Tag: London UK

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

London-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Oscar “Sholto” Robertson grew up with a deep and abiding love of jazz, soul, krautrock and 60s and 70s soundtracks. Initially known as being one-half of indie outfit Sunglasses for Jaws, Robertson honed his production skills under the guidance and tutelage of Allah-Las‘ Nick Waterhouse and Inflo.

Four years ago, Robertson stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist with his latest project SHOLTO, which sees him crafting a unique take on instrumental, psychedelic soul. Last year was a big year for the rising London-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer: He signed to Deep Matter imprint Root Records, who released his SHOTOL debut, The Changing Tides of Dreams EP. 

The rising British artist’s work has received airplay from Jazz FM‘s Tony Minvielle and BBC Radio 6‘s Huey Morgan, Deb Grant and Gilles Peterson. Building upon a rapidly growing national profile, Robertson’s latest track “Ligurian Storm” continues a run of gorgeous and mischievously anachronistic material that seemingly channels The Ironsides, Mildlife, Adrian Younge/The Midnight Hour, David Axelrod and Quincy Jones — but with a cinematic quality.

Conceived on a stormy train ride from Milan to Liguria, the compositions blend of swelling and building harp, strings, vibraphone and synths evoke the build up on a growing storm swallowing and overwhelming a beautiful landscape.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Steve Wynn Shares Punchy “Making Good on My Promises”

Steve Wynn is an acclaimed singer/songwriter and musician, solo artist and frontman of the revered alt-rock/indie rock outfit The Dream Syndicate and The Baseball Project. 

This year will be a very busy year for Wynn: Make It Right, the acclaimed singer/songwriter’s first solo album since 2010 is slated for an August 30, 2024 release through Fire Records. The album also coincides with the release of his new memoir I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True, which will be published by Jawbone Press.

I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True is a vivid and revealing memoir that tells a tale of writing songs and playing in bands as a conduit to a world its author could once have barely imagined — a world of major labels, luxury tour buses and sold out theaters across the world, but also one of alcohol, drugs and a a low-level rock ‘n’ roll Babylon. Ultimately, it’s a tale of redemption, with music as a vehicle for artistic and personal transformation and transcendence. 

Make It Right was written and recorded in tandem with Wynn’s work on the memoir. “With each chapter, I would get ideas for songs inspired by the deep dive into my past and vice versa,” Wynn explains. “The reflections became intertwined after a while, a mutual commentary between literal and metaphorical ruminating.

“The songs here aren’t directly autobiographical although the album does start with ‘Santa Monica,’ the city and boulevard where I was born and concludes with ‘Roosevelt Avenue,’ the main thoroughfare of the Queens neighborhood in New York City that I call home today. You write what you know—even when you’re not aware it’s what you’re writing about at the time.

“If the book recounted a tale of trepidation and dread and questionable choices, then that tale would turn into a song of similar intent like ‘What Were You Expecting.’ A step back for perspective and positivity, in turn, found its way into a song like ‘You’re Halfway There.’

The cataclysmic ‘one big open drain’ of ‘Simpler Than the Rain’ was resolved by the resolute ‘I’m just trying to make it right’ on the title track. A gauzy and melancholy where-did-it-go-wrong Southern California flashback on the Long Beach inspired ‘Cherry Avenue’ would steer me towards a steelier determination and reset on ‘Making Good on My Promises.’

“It was a dialogue between the memoirist and the musician, a one-man Q&A, a gentle volley in the tennis court of my mind. 40-love, game, set and match.

As I’ve found the melodies and words to stir and simmer with the stories I told in the book, I’ve simultaneously brought friends and collaborators from my recent and distant past to help flesh them out on the record. The likes of Vicki Peterson, Mike Mills, Stephen McCarthy, Scott McCaughey, Jason Victor, Dennis Duck and Mark Walton and my wife Linda Pitmon are all in the book and—look! —there they are on the record as well!”

“And much like life itself, new faces and hit-and-run collaborators would pass my radar during the sessions and provide new light as well. Chris Schlarb from California dream pop ensemble Psychic Temple added his cinematic touch, Emil Nikolaisen of Norway psych-grunge combo Serena Maneesh chimed in with his trademark sonic anarchy and then Eric “Roscoe” Ambel used his studio savvy producer chops to tie it all together at the end.

It feels perfect and very appropriate that the book and record will both be coming out in the same final week of August 2024. Not that one is needed to understand the other. Hey, you can just put on ‘Make It Right’ and use it as the catalyst to create your own life story, dig into your own past. It belongs to you now. Let it tell your own tale while I tell mine. We’re all just trying to make it right.”

Last month, I wrote about Make It Right‘s first single, album title track “Make It Right,” a slow-burning and ruminative ballad, written from the perspective of someone who has lived a full and messy life of foolish and selfish mistakes regrets, heartbreak, bitter betrayals and joyous triumphs — and with the deep, wizened empathy and understanding that people are flawed, occasionally myopic, stupid and selfish. But almost all of us are trying to make it right somehow in a mad, desperate world that’s on fire.

Make It Right‘s second and latest single “Making Good On My Promises” is a defiant, post punk-inspired ripper. Seemingly drawing from The Jam and XTC, the song is anchored around angular guitar jangle, soulful organ blast, a jaunty yet driving rhythm section and a punchily delivered hooks and choruses. Much like its immediate predecessor, “Making Good On My Promises” is written from hard-fought, harder-won experience — and in turn, the perspective of someone who’s been near the brink and survived while being acutely aware of the fact that the shoe will inevitably drop at some point.

“I wrote this song with Paco Loco, a prolific producer down in Spain,” Wynn says. “Haven’t heard of him?  If you live in Spain, I guarantee you have.  Dude’s a legend and I’d estimate that he’s produced half the records released down there in the last several decades.  The lyrics, like most of the words on ‘Make It Right,’ fit into the overall narrative of my book—a defiant and yet tentative of a return from a temporary abyss while keeping a wary eye out for the next dip ahead.  I shot the video within the confines and out on the streets in London surrounding my groovy label Fire Records.  Together, we’ll make good on those promises.

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.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Mister Lady Shares a Mesmerizing and Swaggering Banger

Jacqueline King is a Chicago-born, Berlin-educated, London-trained, Los Angeles-based electronic music producer and DJ, best known in electronic music circles as Mister Lady. With Mister Lady, King draws from a huge catalog of musical influences, […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Beach Ready Teams Up with Boe Huntress on Breezy “RIde Your Horses”

Christopher Cordoba is a London-based instrumental solo artist, composer and session musician, whose career started in earnest as a member of Jack Adaptor and Vibrations of The Sun, two projects that featured The Family Cat’s Paul Frederick. As an instrumental solo artist, Cordoba has released a series of critically acclaimed, eclectic efforts that has seen him collaborating with a an equally eclectic array of artists and producers including Robert Wyatt David Watson, The Associates’ Billy Mackenzie, Phil Vinall, Propaganda’s Claudia Brucken, Robyn Hitchcock, Pascal Gabriel, PJ Harvey’s Terry Edwards, Audrey Riley, Alex Thomas, Charlie Winston and a list of others. 

Cordoba’s sophomore Beach Ready album, last year’s Archipelago was released through Snow in Water Records. The album’s material is darker in texture and more extreme than Cordoba’s self-titled Beach Ready debut while still being centered around Cordoba’s guitar work and penchant for atmospheric soundscapes. The album also sees Cordoba incorporating drone, glitch, Frippertronics, industrial, New Wave and New age to create a unique sound collage that imparts an urgent ambience. Fittingly, the album thematically focuses on destruction — an all too present theme in our seemingly pre-apocalyptic moment. 

Cordoba’s latest single “Ride Your Horses” is the third collaboration with labelmate Boe Huntress. The collaboration can trace its origins back to when the pair met while playing a David Bowie tribute show at London’s Union Chapel, where Huntress was the artist in residence. “Ride Your Horses” is features an elegiac and gorgeous vocal from Huntress paired with a percussive production anchored around gently twinkling pads, jazzy four-on-the-floor, bursts of reverb-soaked guitar. While being a breezy and summery bop, “Ride Your Horses” sonically brings Princess Century‘s 2021 effort s u r r en d e r and BRAIDS‘ 2013 effort Flourish//Perish to mind, thanks to a forward thinking yet accessible production.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Los Bitchos Share Blissed Out Beach Bop “Don’t Change”

Acclaimed London-based instrumental outfit and JOVM mainstays Los Bitchos — Australian-born, Serra Petale (guitar); Uruguayan-born Agustina Ruiz (keytar); Swedish-born, Josefine Jonsson (bass) and London-born Nic Crawshaw (drums) — can trace their origins to meeting at various late-night parties and through mutual friends. Inspired by their individual members’ different upbringings and backgrounds, the acclaimed British outfit have firmly established a genre-blurring, retro-futuristic sound that playfully blends elements of Peruvian chica, Argentine cumbia, Turkish psych, surf rock, and the music each individual member grew up with: 

  • The Uruguayan-born Ruiz had a Latin-American music collection that the members of the band fell in love with

  • The Swedish-born Jonsson “brings a touch of out of control pop,” her bandmates often joke

  • Aussie-born Petale is deeply inspired by her mother’s 70s Anatolian rock records

  • And the London-born Crawshaw played in a number of local punk bands before joining Los Bitchos

“Coming from all these different places,” Los Bitchos’ Serra Petale says, “it means we’re not stuck in one genre and we can rip up the rulebook a bit when it comes to our influences.”

The JOVM mainstays’ Alex Kapranos-produced, critically applauded, full-length debut, 2022’s Let The Festivities Begin! was recorded at Gallery Studios, and saw the band cementing their reputation for crafting playful, lysergic yet party friendly grooves. 

The quartet capped off a breakthrough year with two Serra Petale and Javier Weyler-co-produced singles “Tip Tapp” and “Los Chrismos,” their first Christmas-themed composition. Fittingly, “Los Chrismos” is a celebratory party-starting romp built around a psych rock-inspired, dexterous and looping guitar line, atmospheric synths, cumbia rhythms paired with holiday appropriate cheers and shouts. Simply put, the song is a much-needed hope and joy bomb in desperate, uneasy time. 

Building upon a growing profile internationally, the London-based JOVM mainstays released 2023’s PAH! EP, a two-track effort that featured a mischievously, rowdy and downright boozy cover of The Champs‘ oft-covered “Tequila,” a song that has become a fan favorite during the band’s live shows and a reworking of King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard‘s “Trapdoor.” 

Today, the London-based instrumental outfit announced that their highly anticipated sophomore album, the Oli Barton-Wood-produced Talkie Talkie is slated for an August 30, 2024 release through City Slang. Deriving its name from a fictional club of the same name, Talkie Talkie is a late-night paradise, brimming with freedom and possibility; a place where partygoers can escape reality by getting caught in the groove and dancing it all away or daydream along to the invigorating soundscape.

Recorded over a short but intense month-long series of sessions at London’s RAK Studios and Lightship 95, sonically, the album will transport the listener into a world where funk, disco, Latin and Turkish rhythms collide in a euphoric fusion fueled by adventurous experimentation and their endearingly puckish spirit. If 2022’s Let The Festivities Begin was the rowdy build up to the big night out with your homies, Talkie Talkie is the equivalent of rocking out to the groove on the dance floor.

The album’s material is anchored in a vivid cinematic universe that takes inspiration from the band’s favorite aesthetic era — the ’80s. Think less self-serious men, gated reverb and more campy, hi-fi pop songwriting that glistens with moxie and verve. The quartet especially wanted to tap into the sonic innovation of the period, where analog and digital techniques collided to create polished texture and depth.

The album will feature the previously released “La Bomba,” a hook-driven 80s Turkish psych pop-inspired bop anchored around a shuffling dance floor rhythm, a twangy and looping guitar line, a disco-influenced bass line, some video game-like beats paired with glistening synths and ecstatic shouts. “‘La Bomba’ is a burst of energy and power! It’s just such a fun song – we started playing it at festivals last summer and the energy felt so good!” The band says in press notes. 

“The beginning stabs are what came to me (Serra) first as I was cooking in my kitchen. There’s something quite heroic and powerful about the opening guitar tone and the stabs underneath them. The twangy guitar tone cuts through the chaotic landscape of claps, pumping disco bassline and dreamy swirling synth sounds. The disco era influence is quite evident in this song, and I think the bassline sets the tone perfectly for this. Structurally the song delivers straight into a chorus (as Nile Rodgers said, ‘why wait?’). We wanted to keep this as close to a classic pop structure as possible, everything straight to the point. 

“The cherries on top are the little ping pong drum sounds (think Ring My Bell, Anita Ward) – they just make the track go off and totally emulate the feelings of euphoria and pure energy running through it.”

Talkie Talkie’s second and latest single “Don’t Change” is a breezy and blissful jam anchored around a languid and reverb-drenched Spanish-tinged, psych rock-inspired guitar line, stomping percussion, glistening and atmospheric synths and an arpeggiated, funky synth bass line. It’s the perfect soundtrack for frolicking at the beach, of dreaming of heading to the beach with your best pals — or for riding a ferry and dreaming that you were on a super expensive yacht drinking mimosas.

Directed by Tom Mitchell, the accompanying video for “Don’t Change” is a deliriously fun joy bomb that captures the band — fittingly — frolicking in paradise while seemingly on vacation. Can I join y’all?

“‘Don’t Change’ is a pure bliss track; think holiday vibes with ice creams, beach balls, sunsets and margaritas,” the band says of the song and its accompanying video. “It’s feel-good, with sun soaked melodies, vibrant arpeggiator synth bass, and layers of percussion. We had such a fun time making the video, making up little dances and frolicking about in the sand and sea!”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Deriving their name from their favorite PJ Harvey song “Meet Ze Monsta,” Dutch indie trio Black Monsoon — Jacky (guitar, vocals), Marjolin (drums, vocals) and Teun (guitar, vocals) — have received attention across the Netherlands and the European Union for a sound that the cognoscenti have favorably described to early Nirvana, The Stooges and Sonic Youth.

2018’s Joes Brands-recorded, self-titled debut EP saw the band quickly establishing their sound, rooted in unusual guitar tunings and drill machine-like solos earned the band opening sets for Sonic Youth‘s Steve Shelley, L.A. Witch and Belgian JOVM mainstays Whispering Sons. They also earned sets at Popronde Festival, the touring festival for emerging and up-and-coming Dutch bands.

2019’s “Jabberwocky,” “Losing” and “Pantomime” were released to critical praise. Building upon a growing profile across The Netherlands, the trio released their Jan Schenk-recorded full-length debut, Pantomime in 2020.

The band adheres to defiantly DIY ethos and in the winter of 2020-2021, the band attracted attention through a unique album release tour: The band organized a video release tour, featuring live footage of the band playing the album’s material at unique locations for each song, including an art gallery and a skate park, to present the song within the most appropriate atmosphere.

Since then, the duo signed to London-based label Civil War, and have toured across Germany and the UK, while recording new material that reportedly sees the band pushing their sound in new directions. “Broken,” the first single from that batch of new material is a grungy, power chord-driven, mosh pit friendly ripper that will bring back memories of Bleach and Incesticide-Nirvana, Veruca Salt and others on your beaten up Walkman.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Los Bitchos Share Glittery Visual for Disco-Inspired Romp “La Bomba”

Acclaimed London-based instrumental outfit Los Bitchos — Australian-born, Serra Petale (guitar); Uruguayan-born Agustina Ruiz (keytar); Swedish-born, Josefine Jonsson (bass) and London-born Nic Crawshaw (drums) — can trace their origins to meeting at various late-night parties and through mutual friends. Inspired by their individual members’ different upbringings and backgrounds, the acclaimed British outfit have firmly established a genre-blurring and retro-futuristic sound that blends elements of Peruvian chica, Argentine cumbia, Turkish psych, surf rock, and the music each individual member grew up with: 

  • The Uruguayan-born Ruiz had a Latin-American music collection that the members of the band fell in love with

  • The Swedish-born Jonsson “brings a touch of out of control pop,” her bandmates often joke

  • Aussie-born Petale is deeply inspired by her mother’s 70s Anatolian rock records

  • And the London-born Crawshaw played in a number of local punk bands before joining Los Bitchos

“Coming from all these different places,” Los Bitchos’ Serra Petale says, “it means we’re not stuck in one genre and we can rip up the rulebook a bit when it comes to our influences.”

Los Bitchos’ Alex Kapranos-produced, critically applauded, full-length debut, 2022’s Let The Festivities Begin! was recorded at Gallery Studios, and saw the band cementing their reputation for crafting playful, lysergic yet party friendly grooves.

The London-based JOVM mainstays capped off a breakthrough year with two Serra Petale and Javier Weyler-co-produced singles “Tip Tapp” and “Los Chrismos,” their first Christmas-themed composition. Fittingly, “Los Chrismos” is a celebratory party-starting romp built around a psych rock-inspired, dexterous and looping guitar line, atmospheric synths, cumbia rhythms paired with holiday appropriate cheers and shouts. Simply put, the song is a much-needed hope and joy bomb in desperate, uneasy time.

The tracks were released digitally and physically on a flexi-disc, bundled with a red vinyl re-pressing of their debut — for that year’s holiday season..

Building upon a growing profile internationally, the London-based JOVM mainstays released 2023’s PAH! EP, a two-track effort that featured a mischievously, rowdy and downright boozy cover of The Champs‘ oft-covered “Tequila,” a song that has become a fan favorite during the band’s live shows. The EP also featured a reworking of King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard‘s “Trapdoor.”

The British outfit’s latest single, the Oli Barton Wood-produced “La Bomba,” the first bit of new material from the band since last year’s PAH! EP. The track is an hook-driven 80s Turkish psych pop-inspired bop anchored around a shuffling dance floor rhythm, a twangy and looping guitar line, a disco-influenced bass line, some video game-like beats paired with glistening synths and ecstatic shouts.

“‘La Bomba’ is a burst of energy and power! It’s just such a fun song – we started playing it at festivals last summer and the energy felt so good!” The band says in press notes.

“The beginning stabs are what came to me (Serra) first as I was cooking in my kitchen. There’s something quite heroic and powerful about the opening guitar tone and the stabs underneath them. The twangy guitar tone cuts through the chaotic landscape of claps, pumping disco bassline and dreamy swirling synth sounds. The disco era influence is quite evident in this song, and I think the bassline sets the tone perfectly for this. Structurally the song delivers straight into a chorus (as Nile Rodgers said, ‘why wait?’). We wanted to keep this as close to a classic pop structure as possible, everything straight to the point. 

“The cherries on top are the little ping pong drum sounds (think Ring My Bell, Anita Ward) – they just make the track go off and totally emulate the feelings of euphoria and pure energy running through it.”

Directed by the band’s long-term artistic collaborator Tom Mitchell, the accompanying video, features some high-energy, glittery visuals that at points playfully nods at Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

The band says of the video “As it’s a high energy, pumping song, we needed to have really dynamic visuals to go with that and bring the song to life. The video has lots of shiny, glitterball moments and moves between performance and surreal segments. We had so much fun with make-up and styling for this video. Josefine saw this thing on Tik Tok where you film in a way which gives the illusion you’re riding a horse, so obviously we had a go and put that in the video last minute on set.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Fat Dog Shares Euphoric Trance Banger “Running”

Led by Joe Love, the rapidly rising London-based electronic act Fat Dog — Love (vocals, production), Chris Hughes (keys, synths), Ben Harris (bass), Johnny Hutchinson (drums) and Morgan Wallace (keyboards and sax) — can trace its origins back to 2021, when Love decided to form a group and take the demos he’d be making as a way to keep himself during lockdown out into the world. Initially, Love had two simple rules: Fat Dog was going to be a healthy band, who looked after themselves and there would be no saxophone presence in their music. But those two simple edicts have long-since been broken.

With Hughes, Harris, Hutchinson and Wallace, Love found like-minded mavericks to help bring the dream home. “A lot of music at the moment is very cerebral and people wonʼt dance to it,” says Hughes. “Our music is the polar opposite of thinking music.” The band’s Chris Hughes should know. He was originally a fan of the band, who at that point had been making a name for themselves with a series of exhilarating and/or wonky shows across South London before he joined.

Those early gigs formed the bedrock of what the rapidly rising British outfit were all about: seizing the moment, drinking too much with the moment, going home separately from the moment, but making up with the moment again the next day. Naturally, the rising British outfit quickly developed a following — and it helped that every show across London had become a huge upgrade on the last.

There’s something far deeper going on with the band. “Thereʼs a sense of community about Fat Dog,” says Hutchinson. And after completing their first shows in the US, including a set at a taco joint, the band has quickly built up a following Stateside. Building upon the buzz in their native UK, the Londoners will tour the UK next month and November, as well as make a run of the European festival circuit, playing sets at festivals in the UK and Europe over the summer.

Amazingly, the band’s breakthrough year or so, has come as the result of only two official singles under their collective belts: “King of the Slugs” and “All The Same,”  propulsive, club rocking, industrial-inspired banger built around glistening synth arpeggios, and orchestral sample-driven hit, industrial clang and clatter paired with skittering, tweeter and woofer rattling boom bap, enormous shout along worthy hooks and a plaintive vocal delivery.

Fat Dog’s highly-anticipated full-length debut, WOOF is slated for a September 6, 2024 release through Domino Recording Co. Produced by the band’s Love, Jimmy Ford and Jimmy Robertson, WOOF‘s material is influenced by Bicep, I.R.O.K., Kamasi Washington and the Russian experimental EDM group Little Big. Sonically, the album reportedly sees the London upstarts firmly establishing music for letting go, anchored around a blend of electro punk, snarling rock, techno soundscapes, industrial electronica and rave euphoria. The sound that Fat Dog makes, according to Love is “screaming-into-a-pillow music.” He continues, “I wanted to make something ridiculous because I was so bored. I don’t like sanitized music. Even this album is sanitized compared to what’s in my head. I thought it would sound more fucked up.”

WOOF‘s latest single “Running” is a hook-driven bit of club rocking trance, built around glistening, razor sharp synth arpeggios, relentless four-on-the-floor, thumping club beats and shouted vocals. But underpinning the club friendly euphoria is a tense, paranoid unease that befits our corporate sponsored hellscape.

Directed by Stephen Agnew, the accompanying video for “Running” is a surreal, breathtakingly cinematic visual with hints to Ken Russell, Ingmar Herman and others that reveals the true origins of the cult of Fat Dog and their real leader.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Zimbabwean-born, London-based emcee Rhyme Assassin is a grizzled vet in the game, starting his career in earnest back in 2000 doing rap battles and performances in his native Zimbabwe before relocating to the UK in 2002. Since then, Rhyme Assassin has appeared on a number of compilations and released a handful of mixtapes, including 2021’s Side Barz.

HIs forthcoming, highly-anticipated full-length debut, Dedicated to Self will feature production from the likes of Buckwild, True Master, DJ King Flow and a list others, as well as guest spots from Ras Kass, Masta Ace, dead prez‘s stic.man, Saigon and Keith Murray. Dedicated to Self‘s latest single, “Run Em Up” sees the Zimbabwean-born, London-based emcee trade mosh pit-inducing bars about running up on the competition with M.O.P. and Ruste Juxx over a bruising and menacing Preemo-like beat from The Arcitype.

The Arcitype beat inspired Rhyme Assassin to reach out to his collaborators. “I could only hear M.O.P. on the instrumental,” he says, adding that it didn’t matter how many times he listened to it, because he only could hear the Brownsville bullies on the beat. Then, when he needed a third verse to close it out, he reached out to Ruste Juxx, who “complemented M.O.P.’s energy and vibes,” Rhyme Assassin says.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Close to Monday Shares Lush and Uneasy “Stranger”

Since their earliest releases back in 2019, rising electro pop duo Close to Monday — Ann (vocals) and Alexander (production) — quickly amassed a dedicated international following while establishing a sound that some have described as blending elements similar to that of acclaimed outfits like CHRVHCES and Boy Harsher, but while forging a musical identity uniquely their own. Thematically, the duo’s work is a guide for people, who are on a journey — either exploring themselves and/or the surrounding world.

2021’s Interference and 2022’s Secret Wishes landed on the Top 3 on the Deutsche Alternative Charts. Adding to a growing profile, the video for “Guns” won awards at international film festivals in London, Rome, and Paris.

The rising electro pop duo will have a very busy 2024: They’ve started a monthly series of releases that continues with their latest single “Stranger.” Built around brooding production featuring glistening synths, wobbling bass synths, skittering beats that serves as a lush and uneasy bed for Ann’s breathily yearning delivery.

Sonically channeling Soft Metals‘ 2013 effort Lenses and Depeche Mode, “Stranger” as the duo explain dives into the darker dimensions of love that can pull us into multiple conflicting directions simultaneously.

“The track delves into the shadows of [the characters’] love story, a complex dance where the desire to break free collides with an irresistible pull, creating a vortex of torment and vitality,” the band says. Elaborating on the magnetism of dysfunctional relationships, they add, “Despite their yearning to escape, each attempt only draws them back into the vicious cycle, a paradoxical realm that both torments and breathes life into their existence. The music mirrors this tumultuous relationship, offering a hauntingly beautiful reflection of the individuals’ struggle to break free from a toxic yet life-sustaining bond.”

The accompanying video for “Stranger” is shot in a gorgeously cinematic black and white that accurately captures the topsy-turvy feelings of unease, obsession, longing and desire that love often brings.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the course of the lat handful of years, the Roskilde-born, London-based singer/songwriter, musician, producer and JOVM mainstay Marie Dahlstrøm has developed and honed a reputation for being one of the most prolific and acclaimed artists in contemporary, indie/underground R&B.

The JOVM mainstay’s third album, last year’s A Good Life was a deeply personal album that was informed and inspired by the recognition that she contained multitudes, thousands of different selves co-existing and contradicting each other — simultaneously. For the Danish-born artist, she’s an acclaimed singer/songwriter and producer. Producer Dan Diggas‘ romantic partner and creative collaborator. A mother, and on and on.

“These different pockets of life also create friction,” she acknowledges. “I’ve been figuring out where I belong, what I’m supposed to do and how I fit into all of this — because I am so much more than an artist. When you have big dreams or goals and you see time being taken away from achieving them, and going towards something else — how do you make that a positive experience? There are always challenges, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good life.”

Fittingly, A Good Life thematically explores dismantling the long-held idea that your validity as an artist somehow diminishes when it’s not the focal point of your life and that somehow being a parent negates creativity. Of course, that can be said for artists, who have to support themselves and their creative endeavors with a day job not even remotely related to their passions.

The album also featured collaborations with Jay Prince, Kofi Stone, Cory McKenzie Tribbett, Delleile Ankrah and Sipprell among a list of others, and production from Conor Albert and her partner Dan Diggas.

The JOVM mainstay announced the forthcoming release of A Good Life Deluxe, which will feature two previously unreleased tracks “Glass,” and her latest single “Nothing On You” feat. Odeal, as well as two new remixes and reworks of album tracks “If I Belong” featuring contributions from Samson Jatto (drums) and Jay Asafo (bass) and “Now my Own,” featuring frequent collaborator, London-based rapper Aligo.

Anchored by a shimmering, looping guitar line, reminiscent of The Isley Brothers‘ “Footsteps In The Dark,” a sinuous bass line and a swaggering four-on-the four, atmospheric synths and twinkling bursts of keys, “Nothing On You” is driven by Dahlstrøm’s and Odeal’s yearning yet effortlessly soulful and gorgeous solos and harmonies. While sonically being a remarkably contemporary bit of neo-soul tinged R&B, the song thematically harness back to classic soul — a sweet and earnest longing and desire for a deeper, sustainable connection with that special significant other.

“This song was made in the very first session Odeal and I had together. It was such a natural and smooth process,” the acclaimed JOVM mainstay explains. “Daniel’s production provided the perfect foundation and it felt really natural to develop the song. The song is a true love song – feels like a nice way to start the year.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Georgia Reed Shares Slow-Burning and Atmospheric “Back In Time”

Georgia Reed is an Aussie-born, London-based singer/songwriter and pop artist, who relocated to the UK back in 2019. After relocating to the UK, Reed spent the next fiver years, making a home for herself and carving a niche as a songwriter with a penchant for dark, moody material paired with cryptic storytelling. Speaking on her decision to relocate, Reed says “’I’d always been influenced by UK bands and artists. It played a really big part for me.”

Late lsat year, Reed shared “Haunted,” her first bit of new material since she relocated to the UK, and the first of four singles slated for release over the next few months to build up buzz for her long-awaited debut EP scheduled for a March release. “Haunted” paired a relentlessly driving rhythm section punctuated with dramatic drumming, phased-out synths paired with Reed’s smoky and expressive vocal. To me, the song was a hook-driven anthem that sounded as though it could have been inspired by Stevie Nicks‘ early 80s output with nods to much more contemporary fare, like Lana Del Rey and others while being rooted in lived-in, deeply personal experience: in this song’s case, that feeling of suddenly having the rug pulled out from under you. 

“I wrote ‘Haunted’ many years ago, at a time when my whole life had changed suddenly,” Reed says. “I would play it acoustically at shows, but It wasn’t until we started recording it that I realised it was probably my favourite song I’ve ever written.” 

Reed begins 2024 with “Back in Time,” a slow-burning and melancholy pop ballad featuring reverb-drenched beats, glistening and atmospheric synths, fluttering bass synths, boom bap-like drumming serving as a lush bed for Reed’s smoky and expressive croon detailing the achingly Romantic longing for a long lost love and a past that you can’t ever get back. While sonically recalling Kate Bush and JOVM mainstays ACES, the song as Reed explains is “for everyone who has ever thought of what would have or could have been, even if they really were just rose-coloured glasses.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay Jonas Shares Sexy “Turn Down The Noise”

Jonas Rendbo, best known as the mononym Jonas is singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and neo-soul artist, who has widely hailed by the international music press as the Godfather of Scandinavian soul. Throughout the course of his two-plus decade career, the acclaimed Danish artist has managed to be remarkably prolific, continuously releasing copious amounts of original material, which he has supported with tours with Omar, John Legend, Joss Stone, Lynden David Hall and Bilal among a lengthy and growing list of others. The acclaimed Danish artist also won Artist of the Year and Best Video at the 2016 Scandinavian Soul Music Awards.

Since 2004, Rendbo has split time between Copenhagen and London, where he met his wife and started a family. While in London, he started collaborating with London-based producer and multi-instrumentalist The Scratch Professer, who coincidentally is Omar’s brother. Rendbo and The Scratch Professor had an instant musical simpatico and a couple of songs they wrote together wound up on Jonas’ sophomore album 2009’s W.A.I.T.T. 

That collaboration also managed to produce a handful of songs that Rendbo kept in the vault for the better part of a decade — until the four-song EP, 4ward Fast To Future, which was recorded, produced, mixed and mastered during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in April 2020. The EP, which featured “Pick Me Up” and “What’s Cooking” was a return to the warm, vibey neo-soul sound of his earliest work paired with Rendbo’s sultry and yearning falsetto and his uncanny knack for infectious hooks. 

4ward Fast To Future received praise from SoulBounce.com and ScandinavianSoul.com and it was a featured album on SoulTracks.com. And the EP’s material received airplay on soul music radio stations across the globe.

Building upon that momentum, the Danish singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist released the 4ward Fast to Future (Remixes) EP, an effort that features remixes of the EP’s material by friends and musical collaborators done in completely different styles. 

2023 was a big year for the Danish-born JOVM mainstay: Last year, he shared “Too Much To Mention,” a song rooted in earnest, lived-in lyricism and Rendbo’s unerring knack for razor sharp hooks.

The Danish artist finally released his long-awaited album Be The Light last Friday. Rendbo had been sitting on the album for some time: First, he didn’t know how he was going to release it. Should he release it through the DSPs or some other way? But more importantly, he had much more pressing and exciting concerns on his mind: Early last year, he and his wife had their third child.

The album’s release comes at an interesting point in his life. The acclaimed Danish-born artist celebrates his 50th birthday this month. And he thought that would be a great occasion to celebrate himself and a full life in music by finally releasing the album. “It is expected that you raise a flag when you turn a big corner like that, but I feel that if I release the album on my birthday, then the focus is not so much on me, but more on the music — which I prefer,” Rendbo says in press notes. 

Late last year, Rendbo shared “You Are Amazing,” a hook-driven and vibey bit of neo-soul built around a strutting, feel-good, two-step inducing groove that was roomy enough for Aaron Wood to contribute some buoyant, fluttering flugelhorn paired with Rendbo’s effortlessly soulful croon singing lyrics detailing the sincere affection and appreciation he has for his wife. It’s an old-timey and sweet thank you for everything that seems rarely heard these days.

Be The Light’s latest single, “Turn Down The Noise” is a lush and vibey, neo-soul built around a strutting two-step inducing groove, twinkling keys, bluesy and squiggling bursts of guitar paired with Rendbo’s yearning delivery and his penchant for catchy hooks and lived-in, earnest lyrics. “Turn Down The Noise” is a grown-ass sexy song that features a narrator, who tells his lover “put down that phone, turn off that TV and let’s get to it.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Marta Vega Shares A Sultry, 80s-Inspired Anthem

Marta Vega is a Milan-born, London-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who taught herself how to play guitar as a teenager, and then started to write her own songs. Over the past several years, Vega has been playing gigs across London and Milan, developing an emotive, dark pop sound, influenced by PJ Harvey, Portishead, Massive Attack and The Cure. During that same period, she also has developed a reputation for a captivating stage presence that sees her accompanying herself on synth, guitar and electronic percussion.

Vega’s debut single “Underwater” was released back in 2021. She recently released her sophomore single, the Andrea Tripodi-produced “The Kill,” is a melodic and brooding bit of hook-driven, 80s inspired pop that sounds a bit like a sleek and seamless synthesis of Stevie Nicks‘ smash hit solo work of the early 80s, Garbage and The Kills with Vega’s haunting, pop goddess vocal floating over a pulsating synth bass line, staccato beats, buzzing power chords.

“The lyrics explore the internal battle between logic and passion, reason and impulse,” Vega explains. “It’s about being aware of self-destructive behaviours but not being able to escape them.”

Directed by Luke Shelley, the accompanying video for “The Kill” is shot in a gorgeously cinematic black and white, that capture the longing, lust, and the never-ending battle between reason and impulse that’s at the heart of the song.

Vega’s forthcoming debut EP is slated for release in 2024 and will feature a collection of material that she has been working on while splitting her time between the studio and work.