Tag: New Video

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Mariaa Siga Teams Up With ODDY on Hopeful “Boukanack”

Over the past handful of years, I’ve spilled quite a bit of virtual ink covering Senegalese singer/songwriter, musician and JOVM mainstay Mariaa Siga. 

Siga continues an ongoing collaboration with ODDY on the slow-burning and heartfelt “Boukanack,” which pairs a shuffling and twinkling reggae riddims, bursts of soulful and meditative horn with the Senegalese JOVM mainstay’s gorgeous and expressive delivery. “Boukanack” continues a run of material that blurs and transcends cultural and international boundaries while celebrating diversity in all forms. With “Boukanack” in particular, the song is anchored in a much-needed message of peace and hope for all humanity.

Directed by Mao Sidibé, the gorgeously shot accompanying visual for “Boukanack” is set in beautiful Senegal and offers a slice of daily life in that country; but perhaps more importantly, the video celebrates diversity — both within the country and outside.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: SUNSAY Shares Soulful and Introspective “Papa’s Song”

Andrey Zaporozhets is a Ukrainian singer/songwriter and musician, whose career started in earnest back in 2000. Zaporozhets first captured audiences as one-half of 5’nizza. With bandmate Sergey Babkin, the duo gained recognition for a unique and authentic sound that paired acoustic guitar with soulful vocals and harmonies and thoughtful lyrics.

5’nizza went on hiatus in 2007. Zaporozhets stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist with his solo recording project SUNSAY. Through the release of seven studio albums, two EPs and a handful of standalone singles, the Ukrainian artist has firmly established a sound that pairs soulful vocals and expressive and introspective lyrics that reflect his personal journey and experience. Thematically anchored in a message of finding common ground within and around us, Zaporozhets believes that his work has the power to create and inspire unity.

SUNSAY’s latest single “Papa’s Song” is the first bit of new material from the Ukrainian singer/songwriter and musician in over two years. Anchored around a classic, cinematic soul-inspired sound featuring a glistening Rhodes, shuffling rhythms, soaring strings, a supple bass line and soulful backing and lead vocals, “Papa’s Song” recalls What’s Going On-era Marvin Gaye and contemporaries like Monophonics and others. Lyrically and thematically, the new single is arguably one of the Ukrainian artist’s most personal to date. Written as a tribute to his father, the song explores the complex and conflicting emotions between fathers and sons, while reaching a point of understanding and accepting his father for the complicated, flawed, whole person he was with a sense of forgiveness.

Directed by Sam Bagdasarov, the accompanying video for “Papa’s Song” is shot in a gorgeous, cinematic black and white. We follow a young boy and the grown Zaporozhets but their roles are reversed, almost like the movie Big: The boy, wearing a false mustache for a significant portion of the video, plays the role of the parent with Zaporozhets playing the role of the child. Through this view, and the wisdom he’s earned through his life, the grown Zaporozhets comes to a deeper, empathetic understanding of his father; an understanding that he wouldn’t have come to when he was younger.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Félix Dyotte Shares Breezy Yet Melancholy “Un vent de vanille”

Félix Dyotte is an acclaimed, Montréal-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who also collaborates as lyricist, arranger and producer for Pierre Lapointe, Jean Leloup, Salomé Leclerc, Evelyne Brouchu and Cœur de Pirate.

Dyotte’s fourth album, the Felix Bélise-co-produced Aérosol was released earlier this year through Montréal-based label Bonbonbon. The album sees the acclaimed French Canadian singer/songwriter adopting a decided change in direction from its immediate predecessor, 2021’s Airs païens. Whereas Airs païens featured natural and wood-like sounds, they’ve been replaced by synths, drum machines and samplers on Aérosol. And as a result, the album’s material seemingly draws from New Wave and dream pop.

Aérosol‘s fourth and latest single, the languorous “Un vent de vanille” is a breezy track featuring a sunny synth melody, fluttering flute and a shuffling and laid-back groove serving as a lush, 80s synth pop-meets-Beach House-like dream pop bed for Dyotte’s achingly plaintive vocal. “Un vent de vanille” may be a summery sway of a tune, but it possesses an autumnal melancholy, seemingly informed by the inevitable passing of time.

The accompanying video is a decidedly lo-fi affair, that features footage that’s presumably shot in the Quebec countryside and footage of a brooding Dyotte — occasionally with splotches of pain exploding in front of him.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Seafoam Walls Shares Dreamily Unsettling “Rapids”

Formed back in 2016, the acclaimed Miami-based indie quartet Seafoam Walls — Jayan Bertrand (vocals, guitar), Josh Ewers (bass), Josue Vargas (electronic drums) and Dion Kerr (guitar) — quickly caught the attention of underground music and art communities across South Florida with a unique sound that they dubbed “Caribbean Jazzgaze,” a mesh of jazz, shoegaze, rock, hip-hop and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. 

The Miami-based outfit exploded into the larger, international scene following a secret, all-ages matinee show with DC-based hardcore photographer Susie J. and Sonic Youth‘s Thurston Moore. Building upon a rapidly growing profile, the band released 2018’s R-E-F-L-E-C-T EP and 2019’s one-off “Root.”

2021’s full-length debut, XVI, which featured the A Storm in Heaven-meets-TV on the Radio-like “Program” was released through Thurston Moore’s The Daydream Library Series. 

The Miami-based outfit’s sophomore album Standing Too Close To The Elephant In The Room is slated for a Friday release through Dion Dia. The album’s title is partially derived for a metaphor for the often overlooked but significant challenges and complexes that people face in their lives. But it also is a warning about getting caught up in the details — at the risk of missing the bigger picture. “Everyone has an elephant in the room; an obvious problem in their life that everyone, including the person affected, knowingly looks past,” the band’s frontman Jayan Bertrand explains. “BUT, I say that one is standing too close, because the problem is more complex and their vision is too obstructed to see the bigger picture. So viewers are providing their skewed perspectives of the same problem. It’s an illustration of the areas in which intersectionality fails to meet.”

Standing Too Close To The Elephant In The Room reportedly represents a new chapter for the band: The album’s material not only showcases the band’s evolution as musicians, but it also solidifies their reputation as bounding-pushing artists, inviting the listener to a Technicolor mist of experimental influences and instrumentation. Continuing their commitment to full artistic autonomy, the band’s members took production duties, shaping an album that will reward those who will revel in its sweeping soundscapes, as thematically the material delves deeper into questioning the trappings of modern society and all of its contradictions. 

Last month, I wrote about album single “Humanitarian Pt. II,” a song anchored around glistening guitar melodies, a relentless motorik groove and bursts of whirring synths. The arrangement serves as a lush and dreamy bed for Bertrand’s meditative vocal to sing philosophical lyrics that examines the motivation that makes us choose our paths — and how we go about those paths. Some people are drawn to the attention or superficial perks of an occupation, without understanding what it really entails. Through the song, the listener must face the very shitty reality that only certain efforts, from certain people get rewarded. Certainly, whether as a musician, a writer or a photographer, these observations are familiar, especially when you see others seemingly being much more successful at what you do, than you are. 

“Before I picked up a guitar, I was simply a fan of music,” the band’s Bertrand explains. “Then, I began learning about the oppressive tactics of governments worldwide, and my world shattered. The entities of authority that assured me that everything they did was just were actually a key part of the problem. I started to believe that art was the only safe space in this cruel world. ‘Humanitarian Pt. II’ is about disillusionment. 
 
“I jumped into the music scene headfirst without realizing that the same tactics would exist. I then made it my mission to call out such tactics and question our societal norms like my favorite artists before me.
 
I’m still looking for an answer to all of my pressing questions, but it helps to be grouped with people with a similar mindset who have practical solutions. I gravitated towards Dion Dia records for our latest and upcoming releases because while everyone I admired raised great questions and awareness, Dion Dia presented a hopeful alternative.”

Standing Too Close To The Elephant In The Room‘s last pre-release single “Rapids” is built around a chugging, aqueous-like groove that pushes murkily sung yet hypnotic mantra-like vocals. The song manages to sound simultaneously comforting and deeply unsettling — and in a way that’s a bit difficult to pin down. “‘Rapids’ is short for white water rapids. A fast-moving body of water that cares or waits for no living being. I see time in a similar way,” the band’s frontman Jayan Bertrand explains. “Society will progress without you if you get stuck in your ways. It helps to be as fluid as the times allow.”

The accompanying video continues upon a developed glitchy and noisy VHS-driven aesthetic while focusing on bodies of water and slices of Miami life.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: DVTR Tackles a Québecois New Wave Classic

With the release of their debut EP, BONJOUR, the French Canadian JOVM mainstays DVTR —  Le Couleur‘s Laurence G-Do and Gazoline‘s,  Kandle‘s Xavier Caféine‘s and Gab Bouchard‘s JC Tellier — burnt up the Canadian indie scene: The EP amassed a plethora of rapturous reviews, landed on a number of Best of 2023 Lists and earned the duo a handful of awards in Québec. 

Earlier this month, the duo released an expanded edition of their debut EP, BONJOUR (BIS), which featured “Les Olympiques,” a punchily breakneck ripper an anchored in scathing sociopolitical commentary — but while seeming to draw from The Hives, The Strokes and The White Stripes among others. 

The expanded EP features a cover of Dolbie Stéréo’s 1982 Quebecois New Wave classic “Pied de poule,” which also appears in the musical of the same name. Anchored around a chugging synth-driven groove and punchily delivered shouts, Dolbie Stereo’s original is an in-your-face anthem. DVTR’s cover subtly modernizes the Quéecois New Wave classic while retaining the original’s in-your-face punchiness and irresistible groove.

The accompanying video features footage shot at a sweaty and bonkers DVTR show.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Nature Loves Courage Shares Sleek and Dance Floor Friendly “Elevation”

Initially starting her career as a singer/songwriter and pianist, who drew comparisons to Annie Lennox and Kate Bush, McKenna Rowe (vocals, keys) found herself increasingly driven by an obsession with samples and beats when she founded the Los Angeles-based pop outfit Nature Loves Courage back in 2020 as a way to create her own take on lush, atmospheric grooves, inspired by the likes of Massive Attack and others. Rowe recruited Jacob Bergman (bass), Garrett Smith (drums) and Joe De Sa (guitar) to flesh out and polish the project’s overall sound.

The quartet aims to bridge electronic soundscapes with a dynamic rock sound, enveloping the listener in a pseudo live experience. Typically, the band’s material counterbalances airy string and piano arrangements with quirky synths and heavy rock and funk-inspired riffs.

Nature Loves Courage’s recently released and aptly named EP III managers to encapsulate the band’s sound and approach while seemingly drawing from Annie Lennox, Blondie, The Chemical Brothers and LCD Soundsystem. Thematically, the EP’s material dives into a completely storyline while touching upon heartbreak, practicing kindness to one another and more.

III EP‘s lead single “Elevation” is a dance floor friendly bop featuring a supple and funky bass line, twinkling, Larry Levan-like synth arpeggios and bursts of Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar paired with Rowe’s sultry pop starlet delivery and remarkably catchy hooks. Sonically meshing elements of house music and dance pop, “Elevation” thematically nudges the listener towards practicing some much-needed kindness towards others.

The Los Angeles-based quartet collaborated with Holy Smoke Photography on the accompanying video, which sees the band playfully experiment with animation to express different versions of themselves in a Nature Loves Courage multiverse.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Belfast’s Chalk Shares Tense Yet Euphoric “Tell Me”

Rising Belfast-based electronic outfit Chalk — Ross Cullen (vocals), Benedict Goddard (guitar, sampler) and Luke Niblock (drums) — features three award-winning musicians and filmmakers, who can trace the origins of the band to their meeting while attending film school. The trio bonded over having the same musical vision and ambitions.

Inspired by the ferocity of Dublin‘s guitar band scene’s live shows and the sweaty hardcore dance scenes of their native Belfast, the band has developed and crafted a sound that has been dubbed by some critics as techno-infused, gothic post-punk — and as the band has dubbed Berghain-rock blended with techno punk. 

Last year saw the Northern Ireland-based post punk/electronic trio release their debut EP Conditions. But the band quickly made a name for themselves as a live unit: They exploded out of the gates with opening slots for London-based outfit PVA for their first ever shows, before selling out shows across the UK. Quickly building upon a growing profile across the region and elsewhere, the band landed sets across the European major festival circuit, closing out 2023 with a set at Rencontres Trans Musicales and a KEXP live session.

Coming off the heels of a Northern Irish Music Prize 2023 Best Live Act win, the band has begun to make noise globally: Their Chris Ryan and Ross Cullen co-produced sophomore EP Conditions II was released earlier this year. The EP featured previously reread singles “The Gate” and “Claw,” which received praise from The Independent, NME, DIY, Dork, Rolling Stone UK, So Young, The New Cue, Rough Trade, Consequence and others while landing on a BBC 6 Music playlist with tracks from PJ Harvey, IDLES, Sampha, Yard Act and more. The EP also featured “Bliss,” a track that featured angular and reverb-drenched shoegazer-like guitar textures with relentless four-on-the-floor and bursts of glistening synth serving as a brooding yet cinematic bed for Ross Cullen’s punchy yet stoic shouts and Constance Keane, a.k.a. Fears‘ ethereal voice acting as a dreamy counterbalance. Sonically nodding a bit at Joy Division, New Order, Luminous and V-era The Horrors and others, the track thematically moves from longing to loss and regret.

Thematically, Conditions II continued upon the themes of its predecessor but while diving deeper into subconscious feelings and self-discovery. Sonically, the effort saw the band leaning into the industrial/techno rock sound that they established with Conditions. Aesthetically, the trio continued the monochromatic, goth-inspired goth visual landscape in an evocative and seamless manner. 

“We see Conditions II as a natural evolution from our debut EP, Conditions. These new tracks are a product of our first year as a touring band. They were tried and tested at most of our shows before being taken into the studio,” Chalk’s Ross Cullen says. “We wanted to expand upon existing themes and ideas we touched upon in our debut, but with this continuation, we could explore ourselves and the world we had created deeper, both lyrically and sonically. In this second installment, we wanted to dive further into the electronic element of our music, bringing the experience of our live shows to our recordings.”

The third and final part of the Northern Ireland-based trio’s trilogy Conditions III EP is slated for a February 21, 2025 release through Nice Swan Records. Recorded against the backdrop of bleak landscapes and Nordic vistas in remote northern Iceland, Conditions III reportedly sees the Belfast-based trio fusing elements of heavy guitar music, electronica and breakbeat into a euphoric and frightening finished project. The result tis an effort that showcases another evolution in the band’s already confrontational sound and approach.

The forthcoming EP’s first single “Tell Me” is a goth and industrial-like club banger featuring thumping and skittering beats, oscillating synths and a relentless, motorik groove paired with Cullen’s reverb and distortion-drizzled and emotionally detached delivery. At its core, “Tell Me,” evokes unease, desperation and euphoria simultaneously.

“‘Tell Me’ is the first release of our trilogy-ending third EP Conditions III. For this track, we conjured up a world in which the song’s protagonist is running away from a dark past into unknown territory, encountering an unsuspecting new acquaintance on their journey,” the band’s Ross Cullen says. It’s a song that dives head-first into themes of the unknown, breaking norms, and a feeling of running away and never wanting to return again. It explores the idea that life is moving rapidly around us and the lack of belonging, confusion, and disassociation one experiences on their journey, growing older in an increasingly discouraging and bleak urban landscape. These are themes of which we’ve scratched the surface with ‘Conditions’ and ‘Conditions II’; but we want to delve even deeper into their grittier sides as we continue to figure ourselves out along the way.”

“Within the ‘Tell Me’ video we wanted to focus on creating a pressure cooker of tension encapsulated in the confined space of a car and heightened by the physical presence of a guilty conscience,” the band’s Ben Goddard explains. “Visually, we were inspired by the dramatic lighting of 1970s Italian horror films, such as Suspiria. We wanted to add further intensity and stylisation to the video through the use of constant heavy rain and hand-built a rain machine to achieve this effect. We were able to realise this vision with our fantastic cast and crew, including Desmond Eastwood, Venetia Bowe and our director of photography, Alba Fernandez.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Montréal’s APACALDA Shares Cinematic and Woozy “She’s Not Coming”

Cassandra Angheluta is a Romanian-born, Montréal-based singer/songwriter and the creative mastermind behind the solo recording project APACALDA. Deriving its name from the Romanian word for “warm water,” Angheluta’s solo project is both a reflection of her movement through her art and life, and a reminder to reconnect with the warmth that can calm and ground her, despite the chaos and unpredictability of outside circumstances.

Much like countless other artists, the Romanian-Canadian artist has found that through creating music, she can process and alchemize emotional traumas from throughout the course of her life, while giving her a sense of peace. Her work typically touches upon themes of devastation and transcendence.

With 2022’s self-titled, debut EP, which featured collaborations with Robert Robert; FHANG‘s Luca Fogale‘s and Half Moon Run‘s Sam Woywitka; FHANG’s, Patrick Watson‘s and TEKE :: TEKE’s Mishka Stein; Half Moon Run’s Isaac Symonds and the Esca Quartet, Angheluta quickly established a fresh take on indie rock, electro pop and New Wave/post-punk, crating a sound that has been described as melancholic, dreamy, enigmatic and hauntingly beautiful.

The Romanian-Canadian artist’s Miskha Stein and Sam Woywitka co-produced full-length debut, There’s a Shadow In My Room and It Isn’t Mine is slated for release next year. Thematically, the album delves into mental illness, obsession, jealousy and deceit.

The album’s first single “She’s Not There” features distorted and churning guitar tones, skittering and propulsive beats, atmospheric synths serving as a woozy and uneasy bed for Anghuleta’s achingly plaintive yet defiant delivery, evoking the turmoil and restlessness of its narrator. According to the Montréal-based artist, “She’s Not Coming” tells the story of a woman, who chooses to end her life, despite her outward devotion to God. While capturing the hidden struggles behind its narrator’s stoic exterior, the track sheds light on the pervasive nature of suicide. “I write these songs as an extension of healing—I want to be a medium. I often feel others’ pain and I want to express it in honour of them,” Angheluta says.

Directed by Mallis, a Montréal-based filmmaker, art director and production designer, known for visually rich storytelling, the accompanying video for “She’s Not Coming” was funded by The MVP Project and shot in Georgia, not too far from Angheluta’s homeland. While anchored in the themes of its accompanying song, the video follows the final journey of Louisa, an elderly woman, who ends her life, and is based on the true story of a friend, whose mother’s death was suspected to be a suicide. The friend’s mother was a deeply religious woman, who ultimately chose to leave the church. This lead to her exclusion from her religious community.

The friend’s mom was known to walk along the shores of a beach near her home. One morning, local news outlets reported that a woman’s body washed ashore. The friend knew it was his mother, realizing that he’d never speak or see her again. “Through her story, we really wanted to emphasize the impact of community on someone’s mental and emotional well-being,” the director and artist explain.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Shrines Shares Eerie “Witch Season”

Arguably best known for stints with Ponyhof and Will Butler, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter and musician Carrie Erving is the creative mastermind behind the indie electro pop recording project Shrines. Erving’s work, which sees her deftly weaving elements of pop, electronic music, indie rock and Irish sean-nós (traditional Irish folk singing) into a shimmering take on art-pop that The New York Times has described as “spellbinding.”

Erving’s latest Shrines EP, the four-song Rosana Cabán-produced Seasons is slated for an October 18, 2024 release. The EP’s material explores the fragility of the individual seasons, documenting the collective cognitive dissonance of the fluctuations between celebration and trepidation that come about during a time of rapidly escalating climate change. Each of the EP’s songs lyrically suggest to the listener that allowing ourselves to save the present moment may be one of the keys to grappling with one of the largest challenges of our moment.

Seasons‘ latest single “Witch Season” is an eerie and brooding bit of electro pop featuring buzzing bass synths, gently oscillating atmospheric synths, skittering beats paired with Erving’s soaring vocals. Sonically, the song reminds me of a synthesis of Stevie Nicks, Bjork and Portishead while being a homage to fall and spooky season, evoking creepy crawlies and spirits lurking around the corner.

Directed by Brody Bernheisel, the accompanying video follows the Brooklyn-based artist in a flowing, black dress, driving to the woods where she fittingly dances around a bonfire. Visually, the video seems to draw from Madonna‘s “Like A Prayer” and Victoria + Jean’s “Harlight Sverige.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: A Place to Bury Strangers Shares Pulsating Synth Punk Ripper “Fear Of Transformation”

New York-based JOVM mainstays A Place to Bury Strangers — currently Oliver Ackermann (vocals, guitar), John Fedowitz (bass) and Sandra Fedowitz (drums) — will be releasing their seventh album Synthesizer on October 4, 2024 (digital) and October 25, 2024 (vinyl) through Dedstrange.

While Synthesizer is the album’s title, it’s also a physical entity, a synthesizer specifically made for the album — and a synthesizer that you too, can own (in part), if you buy the record on vinyl. The album’s cover art doubles as a circuit board and functional synth for curious and enterprising fans. “It’s pretty messed up, chaotic. But it feels really human,” the band’s Oliver Ackermann says. 

In an era of making music where so little is DIY and so much is left up to AI, never setting foot in a practice room or a home studio, making something that feels deliberately chaotic, messy, and human, is entirely the point. The album celebrates sounds that are spontaneous and natural, the kind of music that can only come from collaboration and community. 

The writing sessions for Synthesizer started in the band’s Queens studio, shortly after the release of 2022’s See Through You. The new lineup which featured Ackermann and his friends John and Sandra Fedowitz was especially inspiring for Ackermann. “It felt like a fresh new thing,” he says. “I wanted to write songs everyone was excited about playing.” 

The album captures the band at a place of reinvention, where they take a carefully honed sound and approach and crack it wide open to gut its then reimagine it. And of course, to ever so slightly reinvent one’s sound, one must also built a new instrument — the synthesizer at the core of the album’s overall sound. 

Reportedly, Synthesizer is arguably one of the band’s most live-sounding albums to date, accurately capturing the rawness and explosiveness of the band in a live setting, which is a fitting for a band that is best in a live setting, where the material takes on a new energy in the presence of a crowd. “We’re artists,” Ackermann says, “Going to shows and bringing that imperfect and beautiful DIY ethos is important.” 

In the lead-up to the album’s digital release on Friday, I’ve written about two of the album’s previously released singles:

  • “Disgust,” an eardrum shattering aural assault, anchored around explosive wailing feedback and distortion pedaled guitar lines paired with a relentles motorik groove featuring an arpeggiated bass line weaving in and out. But there’s subtle refinements, including some of the most rousingly anthemic, mosh pit friendly choruses and hooks I’ve heard from the band in some time. “‘Disgust’ is a song I wrote that was inspired by the way I used to perform ‘Got That Feeling,’ a song by my old band Skywave,” Ackermann explains. “There was a long riding open note on the bass that enabled me to play the whole part with my fist in the air.  I wrote this song just on open strings so it could be played with just one hand: dumb and fun.” 

  • “Bad Idea,” a track anchored around a simple yet hypnotically looping drum beat and woozily oscillating feedback-driven guitar lines. John Fedowitz’s plaintive yet punchy delivery weaves in and out of the stormy and soundscape, which helps to evoke the vacillating, almost nauseating unease of self-doubt. “Bad Idea” showcases the raw creativity of the band’s bassist John Fedowitz. “He came to the studio with a simple looping drum beat, thinking he didn’t have any good ideas — thus, this song was his ‘bad idea,’” the band’s frontman Oliver Ackermann says. “We each penned some lines on paper, and he sang the ones that resonated. After a few instrumental passes, the recording was complete. The result is an innovative track born from spontaneous collaboration and a touch of self-doubt, turned into something uniquely captivating.” 

Synthesizer‘s latest single “Fear Of Transformation” is a snarling and scuzzy New Wave/goth punk synth-driven ripper featuring layers of oscillating synths, a relentless motorik groove, explosive bursts of feedback paired with the band’s long-held penchant for rousingly anthemic, mosh pit friendly hooks and Ackermann’s punchy delivery.

Thematically, the track focuses and delves into the struggle of overcoming internal barriers. As the band’s frontman Oliver Ackermann explains, “Sometimes fear builds up and pins you in a cage. A conversation occurs in my head where I have to convince myself to just fucking do something to break out of it.” The song embodies that internal dialogue, capturing the battle between the compulsion to avoid fear and the push to confront it. And as a result, the song is a raw, uneasy and intense conversation with the devil within.

Created and directed by Chad Crawford Kinkle, the accompanying video for “Fear Of Transformation” follows a teenage boy, who sneaks out from his parents’ house to go to his first furry party — but he has a deep secret: he’s a werewolf. And he winds up going on a bloody rampage.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Sagrados Anônimos Shares Woozy and Dreamily Meditative “Martelo”

São Paulo-based singer/songwriter, guitarist Guilherme França is a key stalwart of the city’s growing indie rock scene: França was also a member of the now-shuttered Brazilian label Pessoa Qua Voa. He’s currently a member of Quasar. He’s the creator of fdaies and part of the teams at Boogarins and Casa do Mancha events.

Additionally, he’s the manager of his first band while helping the local indie ecosystem in any way that’s needed. From what I understand, if you’re a Brazilian band in São Paulo and you need a booker, roadie, producer, merch table person or something else, he’s the guy you need to call. Suffice to say, França is a busy guy. But in between the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and all of these various activities and jobs, he started Sagrados Anônimos, a solo recording project that specializes in a blend of slowcore, dream pop and shoegaze, anchored by introspective lyricism.

França’s Sagrados Anôminos’ debut single “Martelo” is a slow-burning track featuring dusty, tape saturated boom bap-like rhythms, looping, reverb-drenched, shimmering guitar lines. The psilocybin trip-like soundscape serves as a woozy and dreamily meditative bed for the Brazilian artist’s tenderly plaintive delivery. While sonically recalling acclaimed Brazilian JOVM mainstays Boogarins to mind, “Martelo” is rooted in a deeply philosophical and personal question: “What can happen when you allow yourself to add one more layer?”

The accompanying video features the Brazilian musician playing in front of projected imagery of urban scenery — inner city traffic, birds landing on wires and the like — that’s manipulated to the speed of the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: High. Shares Stormy and Cathartic “In A Hole”

Boonton, NJ-based shoegazers High. can trace their origins back to 2021 when Christian Castan (vocals, guitar) and Bridget Bakie (bass, vocals) met while playing across the Garden State’s DIY and college circuit, building Bakie’s reputation as “The Queen of The Quarter Note” and Castan’s profile as an unforgettable guitarist. After the pair played in a band together, they longed fora project that would be their sole creative focus and could tour as far and wide as possible. A few weeks and two weeks after their proper formation with the addition of Jack Miller (drums) and Danny Zavala (guitar), the quartet made their live debut at Saint Vitus. They followed that up with shows across the Tristate DIY circuit.

The New Jersey-based quartet’s highly-anticipated Matthew Molnar-produced sophomore EP Come Back Down is slated for a January 24, 2025 release digitally and on vinyl through Kanine Records. The EP’s first sessions started last June when the band, along with Molnar went to Chairlift‘s Patrick Wimberly‘s Greenpoint studio to test new material with engineer Sam Darwish. They also brought tracks to Shane Furst and his Cloud Factory Recording to review their recent work and begin the next stages of completion.

Come Back Down marks the beginning of the band’s partnership with Kanine Records — and a key period in the band’s development. With a greater expression of sonic range, the EP sees the band offering more noise, more hooks, more heaviness and much more emotion: The sad is much sadder and the love is more swooningly in love. There are more song about loss and being lost. For the band, it’s the culmination of their growth after the release of their well-received debut EP Bomber, which was released through Julia’s War and Suburban Creep.

Last fall, the band took a break from the sessions to do a week-long tour with Austin-based outfit STAB, as well as opening slots for DIIV, Glare, Lowertown, A Place To Bury Strangers, as well as a Midwest run with Chicago’s Smut. After touring across the nation, the band finished the EP with Jeff Ziegler at his Philadelphia-based Uniform Recording. Zeigler’s work on Nothing.’s Guilty of Everything has been a major inspiration for the New Jersey-based group.

Come Back Down‘s lead single “In A Hole” is a decidedly 120 Minutes MTV-era take on shoegaze anchored around a towering wall of stormy guitars, thunderous drumming and ethereal boy-girl harmonies. The song’s brooding soundscape evokes the stormy emotions, trauma and unease that inspired it — but also the comfort of finding friendship and a community that truly understands where you’re coming from.

“’In A Hole’ is inspired by meeting our group of friends,” High.’s Christian Castan explains. “It’s about being depressed and the people close to you dragging you out of it. It’s about the peace and belonging I used to dream about during childhood trauma and finally finding it. There’s a lyric – ‘These are the new stars, they burst alive.’  It’s about living life at its best and never wanting that feeling to end.”

Directed by Aleko Syntelis, the accompanying video for “In A Hole” was shot and is set in Brooklyn and features the band playing a rooftop show and hanging out with their crew. The video captures the feeling of being young, of seemingly infinite possibilities ahead of you, of the pure joy of hanging out with your dearest ones, who will hold you down when you need them most.

“We shot this video during a rooftop show in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on the first night of our tour with Birthday Girl,” the band’s Castan recalls. “It was the last weekend of summer with hella New Jersey heads, some new friends, Keg stands, and the New York Skyline. Sh*t was nuts, someone downstairs tried to shut us down. Aleko captured our live set and we hope anyone who sees this gets what that night felt like.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Miranda and the Beat Shares Breakneck Ripper “Manipulate Me”

Formed back in 2018 here in NYC and now based in New Orleans, the rising rock outfit Miranda and the Beat — currently Miranda Zipse (vocals, guitar), Dylan Fernandez (Farfisa) and Alvin Jackson (bass) — have been renowned for their high-energy live shows and fearless punk approach.

After extensive touring to support last year’s self-titled full-length debut, the rising rock outfit will be releasing their highly-anticipated sophomore album Can’t Take it on October 25, 2024 through Ernest Jenning Record Co./Khannibalism across North America and Wild Honey in Europe.

Written and recorded in a five day burst at King Khan‘s Moon Studios Rock n Roll Vortex in a remote village on the German countryside, the album sees the band blending all the best flavors from pure punk anthems played at a eardrum shattering intensity, to grinding R&B, to hypnotic, edgy sci-fi alchemy and some heartbreaking balladry too. “If you need a soundtrack to an evening of Germs burns and mind-altering mayhem followed by warm heartfelt embraces and skid marks this is the band for you,” King Khan says. “The soundtrack to the real apocalypse has arrived and is waiting for you at your favorite record store. Real Rock n’ Roll is alive and well, the torches have been passed and the Molotov cocktails are being lit and thrown. Miranda and the Beat are the wild fire you have been waiting for to light under the collective asses to destroy patriarchies, topple kingdoms, smash colonies with a bold middle stink finger in place. Be forewarned…. And come find out what ‘Earthquake Water’ is, it may one day save your life.”

Can’t Take It’s third and latest single “Manipulate Me” is a breakneck and bruising, mosh pit friendly, punk rock ripper anchored around some scorching riffs. “Manipulate Me” brings back memories of sweaty, hardcore punk shows at Coney Island High and The Continental. So play as loud as humanly possible — and then open up that pit!

“This song was probably the most fun to write for the album,” Miranda and the Beat’s Miranda Zipse says. “We were all in King Khan’s studio getting wine drunk and spitballing lines back and forth. We pretty much spent the whole time rolling on the floor dying of laughter, which ended up being very therapeutic and what we needed to do at the time. This song’s about some real shit and it felt really good to get it out of our system in the form of an absolute fuckin banger. Moral of the story: always be a weirdo but never be a manipulative creep.”

Directed by Nazar Khamis and the band, the accompanying video was filmed by the band’s Dylan Fernandez and Nazar Khamis, and edited by the band’s Miranda Zipse and Dylan Fernandez. The video begins with the band hopping the turnstiles at the Morgan Avenue L train station, and following them being badasses around Bushwick.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Irrepressibles Share Joyous Visual for Slinky “Destination”

Jamie Irrepressible is a North Yorkshire-born, London-based singer/songwriter and producer. He’s also the creative mastermind behind The Irrepressibles. Throughout his career, the British singer/songwriter and producer has made sexuality — in particular, his sexuality — the centerpiece of his work.

2010’s full-length debut, Mirror Mirror featured “In This Shirt,” which was later included on the soundtrack for the short film., The Lady Is Dead. 2012’s “Two Men in Love” firmly cemented The Irrepressibles mastermind’s reputation for being fearlessly uncompromising in terms of song structure and thematic concern. In 2014, he sang the song at the first wedding between two men in the UK.

Adding to a growing international profile, “In This Shirt” received remixes from Norwegian electronic outfit Röyksopp, Hercules & Love Affairand Zero 7. The British artist would subsequently contribute lead vocals to five tracks on Röyksopp’s 2014 album Inevitable End — “Something in My Heart,” “I Had This Thing,” “Here She Comes Again,” “Compulsion” and “You Know I Have To Go,” as well as backing vocals on “Monument,” feat. Robyn. He contributed vocals on two tracks of Dutch progressive dance duo’s 2022 album In Another Lifetime, “You Take My Hand” and “I Am Free.” He also contributed vocals on three tracks of Röyksopp’s Profound Mysteries trilogy. 

As a solo artist, digital singles released between 2018-2020, “Submission,” “Dominance” and “Anxiety,” saw Irrepressible exploring a starker, darker and much more electronic direction, influenced by a relocation to Berlin, where he eventually wrote and recorded 2021’s Superheroes, “a concept album telling the story of a love affair that’s both set in Berlin and takes its musical cues from the city,” the British artist explains. 

The British singer/songwriter and producer’s forthcoming The Irrepressible album, Yo Homo! is reportedly the most direct, most sexual album of his catalog to date — and a celebratory, uninhibited and steamy rush of lust, love, honesty and community. “I want to make a record specifically for the queer community, to create a safe space where people feel they are being expressed. To contribute something to that soundtrack of our lives, both in the music and the videos.” 

Yo Homo! album single “Destination” is a slinky and sensual song anchored around a strutting guitar line, the London-based artist’s sultrily yearning cooing paired with a steady backbeat. The song ends with a Scott Walker-like orchestral coda, which adds a sexy and smart stylishness to the proceedings. Thematically, the song is about the longing for love in an era of hook-up culture and fast-paced intimacy. The song tells the story of a man living in isolation, going from one one-night stand to another, but desperately longing for deeper connection.

Directed by Jack Willoughby, the accompanying video follows a lonely and melancholic, latex muscle man. “Romance seems to happen in the most unlikely of places,” Willoughby explains. “So when a melancholic muscle man heads to a tropical aquarium to find his precious pet fish, he ends up impressing his own crush with an optimistic mating dance.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Virginie B Shares Sleek and Breakneck “Astral 2000”

Virginie B is a rising, Montréal-based self-taught singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and self-described “extravagant mess” influenced by a wide range of music, including experimental electronic music, classical, old-timey jazz, 90s R&B, art pop, art rock and more. The French Canadian artist and her collaborator and co-produced Louis Jeay-Beaulieu have received attention across the province and elsewhere for crafting a unique take on hyper pop that incorporates elements of nu-jazz, funk and R&B with a refined conceptual approach informed by art pop. 

Thematically, her work is informed by her studies in psychology and sees her exploring her psyche, femininity and her relationship with technology and nature. For the rising French Canadian artist, her work is an outlet which she expresses her desires and excesses with an unvarnished honesty that reflects her vulnerability and confidence, while not taking herself too seriously. 

The rising Montréal-based producer and artist collaborates with a number of local acts including  Super Plage, Maggie Lennon, Georgette, Félix Dyotte and Marie-Gold among others. 

Her full-length debut, 2022’s INSULA garnered praise from ICI Première, Le Devoir, La Presse, Montreal Rocks!, and PAN M 360, which led to a nomination for Pop Album of the Year nomination at 2022’s GAMIQ.Adding to a growing profile, Virginie B played sets across the provincial festival circuit, including Francofoiles de Montréal, Coup de Cœur Francophone, Le Phoque OFF, Santa Teresa Festival, Taverne Tour, 2022’s M for Montréal — and last year’s SXSW. 

The Montréal artist’s highly-anticipated sophomore album Astral 2000 is slated for a Friday release through Bonsound. Reportedly, her Bonsound debut is at once quirky and accessible, visceral and sophisticated, synthetic and deeply human with its songs exploring conflicting personal themes: Throughout the album, the rising Montréal-based artist wavers back and forth between her love of nature and fascination with new technologies, her longing for lazy days and the urgency of her mortality, her desire for simple pleasures and need to perform (and to be)in the spotlight, her relationship with her femininity, her desires and the resulting excesses.

Conceived alongside producer, multi-instrumentalist and longtime collaborator Louis Jean-Beaulieu, Astral 2000 is one of la belle province’s first hyper pop albums. The album’s latest single, album opener and title track “Astral 2000” is set during an escapist night out, partying at a karaoke bar. Anchored around a breakneck BPM, thumping kicks, glistening and blocky synth arpeggios, “Astral 2000” is meant to evoke a white-knuckle ride through a wild cycle off partying, the pressure to perform and the soul-crushing search for authenticity through the perception of others. But throughout, Virginie B’s coquettish melodic delivery is a sharp and almost playful contrast to the song’s breakneck nature.

Directed by Rosalie Bordeleau, the accompanying video for “Astral 2000” is an homage to Wong Kar Wai and Sofia Coppola, meshing the two influences to evoke a woozy and dizzying sense of solitude. Flashing between intimate karaoke jam with friends, a motorcycle race through tunnels and a disorientating night-time wander through the city, the Montréal-based artist seems to find herself both isolated and connected to the world and people around her.