Tag: psych pop

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: MEMORIALS Share Mind-bending “Cut Glass Hammer”

Canterbury, UK-based MEMORIALS — Electrelane‘s Verity Susman (vocals) and Wire‘s Matthew Simms (guitar) — will be releasing their third album All Clouds Bring Not Rain on March 27, 2026 through Fire Recordings. The album will be released digitally, on CD and three limited citrus vinyl editions: Orange Vinyl, Lemon Vinyl (Indie Store Exclusive) and a Lime Vinyl Bundle, which will include four hand-stamped art prints in a signed wax-sealed envelope plus a sticker sheet (Fire Records and Bandcamp Exclusive).

Having spent the first half of last year composing the soundtrack to an acclaimed documentary about Kate Bush, which aired last fall, the duo spent the summer writing and recording All Clouds Bring Not Rain, before embarking on a Stateside tour with Stereolab.

The duo locked themselves away in a studio in a secluded barn deep in the southwestern French woods, where the immediate environment imbued the recording sessions with a sense of freedom and an album of beautiful, unusual material that’s both melodic, unconventional and remarkably ambitious.

Written, performed, recorded and mixed solely by the duo, the album reportedly sounds much like an unearthed classic that sees the pair twisting their influences into their own unmistakable sound that draws from a wide range of influences including folk, dub, post punk, experimental tape music, 60s soul, garage rock, 70s spiritual jazz and Canterbury prog among others.

“We are increasingly drawn to the way records used to be made, both the sound of the equipment used and the choices forced by that equipment; there wasn’t the option to tinker for ages, it was about capturing a moment in time and committing to that,” the duo say of the new album’s creative process. “It’s far more satisfying to record sounds that exist in a real space and so become unique to us: they aren’t the same as the samples readily available everywhere . . . we were actively turning away from the easy option at almost every opportunity!”

That attention to detail in their sound meant finding several other studios to get what they needed to create what they wanted the album’s material to sound like and to record with, including a harpsichord at 4AD‘s London-based studio and a vibraphone and vintage Leslie speaker at Stereolab’s Andy Ramsay’s Press Play Studio.

Susman’s distinctive, unadorned delivery, which sees her moving from tender to wild throughout is a focal point oft the album. Her vocal melodies provide the tunefulness and hooky earworms around which their songs’ more unorthodox elements are arranged, showcasing Matthews’ unique approach to recording and production.

All Clouds Bring Not Rain‘s first single “Cut Glass Hammer” is a woozy and hypnotic song built around two looping modular synth lines, a motorik groove paired with Susman’s dreamy delivery singing lyrics inspired by a trip the duo took to see the Yoko Ono retrospective Music of the Mind at London’s Tate Modern Gallery. The result is an anachronistic, mind-bending, psilocybin trip that sounds as though it could have been released in 1967 or a B-side on Pavo Pavo‘s 2016 effort, Young Narrator in the Breakers.

The fittingly trippy DIY accompanying video starts with patches being plugged into an analog, modular synth, the song’s titular hammer being used to keep musical time, old toys on spinning a record player and more.

Tour Dates
April 08 – Le Hasard Ludique, Paris, France 
April 09 – Le Tangram, Évreux, France 
April 10 – Variations Festival, Nantes, France, w/ Einstürzende Neubauten 
April 11 – Calm, Limoges, France 
April 12 – La Petite Populaire, La Réole, France 
April 14 – Le Consortium, Dijon, France 
April 15 – Le Grand Mix, Tourcoing, France, w/ Bibi Club 
April 22 – The Croft, Bristol, UK 
April 23 – Little Bully, Oxford, UK 
April 24 – Prince Albert, Brighton, UK 
April 26 – Heartbreakers, Southampton, UK 
April 29 – The Lexington, London, UK 
April 30 – Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds, UK 
May 01 – The Castle Hotel, Manchester, UK 
May 31 – Nachtasyl, Hamburg, Germany
June 01 – Kantine am Berghain, Berlin, Germany
June 02 – Noch Besser Leben, Leipzig, Germany
June 03 – Kohi, Karlsruhe, Germany
June 04 – Club Manufaktur, Schorndorf, Germany
June 05 – Bellevue Di Monaco, München, Germany
June 06 – Rotown, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: La Femme Co-Founder, Marlon Magnée Shares Breakneck and Punchy “Plus Fort Que Toi”

Marlon Magnée, the co-founder of the acclaimed, French psych outfit and JOVM mainstay act La Femme is stepping out in the spotlight as a solo artist with his debut solo album, the Renaud Letang co-produced Dark Star, which is slated for a March 6, 2026 release through Disque Pointu.

As a member of La Femme, Magnée has earned numerous accolades including Album Révélation of the Year at the Victories de la Musique Awards and multiple RIAA Certified Gold records. He has played sets on some of the world’s biggest and most important stages, including Accor Hotel Arena, Zénith, Glastonbury, Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza and Osheaga.

 After 15 years recording, releasing music and touring the world as a member of La Femme, Magnée’s solo debut reportedly sees the La Femme co-founder reconnecting to his earliest passions. The album reflects his long-held taste for unusual blends and singular styles — with lyrics sung in both French and English.

The result is a breakneck, restless, sometimes radical music, conceived “for those with blood in their hearts and the urge to fight back.”

Recorded at Paris‘ legendary Ferber Studios, Dark Star is an oddball, frenzied collision of shadow and light with songs that wrestle with one’s darkest impulses, bad mushroom trips, ayahuasca-fueled revelations, limerence, overwhelming romantic love, family love and self-sabotage. Sonically, the album draws from 60s guitars, an “orgy of synths” from the 80s, pounding drum machines, analog delays and a deliberately raw energy, that sees the La Femme co-founder blending punk rockabilly, punk and coldwave.

Dark Matter‘s latest single “Plus Fort Que Toi” is a perfect example of what to expect from the new album: It’s a seamless and breakneck blend of rockabilly, krautrock and coldwave pulse and punchy punk rock choruses with lyrics delivered in French. Channeling his mind-bending, genre blurring work with La Femme, “Plus Fort Que Toi,” as the La Femme co-founder explains is “about familial love, affirming that when you love, you protect.”

Directed by J.F. Julian, the accompanying video for “Plus Fort Que Toi,” playfully draws from 50s rockabilly and rock tropes, and fittingly is shot in sunny California — while also proudly featuring synths.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: St. Franck Shares a Buzzing, Christmas Season Original

Franck Lada is a Bordeaux-based producer, singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and creative mastermind behind the emerging psych pop, solo recording project St Franck. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site for some time, you might recall that the French producer, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist’s career started in earnest through his participation in a number of UK-baed projects, including sitting in on bass with Saint Leonard’s Horses for a few shows. 

Lada stepped out into the spotlight with his debut EP, 2018’s Gamma Wave and a handful of singles that saw him establish a DIY/bedroom pop-meets- electro pop-meets psych pop sound, which he developed with some barebones equipment during flat shares in London: a computer, an 808, an MS20 and Ableton. 

Since his humble beginnings, the French artist has upgraded to a professional studio in Bordeaux’s bohemian La Bastide neighborhood, where he worked on his full-length debut, last year’s Hard Drive Oddities. The album showcased a producer and artist, who’s part of a new generation of producers and artists, who are searching for meaning in a mad, mad, mad world. Sonically, the album’s material is anchored around lush, sculpted arrangements paired lyrics that encourage the listener to explore the inner world of their dreams and the subconscious.

Hard Drive Oddities featured the MGMT and Tame Impala-like “Dream Trap,” a song that evoked the blissful nostalgia of a gorgeous summer afternoon — and the warm buzz of a half-remembered dream.

Lada’s latest single, the Christmastime/Holiday Season-themed song “It’s Christmas Time” is a slickly produced yet retro-feeling tune, anchored around buzzing bass synths, chiming bells, twinkling keys that simultaneously showcases the French artist’s uncanny knack for catchy hooks paired with earnest songwriting about the holiday season. At it core, the song warmly reminds the listener that the season is for loved ones who are here, and remembering the ones who aren’t — without resorting to the familiar, worn-out cliches.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Magic Fig Shares Ethereal Fever Dream “Goblin”

San Francisco psych pop supergroup Magic Fig — Inna Showalter (vocals, mellotron), Jon Chaney (keys), Muzzy Moskowtiz (guitar), Matthew Ferrara (bass) and Taylor Giffin (drums) — features members of The Umbrellas, Healing Potpourri, Almond Joy, Whitney’s Playland and Blades of Joy.

The quintet’s full-length debut, Valerian Tea is slated for a Friday release through Exploding In Sound Records. The album reportedly feels like a deep-dive down the rabbit hole into a bold, new world that feels much more vivid and flamboyant. Valerian Tea‘s material touches upon themes of memory, myth and melancholy while seeing the quintet quickly establishing a swirling mass of exploratory songwriting built around arrangements featuring piano, synths, glockenspiel, organ, 12-string acoustic and electric guitar.

Already the album has earned praise from NPR’s Into Music, Tour Stories with Joe Plummer Podcast, AudioFuzz, Post-Trash, Punknews.org, New Commute and others.

Valerian Tea‘s final pre-release single “Goblin” is anchored around a gorgeous and ethereal, krautrock-meets-prog rock fever dream of an arrangement of twinkling piano and shimmering guitars that morphs into psilocybin-fueled Dark Side of the Moon-like psych rock territory for the song’s second half or so.

Magic Fig’s Inna Showalter describes the new single as being “about the fickleness of inspiration.” She continues, “It’s also a song about wearing disguises and not being authentic, which causes harm in the long run. The desire to be accepted and ‘good’ cannot always coexist with following your heart.”

The accompanying video by Playland Studio‘s Elyse Shrock encapsulates the song’s themes but with Monty Python and Yellow Submarine-styled animated visuals.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Montréal’s Hush Shares Lush and Prismatic “The Mirrors Were Right”

Montréal-based trio Hush — Paige Barlow (vocals) and multi-instrumentalists Miles Dupire-Gagnon and Gabriel Lambert — are part of a new wave of Montréal-based acts actively reshaping psych pop.

Citing an eclectic array of influences that includes Broadcast, The Velvet Underground, Melody’s Echo Chamber, Steve Lacy, Cocteau Twins and Ariel Pink, the Montréal-based psych pop trio create a sound that’s simultaneously nostalgic and forward-looking. Their music lives in the blurred light of perception — half memory, half hallucination — and is an invitation to lose yourself inside of their hall of mirrors-like dream world.

The trio’s debut single “The Mirrors Were Right” also serves as the first single from their full-length debut, slated for a 2026 release through Simone Records. Sonically, “The Mirrors Were Right” is a prismatic tune featuring shimmering guitars, dusty and warped analog drum patterns and bursts glistening, kosmiche music-like synths as a lush and dreamy bed for Barlow’s ethereal vocal. The song is one-part half-remembered fever dream and one-part existential reflection while seeming to subtly channel Bibi Club and others.

The song’s lyrics came to Barlow as she reflected on long past, but long-lasting periods of dissociation and on flashes of clarity that cut through them now. “The mirrors are right” when reflections feel distorted; “luckily alive” with head above water, somewhere between the surface and the clouds.

“For the clip, we wanted to portray a fractured sense of self. The distorted inner witness. Evolving identities over time. Imagined through a cubist and surrealist lens: worlds sensed, not witnessed,” the band says of the accompanying video. “Images drift and reform, mirroring the song’s unfolding. A meditation on multiplicity. The self made plural.” 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Sound Check: Tame Impala at Cherry Lane Theatre

Live footage of acclaimed JOVM mainstay Tame Impala performing a Sound Check session at Cherry Lane Theatre.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Tame Impala Shares Woozy, Self-Aware “My Old Ways”

Acclaimed Aussie JOVM mainstay Tame Impala‘s highly-anticipated fifth album, Deadbeat saw its official release today through Columbia Records. 

Deeply inspired by bush doof 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 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 features the previously released “End of Summer,” “Loser,” “Dracula,” and its latest single, album opener “My Old Ways.” Anchored around a looping, twinkling piano figure, “My Old Ways” begins with Parker accompanying himself just on piano for about a minute or so, before the song quickly morphs into a mind-bending, trance-inducing bit of Larry Levan-like house with fluttering and oscillating synths and thumping beats. And at its core is a deeply self-aware, self-referential narrator, who is acutely cognizant that they’ve slid into a long-held negative pattern while simultaneously forgiving themselves and being self-flagellating for that backslide.

While being a serious banger, “My Old Ways” offers what may be one of the more empathetic portrayals of a fuck up that I’ve heard in some time. I’d argue that most of us could see some of ourselves in the song.

Directed by Kristofski, the accompanying video for “My Old Ways” features cinéma vérité footage the director took, following Parker throughout the process of recording the album in studios across the world, including his native Australia.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Jenny James Shares Dreamy “Abandoning Alice”

Jenny James is an Oxnard, CA-based singer/songwriter, musician painter and college professor at Oxnard College. As a singer/songwriter, James has penned songs that have been recorded by Tanya Tucker, Carlene Carter, The Judds and KT […]

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.

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: Tame Impala Shares Euphoric and Trippy “End Of Summer”

Tame Impala’s latest single “End Of Summer” is the first bit of new material from the acclaimed Aussie multi-instrumentalist, producer, and singer/songwriter Kevin Parker since 2020’s The Slow Rush — and is the first release on his new label home Columbia Records.

“End Of Summer” sees the Tame Impala mastermind pushing his acclaimed project into a completely new direction as the euphoric track channels acid house, deep house while still remaining trippy and mind-bending.

“End Of Summer” is accompanied by a narrative visual directed and edited by multi-disciplinary artist Julian Klincewicz that follows Parker in the creation of the song, while on an abandoned train car and wandering through the streets of a city in a fashion that kind of reminds me of Purple Rain.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: South of France Teams Up with Little Trips and Grace DeVine on Sugary and Coquettish “Sugar Rush”

Led by Denver-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and creative mastermind Jeff Cormack, South of France is an indie pop project that sees Cormack and collaborators specializing in a groovy, beat-driven take on escapist, vacation pop. 

Cormack’s South of France work has been featured in a number of smash-hit TV shows, including Bojack Horseman and Shameless while receiving praise from American Songwriter, NPR, Rolling Stone and others. And adding to a growing profile, Cormack and his collaborators have opened for a growing list of acclaimed acts including, Portugal. The Man, Young The Giant, Flaming Lips, Michigander, Tennis, Zella Day and others.

Cormack’s forthcoming South of France album My Spirit Animal, My Baggage is reportedly one-part solo album and one-part collaborative effort with a series of vocalists, emcees and musicians. I’ve managed to write about four album singles:

Cormack’s latest South of France single, the Greg Laut co-produced “Sugar Rush” is a saccharine sweet, coquettish and breezy bop that features Grace DeVine’s ethereal cooing floating over a trippy and blissed-out, psych pop-influenced groove. “Sugar Rush” continues a remarkable run of summery and escapist pop that showcases Cormack’s unerring knack for funky grooves and catchy hooks.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 83rd Birthday, Brian Wilson!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 83rd anniversary of the birth of Beach Boys creative mastermind Brian Wilson.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: R.I.P. Brian Wilson

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the life and music of the legendary Brian Wilson.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Moon Construction Kit Shares Breezy “Long John Silver”

Olivier Cornu is a Swiss-based singer/songwriter, musician, producer and creative mastermind behind Moon Construction Kit, a project that sees him drawing from indie pop, psych pop, synth pop, late 60s pop and cinematic textures.

Cornu released his self-tiled Moon Construction Kit debut EP back in 2022. His latest single “Long John Silver” is languorous, lullaby of a tune featuring twinkling keys, shimmering synths, booming drums paired with the Swiss artist’s dreamy delivery and an incredibly catchy hook. The result is a song that feels breezily effortless yet carefully crafted.

Sonically, “Long John Silver” is anchored around a nostalgia inducing, retro-futuristic production that feels simultaneously intimate and cinematic, while delving into — and evoking — the narrator’s shifting and complicated nature.