Tag: London UK

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.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Georgia Reed Shares Atmospheric and Anthemic “Haunted”

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.”

Reed’s latest single “Haunted” is her first bit of new material since her relocation to the UK, and is the first of four singles slated for release over the next handful of months to build up buzz for her long-awaited debut EP scheduled for release next March. “Haunted” pairs a relentlessly driving rhythm section punctuated with dramatic drumming with phased-out synths and Reed’s smoky and dramatic vocal. The result is a hook driven anthem that sounds as though it could be 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.” 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: TANSU Shares Bittersweet Ballad “Easy Love”

Deriving her artist name from a Turkish term for the sun’s radiant touch on ocean waters just before sunrise, the emerging pop artist TANSU has a diverse and global cultural background with roots in Turkey and Ireland. She spent her formative years in London and Connecticut, had a stint in Boston for college, and has called NYC home for the past 13 years. 

During that period, TANSU has carefully balanced her life between music and fashion, which she personally defines as performing arts. While working in fashion PR, she lent her vocals to numerous projects as a session and featured vocalist, most recently releasing The Wash Up EP co-produced with Lars Viola. She also performs extensively around both lower and Manhattan, including a monthly residency at Lafolia Restaurant, every first Thursday.

Back in 2015, the emerging pop artist reconnected with American Authors‘ Dave Rublin, a college acquaintance. Since then, they’ve been writing and recording music together, which has included sleek and slickly produced “DOWNTOWN,” and simmering soul-pop ballad “Got 2 Me.”

The New York-based artist’s latest single “Easy Love” continues a run of sleek, slickly produced 90s and 2000s-inspired R&B built around a minimalist yet percussive production featuring glistening synths paired with her effortlessly soulful vocal expressing a bittersweet and heartbroken farewell to a relationship.

“’Easy Love’ is a soft goodbye,” TANSU explains. “It is a song about letting go of a friend while respecting the life and beauty the relationship once shared. A loving tribute to someone you can no longer be there for, the song helps us all tell our former friends to take it easy, love.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Montañera Teams up with Bejuco’s Cankita and Las Cantadores de Yerba Buena on Dreamy and Meditative “Santa Mar”

María Mónica Gutiérrez is a Bogotá-born, London-based singer/songwriter, musician, who during the course of her decade-plus long music career has established herself as one of the most unique and intense voices in the contemporary Colombian scene — as a member of bands like Suricato and Ságan and as the creative mastermind behind the acclaimed solo recording project Montañera.

As a member of Suricato and Ságan, Gutiérrez has toured across Europe, the US and Latin America, and has played at The Smithsonian Museum, The Kennedy Center, SXSW, Lollapalooza and Festival Estéreo Picnic, and MaMA Festival among a list of others, as well as a live session aired on KEXP.

Gutiérrez’s third Montañera album, the Rizomagic-produced A Flor de Piel is slated for a November 17, 2023 release through Western Vinyl. Thematically, the album is reportedly a meditative journey of self-discovery across oceans, time and the traditional confines of genre. Gutiérrez began the album as a way to explore her identity after a difficult move to London for school left her feeling untethered and alone in a strange new place. Understandably, the 5,000 mile journey across the other side of world and across a seemingly endlessly ocean imparted her with a new understanding of herself as a human and as an artist.

The album also reportedly sees the Colombian-born, British-based artist examining the immigrant — and migrant — experience through a rich soundscape inspired by and drawing from disparate sources, including traditional Colombian and Senegalese music, contemporary ambient and experimental production and whalesong from the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. Pairing skillfully restrained synths and electronic textures, A Flor de Piel sees Gutiérrez re-contextualizing traditional sounds and sentiments into something fresh, urgent and vital. And for the Bogota-born, London-based artist, it’s a fitting representation of her personal struggles, while echoing universal truths, as she summons the strength and wisdom of past generations. As she describes it, “The album has accompanied me through inner journeys of finding myself in a new territory — of redefining myself, of remembering who I am — in a strange place.” 

A Flor de Piel’s latest single “Santa Mar” is the only album on the track that features percussion, as well as Cankita, Bejuco’s marimba player and Tumaco, Colombia-based traditional vocal group Los Cantaadoras de Yerba Buena. Built around Cankita’s twinkling and percussive marimba, atmospheric synths and electronics serving as an ethereal and dreamy bed for Gutiérrez’s yearning vocal paired with the expressive harmonies of Las Cantadores de Yerba Buena. The result is a song that evokes a deep, mediative sense of peace and mindfulness — and at a time when we all could use it.

“It’s a song that talks about peace in Colombia, specifically with the afro pacific women,” the Bogotá-born, London-based artist explains. “The lyrics were inspired by them after investigating their musical practice for my master’s studies. Understanding their personal and collective healing processes within the peace-building process of the country. I want to portray the importance of womanhood for peace-building in their territory and the song talks about the forces of the sea to cure and the sea as a female saint, of how these women have the power of the sea in themselves. The marimbas are played by the amazing Cankita from Bejuco, who is very close with the Cantadoras de Yerba Buena, he calls them his “aunts”, his masters. It’s a true honour having the voices of these elder women in the album, they have such a strong life story and nevertheless, so much vitality, strength, and drive in life, a true inspiration for me.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay SANDS Shares Shimmering and Wistful “Horizon”

London-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Andrew Sands is the creative mastermind behind the rising JOVM mainstay shoegaze project SANDS. Influenced by Neil Young, David Bowie, The Smiths, David Lynch, Talk Talk, Echo and the Bunnymen and a long list of others, Sands’ own music sees him seamlessly blending rock, psych rock and elements of pop. 

Since starting the project back in 2017, the London-based artist has released a handful of EPs and singles, including 2017’s S/T EP and “Let’s Run”/”Echoes,” 2018’s Waves Calling EP and “Tomorrow’s Gone”/”Burning Man” and 2019’s Nothing Can Go Wrong EP.

Sands’ highly-anticipated full-length debut The World’s So Cruel was released last Friday. And in the lead up to the album’s release, I wrote about three of its previously released singles:

Written and produced at several London studio locations. including Hackney, South Bermondsey and his apartment, the album’s first single, the high energy “Transmission” featured glistening synths, buzzing guitar riffs, a relentlessly propulsive rhythm, a rousingly anthemic series of hooks and choruses paired with Sands’ plaintive delivery and managed to bring The Stone Roses and the Madchester sound to mind — but with a subtly modern take.

“Transmission” is inspired by the busy and eclectic Northeast London neighborhood that Sands once lived in. The lyrics capture the restless energy and activity of the neighborhood in a way that feels very familiar to me as a native New Yorker. And it does so in a way that feels a bit like a contented sigh of being home, and of awe of everything going on around you.

Built around reverb-drenched guitars, skittering and swaggering boom bap-like drum patterns, along with a glitchy bridge and a scorching guitar solo, The World’s So Cruel‘s second single “When It Starts to Rain” is a slick Stone Roses-like vehicle for the London-based artist’s plaintive vocal and his penchant for crafting remarkably catchy hooks and choruses. The track sonically evokes the sense of daydreaming your way through busy, crowded streets, completely immersed in your thoughts and memories, as though you were in a hallucinatory fever dream of the present and your nostalgia.

“Through This Avenue/The Game,” a road trip anthem built around shimmering and hypnotic guitar work, delicate cymbal-driven percussion, bursts of soaring keys, twinkling organ and the London-based artist’s yearning and vulnerable delivery paired with rousingly anthemic, sing-along friendly choruses. 

“‘Through This Avenue /The Game’ is a tribute to 13th Floor Elevators and Roky Erikson. I love his music, voice and the look in his eyes. Fierce and vulnerable at the same time, which I hope can be two traits to describe this track too,” Sands explains. “As in Transmission it draws inspiration from life in that London neighbourhood, but more in a nocturnal setting to the whole picture, like being the soundtrack to that.”

The World’s So Cruel’s fourth and latest single “Horizon” is a slow-burning and meditative track built around shimmering acoustic guitar, soaring synths paired with Sands’ seemingly innate ability to craft a rousingly anthemic, enormous hook and his plaintive vocal. At its heart, “Horizon” is an achingly wistful song that feels chilly and autumnal.

“It’s inspired by the seaside and all it triggers to the senses, the empowering blue all around you,” the London-based artist explains. “Even just the thought of lying in a bed somewhere. I wasn’t sure how it would have come out, as except from the song itself and the outro guitar I hadn’t written any part, so a lot came out in the studio when doing it. To me this gives it spontaneity and makes it sound fresh.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Psymon Spine Shares Trippy Video for Funky Yet Uneasy “Boys”

Over the past couple of years I’ve managed to spill quite a bit of virtual ink covering Brooklyn-based psych pop/dance pop outfit and JOVM mainstays Psymon Spine. Now. if you’ve been frequenting the site over the course of the past few years, you may recall that the Brooklyn-based JOVM mainstays  — founding duo Noah Prebish and Peter Spears, along with Sabine Holler, Brother Michael Rudinski — can trace its origins back to when its founding duo met while attending college.

Bonding over mutual influences and common artistic aims, Prebish and Spears toured across the European Union as members of Karate. While Paris, Spears and Prebish wrote their first song together. By the time, they arrived in London, they were offered a record deal. 

When Prebish and Spears returned to the States, the pair recruited Micheal “Brother Micheal” Rudinski and their Karate bandmates Devon Kilbern, Nathaniel Coffey to join their new project. And with that lineup, they fleshed out a series of demos, whcih would eventually become their full-length debut, 2017’s You Are Coming to My Birthday. The band then supported the effort with immersive art and dance parties, like their Secret Friend party series across Brooklyn and alter through relentless touring.

At this time, Prebish was also splitting his time with rising Brooklyn-based dream pop act Barrie. Barrie started to receive attention across the blogosphere and elsewhere as a result of a handful of buzz-worthy singles and 2019’s full-length Happy to Be Here. And while with Barrie, Prebish met his then-future bandmate, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Sabine Holler.

Back in 2021, Psymon Spine released their critically applauded sophomore album, Charismatic Megafauna. Thematically, their sophomore album explored the complicated and confusing feelings and the oft-resulting catharsis involved in the dissolution of human relationship through hook-driven, left-of-center electronic dance music meets psych pop.

The album received critical praise from Paste Magazine, FLOOD, Brooklyn Vegan, Under the Radar and NME. The album and several singles were added to a number of playlists including NPR Music, Spotify‘s New Music Friday, All New Indie, Undercurrents and Fresh Finds, Apple Music‘s Midnight City and Today’s Indie Rock and TIDAL‘s Rising. And the album received airplay internationally from BBC, KEXP and KCRW among others. 

Last year saw the release of Charismatic Mutations, an album featuring remixes of Charismatic Megafauna material. The members of the band grew up with a deep appreciation and love for the unique art of the remix. As the story goes, after Charismatic Megafauna‘s release, the band found themselves craving longer, even more dance-floor friendly versions of album songs. The band then recruited a handful of producers and electronic music acts including Hot Chip‘s Joe Goddard, Love Injection, Dar Disku, Each Other, Safer, Bucky Boudreau and Psymon Spine’s Brother Michael to remix material from the album. 

“Boys,” the Brooklyn-based outfit’s latest single is the first bit of original material since 2021’s digital 7 inch release “Mr. Metronome”/”Drums Valentino,” which capped off a momentous year for the band. Starting with a glistening New Wave-meets-post punk introduction before quickly morphing into funky synth-driven bop with slashing guitars. And the two disparate sections are held together with Holler’s dreamy delivery. But just under the infectious, danceable nature, is an introspective song that’s subtly uneasy.

The track was written after the band’s Sabine Holler relocated to Berlin, but she still lends her voice to the song.

“By nature every Psymon Spine song must be a little cheeky to bypass our own self-criticism, but in reality ‘Boys’ is just a very earnest song about friendship,” the band notes. “Early on in the pandemic Sabine moved back to Germany and we weren’t sure what was going to happen, either to us as a unit or to the entire world. We went to Peter’s childhood home in Boston for a few days and fleshed out a demo that Michael had started a couple weeks earlier. We sent it to Sabine who almost immediately replied with the same vocal take you hear on the song today.” 

Directed by Bucky Boudreau, the accompanying video for “Boys” is a stylish and surrealist romp that features Holler in another location singing the song and running around Berlin, while the remaining members eat and cook eggs. Funnily enough, I fixed myself scrambled eggs this morning, so eggs all the time, huh?

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Alessia Iorio is a rising Toronto-based singer/songwriter and pop artist, best known as Alle The Dreamer. Iorio quickly established herself in the local scene, writing and recording with a series of collaborators in Toronto, Los Angeles and London, including Samuel Gerongoco, who has worked with Alessia Cara; Bram Inscore, who has worked with BTS and Andy Grammer; Jeff Shum, who has worked with John Legend and Camila Cabello; Dayyon Alexander, who has worked with Demi Lovato and Dua Lipa; and Negin Djafari, who has worked with Drake. She has also accumulated a bunch of credits in a relatively short period of time including as a featured artist of DVBBS‘ “Wicked Ways” and Morgan Page‘s “Beautiful Disaster,” and as a co-writer on Little Mix‘s “F.U.,” Baby Ariel‘s 2019 “I Heart You” and two singles for K-Pop star Suho.

Writing and performing as Alle The Dreamer, Iorio has quickly become known for dynamic songwriting and a unique dream pop sound that draws from a fluid bend of vintage and cutting-edge influences. The rising Canadian artist’s debut EP Starting Over was released last week.

“Starting Over came to be in a very organic way. The more songs I wrote, the more clarity I had on what the underlying themes were from all the music I was writing,” Iorio explains. “Writing this EP was a time of self-reflection, and self-isolation. It taught me the beauty in letting go and having faith. I struggled with these ideas my whole life as I’m a chronic overthinker. I let overthinking & overanalyzing mindset steal joy from special moments instead of being present.”

The EP’s latest single “Run Home to You” is an slow-burning, anthemic pop ballad built around glistening synths, the Canadian artist’s achingly tender and ethereal delivery before the introduction of skittering tweeter and woofer rattling beats and buzzing bass synths paired with enormous sing-along worthy choruses. Sonically recalling 80s pop ballads and JOVM mainstay ACES, “Run Home To You” evokes the whirlwind of confusing and contradictory emotions relationship can bring from beginning to end.

“I am just reflecting on how confusing relationships can be, the dynamics, dating in your 20’s, the highs and lows, and all the feelings you go through and experience for the first time,” the Canadian artist says.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Deriving her artist name from a Turkish term for the sun’s radiant touch on ocean waters just before sunrise, the emerging pop artist TANSU has a diverse and global cultural background with roots in Turkey and Ireland. She spent her formative years in London and Connecticut, had a stint in Boston for college, and has called NYC home for the past 13 years. 

During that period, TANSU has carefully balanced her life between music and fashion, which she defines as performing arts. While working in fashion PR, she lent her vocals to numerous projects as a session and featured vocalist, most recently releasing The Wash Up EP co-produced with Lars Viola. She also performs extensively around both lower and Manhattan, including a monthly residency at Lafolia Restaurant, every first Thursday.

Back in 2015, the emerging pop artist reconnected with American Authors‘ Dave Rublin, a college acquaintance. Since then, they’ve been writing and recording music together, last month’s “DOWNTOWN,” which was released through through Rublin’s Little Planet Records. 

Her latest single “Got 2 Me” is a simmering soul-pop ballad that pairs an atmospheric, modern pop production featuring glistening synths, skittering beats, bursts of twinkling keys, wobbling bass synths and bursts of funk guitar with TANSU’s show-stopping powerhouse vocal. The result is a song that serves as vehicle that showcases a superstar in the making.

“‘Got 2 Me’ is a very vulnerable song about trusting someone to love you the right way,” TANSU says.  “After falling in love the wrong way, it’s all the more difficult to fall in love again, correctly. This song is about that path.” 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: SHOLTO Returns with Breathtakingly Gorgeous “The Pearl That Glitters”

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. Roberton may be best known for being one-half of indie outfit Sunglasses for Jaws. He honed his production skills under the guidance of Allah-Las‘ Nick Waterhouse and Inflo.

Three 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 cinematic, instrumental soul. 2023 looks to be a big year for the rising London-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer: He signed to Deep Matter imprint Root Records, who will be releasing Robertson’s SHOLTO debut, The Changing Tides of Dreams EP. 

Earlier this year, I wrote about “Vampire,” an expansive and cinematic arrangement that featured twinkling percussion, swirling Wurlitzer organ, cascading harp, lush strings, bursts of fluttering flute, a supple and propulsive bass line, a soulful horn solo and skittering boom bap drumming paired with a strutting groove. The result is a song that reminds me a bit of the gorgeous, widescreen instrumental soul of The Ironsides with the trippy grooves of L’Eclair and Mildlife.

The Changing Tides of Dreams EP‘s latest single, the breathtakingly gorgeous “Pearl That Glitters” is built around a lush string and cascading harp arrangement with bursts of twinkling keys and reverb-drenched bursts of guitar. Inspired by soundtrack composers like Piero Umiliani and David Axelrod, the composition is fairly literal in its meaning, with the music being written to evoke the reflection of sunlight shimmering and reflecting off the iridescent insides of a pearl.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: London’s O.MORGZ Shares Summery and Upbeat “Living”

Emerging, Croydon, UK-born, London-based emcee O. MORGZ grew up in a Black, Caribbean-British household, where he heard a variety of music from Missy Elliot to Beres Hammond, but he took a shine to hip-hop at a very early age. Despite, his interest and passion for hip-hop, the emerging London-based artist didn’t start to pursue a career in music until 2019 with the release of “My Element,” which saw him using a combination of skippy flows and harmonic melodies to get his message across.

Much like countless young Blacks across the world, the London-based artist has had to face a lot of obstacles in a relatively short time, but his ambitions, go-getter attitude and vulnerability are at the core of his work. Ultimately, he hopes to project a sense of consciousness that gives a positive outlook on life. But he also hopes to encourage his audience to acquire financial freedom with a concept he’s dubbed “Money Motivation.”

O.MORGZ’s latest single “Living,” is a breezy and upbeat summery bop built around a vibey production featuring twinkling keys and skittering boom bap serving as a lush and chilled out bed for the British artist’s effortless and self-assured flow. As O.MORGZ explains underneath the song’s celebratory and anthemic nature, is a song meant to be motivational for anyone in difficult circumstances to get up and get yours.

Directed by Fivos Vas, the accompanying video follows the emerging British artist through beautiful Cypress. It’s the high life that many of us dream of attaining — and are busting our asses to achieve.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: OMEARA Shares Sleek and Anthemic “Take It Back”

Montréal-born, German-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jasmin O’Meara can trace the origins of her music career to when she was a teenager: A 14-year old O’Meara removed a guitar off of her uncle’s wall and declared it her own.

The Canadian-born, German-based artist is an autodidact, who went on to join Montréal’s indie scene and collaborated with several different bands and experimenting with a multitude of genres. Taking a break from music to study design, a chance encounter in London led O’Meara back to music — and to playing bass in English bands Temposhark and Kill Electric.

Between 2008-2014, O’Meara played bass in synth pop outfit Zoot Woman. Writing and performing and under the moniker OMEARA, the Canadian-born, German-based artist stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist with the release of her debut EP Desert Heart, which was released earlier this year. The EP sees O’Meara singing and performing all the vocal parts and almost all of the material’s instrumentation with the exception of harmonica on one song.

Thematically, Desert Heart examines the uneasy and harrowing quest of navigating love in the 21st Century, set to a richly layered and modern take on the music, which shaped her life — and is informed by her own professional experience in post punk, synth pop and indie rock bands.

Desert Heart‘s first single “Take It Back” is sleek post punk-inspired song featuring a relentless motorik-like groove, a supple bass line, gauzy guitar textures paired with rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses, a dance floor friendly bridge, and the Canadian-born, German-based artist’s punchy delivery. While sonically, “Take It Back” reminds me a bit of The Stills, The Killers and others, the song is rooted in deeply personal, lived-in experience — one that should feel familiar to anyone, who’s attempted to maneuver the awkwardness of human relationships.

“The song is about telling your lover that you never really loved them, that you felt pressured into saying ‘I love you’ back, and yet feeling no remorse about revealing this information,” O’Meara explains. But at its core, the song reveals a remarkably self-assured artist, with a penchant for crafting incredibly catchy, anthemic hooks.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past year or so, emerging London-dance punk/post-punk duo Shelf Lives — Sabrina Di Guilio and Jonny Hillyard — have released a handful of singles that have seen them quickly earn comparisons to Le Tigre, CSS, Sleigh Bells and others.

The British duo’s latest single “Off The Rails” is a dance punk/post punk ripper built around a frantic and propulsive beat, squiggly synths, scorching, angular guitar attack paired with Di Guilio’s sultry cooing and feral shouts. It’s a winning and irresistible mix of sultry and sleazy reminiscent of Is Is EP-era Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Ting Tings but rooted in incisive, satirical social commentary.

“In our current era, we stand fully aware that consumerism fails to fullfil our genuine needs,” the members of Shelf Lives explain. “Despite this knowledge, we remain fiercely hooked, unable to let go. The notion that was intended to make us feel exceptional actually leaves us feeling ordinary and in this perpetual cycle of wanting more. The track is that moment of realisation that we can’t ‘fall off the rails’ because despite all of the ‘stuff’ we buy into we’re still ‘none in a million’ The problem is we hesitate to be the first to abandon the obsession in fear that we’ll be the only one and end up feeling isolated anyway.”