JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Johnny Marr’s 63rd birthday.
Tag: music
New Video: JOVM Mainstay Naomi Shares Euphoric “Tranquille”
2026 has been a busy year for Montréal-based JOVM mainstay Naomi: She has continued to be wildly prolific while entering a bold new era working with French producer Elior Chaudagne, who produced “Univers,” and “Hershey Kiss” feat. Anglophone Montréal-based emcee SLM (pronounced “SLIM”)
The French-Canadian artist’s latest single, the Naomi, Elior Chaudagne and John Adam co-written “Tranquille” is a breezy, remarkably catchy bit of pop anchored around a strutting, dance floor friendly bass line, glistening synths and Naomi’s sultry and soulful R&B-tinged pop star delivery. “Tranquille” is a euphoric, escapist fantasy, specifically meant for you to dance your frustrations and worries away.
Fittingly, the song is rooted in a familiar story for all of us: When a friend goes through a breakup, Naomi steps in to console her. And she comes up with a simple plan — get dressed up and head to the club to dance the night away and get her friend’s mind off things.
The Naomi and Wym Holmes co-directed video for “Tranquille” features dancers Miambi Kassé and Zanna Allepot performing choreography that Naomi developed in collaboration with Guillaume Michaud. The video follows the trio as they get ready for their night out. Gabriel Poirier handled the cinematography and editing for the clip.
Additionally, Naomi was recently named an ambassador for Maybelline Canada, further adding to her reputation as a fashion enthusiast.
New Video: Norway’s The Clumps Share Anthemic “Easy”
With the release of last year’s “Worthless,” Norwegian rock outfit The Clumps have quickly exploded into the European and global scenes. “Worthless” has amassed over 3.3 million streams and over 100,000 monthly listeners since its release. Adding to a growing profile, the band’s previously releases have received national radio airplay on NRK P3 and P13 and they’ve began to make a run of both the national and European festival circuits, playin sets at Norway’s Bergenfest and Tons of Rock, as well as Eurosonic and London’s Soho Calling.
The band recently signed to AWAL, who released their latest single “Easy.” “Easy” is a slick, arena rock friendly blend of grunge, shoegaze, and indie rock, anchored around a pop-leaning sensibility and earnest, seemingly lived-in lyricism. The band explains that the ne single explores the psychological toll that’s often behind pursing something you care about deeply — the pressure, the exhaustion and uncertainty that are often flattened into the the idea that following your passion should somehow feel effortless.
The band’s highly anticipated sophomore EP is currently slated for release next year. But in the meantime, the accompanying video, which was shot, edited and directed by Filip Glezgo set at a presumed training session that quickly goes awry when the trainer seems to completely lose his mind, while seemingly daring his trainee how badly they want the job.
New Video: Carolina Oliveros Shares Defiant “YA ROMPIMOS EL SILENCIO”
Colombian-born, New York-based singer/songwriter Carolina Oliveros is best known for being the frontperson of acclaimed act Combo Chimbita. Oliveros will be stepping out into the spotlight with her solo debut Ya Rompimos el Silencio, which is slated for a November 6, 2026 release through Chulo Records.
Inspired by her journey of healing from childhood trauma, Ya Rompimos el Silencio is an act of reclaiming voice, body and memory. The album’s material follows the path forward towards truth, resilience, queer love, collective healing and liberation. Each song is both a personal testimony and an invitation for others to break their own silences.
Sonically, the album reflects Oliveros lifelong dialogue between worlds. Anchored in the Afro-Indigenous musical traditions of Colombia and the Caribbean, vocal harmonies serve as connective tissue marrying bullerengue, cumbia, tambora, rumba, bolero, dembo, salve and other ancestral rhythms with adventurous contemporary production. The result if a sound that’s simultaneously intimate and expansive, ritualistic and contemporary — and honors tradition while boldly pushing it forward. Throughout the album’s runtime, its songs move effortlessly between ceremony and celebration, contemplation and the dance floor, revealing that healing can be a defiant, joyful act.
While showcasing another dimension of Oliveros’ artistry, Ya Rompimos el Silencio is rooted in the belief that music carries memory across generations, that telling the truth can be liberating and transformative, and breaking silence is not an ending, it’s a decision to choose a freer way of living.
The album will include the previously released “Oye Camina,” “RAYO” feat. Orquesta Akokán, and the album’s latest asingle, album closing track and title track “YA ROMPIMOS EL SILENCIO.” “YA ROMPIMOS EL SILENCIO,” which translates into English as “WE’VE BROKEN THE SILENCE”is a furious, defiant and fiercely politically charged song that directly confronts gender-based violence, abuse and the systems of ear, shame and impunity that allow them to persist. The track sees Oliveros alternating between spitting haymaker-like bars and crooning over a woozy production featuring Afro Latino percussion, bubbling synths and samples of a chorus of equally defiant women demanding to be heard.
Written in solidarity with women, girls, nonbinary, trans folks and families, whose stories have become intertwined with her own, “YA ROMPIMOS EL SILENCIO” is an uncompromising, unafraid declaration of resistance, solidarity and compassion for all victims and a demand to be heard. “I wrote it with all the women, girls, and families in mind whose stories have become intertwined with my own—people who have been silenced by fear, shame, power, and impunity,” says Oliveros. “It is a song born from outrage, but also from the conviction that breaking the silence is the first act of justice.”
Directed by Oliveros and Bodgehost, the accompanying video features the Colombian-born artist with a collection of Latin women and non-binary folks in all the shades in solidarity while also proudly taking up space and refusing to be shamed or silenced. Anchored around a simple concept, the video is as powerful as the song.
New Video: Trinket Shares Woozy, Hook-Driven “If Not Soon Then Now”
Formed back in 2023. Brooklyn-based indie duo Trinket — Lightheaded‘s and Betty Brite‘s Madison Kate Profitt and S.C.A.B.’s Sean Carmargo — have quickly carved out their own corner of the local indie scene with their […]
Throwback: Happy 59th Birthday, Scott Weiland!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 59th anniversary of the birth of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland.
Throwback: Happy 75th Birthday, Bootsy Collins!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Bootsy Collins’ 75th birthday.
New Video: On Le Ore Shares Punchy “Backroom Deal”
Split between NYC and Nashville, On Le Ore — Jon Moore (vocals, guitar), and longtime Guided by Voices producer and engineer Travis Harrison (drums) — specializes in what they dub mid-fi indie rock that’s unpolished and a bit damaged, anchored around grimy guitars, crooked, off-kilter hooks, blown out melodies and recordings that leave the seams and bolts showing.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the band cites Guided by Voices. Pavement, Sugar, MJ Lenderman, Hotline TNT and Weird Nightmare as influences and sonic references. I’ll leave that one up to y’all. Everyone’s ear is different. Their latest single “Backroom Deal” is a punchy tune that showcases their knack for punchy, off-kilter yet remarkably catchy hooks and rousingly, anthemic, shout-along worthy choruses paired with distorted guitars and equally punchy vocals. And at the core of the song is a soulful, heart-proudly-worn-on-sleeve earnestness.
The accompanying video by Dunkel features a slick collage of old-time stock footage, the digital binary code and fuzzy footage of the band’s Jon Moore playing and singing the song, further emphasizing the song’s gritty nature.
Throwback: Happy 82nd Birthday, Jon Anderson!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates YES frontman Jon Anderson’s 82nd birthday.
New Video: Trentemøller and The Raveonettes’ Sune Rose Wagner Team Up on Stormy “Your Love Walks Alone”
Anders Trentemøller’s self-titled eighth Trentemøller album is slated for a November 13, 2026 release through his In My Room Records. The self-titled album will include the previously released “Terrified” feat. Mew‘s Jonas Bjerre and the album’s latest single “Your Love Walks Alone” feat. The Raveonettes‘ Sune Rose Wagner.
“Your Love Walks Alone” is a stormy touch song featuring Wagner’s imitable delivery expressing despair, confusion, heartache and anger set to a brooding goth-inspired soundscape of scorching industrial-meets-shoegaze like fuzz, thunderclap-like beats. “A depiction of pure love slowly winding down and how it affects you in those moments where you realise you’re being ‘replaced,” Wagner says.
Trentemøller traces this collaboration back to an earlier collaboration: “Ever since Sune sang on my track ‘Deceive,’ we’d been talking about doing another song together. This time I had an instrumental that felt right for his voice, so I sent it over. He loved it, and pretty quickly came back with that great vocal that’s unmistakably Sune / The Raveonettes. With ‘Your Love Walks Alone,’ I feel like he hit the mood of the music perfectly. What I love is how the vocal melody is kind of ‘happy’ in a way, when the lyrics are actually pretty dark. It makes for a good contrast against the more brooding, insistent sound underneath. “
The accompanying video by DACU features brightly colored child-like, hand-drawn animation that captures the sentiment of the song while being simultaneously trippy and menacing.
Throwback: Happy 90th Birthday, Bill Wyman!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Bill Wyman’s 90th birthday.
New Video: St. Panther Shares Strutting, Old School-Inspired “OUT ON THE CORNER”
Los Angeles-based Mexican/Colombian producer, singer/songwriter, rapper and multi-instrumentalist Dani Bojorges-Giraldo (they/them) is the creative mastermind behind the critically applauded recording project St. Panther. Bojorges-Giraldo’s previously released work was the soundtrack to the early part of this decade for many folks, but following their departure from the major label network, the Los Angeles-based artist took time to be among their peers, friends and loved ones.
Last year’s McClenney and Bojorges-Giraldo co-produced EP Strange World featured a defiant, genre-transforming collection of soulful, modern pop songs that narrate and confront the wider climate of uncertainty and oblivion. Thematically, Strange World was as much about Bojorges-Giraldo’ and their world — their village, their people, themselves — but also, the very strange world we inhabit right now. Drawing from soul, R&B, jazz, hip-hop and alt-pop the EP’s material sets out to urge for a sense of purpose, security and love admits seemingly universal apathy and chaos.
The EP featured the EP title track “Strange World,” the old-school Quiet Storm-meets D’Angelo-like “The Deal” and “American Dreams.”
Bojorges-Giraldo’s highly anticipated McClenney co-produced St. Panther full-length debut, East Side Love Story is slated for a November 20, 2026 release through Los Angeles-based label drink sum wtr. East Side Love Story is reportedly an effervescent, soulful set of love songs dedicated to both their hometown and their neighborhood. Work began subconsciously when the rising and acclaimed Los Angeles-based artist started Shazamming songs that their neighbors were playing every day, populating a playlist that they playfully titled “East Side Love Story,” a nod to their cat’s bustling social life. “She’s a stray, literally got her from my neighborhood outside. She has a roster of boyfriends who come to visit her at the door and window. Pretty soon, my life started mirroring hers,” explains Bojorges-Giraldo. East Side Love Story traces seasons of relationships, from the ecstasy of newness to the pitfalls of monogamy, the distance between one another on respective paths, and an evolving understanding of love in its totality.
Coloring their craft with their surrounding neighborhood and culture, the acclaimed Los Angeles-based artist’s full length debut captures a chapter in their life defined by freedom and love. Continuing their ongoing collaboration with McClenney, Bojorges-Giraldo sees the album as a culmination: “I’ve been able to apply my influences and build a world around what my signature is, pulling the best of my performances and musicality, figuring out the place that I want it all to sit.”
East Side Love Story’s latest single “OUT ON THE CORNER” is a strutting blend of Chicano and Motown-era soul featuring twinkling keys, old-school soul drum fills, a supple bass line and soul/funk guitar stabs beneath Bojorges-Giraldo’s soulful, lullaby-like croon . While showcasing their uncanny knack for pairing catchy hooks with earnest, lived-in lyricism, “OUT ON THE CORNER” details the often complicated and fleeting nature of modern romance with a sweet, old school-inspired charm. Lemme tell y’all, sometimes a sweet love song is what you need when the world is on fire and everything is seemingly full of hopelessness and doom. I say that because life, dear friends, is often about the small moments — especially the seemingly endless process of falling in love, falling out of love, heartbreak and repeat.
“I was pacing around my apartment singing the ‘oo’s’ and quickly picked up my Cordoba to try and sound out the chords,” Bojorges-Giraldo says of OUT ON THE CORNER’S creative process. “That demo was like an ear worm, it lent all the space for a Motown approach but we still needed a modern touch. After reworking it with Chris (McClenney) I called in Brian Gazo to track some “oo’s” on top of mine. There’s these isolated moments that crack a whole album open, hearing Brian’s first takes was exactly that. By the end of that session his vocals were on four songs on the album.”
They continued: “What was important to me was capturing this particular moment in time on a record. I think we’ll look back on records like this and be able to appreciate that from Boyle Heights to Long Beach we were a movement of brown artists, the next generation of the music we grew up loving. To be able to have him across the album felt just right, like a family photo that will be passed down for generations.”
Directed by St. Panther and Khari Cousins, the accompanying video for “OUT ON THE CORNER” follows the acclaimed Los Angeles-based artist through their neighborhood and hometown, lovingly capturing its soul and character, as well as the warmth and kindness of its people.
New Video: JOVM Mainstay Super Plage Shares Breezy “MINI CLUB”
Jules Henry is a Montréal-based singer/songwriter, electronic music producer and creative mastermind behind the acclaimed, JOVM mainstay recording project and Super Plage. Founded back in 2019, Super Plage sees Henry crafting slickly produced, dance floor friendly electro pop that draws from house and nu-disco. He frequently collaborates with local French Canadian artists to create a playful, fun-loving and escapist universe, where it feels good to party.
Since 2019, Henry has released a handful of albums including 2023’s Magie á minuit, which received an ADISQ Félix Award-nomination for Electronic Album of the Year. Building upon a growing profile, Henry has made a run of both the provincial and international festival circuits, playing sets at Francos de Montréal, FME and Festival d’été de Québec, SXSW, Wide Days and others. He has opened for Miel de Montagne, Juilen Granel, Bon Entendeur, MYD and more.
Last year’s GROSSE MAISON featured a sleek and daring blend of house, disco and French touch anchored around catchy, downright funky grooves, much like on album single “Tip Top.”
The French Canadian JOVM mainstay’s fourth album MINI CLUB was just released today through his longtime label home, Lisbon Lux. MINI CLUB sees Henry solidifying his place within Québec’s electronic music scene while bridging the project’s multiple sonic identities throughout its history — the electro pop of MINI CLUB track “PARIS” the house music of last year’s GROSSE MAISON and a decided shift towards tech house of “SÉOUL” feat. Zéa Calla. Rooted in synth and digital driven textures, there is more than enough room for organic textures throughout — including everyday sounds recorded in the studio and on Montréal’s streets. The album’s material sonically is suited for both the club and chilling in the park, but lyrically, it’s rooted in observations and thoughts on everyday life.
MINI CLUB is arguably one of Henry’s most collaborative efforts to date — fellow JOVM mainstay Virignie B.; Zéa Calla, a childhood friend, who he reconnected with; and Hawa B have contributed both vocals and songwriting to the album.
The album includes the previously released “POOL PARTY” featuring longtime collaborator Virginie B. and the album’s latest single, album title track “MINI CLUB.” “MINI CLUB” is a club and lounge friendly that nods a bit at Larry Levan-era house with a looping whistled melody, twinkling and bubbling synths, wobbling bass and skittering beats beneath Henry’s ethereal cooing and crooning.
Directed by Henry, the recently released accompanying video follows Henry as he’s barbecuing in a Montréal park and lounging by a pool — all while playing the song. With fall in full effect in the Northern Hemisphere, the video and the song are a fond reminder of summer — and of summers to come.
New Video: Lisa LeBlanc Shares Strutting and Funky “Too Many Cooks”
Acclaimed Rosaireville, NB-born, Montréal-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and Acadian icon Lisa LeBlanc will be releasing her sixth album Patchwork on February 5, 2027 through Bonsound. The roots of the album stretch from Moncton, New Brunswick to Lafayette, LA, two cities separated by about 2,200 miles/3,5000 kilometers, a distance that LeBlanc traveled in her van during a two month road trip. In the years leading up to the recording of Patchwork, Leblanc also spent time in Corsica, where she was struck by the rugged landscapes and in Ireland, where the cliffs and traditional music festivals brought her a new creative spark.
While nature plays a significant role for the album, LeBlanc channels her long-held love for 60s and 70s folk and rock to create a lush and rich tapestry of melodies, harmonies and grooves. The album also sees her drawing inspiration from traditional Cajun and Acadian music. The result is a sound that’s original, timeless — and singular. The album’s title is a nod to her grandmother, who, for over 50 years, has been making quilts meticulously from fabric scapes that weren’t originally meant to be sewn together.
Thematically, much like a travel journal, the new album offers observations of everyday life set to music with both sensitivity and humor.
Patchwork will include the previously released, rollicking “Whole Lotta Talkin‘” and the album’s second and latest single, the LeBlanc, Benoit Morier and Eric Heigle co-produced “Too Many Cooks.” A strutting and seamless blend of disco country, folk and Muscle Shoals-era soul “Too Many Cooks” may arguably the most playful and funky song LeBlanc has released to date, featuring contributions from Alabama Shakes‘ Ben Tanner and Dr. John‘s and Social Distortion‘s Ben Alleman on keys and piano; Sébastian Michaud on brass; Les Hôtesses d’Hilaire‘s Mico Roy on guitar; and Maxime Gosselin on drums. Based on the idiomatic phrase “too many cooks in the kitchen . . .,” “Too Many Cooks” points out what would happen when you’d have too many cooks in the kitchen: indecision, confusion, arguments, some sabotage, a wildly disgusting, poorly cooked meal and pissed off dinner guests.
“The music video for ‘Too Many Cooks’ is inspired by a reality cooking show where contestants host the other participants in their homes,” explains LeBlanc. “I’m competing against little mischievous puppets who are trying to sabotage my chances to win. Based on the turn of phrase ‘Too many cooks in the kitchen,’ it’s a quirky, kinda funky, kinda country fun tune!”
New Video Helena Deland Shares Shimmering “Tip of My Tongue”
2020’s debut studio album, Someone New, which was released by Luminelle Recordings introduced Montréal-based singer/songwriter and musician Helana Deland as a new and resonant voice to both the local and national indie scenes. She explored new soundscapes by teaming up with fellow Montréaler Ouri in the collaborative project Hildegard, which released two albums, 2021’s self-titled debut and 2024’s Jour 1596. And adding to a growing profile, Deland has collaborated with Men I Trust, JPEGMAFIA, Jonah Yano, Sam Evian, claire rousay and a lengthy list of others. During a remarkably busy period, Deland released her acclaimed sophomore solo album, 2024’s Goodnight Summerland through Chivi Chivi.
After opening for Weyes Blood, Andy Shauf, Connan Mockasin, Soccer Mommy and Iggy Pop, Deland supported her sophomore album with touring across North America and Europe.
Her highly anticipated third album, Eternity Shrugs is slated for a January 22, 2027 release through Chivi Chivi. Produced by Deland with longtime bandmates Francis Ledoux and Alexandre Larin, as well frequent collaborators Lysandre Ménard and Cedric Martel, Eternity Shrugs was recorded in rural Québec in bursts over four seasons. Piano, bass, organ, viola and woodwinds gather around her vocal and guitar in patient arrangements anchored by finely textured percussion. The result are songs that feel sparse one moment and subtly ornate the next. Deland imagines the album’s palette in browns — wood, leather, smoke. Warm and inhabited, the music never entirely settles.
Eternity Shrugs will include the previously released “How Do You Like Me Now,” and the album’s latest single “Tip of My Tongue.” “Tip of My Tongue” is a shimmering, dream pop-like tune featuring Deland’s breathy and expressive delivery floating over an vibey, autumnal arrangement of jangling acoustic guitar, bursts of shimmering synths, a gently chugging rhythm section driven by a simple yet propulsive drum pattern. But at its core is something left unsaid, an inner conversation between people with an intimate connection that has become a bit awkward yet still deeply familiar.
“I’m thinking of a long-awaited, momentous run-in, the kind that has kept a part of the mind alert,” Deland says. “Maybe you need to privately navigate how up-to-date on the other person’s life you’ve remained since the last time you spoke, or maybe you know a former version of them so well that the present-day one feels entirely, surprisingly familiar. The song was arranged with that feeling of familiarity in mind, like something that has been on the tip of my tongue for a long time.”
Directed by Jodi Heartz and Alex Blouin, the accompanying video for “Tip of My Tongue” is a dreamily surreal scenario that features Deland and her bandmates playing cards on a Montréal rooftop at a table set for 5. We see Deland as she delicately slides between both sides of the table, glancing at her hand of cards.