Tag: indie synth pop

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Geneva Jacuzzi Shares a Striking Visual for a Brooding and Retro-futuristic Bop

Geneva Jacuzzi is a Los Angeles-based multimedia artist, whose immersive and unhinged performances are considered legendary: they often involve a psychotropic gallery of masks, costumes, confrontation and massive art installations. Her recorded music frequently features catchy hooks and cryptic moods dusted in 4-track grit.

Jacuzzi recently signed to Dais Records, who shared the following about the signing: “As long-time fans of Geneva’s immersive world-building, singular songwriting and unforgettable live performances, we are honored to welcome her to the Dais roster.” She adds, “So excited to join the Dais crew. It’s definitely the coolest label in LA. Exciting new adventures on the horizon!” 

The Los Angeles-based multimedia artist’s latest single “Dry” is a brooding yet swaying bit of 80s retro-futuristic synth pop, anchored around layers of glistening analog synth arpeggios and skittering beats paired with catchy, razor sharp hooks. Jacuzzi’s seemingly detached vocal singing about disconnection and uncertainty ethereally floats over the dreamy arrangement.

“I took a little break from writing music and when I sat down at home to record, ‘Dry’ was the first song to burst out,” Jacuzzi recalls. “The music came together so instantly it’s as if it had been waiting and perfecting itself for years in the ether. The chorus lyrics came that same week after I went on a date with Mike Judge and he never called me back (haha). I wasn’t upset or anything, but I had never been ghosted before and couldn’t help but equate modern love to an appliance you buy on the home shopping network.”

The accompanying video is shot in a strikingly cinematic black and white, and features Geneva suspended upside down in an elaborate art installation-meets-costume, being literally hung out to dry.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Julie Thuillier is a French singer/songwriter, who started her career as a member of Zebra Love, an act that released two EPs. Since then Thuillier has stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist with her recording project AMA Waves, which sees her pairing slickly produced, neon tinted synth pop with lyrics sung in English.

The French singer/songwriter’s AMA Waves debut EP, the Daniel Burkhart-produced Delirium is slated for release later this year. The EP’s latest single “I drop my guard” is a blissful pop confection built around glistening synth arpeggios, thumping beats and rousingly anthemic hooks serving as a lush bed for Thuillier’s earnest yet defiant vocal. The result is a feminist anthem that seemingly channels Robyn, Pink and others.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Kalystia Shares 80s Inspired Synth-driven Bop

Kalystia is the solo synth pop recording project of a mysterious and emerging British singer/songwriter and musician, who started the project after watching the major motion picture Drive.

Inspired by the synth-driven soundtrack of the film, the British artist started to learn how to play synths, much like the sounds heard throughout the film. Two weeks later, they loaded up a vintage synth and attempted to mix that vibe with their love of the psychedelic elements of Tame Impala’s sound.

Kalystia’s latest single “Tonight, I’m Alive” is a swaggering 80s soundtrack-inspired bop built around glistening synth oscillations, anthemic, shout along with your drink raised in the air-worthy choruses, gated reverb soaked beats, wobbling bass lines and a woozy guitar solo paired with the British artist’s yearning delivery.

At its core is a youthful sense of abandon — and of enjoying life’s small pleasures before they pass.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Cisco Bluff is an emerging Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His second single, which also is the first official single off his forthcoming EP “Second Sight” is a slickly produced and funky 80s-inspired synth pop track built around glistening synth arpeggios, lush synth pads, a sinuous bass line and skittering beats paired with Bluff’s melancholy and yearning delivery and an uncanny sense of catchy hooks.

While sonically “Second Sight” reminds me a bit of Rush Midnight, St. Lucia, and others, the song as Bluff explains “essentially began as a ballad about sexual desire. It’s about falling into rapture, fantasy taking hold and being pulled into a hypnotic state of longing.”

“The song was originally written on guitar and later arranged around a rhythm I had programmed on my Oberheim DX drum machine, the same one used on many 80s classics,” the Los Angeles-based artist adds. “What you hear in the song is that original hardware. Everything else came together around that beat, which I immediately knew wanted big arpeggiated synth bass and lush pads.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Radiant Baby Shares Slinky “Mort de Rire”

Félix Mongeon is a Montréal-based singer/songwriter, musician, producer and creative mastermind behind Radiant Baby. Mongeon’s Radiant Baby debut EP It’s My Party caught the attention of Lisbon Lux, who signed him and then released the Montréaler’s 2019 full-length debut, Restless. Restless saw Mongeon creating a sound that meshes crisp electronic sounds with organic instrumentation to convey a more mature and dynamic aesthetic.

Since the release of Restless, the French-Canadian artist has very busy: He has made the rounds of the provincial and national festival circuit, with sets at Festival Pop Montréal, M pour Montréal, Festival Mode et Design, Picnik Électronik, Festival Fringe de Montréal, Santa Teresa Fest and Canadian Music Week. He also played at New Colossus Festival.

2021 saw the release of Mongeon’s sophomore Radiant Baby album, Pantomime, which was followed up with a deluxe edition of Pantomime (Deluxe) last year.

The French Canadian artist starts 2024 with “Mort de Rire,” the third single from his forthcoming third album slated for a summer 2024 release. “Mort de Rire,” is a slinky bit of synth-driven New Wave-like funk paired with Mongeon’s dreamy falsetto that sounds as though it could have been released sometime between the late 1970s and early 1980s. The song, as the rising Canadian artist explains inspects the twists and turns of our darkest sides — without taking itself too seriously.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Pill Couple Share An Anthemic Banger

Pill Couple is a Vietnamese-based electronic duo, with members who grew up in the US and Russia, who have been friends since school. The duo’s sound sees them experimenting and meshing different genres and styles including dream pop, dark wave, synth wave, psychedelia and hip-hop rooted in melodicism, emotive vocals and heart-worn-on-sleeve lyrics that thematically focuses on sorrow and hope.

The duo’s latest single “Violetize” is a slickly produced bit of synthwave/darkwave featuring buzzing synth oscillations, glistening synths, industrial clang and clatter, tweeter and woofer rattling thump and Nik’s expressive delivery paired with rousingly anthemic hooks and chorus. The result is a song that pairs pop craft with modern production and earnest lyrics.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: No Rest for the People Shares Swooning “Hair Dresser”

Andros Bonn Mitch is a singer/songwriter and musician, who has spent much of his life creating music — primarily with bands. Earlier this year, Bonn Mitch stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist with his DIY indie synth pop project No Rest for the People.

Bonn Mitch explains that his life had been turned upside down by a family tragedy that had him spiraling. He started deeply listening to music again, which led to him rediscovering a love of songwriting, a love that he had lost some years ago. Music and songwriting helped him heal, and as he says “hopefully make music that not only brings me joy, but you too.”

His debut No Rest for the People single “Hair Dresser” is a swooning and carefully crafted bit of 80s pop built around glistening synth arpeggios, Bonn Mitch’s dreamily yearning delivery, remarkably catchy hooks and laconic yet propulsive beats. While sonically recalling Pet Shop Boys, Spandau Ballet and others, the song as Bonn Mitch is about falling in love with your hair stylist.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Neon Valley Shares Breezy and Hook-Driven “Fortune Cookie”

French singer/songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Deji Seigert is the mastermind behind the emerging synth project Neon Valley. Inspired by late 70s and early 80s pop, Seigert’s work, which is created in his home studio, has a decidedly nostalgic feel — with a modern twist.

After working on Disiz‘s latest album L’Amour, the French singer/songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist returns with his latest single “Fortune Cookie” a moody, hook-driven bit of synth pop built around glistening synth arpeggios, a funky and propulsive bass line paired with Seigert’s punchy yet plaintive delivery. While sonically bringing St. Lucia to mind, the song thematically touches on disillusionment and nostalgia for seemingly better times.

Directed by Baptiste Erondel and starring Agathe Bokja & Nicky Naudé, the accompanying video for “Fortune Cookie” is a slick sendup of infomercials and commercials, while featuring a disillusioned women seeking answers — and not quite getting them.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of their debut single, 2021’s “Colder,” Los Angeles-based synth duo Sacred Skin — Brian DaMert and Brian Tarney — quickly stole the hearts of coldwavers and goths globally with melancholic undertones and pitch perfect songwriting.

A subsequent series of singles starting with “Eyes Closed” and “Far Away” earned them live shows at Substance Festival, the Hollywood Palladium and elsewhere. Building upon a growing profile, last year’s full-length debut The Decline of Pleasure saw the rising synth duo quickly establishing their sound and approach: dreamy New Wave-inspired arrangements made from the use of early digital outboard gear and samplers paired with DaMert’s vocal delivery, expressing lust and longing throughout.

The rising Los Angeles-based synth duo recently signed to Artifact Records. And to celebrate the occasion, Sacred Skin share a cover of Seona Dancing‘s “Bitter Heart.”

Seona Dancing was a short lived synth duo featuring Ricky Gervais (yes, that Ricky Gervais) and Bill Macrae. They released a two Phil Thornalley-produced singles back in 1983, which were released through London Records before they were dropped and never heard from again. Sacred Skin’s Brain Tarney has had a copy of the “Bitter Heart” 12-inch single in his DJ bag for about a decade. And when reflecting upon covering the song, he said that people always ask him about it, without fail, and that they’ve never been able to track down a single cover of the song — until now!

While the original was an icy, New Order-like take on post punk and synth pop, Sacred Skin manages to craft a fairly straightforward cover that subtly soften the song’s edges and gently pushes the tempo up a bit while retaining the brooding nature of the original.

“We are thrilled to announce that we have signed with Artoffact Records amongst so many of our peers and heroes. Our second LP (and first for Artoffact) will be released in Spring of 2024,” the band excitedly says. “In the meantime we are dropping a cover of a little known new wave anthem from Ricky Gervais and his short lived career as a recording artist before finding his second calling as one the world’s biggest comedians.”

SACRED SKIN LIVE DATES:
Sat, Oct. 14 – San Diego, CA @ The Casbah w/ Forever Grey
Sun, Oct. 22 – Reno, NV @ Holland Project w/ Fearing
Mon, Oct. 23 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Liquid Joe’s w/ Fearing
Tue, Oct. 24 – Denver, CO @ The Crypt Bar w/ Fearing
Thu, Oct. 26 – Austin, TX @ LEVITATION – Elysium 
Fri, Oct. 27 – San Antonio, TX @ Vice Versa 
Sun, Oct. 29 – El Paso, TX @ Modern Art Bar w/ Fearing
Tue, Oct. 31 – Mesa, AZ @ Nile Underground w/ Fearing
Wed, Nov. 1 – Las Vegas, NV @ Backstage Bar w/ Fearing
Fri, Nov. 10 – Los Angeles @ Substance Festival