Tag: New Video

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Tinlicker Shares Defiant and Euphoric “I Want My Freedom”

Acclaimed Utrecht-based electronic music outfit Tinlicker — founding member Micha Heyboer, Jordi van Achthoven and their newest member Hero Baldwin — can trace their origins back to 2012, when the project was founded as a solo project of its founder Heyboer. As a solo project, Heyboer released Tinlicker’s debut EP, 2012’s My First Time Here and the 2012’s Remember The Future demo compilation through his own label, Zero Three Zero.

Jordi van Achthoven was introduced to Heyboer through a mutual contact in 2014. The pair bonded over their mutual inspirations of Paul Kalkbrenner, Trentemøller and Moderat, and at that point, Tinlicker expanded to a duo, releasing three EPs through Feed Me‘s Sotto Voce, 2014’s Like No Other, 2015’s Into The Open and The Space In Between, which featured “Oudegracht,” a track that amassed significant attention online.

2017 saw the duo releasing material through Anjunadep, Armada Music and deadmau5′s mau5trap before singing a record deal with Anjunadeep, who released their breakthrough full-length debut, 2019’s This Is Not Our Universe, which featured contributions from alt-J, Run Rivers, Thomas Oliver and Belle Doron. The album reached #1 on the dance charts in the US, Australia, India, Canada and Finland and #2 in the UK, The Netherlands and Poland.

The duo’s sophomore album In Another Life was released in February 2022. But by November 2023, the duo announced that the third album, last year’s Cold Enough for Snow would be released through [PIAS] Électronique. The album featured collaborations with Brian Molko, Editors‘ Tom Smith and Circa Waves. The Dutch duo supported the album with sets at Pinkpop Festival, CRSSD Festival, Crystal Palace Bowl, Coachella and Sziget Festival.

Back in 2020, as the Dutch duo were achieving commercial and critical success, they had started a successful collaboration with London-based signer/songwriter and producer Hero Baldwin that has continued through a series of singles including their most recent single “I Started A Fire,” which was released earlier this year. Heyboer and van Achthoven recently invited Baldwin to be a full-time member of the band. “Jordi and Micha seem to pull something out of me that resonates with my emotional landscape every time we make a song,” the London-based singer/songwriter and producer says. “I think it’s so important to feel creatively and emotionally secure, and Jordi and Micha always afford me that privilege.”

The act’s Melkweg Amsterdam show was their official debut as a trio. She also joined the duo for their biggest live show to date, Tinlicker In The Park at Crystal Palace Bowl.

Tinlicker’s highly-anticipated fourth album — and first as a trio — is slated for an early 2026 release. But in the meantime, the trio’s latest single “I Want My Freedom” showcases what has made the Dutch outfit a titan in electronic music: Beginning with a slow-burning piano intro that seemingly nods at Radiohead‘s “Everything In Its Right Place,” the track quickly morphs into a festival and club banger featuring skittering beats, glistening and melodic synth arpeggios, a string section sample-led bridge, and a euphoric bridge and hook, which serves as a slickly produced and lush bed for Baldwin’s defiant and resolute vocals.

Throughout the song’s runtime, Baldwin’s lyrics are especially pertinent right now, as many countries across the world seem to be sliding backwards into a brutally abusive, authoritarian hellscape that many of us don’t want — and will resist until death.

“These lyrics circled in my mind for a long time” Baldwin says. “I started writing from that feeling of disconnection as a woman in my mid-twenties with a sharp awareness of the world moving backwards. But over time, the song grew into something bigger. ‘I Want My Freedom’ isn’t just about me, it’s about all of us. The heartbreaking truth is that the abuse of freedoms reaches far beyond gender. I wanted to create a song of inclusion, with a nod to what I personally feel I’ve lost. Freedom is never handed to us, it’s something we fight for, and I no longer have that softness in me to apologize for that.”

The accompanying video for “I Want My Freedom” consists of footage shot from their Crystal Palace Bowl set.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Amadou & Mariam Share Swooning “L’amour à la folie”

Over the course of their almost 50-year career run together, the iconic and beloved Malian duo Amadou & Mariam have had an illustrious career that saw them take the Malian blues that made them a household name in Africa and opened it up to rock, hip-hop and EDM/dance influences, which led to spreading their country’s culture and beloved sounds, as well as the pair’s unique joie de vivre. “We’ve always dreamed of tearing down walls and opening people’s ears to new sounds so the whole world can discover and appreciate Malian music,” Amadou & Mariam says.

Late last year, the pair released the compilation album La Vie Est Belle, an album that highlighted their legacy as one of Africa’s most famous duos and the massive influence they’ve had while paving the way for an exciting, new generation of African artists, who have begun to dominate the Western mainstream.

The legendary Malian duo have also acted as Afro-pop ambassadors, who have collaborated with some of the biggest names of Western mainstream music, including U2, Coldplay, Stevie Wonder, Sofi Tucker, BLOND:ISH, Santigold, Akon, TV on the Radio, Damon Albarn and David Gilmour — with their seven studio albums selling over one million records globally. Adding to a globally recognized profile, the duo made the rounds of the global festival circuit, playing sets at Coachella, Lollapalooza and Glastonbury. They’ve also performed at The World Cup, NPR’s Tiny Desk and last year’s Paris Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony, where they covered Serge Gainsbourg‘s “Je Suis Venu Te Dire Que Je Me’n Vais.” And lastly, they made the run of the late night TV circuits of both the US and UK.

The duo’s final album together, L’amour à la folie is slated for an October 24, 2025 release. Written and recorded together over the past seven years, the acclaimed and beloved Malian duo’s soon-to-be released eighth album conveys the duo’s raw joy through incandescent, exuberant music that perfectly complements their messages of love and unity — and the hope of a peaceful world in which diversity is celebrated and championed. And with love with a capital L as the driving force, music and fuel and sharing as the spark, the duo’s radiant power continues to shine on their final album.

Final mixes of the album’s material were completed last winter. They shared a deep excitement about the album’s release in October. But sadly, Amadou Bagayoko died back in April. It’s Mariam Doumbia’s wish, after the mourning period, to return to stages and perform the album she spent seven years working on with her beloved while celebrating the music and life her and beloved created.

L’amour à la folie‘s latest single, album title track “L’amour à la folie,” is a defiantly upbeat and urgent declaration of a swooning and ridiculously passionate love, featuring a propulsive and funky Afro pop-meets-dance floor groove, driving polyrhythm and Bagayako’s woozy guitar riff paired with the duo’s unerring knack for incredibly catchy hooks and their imitable harmonizing. And at its core, “L’amour á la folie,”is a much-needed joy bomb in bleak, desperate times that reminds all of us that life isn’t worth a damn without a love that drives you mad.

The accompanying video features footage of the pair performing on stages across the world, bursts of behind the scenes footage from video and album art shoots, small moments of families together, behind the scenes footage of the duo together and more.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Sessa Shares Swinging and Strutting “Nome de Deus”

São Paulo-based singer/songwriter and musician Sergio Sayeg, best known as Sessa will be releasing his third album Pequena Vertigo de Amor on November 7, 2025 through Mexican Summer.

The nine-song album is not just an evolution of the Brazilian artist’s sound; it’s a thorough transformation. Sayeg describes the album’s material as “a bit more nocturnal, open-ended, crooked funky,” while highlighting inspiration from soulful influences across both North and South America, including Shuggie Otis, Roy Ayers, Sly Stone, Erasmo Carlos, Tim Maia, Hyldon and more.

Recorded to tape at Cosmo, the studio that the Brazilian artist co-founded with Biel Basile, over five sessions between last April and March 2025, Pequena Vertigem de Amor sees Sessa expanding his sonic palette and stretching in multiple directions simultaneously. There’s a greater emphasis on rhythm and enhanced tempos, as he experiments with new vocal cadences and textures, and the addition of instrumentation not heard in his previously released work like piano, synthesizer, wah-wah pedaled guitar and even a primitive drum machine.

Sayeg describes the forthcoming album’s songs as “a mix of personal chronicles and quiet meditations about life in the face of personal change, of experiencing something so big that you realize your insignificant size in space and time.” That new perspective and reality wound up remaking his personal life and his connection to music. “For the first time I saw music move from the center to the side of my life.” The radical reordering of priorities presented fresh opportunities in his music. “In an interesting way, music became more mixed with my life,” Sessa explains as he found ways to conjure melodies, lyrics and inspiration from the daily rhythms of life.

His personal evolution has brought into sharp contrast “the ambiguities and contradictions in life, which is a place that has always inspired my writing.” Pequena Vertigem de Amor reminds the listener that experiencing vertigo can be simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating, sentiments expressed through the material’s lyrics and overall aesthetic, a fusion of novel and familiar sounds, styles and instrumentation.

In making Pequena Vertigem de Amor, a cosmic connection by way of his son’s pre-school managed to yield a missing musical ingredient—an “element on piano, which I had never put in my music, that fulfilled my search for a classic samba jazz sound,” Sessa says.  A fellow musician and parent at his son’s pre-school suggested pianist Marcelo Maita, the younger brother of São Paulo samba legend Amado Maita. Sayeg invited the younger Maita to contribute to a few songs, including the album’s second and latest single “Nome de Deus” (“Name of God”).

Maita’s urgent, staccato piano attack paired with Biel Basile’s rolling percussion and a supple, throbbing bass line create a soulful, mischievously swinging and strutting samba-inspired bed for Sessa’s impassioned vocal defiantly asserting agency in bold defiance of deities and nonsensical laws and rules.

Directed by Rollinos, and shot in a cinematic black and white with illustrated burts of color exploding across the screen, the accompanying video features the Brazilian artist playing all of the song’s instrumentation and singing in a recording studio.

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Total Fucking Darkness Returns with Woozily Hypnotic “Give Me Everything You Own”

Electronic music outfit Total Fucking Darkness features: 

The trio have released two singles, which I’ve written about on this site, “Desolation Boys,” and “Take It Easy.” Their latest single “Give Me Everything You Own” is an unsettlingly woozy and hypnotic fever dream that’s one-part Tweekend-era The Crystal Method rave, one-part brooding dream pop and one-part howl into the void.

“We live in a late-period capitalist wasteland where art is devalued and podcasters are the new creative upper class. What a fucking bore,” the trio share. “‘Give Me Everything You Own’ is a reminder of the intrinsic, anarchic power of our music. We made it to feel like a nice cold wet fish slapping you upside the head to remind you not to fall asleep in your own life, that connection matters, that a dancefloor can be the site of rebellion and dissent. Don’t forget that cunts are still running the world…” 

The accompanying video is a flop sweat-fueled fever dream of nightmarish war imagery and brightly colored summery scenes that captures our ongoing hellscape. But all is not lost, y’all. Go to shows, dance floors, theater and meet like-minded souls. Community is always the solution to fascism.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Danger Mouse and Black Thought Team Up with Rag’n’Bone Man on Cinematic and Soulful “Up”

Danger Mouse (born Brian Burton) is arguably one of the most versatile and prolific artists and producers in music right now: As an artist he has been one-half of Broken Bells and Grammy Award-winning Gnarls Barkley. As a producer, he has recorded collaborative albums with  Yeah Yeah Yeahs‘ Karen O and the late, legendary MF DOOM. And he has worked with Adele, U2, The Black Keys, Gorillaz, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Michael Kiwanuka, Parquet Courts and a lengthy list of others. 

Black Thought (born Tariq Trotter) is a co-founder and frontman of Grammy Award winning, pioneering hip-hop act The Roots. Trotter is also an accomplished solo artist who has released a critically applauded album and two EPs: 2020’s Streams of Thought Vol. 3: Cane & Able and 2018’s Streams of Thought Vol. 1 EP and Streams of Thought Vol. 2 EP, which helped further his reputation among the cognoscenti — and real hip hop heads — as one of the dopest living emcees to ever spit bars. Adding to a lengthy list of accolades and accomplishments, Trotter has acted in film and theater, along with having writing and producer credits.

The duo’s acclaimed collaborative album, 2022’s Cheat Codes simultaneously marked Danger Mouse’s first hip-hop album since 2005’s DANGERDOOM with the legendary and beloved MF DOOM and the follow=up to Black Thought’s solo trilogy Streams of Thought. But their collaboration can actually be traced back almost 20 years earlier: Trotter and Burton first met back in 2005. They started working on material — but time went on, life happened, other projects and obligations came up.

Following 2004’s acclaimed The Grey Album, Burton became one of the most in-demand and prolific producers of the day, helming several commercially and critically successful projects, which led to a bevy of accolades and awards. He also developed collaborations with a unique and eclectic array of artists while expanding upon and honing his own musicianship, production and writing. 

During that same period of time, The Roots released a batch of critically applauded albums and became the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon then The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Trotter released his aforementioned, critically applauded solo trilogy Streams of Thought. He collaborated with the likes of Eminem, John Legend, Pusha T., Griselda, and a list of others. He wrote, composed and starred in the widely-praised off-Broadway show Black No More. And adding to a lengthy list of accomplishments, he co-produced a TV series with his Roots bandmate Questlove. 

Each mistakenly thought that the other had moved on and their collaboration just died, but as it turned out, neither one never stopped wanting to work together. Burton had long felt an instinctive need to return to his roots and make a timeless hip-hop album. He knew that Trotter was one of the few emcees truly capable of fulfilling that vision. Simultaneously, Trotter was seeking a space, where he could express himself musically and creatively beyond the confines and structures of his own band. 

This time, Burton was a far more seasoned songwriter and producer, Trotter an even more extraordinary emcee.  So, setting aside all distractions, Burton played Trotter some new music he had had. The ideas and words quickly flowed — and the experience was liberating. 

Meticulously built over a period of several years, Cheat Codes found Burton pushing widescreen, soul-infused hip-hop soundscapes to new directions paired with Trotter’s commanding presence, incisive lyricism and dexterous wordplay. Unlike the typical producer-meets-rapper/side project, Cheat Codes is an effort between two like-minded collaborators, who raise each other’s games to new heights. The album also featured an equally acclaimed cast of guests including A$AP Rocky, Run The Jewels, MF DOOM, Michael Kiwanuka, Joey Bada$$, Russ, Raekwon, and Conway the Machine. Simply put, dope emcees plus dope producer equals legendary album.

Danger Mouse and Black Thought recently shared “Up (with Rag’n’Bone Man),” their first bit of new material together since Cheat Codes — and a preview of their forthcoming, highly-anticipated sophomore album together. Written and performed by Danger Mouse, Black Thought and British artist Rag’n’Bone Man (drums and vocals), whose song “Human” has amassed over 2 billion views on YouTube, “Up” features a broodingly cinematic production with clattering and percussive boom bap serving as a lush bed for Black Thought’s intense and fiery yet deeply introspective lyrics and the rising British artist’s mournful, gospel-meets-soul like hook.

Directed by Joshua Ellingson, the accompanying video for “Up” continues the Cheat Codes visual aesthetic: screens upon screens, stock footage that seemingly evokes the desperate urgency of our moment and the three collaborators.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Weird Nightmare Shares Defiantly Upbeat Anthem “Forever Elsewhere”

Known for his decade-plus stint as frontman of Toronto-based JOVM mainstays METZ, singer/songwriter and guitarist Alex Edkins developed and honed a reputation for being a master craftsman of eardrum splitting, hooky rippers.

Edkins’ recording project Weird Nightmare saw the longtime METZ frontman showcasing a sugary and distorted pop sensibility to his long-established reputation for enormous power chord riffs and rousingly anthemic hooks with the project’s 2022 self-titled, full-length debut and a handful of one-off singles.

His latest single, the Jim Eno co-produced “Forever Elsewhere” is a rollicking and defiantly upbeat, hook-driven anthem that sounds to me a bit like a synthesis of Edkins’ work with METZ and The Replacements. While retaining the anthemic hooks of his Weird Nightmare debut album, “Forever Elsewhere” is a decided departure from the lo-fi bedroom approach, and step forward into the high-fiddly, shout-along with your friends anthems. And lord knows, we need a few more of those right now.

“‘Forever Elsewhere’ is the most optimistic song I’ve written to date. I wanted to send an unequivocal positive message into the world,” Edkins explains. “The line ‘Love, it will come,’ summarizes the overall theme: if things feel hopeless and the world is bleak, don’t give up, keep pushing. I like to think of it as a pep talk wrapped in fuzzy guitars. 
 
“I recorded with Seth Manchester (he engineered the last two METZ records) and Jim Eno (Spoon), and we tracked this one really quickly. Drummer Loel Campbell (Wintersleep) and Roddy Kuester (Julianna Riolino/Sadies) nailed it in 2 takes, and you can really hear the ramshackle energy in the song where the wheels almost fall off a couple of times. We tried to keep it loose.”

Directed by Colin Medley, the accompanying video for “Forever Elsewhere,” is an adorable and fairly accurate portrayal of adolescence turning into young adulthood, with the bitter recognition that occasionally adulthood is some asshole trying to take advantage of you. And yet, love and kindness somehow sets things straight.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: King Black Acid and Birdie Swann Sisters Team Up on Darkly Seductive “Rats In The City”

Daniel Riddle is Portland, OR-based is a singer/songwriter and musician, who has written and recorded music under the moniker King Black Acid since the late 1980s, while spending time as a member of industrial outfit Hitting Birth. Since the early 90s, Riddle has led a number of different collectives and projects that have toured and shared stages with Elliott Smith, Nirvana, Low, Moby, Sonic Youth, The Dandy Warhols, Faith No More, Dead Moon, Menomena, The Fugees, Arctic Monkeys, Spacemen 3, Danzig, Nine Inch Nails and more.

Throughout his career, Riddle’s music has been featured on CSI: Miami, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, The Mothman Prophecies, Witchblade, Dream With Fishes, Do Me a Favor and CNN Sports, as well as ad campaigns for Nike, Reebok, Tiger Woods Golf, CNN, Coca-Cola, Abercrombie and Fitch, Gap and The Olympics.

Birdie Swann Sisters is a collaborative project featuring:

  • Birdie Moon, a French producer, engineer and musician, who has played with M83, AIR, Beck, The Knife and a lengthy list of others.

  • Daisy Rae Swann, an Icelandic producer and singer/songwriter, who has written and recorded material with acts like Coldplay, Florence and the Machine, Gorillaz and countless others.

The Birdie Swann Sisters met King Black Acid’s Daniel Riddle while working on film soundtracks for television/streaming services. Working remotely and trading sound files, the trio bonded over their mutual love of vintage analog instruments, lo-fi guitars and an emphasis on rare synthesizers and drum machines.

Their initial film and TV score collaborations lead to Dream School Dropout, the trio’s 10-song collaborative album. Sonically, the album sees the trio mixing elements of cinematic 80s dream pop, 70s soul and R&B, yacht rock and psych rock into a lush, dreamy tapestry.

Dream School Dropout‘s latest single “Rats In The City” is a slickly produced, hook-driven, club friendly bop featuring glistening and oscillating synths and skittering boom bap that brings Evil Heat-era Primal Scream, Tame Impala, POND and even Midnight Juggernauts to mind paired with darkly seductive, somewhat menacing lyrics.

The accompanying video is a slickly edited mashup of B movie footage, stock footage and psychedelic imagery pulsing and undulating to the song’s propulsive beat.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Black Polish Shares Bruising “Lush”

Black Polish mastermind Jayden “Jay” Binnix is a young, rising artist who spent their formative years split between Florida and Maryland, before later relocating to Los Angeles. Binnix, who says that they “popped out of the womb singing,” took piano lessons at five, and later picked up ukulele and guitar. After receiving encouragement from a vocal teacher, Binnix wrote their first song “Sophie,” inspired by their childhood girlfriend.

Released back in 2020, “Sophie” saw the young artist quickly establishing their own style of earnest, emotionally piercing lyricism and a dynamic sound blending alternative, electronic and pop music influences like Halsey, Twenty One Pilots and girl in red.

Binnix’s emotive and lived-in songwriting was sharpened through their 2021 Out of Place EP and last year’s full-length debut, Forest, which examined how their upbringing made it difficult for them to fully explore and express their identity — but eventually finding clarity through the other side. Their songs have landed on Spotify’s New Music Friday and All-New Indie playlists, and building upon a growing profile, they contributed “Armageddon,” to the acclaimed Hulu series, Love, Victor.

“I just want to make people feel less alone, to remind people that they don’t have to hate themselves, to inspire others to pursue creativeness and passion without embarrassment,” Binnix says. “I love hearing a listener respond to my music and say, ‘This is my comfort song.’ It makes me feel so sure about myself.

Binnix’s highly-anticipated Black Polish sophomore album YUNA is slated for an October 29, 2025 release through BMG. The album is a work of fiction and fantasy that centers around Black Polish’s alter-ego “Yuna,” a man-eating succubus, who allows Binnix to explore their most depraved instincts and hyperfeminine abilities to beguile and seduce.

Throughout the album, Binnix dives deep into the Yuna character’s psyche while presenting playful, dark-sided lyrics and ever-shifting sonics to relay the album’s intricate narrative. Ultimately, the album’s story suggests that some aspects of ourselves can never be fully banished or hidden, but must be understood and accepting. And at the core of the material, is the question: Can you learn to forgive and accept the darkest, most fucked up parts of yourself?

YUNA will feature the previously released singles “BONDAGE” AND “BE WITH YOU,” which received praise from Alternative Press, Paste Magazine, Out Magazine, Queerty and more, and the album’s third and latest single “LUSH.” Sonically channeling 90s grunge, Paramore and others, “LUSH” reveals an artist with an uncanny knack for pairing forceful rock bombast and arena rock friendly hooks with earnest, seemingly lived-in lyricism. The song also evokes the weird — and sometimes thrilling — push and pull of a dysfunctional relationship.

 “I don’t talk to anyone, knowing I won’t hear what’s good for me,” Binnix says of the new single. “If dysfunction is all you know, naturally, you’ll gravitate towards the familiar. Ignoring the fact that this will ultimately fail creates the illusion of freedom so you can experience a relationship without feeling trapped.”

The accompanying video features the rising Los Angeles-based artist as both Black Polish and their alter-ego Yuna at the beach at night, alternating between seductiveness and unhinged fury.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Saint Avangeline Shares Ethereal and Yearning “Limerence”

Saint Avangeline is a rising Atlanta-based artist, who over the course of two albums and a collection of singles has crafted a body of work that’s deeply rooted in her personal journey with mental health struggles, domestic and growing up queer in the South, while offering an unabashedly honest exploration of inner turmoil, rage, hope and resilience.  “Most songs are like a diary for me,” the Atlanta-based artist explains. “Exploring my mental health struggles. Trauma, intense feelings. Like sucking the poison out.”

Over the course of the past few years, she has amassed a rabid fan base, while amassing almost 80 million streams on Spotify, 2.3 million monthly Spotify listeners and almost 5.5 billion streams on TikTok.

The rising Atlanta-based artist’s latest single “Limerence,” is a slow-burning and ethereal track anchored around ambient electronics and Saint Avangeline’s yearning and achingly tender vocal. Sonically nodding at a cinematic, fever dream-like take on Stevie Nicks, Kate Bush and others, the song tackles themes of obsessively devotion and love leading to ruin, and the intoxicating pull between desire and self-destruction.

“I feel hazy listening to it. Dreamlike state. Written in a bad time of my life and so my subconscious wrote it,” Saint Avangeline says. “The lyrics were written at a Starbucks in 2022 – I thought I was writing a love song, but was in an abusive relationship.”

“Inspiration is fueled by an intense emotion that I cannot shake,” she continues. “Lyrics are written in a stream of consciousness within a very short sitting – 20 minutes. The composition and vocals are not different, and usually are completed within a day. I have chromesthesia and all of my songs work within a color palette in my head. These upcoming releases all have a nostalgic yearning, but in the order they are written, they go from this place of dreamland delusion, to starting to wake up to having a hazy recollection, to facing the future and having genuine change, eyes open.”
 

The accompanying video captures a feverishly swooning and Gothic-era sapphic love affair, that emphasizes the desperate yearning at the core of the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Dear Boy Shares Madchester-like “The Address”

Los Angeles-based indie outfit Dear Boy — founding members Ben Grey (vocals, guitar) and Keith Cooper (drums) alongside Austin Hayman (lead guitar) and Lucy Lawrence (bass, vocals) — can trace their origins back to when its founding members Grey and Cooper were living in London during their mid-twenties. Hayman and Lawrence joined the band once its founding duo returned to the States.

Interestingly, despite their Stateside roots, the Los Angeles-based quartet’s work has drawn from ’80s and ’90s Brit pop and shoegaze — with the band citing Pulp, Oasis, Slowdive and The Jesus and Mary Chain as major influences, while also embracing the likes of Pixies and R.E.M. 

The band’s sophomore album sophomore album, the Aron Kobayashi Ritch-produced Celebrator is slated for an October 17, 2025 release through Last Gang Records. Following the success of their full-length debut, 2022’s Forever Sometimes, the band took a step back from perfectionist production practices and leaned into spontaneity. Written in 12 sessions and recorded live in under two weeks, the album’s material reportedly bristles with a palpable energy while showcasing the band’s musical and creative chemistry. “We made this album to remember why we do this in the first place,” the band says. “Because we love it. We adore each other. Joy. Connection. Heartbreak. Celebration. We’re not interested in anything other than that.”

Celebration will feature the previously released “After All,” feat. Rocket’s Alithea Tuttle, a bombastic anthem that brings 120 Minutes-era MTV and 90s Brit Pop to mind. The album’s latest single “The Address” continues the band’s Brit Pop-meets-shoegaze while featuring a Happy Mondays/Madchester-style breakbeat-driven drum groove and shoegazer textured guitar chug serving as a lush yet subtly dance floor friendly bed for Ben Grey’s plaintive and yearning delivery.

Much like its immediate predecessor, “The Address” showcases the band’s uncanny knack for paring catchy hooks and swaggering bombast with earnest, lived-in lyricism.

Fittingly, the video made by the band’s Ben Gray and Ryan Saunders, the accompanying video draws heavily from old school MTV visuals.

singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Tame Impala Returns with Yearning, Club Friendly “Dracula”

Acclaimed Aussie JOVM mainstay Tame Impala‘s highly-anticipated fifth album, Deadbeat is slated for an October 17, 2025 release through Columbia Records.

Deeply inspired by bush door culture and the Western Australia rave scene, Deadbeat sees Tame Impala mastermind Kevin Parker recasting himself as a sort of future primitive rave act. Conceived in various locations over the last handful of years, the album was largely galvanized between Parker’s hometown of Fremantle and his Inijidup, Western Australia-based studio Wave House during the first half of this year.

Renowned for being a perfectionist, Parker’s fifth Tame Impala album reportedly showcases an artist with a leveled-up mastery of songwriting but crafted with a newfound embrace of spontaneity. The result is a collection of remarkably catchy, hook-driven, club-friendly psych pop while being some of Parker’s most direct songwriting of his career to date. Sonically, there are timbres and textures that add new dimension to the material’s overall sound paired with a much richer, more playful vocal range.

Lyrically, the album finds Parker channeling an endless bummer with a self-deprecating fuck-up of a narrator stuck in a hopelessly negative feedback loop, when he should have long had his shit together. We all know this kind of dude — and in some cases, he is us. Thematically, the album suggests raving as self-inquiry, self-medication in lieu of self-care and the kick-on as domestic bliss. Dance and sweat your troubles, stresses and concerns away on the dance floor, y’all. Reality can wait another day or two — hell, fuck it, another three.

Deadbeat will feature the previously released “End of Summer,” the recently released “Loser,” and the album’s third and latest single “Dracula.” “Dracula” continues a run of club friendly bops, anchored around euphoric hooks — but while arguably being the funkiest song off the album to date. Lyrically, the new single is arguably one of the playfully self-deprecating and self-referential tunes of Parker’s growing catalog, while simultaneously expressing the swooning yearning that he’s long been known for.

Directed by multi-disciplinary artist Julian Klincewicz, the accompanying video for “Deadbeat” follows Parker and a big rig carrying a house, as the acclaimed Aussie artist struts his way to and through a rave in the rural Australia.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Québec City’s David Emme Shares a Melancholy Yet Breezy Bop

Québec City-based singer/songwriter and musician David Emme is a self-described “sensitive courtier of melancholy,” whose sound frequently sees him making a delicate balance between New Wave, coldwave and post punk. Rather than choosing between light and shadow, Emme weaves light and shadow together in a way that expresses a deep, lived-in vulnerability.

“Encore” marks a new chapter for the Québec City-based artist. Anchored around glistening, reverb-drenched, New Order-like guitars paired with a breakneck, motorik-like groove and Emme’s plaintive delivery, “Encore” is a deceptively upbeat, almost anthemic song that manages to evoke a swooning, lived-in melancholy and longing. The new single channels classic New Order and contemporary bedroom pop while showcasing an artist, who can craft an earnest song with remarkably catchy hooks. “I decided to return to my first loves in terms of sound. It feels like a song I should haver eleased 10 years ago, but I wanted to wait until I had the experience and maturity to do it justice,” Emme says.

Directed by Ara3, the accompanying video follows Emme as he enters in a Québécois cafe/bar with a handful of roses. Shot in one, languorous and extended take, we see the Québec City-based artist handing out roses to a bored bartender, a romantic couple on the brink and pals having a bitter argument. And for a moment, all of these folks had remembered the joy and caring of their connection to that other person — thanks to our intrepid, Cupid-like protagonist.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Death of Lillies Share Broodingly Cinematic “Savior”

The Death of Lillies is a new project featuring:

  • Adam Bravin has developed and maintained a reputation for remarkable versatility, gaining recognition for his exceptional talent as a DJ, at one point, becoming the go-to dj for the likes of Prince, Dr. Dre and Stevie Wonder. His ability to blend genres seamlessly and create unforgettable music experiences has also seen him launch club nights like Giorgio’s at The Standard and many more. But he may be best known for his partnership with childhood friend Justin Warfield in She Wants Revenge, an act that has seen massive radio play, sold hundreds of thousands of records globally and toured with Depeche Mode, The Cure and Placebo while headlining their own tours and festivals.

  • Rising, Atlanta-based artist Saint Avangeline. Over the course of two albums and a collection of singles, the Atlanta-based artist’s work has been deeply rooted in her personal journey with mental health struggles, domestic abuse and growing up queer, while offering an unabashedly honest exploration of inner turmoil, rage, hope and resilience. In a relatively short period of time, she has amassed a rabid fan base.

The duo’s latest single “Savior” is a broodingly cinematic track that showcases the duo’s sound: Bravin’s signature ominous yet dance floor friendly soundscapes serving as a lush bed for Saint Avangeline’s haunting, darkly seductive vocal. “‘Savior’ is about the complicated truth that sometimes the ones who need saving the most end up being the ones who save us,” The Death of Lillies’ Adam Bravin says. “It’s about the quiet strength found in vulnerability, the way pain, when faced, can turn into something powerful and transformative.” 

He adds, telling Northern Transmissions, “The track was written as a theme for Arkhan the Cruel, a powerful and cinematic character from Dungeons and Dragons lore. There was something about Arkhan’s dark, unrelenting energy that shaped the entire sound. When Lily and I first started working together, I played it for her, and the spell that had captured me instantly captured her too. From there, we reshaped it together into something entirely our own.”

The accompanying video directed by Bravin and Ben Haslup was shot in a gorgeously cinematic black and white, and follows Saint Avangeline on an epic journey towards finding her other musical half.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Charlatans UK Share Euphoric Visual for Anthemic “We Are Love”

The Charlatans UK — Tim Burgess (vocals), Martin Blunt (bass), Mark Collins (guitar), Tony Rogers (keys) and The Verve co-founder Pete Salisbury (drums) — are arguably one of the best-loved and commercially British bands of the past 40 years or so. Over the course of their lengthy run, the band has released 13 albums, 3 of which earned #1 on the UK Albums Charts with 22 Top 40 UK singles, including “The Only One I Know,” “North Country Boy” and “One to Another.” 

The acclaimed British outfit’s long awaited, highly anticipated 14th album, the Dev Hynes, Fred Macpherson and Stephen Street co-produced We Are Love is slated for an October 31, 2025 release through BMG. The first album from the acclaimed outfit in eight years, the longest gap in their history, was a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the individual members’ solo projects and side projects, life’s twists, turns and complexities and the fact that each of the band’s individual members live scattered across Europe. With all of that going on, it took longer than usual to figure out schedules; for the stars to align; and for the right vibe and right time. 

Recoded at two places that are almost apocryphal in the band’s history — Wales-based Rockfield Studios and the band’s Middlewich, Chesire-based Big Mushroom, We Are Love reportedly sees the band launching into a bold new era, one that finds them at peace with their past while looking forward to the future. The band’s Tim Burgess cites hauntology and psychogeography as two major concepts that swirled in his head as the band worked on the album. 

The band returned to Rockfield Studs for the first time since the recording sessions for the fifth album, 1997’s Tellin’ Stories. As a band, they hadn’t been there since keyboardist Rob Collins’ death, in the middle of that album’s sessions, in a car accident at the bottom of the track leading to the farm surrounding the studio. Reportedly throughout the album, you can hear the band’s awareness of the things that made them — the highs and lows the desire to honor their own legacy, while not being deeply defined by it; and a career-long drive to be innovative and progressive. “The whole idea of hauntology and psychogeography is represented by us going back to Rockfield, where so much history has happened for The Charlatans,” the band’s Tim Burgess says. “That was important as a way of honoring every member who’s played in the band. So we’re honouring ourselves, our past, feeling that energy and reincarnating it, doing something fresh, brand new.” 

The album’s introspective creative process, brought home the fact that love has been the glue that has held the band together for so long, and ultimately that’s reflected on the album’s 11, forward-thinking, future-facing songs. 

We Are Love‘s first single, album title track “We Are Love” is a defiantly upbeat, road trip-meets-big venue/festival anthem, anchored by a propulsive, motorik groove and rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses. Tim Burgess describes it as “like an open-top car ride in the credits of your favorite movie, driving along the coast to somewhere amazing.”

One of the first tracks to emerge as they were writing material, “We Are Love” became a pathfinder for the record as the band’s Mark Collins explains: “Early on, we thought it felt right. And it turned out that way: first single, title track, second song on the album. And things started forming around ‘We Are Love.’ There was a certain energy to it that drove us forward.”

The stylishly shot accompanying video for “We Are Love” features a collection of young people at a show, free and completely uninhibited. “To feel love you have to let your inhibitions go. That’s what’s happening here – at first the kids represent what keeps us tethered and then move towards euphoria which is what life is all about,” the band’s Tim Burgess explains. “The moment we let love in and accept ourselves is when we can stand alone and become love It’s also people on a dancefloor having a brilliant time which is never a bad thing.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Bella Litsa Shares Dream-like “1117”

Isabella Komodromos is a Cypriot-born, Brooklyn -based singer/songwriter, pianist and the creative mastermind behind the rising cinematic, solo art pop project Bella Litsa. The Cypriot-born, Brooklyn-based artist was raised in a household steeped in classical music: She began studying the piano when she turned seven, and quickly discovered her deep love for singing.

With Bella Litsa, Komodromos has crafts intimate, lush and emotionally potent songs that echo with dreamlike intensity. And in a rather short period of time, her sound which sees her blending vintage romance with experimental textures, a sort of haunted Americana-meeting-minimalist futurism, has helped her draw comparisons to Lana Del Rey, Fiona Apple and Weyes Blood — while being a vessel for connection and cantharis. “Bella Litsa is my sadness personified. It feels like the closest I can get to my shadow, consciously,” Komodromos says.

Komodromos’ second and latest single this year, “1117” is a breathtakingly beautiful song featuring a marching, classically-inspired arpeggiated piano melody and military styled drumming serving as a lush yet uneasy bed for the Cypriot-born, Brooklyn-based artist’s gorgeous and expressive vocal singing lyrics touching upon guilt, longing, love and not quite knowing her place in either. While further cementing comparisons to Lana Del Rey, Fiona Apple and Weyes Blood, “1117” brings to mind the likes of Tori Amos and French-born, Montréal-based artist Lonny — with dreamy and cinematic quality. And yet the song evokes a sense of unreconcilable inner conflict.

“This was one of the more labored-over songs on the record. I started writing it on November 17th, but only had the first half of the lyrics done,” Komodromos says. “I had to wait until certain things in life moved me, until certain things happened, something to finish the lyrics with. It’s strange because I had this dream the following February and prayed to God to give me solace in it, some sort of surrender – and He answered. Only then was I able to finish the song.” 

She adds, “It’s an emotionally unstable song, as in I’m fighting with myself and trying to figure out what it is I want and why I want it to begin with. The relationship that inspired it was harmful, but I couldn’t stop myself from being allured.”

Directed by Kelli McGuire, the accompanying dreamlike video features the rising singer/songwriter and pianist spinning and expressively dancing to the song.