage that’s presumably shot in the Quebec countryside and footage of a brooding Dyotte — occasionally with splotches of pain exploding in front of him.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

I’ve spilled quite a bit of virtual ink covering rising rising Montréal-based multi-disciplinary artist, singer/songwriter, pop artist and JOVM mainstay Naomi, who has made a name for herself across Québec for a sound that effortlessly blends pop, R&B, house music and Caribbean music.

The Montréal-based JOVM mainstay’s highly anticipated sophomore album Un coin sombre pour danser is slated for an October 11, 2024 release through Bravo Musique. Reportedly, the new album is an invitation to the listener to dive into the night, to forget your worries, to rediscover yourself and dance to songs that talk about love, challenges and self-reflection. “For me, this album is a story of femininity and an alter-ego: the woman who exists in the eyes of others and the one who exists towards oneself,” Naomi explains. “It is an exploration of dissociation in the face of the trials I have experienced, of the discovery of the community, of pleasure and tears, sometimes simultaneously. It was born from a deep introspection in my late twenties that gave me a new perspective on myself, my queer identity, and how this identity and these experiences have shaped me.”

During the production and recording process for the album, the rising JOVM mainstay managed the creative aspects of the album, from writing and composition to choreography and styling, ensuring that the album faithfully reflects her artistic vision. She collaborated with a number of renowned producers including Willy Wonder and Guillaume Doubet, who helped develop the material’s ambient-leaning, refined sound and aesthetic.

The album will feature the previously released released “Phénomène,” a slickly produced bit of dance floor friendly pop anchored around a hook-driven, house music-meets-Rihanna-like production that features glistening synth arpeggios paired with 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.

The album’s fourth and latest single “Good Trip” continues a run of slickly produced, hook-driven R&B-inspired synth pop that sounds like a sleek synthesis of 2000s pop and trap. Featuring lyrics sung in both French and English, “Good Trip” sees the JOVM mainstay at arguably their most introspective, with the song focusing on end of the night come down and regret. ” “It’s a really personal song for me, an exploration of the end of the night, when the sun comes out and you find yourself regretting the decisions you made in the euphoria of the moment,” Naomi explains.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Mila Degray Returns with Confessional and Hook-Driven “Two Bridges”

Mila Degray is a Broward County, FL-born singer/songwriter and actor. Inspired by the likes of Pretty Sick, Alex G. and Melanie Martinez, Degray’s pairs brutally honest lyrics with a sound that blends elements of indie rock, alt rock, bubblegum grunge, streetgaze and pop rock. Her work reminds the listener that there’s power in self-discovery and vulnerability. 

Last month, I wrote about “Masculine Charm,” a track anchored around a hazy, lo-fi production, dusty and skittering beats, a fuzzy New Order-like guitar hook and the Floridian’s coquettish yet achingly tender delivery. While seemingly nodding at Soccer Mommy and Pom Pom Squad, “Masculine Charm” reveals an artist, who can craft an earnest, lived-in song with big, rousingly anthemic and catchy choruses hooks and choruses. 

Degray has had a rather busy summer: Along with the release of “Masculine Charm,” the Floridian artist opened for Isabel Larissa on her sold-out tour, and she made a cameo in the video for Charli XCX and Billie Eilish‘s “Guess (remix).”

Building upon a growing profile, Degray’s full-length debut, Silver Meteor 98 is slated for an October 18, 2024 release. The album’s first single “Two Bridges” pairs glistening synth arpeggios and industrial-like clang and clatter with Degray’s achingly tender delivery singing lyrics about a dysfunctional relationship fueled by distrust and betrayal. While being a stylistic left turn from its predecessor, the song sees Degray further establishing herself as an artist, who can pair confessional lyrics with a catchy hook, much like Soccer Mommy, Phoebe Bridgers and others.

singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Half Waif Shares Cinematic “The Museum”

Last month, acclaimed singer/songwriter, musician and producer Nandi Rose, best known as Half Waif announced the release of her fourth studio album, See You At The Maypole. Slated for an October 4, 2024 release through ANTI- Records, the album’s material came to fruition after a newly pregnant Rose experienced a heartbreaking miscarriage in December 2021, followed by months of medical complications. “I was literally carrying death inside me,” she explains, “and then my body was frozen.” At the same time, Rose’s beloved mother-in-law was diagnosed with aggressive pancreatic cancer; for the acclaimed artist, it felt like the universe was playing an endless, cruel joke.

And so, Rose wrote to save herself. Before sunrise, she wrote in the quiet corner of the would-be nurses while her husband slept across the hall. These were lullabies for no one, whispers dissipating into the fog. Though the stem of many of the album’s songs were written in isolation, they would soon turn into a collective calling for anyone experiencing devastating loss. See You At The Maypole is a room for wailing, not just for catharsis, but for connection.

The album’s latest single “The Museum” is a breathtakingly cinematic track featuring soaring strings, twinkling keys, brooding oboe and a gently stuttering backbeat serving as a lush bed for Rose’s achingly tender vocal. Seemingly nodding at synthesis of film scores and Kate Bush, “The Museum” is anchored in loss, both real and anticipatory — and the absurdity of mundanity in a world on the brink of collapse.

“There’s a warehouse at the top of Main Street in my tiny town that’s being turned into a museum for Shaker art,” Rose explains. “It’s just down the road from my house, so I pass by it all the time. When I wrote ‘The Museum,’ I was thinking about how sort of beautifully delusional it is to create a museum at a time when the world is reaching the apex of climate crisis. This idea of preserving pieces of furniture in a pristine, white-walled space when outside, everything is collapsing.”

She continues, “I’d also read a headline about how people were vacationing in Iceland at an active volcano, and that seemed to hold the same feeling for me as the museum-under-construction. Tourism at the brink of apocalypse. Meanwhile, my husband and I were talking about building a family, building a future, and I was grappling with the responsibility of what it means to bring a child into this kind of world—where people pose for selfies while the earth explodes.”

Directed filmed and edited by Derrick Belcham and featuring choreography and movement direction by Kora Radella, the accompanying video for “The Museum,” is fittingly a museum painting-like visual.

singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Bearniez Shares a Slickly Produced, Hook-Driven Bop

Bearniez is an Indonesian-Italian singer/songwriter and sound engineer, whose travels to the major metropolitan areas across the globe has influenced her ability to mix multiple elements from different genres and cultures in her work.

Her latest single, “Safari Motion” is a slickly produced, hook-driven bop featuring dense layers of glistening synths, skittering beats, bursts of squiggling funk guitar a sinuous bas line that serve as a lush bed for Bearniez’s plaintive pop starlet delivery.

According to the Indonesian-Italian artist, the song describes the her creativity as a sort of jungle, a chaotic world of colors, beauty and danger. As you get older, imagination and creativity are supposed to be boxed and put away. The expectation is that you must follow the pragmatic, “adult” path. But the song talks about not letting external pressure to make you “grow up” and stop being creative or imaginative.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Malcolm Lally Shares Heartfelt and Anthemic “Graves”

Malcolm Lally is an emerging Galway-based singer/songwriter and producer, who specializes in a sound that blends the nostalgia-inducing elements of indie pop, R&B, synth pop, electro pop and EDM with contemporary production.

Lally’s highly-anticipated EP UV will feature lead single “Graves,” a slickly produced pop anthem featuring acoustic and electric guitar, glistening synths, incredibly catchy, rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses serving as lush bed for Lally’s yearning delivery and heart-proudly-worn-on-sleeve earnest lyricism. Sonically, “Graves” seems like a seamless and hook-driven synthesis of The Weeknd and Tears for Fears.

Thematically, “Graves” explores universal themes of longing and loss that touch all of us, as we navigate the various comings and goings of those were old dear, with the song being a reminder of the enduring impact our dear ones have on our lives — even after they’ve departed. The song is also an important reminder to cherish the memories of everyone who has touched your life, regardless of the circumstances that may have had you separated from them.

In “Graves,” Lally explores the universal themes of longing and loss that touch us all as we navigate the comings and goings of those we hold dear. The song serves as a poignant reminder of the enduring impact that individuals have on our lives, even after they have departed. It encourages listeners to cherish the memories of those who have touched their lives, regardless of the circumstances that may have separated them.

“This song is a reflection of the deep connections we form with others, and the impact they have on us long after they are gone,” Lally explains. “It’s about honoring the memories we carry with us and recognizing the profound influence of those who have shaped our journeys.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Only Twin Shares Cinematic and Swooning “Give You Up”

Initially known for his work with Forgive Durden and Cardiknox, Seattle-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Thomas Dutton is the create mastermind behind the rising, solo, synth pop project Only Twin.

Back in Seattle, every show Dutton went to gave him a sense of longing. It didn’t matter if they were playing to dozens or hundreds, the band was up on that stage tearing their hearts out in front of the world. Dutton knew he wanted to be up there on a stage, like the bands he was catching as a fan. As a teen, carpooling with his friends’ older siblings meant expose to bands and songs he had never heard before. Songs that weren’t played on the radio — and songs that opened his eyes and ears in transformative ways. “I’m always trying to capture that feeling I had when I was discovering music that changed my life,” Dutton says.

Inspired by the likes of The 1975 and Bon Iver, Only Twin emerged out of necessity. When Cardiknox split up, producing became Dutton’s full-time job, and he wanted to start a project that showed himself as a left-of-center, indie pop aesthete. But as Dutton used music to process both the dissolution of Cardiknox and a breakup, Only Twin took a life of its own. “It started as a way to carve out a little space for myself,” he says. “But as I started reclaiming tracks I’d written for other people, the project gave me closure on a huge chapter in my life.” 

Dutton’s sophomore Only Twin effort, the recently released it Feels Nice to Burn sees him bottling that sense of nostalgia. “I still feel like that wide-eyed 13-year-old at his first show in a lot of ways,” he says. Thematically, It Feels Nice to Burn continues the exploration of love, rebirth and new beginnings that he explored on his Only Twin debut, 2021’s Rare Works. Sonically, the new album sees Dutton finding the sweet spot between left-of-center indie pop and dreamy rock, while marking the next chapter of his life, one that sees him embracing the love of a lifetime and fatherhood. Unsurprisingly, the experience of falling in love, getting married and raising a child has given new meaning to his music and to himself.

When the Night-era St. Lucia-like album single “Give You Up” is slow-burning, seemingly 80s rom-com-inspired song featuring glistening synths, gated reverberated drums, bursts of twinkling keys, bursts of shimmering and squiggling guitars paired with Dutton’s plaintive delivery paired with the Seattle-born, Los Angeles-based artist’s unerring knack for crafting swooningly earnest tracks with big hooks and choruses.

“Give You Up” is rooted in lived-in personal experience with the song describing the moment Dutton and his wife “jumped into the deep end” of their burgeoning relationship.

Directed by The Director Brothers, the accompanying video for “Give You Up” stars Julianne Hough as a bored office drone, who has an odd yet adorable affair with an old office copier that plays on rom-com tropes.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: LYV and Semi Team Up with Mistah FAB on a Summery and Club Friendly Bop

LYV is an emerging San Francisco-based, Mexican-American singer/songwriterand marketing manager at EMPIRE. The emerging San Francisco-based artist comes from an R&B and gospel background — but she has writing and co-writing credits for artists across a variety of genres. 

Over the past 18 months or so, the emerging San Francisco-based artist has been steadily releasing material, including last year’s “Haunted,” a track that paired her sultry pop starlet vocal with an atmospheric, Quiet Storm-inspired production featuring skittering trap-like beats and ethereal synths. But at its core is an earnest expression of yearning and desire. 

Her latest single “Fantasy” is hook-driven and summery, club friendly bop that’s a slick synthesis of elements of old-school house, contemporary R&B and Jungle Brothers era hip-hop that’s lush and roomy enough for LYV and Semi to croon with yearning — and for Oakland-based legend Mistah FAB to spit a few bars discussing a young, passionate, fervent love. It’s the sort of song you’d want playing in the background while you’re trying to seduce that long-held crush/love interest/sitautionship.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Remy Bond Shares Lush, Mesmerizing “Summer Song”

Remy Bond is a 19 year-old, New York-based singer/songwriter, who spent much of her childhood living out her own version of Just Kids: She grew up at the renowned Chelsea Hotel, surrounded by music. Her obsession with the silver screen, and the washed up beauty of places like Atlantic City and Las Vegas add a nostalgic undertone to her lyrics.

Bond’s work sees her combing modern elements with her deep rooted love of the past — specifically Golden Age Hollywood — where she often retreats to write, which creates an anachronistic nostalgia, while exploring what it’s like to be a young woman — right now.

The rising young singer/songwriter’s latest single, the Jules Apollinaire co-produced, Air co-written “Summer Song” is a lush and narcoleptic bit of nostalgia-inducing bit of dream pop anchored by Bond’s silky delivery, glistening keys, twinkling synths. Written in Paris, recorded in London and finished in Los Angeles, the song specifically evokes the long bygone era of 60s glamor — but with decidedly modern sensibility that reminds me of Pavo Pavo.

“It’s very much an American song lyrically, reminiscing on the essence of the late 60s and early 70s,” Bond explains. “I have endless love for Sharon Tate & the American sweethearts of the time, but I didn’t want it to be so super apple pie, so I reached out to AIR, which bought in rich new elements and sounds, as well as my British producers, who really brought a seasoned perspective to the project.”

Directed by 16 year-old Jagger Blue, produced by Olivia Violet, and a cast of high schoolers recruited by Bond, the video is spot-on ode to the imagery and vibe of Valley of the Dolls, The Virgin Suicides and Hairspray that opens with Bond leaving her fiancé at the altar for another man.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: Miami’s Yari M Releases a Shimmering Bop

With the release of her debut EP, 2021’s six-song Yo Soy, emerging and rising Miami-based Puerto Rican singer/songwriter Yari M quickly established a sound that meshed Urban Latin R&B and pop rhythms. Yo Soy EP track “Freshy” garnered some traction with a remix that featured Randy and Brray, which amassed over 1 million YouTube and Spotify streams.

Building upon growing momentum, the emerging and rising Puerto Rican artist appeared on Randy’s 2021 album Romances de Una Nota, showcasing Yari M as the only female artist on the album, among a collection of notable Latin artists.

2023 saw the release of “Esta Lloviendo,” a bachata tune that debuted at #19 on Billboard‘s Tropical Airplay Chart, amassing over 500,000 streams. “Esta Lloviendo” was released through her label Black Diamond Music, where she’s the Vice President and the owner of the first Dolby Atmos studio in Miami. which allows her the creative space to create and bring her artistic vision to life.

Yari M’s career has been frequently marked by her commitment to growth and her desire to bring a fresh sound to her audience. She’s currently working on her first album while working with various Latin artists to expand both her repertoire and her sound.

Her latest single “La Noche” is a slickly produced bop featuring glistening synth arpeggios, skittering reggaeton-meet-trap like beats serving as a lush and woozy bed for Yari M’s coquettish and yearning delivery. The result is a summery track that’s lounge and club friendly.