Tag: Nylon

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing the Breezy and Self-Assured Pop of Up-and-Coming Phoenix-born Los Angeles-based Artist Upsahl

Growing up in a deeply musical family, the 18 year old, up-and-coming, Phoenix, AZ-born and Los Angeles, CA-based pop artist Taylor Upsahl, who writes and performs under the mononymic moniker Upsahl, started playing guitar and piano when she had turned 5, and by the time she was 14, she had written and released a self-titled EP, which caught attention across the local music scene for material that was influenced by The Shins, Spoon, Lorde and Beyonce among others. In 2015, she pieced together a band, and then wrote and self-produced her full-length debut Viscerotonic. 

Upsahl’s third full-length album Unfamiliar Light was released earlier this year to critical praise from the likes of Phoenix New Times, who had written that the album was a “breath of fresh air” and that fans will be “blown away by the quantum leap in sound and vision,” and when you hear album single “Can You Hear Me Now,” which was released last month to praise from Nylon, who called the song a “a girl-power anthem you’ll want to play on repeat all summer long,” you’ll see — er, hear — why the young, Phoenix-born, Los Angeles-based artist has been dominating the blogosphere: produced by Max Frost, the single which features strummed guitar, boom bap beats, swirling electronics, undulating synths and chiming percussion reveals an artist, who is self-assured and confident beyond her years and perhaps more important, an artist who can craft an mischievously infectious, radio-friendly hook. But underneath the breezy and infectious surface is a message rooted on resilience and the recognition that a failing relationship isn’t the end of the world; that in fact, it could be an opportunity to recognize that the listener can and should be treated in a way that they deserve. 

Directed by Matty Steinkamp of Sundawg Media, the recently released video for “Can You Hear Me Now” features the up-and-coming pop artist with a group of friends and associates, dancing and goofing off in a number of neon-colored set ups; but underneath the surface is the fact that everyone is making the best of the situations in front of them. And while clearly nodding at Taylor Swift, the video reveals a young woman, who is quirky, coquettish, incredibly self-assured and self-possessed. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: NVDES Returns With Another Off-Kilter and Anthemic Dance Punk-Inspired Track

Earlier this week, I wrote about the Los Angeles-based collective NVDES, an act that I’ve written a bit about over the past 12-18 months or so. And if you may recall, with the release of 2016’s Life With Lobsters, an album consisting of glitchy, summery indie dance pop, the collective fronted by founding member and primary songwriter Josh Ocean received over 10 million streams across all digital platforms, landed on Spotify’s Global Viral Chart, and as a result of rapidly growing buzz, the project’s 2016 effort received praise from The Fader, Nylon and others.

You’ll also remember that I’ve written about the first two singles off NVDES’ recently released La NVDITÉ EP, the breakneck Sound of Silver-era LCD Soundsystem-like “Turning Heads” and the breezy, yet anthemic “Dancer From New York,” and of course, as a blogger, who has run this site for the past seven years, I can tell you that the blogosphere forces artists to strike while the iron is red hot and while the buzz surrounding them is at its apex. And to celebrate the release of the EP, Ocean and company released  La NVDITÉ EP’s latest single, the glitchy and angular “Sugar,” a track that continues along the lines of its predecessors thanks to a breezy yet anthemic vibe but interestingly enough, through the batch of singles they’ve released off the EP, the act have revealed themselves to specialize in off-kilter, global-spanning and genre-smashing yet danceable pop reminiscent of Gorillaz. 
Directed by Jenna Josepher and Guilia Marisco, the recently released for “Sugar” manages to smash the two artists’ unique and varying aesthetics in a way that’s mischievous and disturbing. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: NVDES Returns with a Breezy Tropicalia and Dance Punk-Inspired New Single

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past 12-18 months or so, you may have come across a couple of posts featuring the Los Angeles-based collective NVDES. With the release of 2016’s Life With Lobsters, an album consisting of glitchy, summery indie dance pop, the collective fronted by founding member and primary songwriter Josh Ocean received over 10 million streams across all digital platforms, landed on Spotify’s Global Viral Chart, and as a result of rapidly growing buzz, the project’s 2016 effort received praise from The Fader, Nylon and others.  

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about “Turning Heads” off their forthcoming La NVDITÉ EP, a breakneck dance punk track along the lines of  Sound of Silver-era LCD Soundsystem, Radio 4 and others, complete with angular guitar chords, a propulsive bass line, boom-bap beats and a rousingly anthemic hook. And building upon the buzz that single received, the act recently released their latest single “Dancer From New Yorker,” a track that will (naturally) further cement their growing reputation for crafting glitchy and breezy pop with anthemic hooks, and while its as dance floor-friendly as its predecessor, the track manages to subtly nod at tropicalia and bossa nova. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Scuzzy and Rousingly Anthemic, Dance Punk of NVDES’ Latest Single “Turning Heads”

With the release of 2016’s Life With Lobsters, an album consisting of glitchy, summery indie dance pop, the Los Angeles-based collective NVDES fronted by founding member and primary songwriter Josh Ocean received over 10 million streams across all digital platforms, landed on Spotify’s Global Viral Chart — and as a result, also received phrase from The Fader, Nylon and others. Building on a growing profile, the project’s latest single “Turning Heads” off their forthcoming La NVDITÉ EP will further cement Ocean’s reputation for crafting scuzzy, breakneck dance punk along the lines of Sound of Silver-era LCD Soundsystem, Radio 4 and others, complete with angular guitar chords, a propulsive bass line, boom-bap beats and a rousingly anthemic hook. And while clearly being summery, the track also manages to be incredibly dance floor friendly. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Just last week, I wrote about an old JOVM mainstay, the Gold Coast, Australia-based multi-instrumentalist and producer Emily Hamilton, whose solo recording project San Mei began humbly as a bedroom recording project; but during the past three years, Hamilton has seen attention and praise from several major media outlets, including NME, Indie Shuffle, NYLON and Triple J, as well as this site — and in turn, Hamilton has seen a growing national and international profile. Now, as you may recall, “Until You Feel Good,” the first single off her forthcoming EP, Necessary was produced by Konstantin Kersting, who has worked with The Belligerents, WAAX, and Tia Gostelow managed to be a radical change in sonic direction, as her lilting and coquettish vocals were paired with an organic arrangement of fuzzy Brit Pop and shoegazer-like power chords, a propulsive groove, along with a soaring hook. And while being radio friendly, the song manages to evoke a complex array of emotions — desire and longing, frustration and the sense of something being unresolved, along with some self-assured and ambitious songwriting.

The EP’s second and latest track, EP title track “Necessary” sounds as though it were influenced by A Storm in Heaven and A Northern Soul-era The Verve, as Hamilton pairs a rousingly anthemic hook with layers upon layers of pedal effected guitars and thundering drumming in what may arguably be one of Hamilton’s most swaggering, self-assured singles she’s released to date, while continuing to reveal some of her most ambitious songwriting as well.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Gorgeous and Time-Bending Visuals for San Mei’s “Until You Feel Good”

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past three years or so, you may have come across a handful of posts featuring Emily Hamilton, a  Gold Coast, Australia-based multi-instrumentalist and producer, whose solo project San Mei began humbly as a bedroom recording project; however, during that aforementioned three year period, Hamilton has seen a growing national and international profile as Hamilton has seen attention and praise from major media outlets, including NME, Indie Shuffle, NYLON and Triple J, as well as this site. 
Produced by Konstantin Kersting, who has worked with The Belligerents, WAAX, and Tia Gostelow, Hamilton’s first single of 2017 “Until You Feel Good” is a mid-tempo single that is a change of sonic direction for Hamilton, as her lilting and coquettish vocals are paired with a much more organic arrangement of fuzzy Brit Pop and shoegazer rock-like power chords and a propulsive groove, along with a soaring hook and a subtly moody vibe. And while being radio friendly, the song manages to evoke a complex array of emotions — desire and longing, frustration and the sense of something being unresolved, along with some self-assured and ambitious songwriting. 

Filmed and directed by Brisbane, Australia-based filmmaker Jennifer Embelton, who has produced videos for Babaganouj, Huntly, Good Boy and Jeremy Neale, the video is follows a young woman’s time-bending journey across the present, the past, the future, the real and her own dreams when she encounters a boy from her past, who suddenly returns to her life. And as soon as he appears, he’s gone. The harder she tries to find the boy, the quicker he slips away. Is he a ghost of her past, haunting her at an inopportune time? That remains to be seen; but it further emphasizes the sense of things being unresolved within the song. 

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Christine and the Queens’ Incredibly Slick Video for “Tilted”

Born in Nantes, France singer/songwriter Heloise Letissier studied theater and art, before relocating to Paris, where she completed her studies. While in London, Letissier became deeply inspired by the drag queen scene originating from that […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

A graduate of the Liverpool Institute of the Performing Arts, Natalie McCool is a singer/songwriter who has quickly developed a reputation for a sound that draws from a diverse array of influences including Jeff Buckley, The […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

http://teamcoco.com/embed/v/43698 The other day, the sibling duo of Natalie and Eliot Bergman, a.k.a. Wild Belle to perform their latest single “It’s Too Late” on Conan. I’ve mentioned it before but the song deals with the ache […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Blackbird Blackbird has been garnering a lot of attention from major media outlets such as MTV and NYLON. Recently, Blackbird Blackbird did this atmospheric, and sparse cover of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.” The basic […]