JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates former Joy Division and New Order member Peter Hook’s 68th birthday.
Tag: New Order
Throwback: Happy 68th Birthday, Bernard Sumner!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Joy Division’s and New Order’s Bernard Sumner’s 68th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 67th Birthday, Bernard Sumner!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Bernard Summer’s 67th birthday.
New Video: French Duo MD ONE Releases a Moving VIsual for Rousingly Anthemic “Espérance”
MD ONE — Marc Vindret (multi-instrumentalist, production) and David Bernard (lyrics, vocalist) — is a French indie electro pop/electro rock duo, who derive their name from the names of the project’s individual members — M for Marc Vindret, D for David Bernard and ONE for the unity between the duo. The duo’s full-length debut Twelve Stars is slated for a June 11, 2021 — and the album finds them quickly establishing their sound and songwriting approach Vindret aims for simplicity and strength through chord changes while Bernard’s lyrics thematically find him reflecting on his personal quest for serenity and spirituality while reflecting on his past and present emotions, his relationship to life and love.
Twelve Stars’ three previously released singles have amassed over 800,000 views on YouTube and continuing upon that momentum, MD ONE recently released the album’s fourth and latest single, the arena rock-like anthem “Espérance.” Deriving its title from the name of an Australian fishing port named Espérance,” the song is centered around rousingly anthemic hooks, buzzing power chords, twinkling keys and four-on-the-floor, Vindret’s plaintive vocals and a relentless motorik groove that makes the song sound — to my ears, at least — like a slick synthesis of early New Order and Violator-era Depeche Mode. But thematically, the song is ardent and politically charged in a way that may remind some of early U2 — with the song’s narrator delivering a call of arms to the listener to fight inequality and unfairness — and to make the world a better place.
The recently released Kevin Adler-directed video for “Espérance” can trace its origins to MD ONEs Bernard being moved by a news report on Miracles Foundation and their mission to reunite houseless Americans with their often long-lost families and friends. At its core, the video aims to remind the viewer of the dignity of all people — and that there’s hope even in the most desperate of times.
New Video: French JOVM Mainstays Pastel Coast Return with a Cinematic Visual for Breezy “Distance”
Led by their Boulogne-sur-Mer, France-based creative mastermind Quentin Isidore (vocals, guitar) and featuring Benjamin Fiorini (drums), Ingrid Letourneau (keys), Marion Plouviez (guitar, vocals) and Renaud Retaux (bass), the rising French dream pop act Pastel Coast has received attention both nationally and internationally for developing and honing a melancholic sound deeply indebted to the early 90s Manchester scene.
2019 was an enormous year for the French indie act: their full-length debut Hovercraft landed on Dream Pop Magazine‘s Top 100. And adding to a the growing buzz surrounding them, the band wound up landing a slot at last year’s Inouïs du Printemps de Bourges, which was unfortunately cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Continuing that momentum, the French dream pop act and JOVM mainstays will be releasing their highly anticipated full-length debut Sun is slated for a June 4, 2021 release. The album will feature two previously released — and attention grabbing — singles “Rendezvous” and “Dial” a breezy synths of New Order and Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix-era Phoenix that evoked the swooning euphoria of new love.
Earlier this year, the band released “Sunset,” a glistening and breezy number that’s a carefully crafted synthesis of New Zealand jangle pop and Phoenix that thematically focused on lovelorn folks racing against time to try to find love before sunset. The album’s fourth and latest single “Distance” continues a run of shimmering and infectious pop — but interestingly enough, it’s more of a synth-driven number with angular guitar bursts, gently Autotuned vocals and a euphoric hook that’s perfect for the club and for the beach.
Directed by the band’s Quentin Isidore and filmed by David Sagot, the recently released video for “Distance” continues a run of incredibly cinematic visuals — this one seemingly indebted to French New Wave, thanks to the use of subtitles with the song’s lyrics as we follow a man who’s blocked by flowing fabrics and flags in front of him.
New Video: The Quilter Releases a Playful Visual for “The Long Weekend”
Stuart Dougan is a Glasgow-born and-based singer/songwriter, who is best known in his native Scotland for fronting French Wives and Smash Williams. Dougan steps out into the limelight as a solo artist, writing and recording every single part of music on his own terms with his latest project The Quilter.
Dougan’s The Quilter debut, Bolt The Door EP is a collection of bold, alt pop songs, som eo which were written and recorded before the pandemic with others written during the initial lockdown. Interestingly, the EP follows upon last year’s immersive and cinematic visual record Dark Cloud/Grey Area, which was equal parts documentary film, live concert and album.
Bolt The Door’s latest single “The Long Weekend,” is an anthemic bit of synth pop featuring shimmering synth arpeggios, a driving groove and a euphoria-inducing hooks and fueled by nostalgia for hook-driven New Order-like dance anthems and for the things we here in the States are slowly getting back — in particular, being in the company of other sweaty and joyful humans at a summer festival and for other mundane things we’ve been deprived of for the past 15 months or so.
“This song was in part inspired by a viral clip I saw from the set of Uncut Gems where the crew had finished filming and were all dancing to ‘I Feel It Coming’ by The Weeknd. It was just a short clip but I wanted to try and capture the palpable sense of joy that was clearly being felt at the time. It was written during lockdown and is basically a love letter to my friends and daydreaming about getting to hang out and have fun in a post pandemic world. I’m very aware that it’s bombastic and over the top in places but I wanted to purposely try and capture a sense of hopeful euphoria that one day, not too far from here, you’ll get to hug all your friends again.”
The main star of the recently released video for “The Long Weekend” is a park bench on a beautiful Spring afternoon — but this park bench happens to be the spot: starting with The Quilter’s Dougan, a series of locals including kids, couples and people just walking their dogs sit on the bench and listen to music. In some way, it’s all a bit of a welcomed escape from their days. Adding to the playfulness of the video, Dougan eventually joins these people for a few minutes. While centered around a rather simple concept, the video reminds all of us is that music — and our love of it — are the way that we can connect with others, and that it inspires us to be around others.
“The whole concept of the video was, by design, supposed to be very simple so that it would be logistically easy to shoot and edit,” Stuart Dougan explains. “That may not be exciting to hear, but sometimes that’s how the sausage is made (quickly). Disaster struck however when the footage from the shoot got corrupted due to (redacted, unimportant technical issue). Long story short, the only way to salvage the footage was to pivot to a stop motion animation concept that resulted in over 8,500ish screenshots being taken to make it work. It was traumatic and outrageously laborious so whilst I may struggle to ever watch it again, I hope that folk enjoy it!’
Stuart Dougan is a Glasgow-born and-based singer/songwriter, who is best known in his native Scotland for fronting French Wives and Smash Williams. Dougan steps out into the limelight as a solo artist, writing and recording every single part of music on his own terms with his latest project The Quilter.
Dougan’s The Quilter debut, Bolt The Door EP is a collection of bold, alt pop songs, som eo which were written and recorded before the pandemic with others written during the initial lockdown. Interestingly, the EP follows upon last year’s immersive and cinematic visual record Dark Cloud/Grey Area, which was equal parts documentary film, live concert and album.
Bolt The Door’s latest single “The Long Weekend,” is an anthemic bit of synth pop featuring shimmering synth arpeggios, a driving groove and a euphoria-inducing hooks and fueled by nostalgia for hook-driven New Order-like dance anthems and for the things we here in the States are slowly getting back — in particular, being in the company of other sweaty and joyful humans at a summer festival and for other mundane things we’ve been deprived of for the past 15 months or so.
“This song was in part inspired by a viral clip I saw from the set of Uncut Gems where the crew had finished filming and were all dancing to ‘I Feel It Coming’ by The Weeknd. It was just a short clip but I wanted to try and capture the palpable sense of joy that was clearly being felt at the time. It was written during lockdown and is basically a love letter to my friends and daydreaming about getting to hang out and have fun in a post pandemic world. I’m very aware that it’s bombastic and over the top in places but I wanted to purposely try and capture a sense of hopeful euphoria that one day, not too far from here, you’ll get to hug all your friends again.”
Liam Brown is a Liverpool-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, electro pop artist and producer, best known as the creative mastermind behind the applauded, 80s synth pop-inspired, JOVM mainstay act pizzagirl. Since exploding into the blogosphere in 2018 with Brown has released two EPs, 2018’s an extended play and season 2 and his full length debut, 2019’s first timer — all of which have been championed by a handful of BBC personalities including Huw Stephens, Annie Mac and Lauren Laverne, Gemma Bradley, Shaun Keaveny and Radcliffe and Maconie, as well as KCRW’s Travis Holcombe, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, NME, DIY, Highsnobiety, Wonderland, The Line of Best Fit and a growing list of others.
Brown’s sophomore album, Softcore Mourn is slated for a July 16, 2021 release through Heist or Hit Records. Reportedly, the album will further establish his critically applauded aesthetic, in which he actively pits maximalist pop sounds against claustrophobic production but while delving deeper into the emotional hard-drive in a way that may remind some sonically and thematically of LCD Soundsystem and The Postal Service. But at parts, the album’s material can be seen as a return to form with the album drawing a bit from the sonic palette from an extended play.
“Bullet Train,” Softcore Mourn‘s second and latest single is a high octane banger featuring a chugging synth bass line, twinkling synth arpeggios, Brown’s plaintive vocals paired with a rousingly anthemic hook that sonically recalls mid 80s New Order — i.e. “Bizarre Love Triangle” and others. But despite the uptempo thump and neon colors, the song is ironically rather downbeat, with the song detailing the bitter and uneasy feelings of a nasty breakup.
“Here’s my second single ‘Bullet Train’, another breakup song I think,” Brown says, “but this time, at 200mph. I sound really bitter on this, and for good reason I’d say, my screen time is high, my battery is low and there’s no 5g at the end of this tunnel; haha ;)”
New Video: Rising French Act Pastel Coast Releases a Satirical Send-Up of Love and Heartbreak
Led by their Boulogne-sur-Mer, France-based creative mastermind Quentin Isidore (vocals, guitar) and featuring Benjamin Fiorini (drums), Ingrid Letourneau (keys), Marion Plouviez (guitar, vocals) and Renaud Retaux (bass), the rising French dream pop act Pastel Coast has received attention both nationally and internationally for developing and honing a melancholic and nostalgia-including sound deeply indebted to the early 90s Manchester scene.
2019 was an enormous year for the French indie act: their full-length debut Hovercraft landed on Dream Pop Magazine‘s Top 100. Adding to a the growing buzz surrounding them, the band wound up landing a slot at last year’s Inouïs du Printemps de Bourges, which was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Continuing upon that momentum, the band has been working on their highly-anticipated sophomore album Sun, which will feature the attention grabbing singles “Rendezvous” and “Dial,” an infectious and summery track, which brought New Order and Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix-era Phoenix to mind, while evoking the swooning euphoria of new love.
The French act’s first single of 2021, “Sunset” is hook-driven and breezy bit of glistening jangle pop that sonically — to my ears, at least — is a carefully crafted synthesis of New Zealand jangle pop and Phoenix. And much like its predecessors, the song focuses on affairs of the heart: in this case, capturing lovelorn folks racing against time and trying to find love before sunset.
Directed by Robin Laroque and Quentin Marinello, the recently released and gorgeously shot video for “Sunset” is a satirical look at love and heartbreak that stars Samya Arrat as a lovelorn woman, who winds up falling for a houseplant. And although initially she’s wildly in love, she gradually gets increasingly annoyed with the one-way nature of her affair.
Super Besse — Minsk-based Alex Sinica (bass) and Minsk-born and Berlin-based Maksim Kulsha (vocals) — supported their first two albums, 2015’s 63610 and 2017’s La Nuit with tours across the European Union, Russia and China, which helped the duo establish a reputation as a rising act on the international post-punk scene. Adding to a growing profile, “Holod” appears in the film Hotel Mumbai.
Last year’s Un Reve, which was recorded in Minsk and Berlin, found the duo moving towards a dance floor friendly, techno-influenced sound featuring rapid-fire beats, shimmering synth arpeggios and motorik grooves paired with a punk/post-punk ethos.
Riga, Latvia-based label I Love You Records, Super Besse’s long-time label will be releasing a remix album of Un Reve material this year. St. Petersburg-based electronic duo Wolfstream was recruited to remix Un Reve single “Ozhog.” The album version is a dance floor friendly take on post-punk centered around stuttering and skittering beats, an angular bass lines and shimmering and looping guitars — and although the song’s lyrics are sung in Russian, “Ozhog” manages to bring P.I.L. and New Orderr to mind. Interestingly, the Wolfstream remix manages to subtly reimagine the song as a trance house banger with a muscular thump with layered synth arpeggios replacing the guitar solos while retaining the angular bass line and skittering beats of the original.
