Tag: singer/songwriter \

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: McKenna Michels Shares Jason Nevins’ Psych Blues-Tinged Remix of “Born to Die”

McKenna Michels is an Austin-based singer/songwriter, who can trace the origins of her vibrant imagination and love for music to her grandmother, who surrounded a young Michels with classical music, Broadway tunes and Disney musicals. Michels discovered her own musical talent when she would sing along to her personal favorites, like The Phantom of the Opera and Aladdin.

The Austin-based artist’s musical universe was expanded when she was introduced to Lady Gaga, Adele, and Japanese pop/Vocaloid, Against the backdrop of an abusive environment in her mother’s home, Michels began to formally study piano and voice, joining the choir in middle school — and building a foundation as a songwriter by spending hours each day experimenting with keyboard melodies and writing poetry that helped her make sense of the complicated emotions she felt at the time. When she was 16, she wrote her first song.

Interestingly, Michels developed a reputation as a talented opera singer, who performed at The Kennedy Center back in 2017. She wound up stepping away from music temporarily to study technology. But feeling overwhelmed and desperately in need of a way to come to terms with her childhood experiences, the Austin-based artist sought refuge in songwriting. The songs came pouring out. From that point onward, she stared writing vulnerable and earnest stories rooted in her own journey through heartbreak and abuse, and coming out of the other side resilient, hopeful and rediscovering the beauty and need for human connection. This is paired with a vocal delivery informed by pop, R&B and rock.

After performing her original songs at a local club, Michels fully committed herself to pursuing a career in music, and to using her music to continue to heal herself and others. Her debut single. the Jon Muq-produced, Lauren Michels co-written “Tired” appeared on her debut EP Renaissance. “Tired” debuted at #30 and peaked at #21 on the Mediabase chart.

Building upon a growing profile, the Austin-based released her full-length, Jon Muq-produced debut Enlightenment earlier this year. Enlightenment‘s lead single “Broken Like This” landed at #20 on the Adult Contemporary Charts. The album’s second single, the slow-burning and sultry, murder/revenge ballad “Born To Die” was released this past June and debuted at #25 on the Adult Contemporary Charts.

The Nick Peterson-directed video for “Born to Die” premiered as a short film on iHorror.com and amassed over 60,000 views during the first three days of its release, with the video eventually earning over one million views overall. The video was an official selection at this year’s Shockfest, Deep Focus Film Festival, and Screamfest. It won Best Music Video at this year’s California International Shorts Festival and landed a Best Music Video nomination nod at Filmquest.

The Austin-based artist celebrated the success of “Born to Die” with a Jason Nevins-produced remix of the song that pairs Michels’ sultry vocals with tweeter and woofer rattling, industrial-like thump, bluesy, reverb-drenched bursts of guitar, twinkling keys and bursts of soaring, cinematic strings. While retaining the brooding and eerie air of the original, the remix turns the song into a timeless, stormy psych soul bop that pulls out the bluesy elements into the forefront.

“My message in ‘Born to Die’ is for people to never give up because there is life at the end, no matter how many people it feels like are against you or don’t believe you,” explains Michels.

Directed by Nick Peterson, the accompanying lyric video deconstructs the imagery of the original and turns into a horror-themed bit of pop art, centered around the themes of the song and its original video.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Boston’s Mel Fine Shares Soulful and Yearning “Alone Together”

Mel Fine is a rising Boston-based, non-binary singer/songwriter and producer, who cites Etta James and Joni Mitchell as influences. As an artist, the Boston-based artist has developed a sound that meshes soul, jazz and acoustic folk pop paired with a storytelling lyrical approach rooted in lived-in personal experiences. Fine’s goal is to create music for the feelings that are difficult to put into words.

In their very young career, the Boston-based artist has played over 100 stages including the Middle East, Berkshire Pride, the Red Room and countless others across both Boston and New England. Adding to a growing profile, Fine was awarded the 2021 Performance Division Voice Award by the Berklee College of Music Voice Department. They also earned second place in Berklee’s Songs for Social Change Contest with “In Between,” which honestly told of Fine’s experience growing up non-binary.

While continuing their studies at Berklee, Fine has continued to release material, including her sophomore single “Alone Together,” a slickly produced track featuring strummed, Spanish-styled acoustic guitar, atmospheric synths, thumping beats paired with the young Boston-based artist’s soulful and yearning vocal delivery and a well-placed, razor sharp hook. While subtly nodding at both contemporary pop and Quiet Storm soul, “Alone Together” manages to reveal a budding superstar in the making.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: Caroline Loveglow Shares Woozy and Atmospheric “Patience, Etc.”

Caroline Loveglow is a Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, who specializes in a meditative dream pop informed by long nights spent at home getting lost in her own head. Sitting in front of her computer, she’d spend her time twisting and contorting familiar sounds into something otherworldly and surreal — pianos could be stretched out into an eerie drone or swirling guitar parts are played through clouds of distortion and reverb. Her dreamy vocals float over the song’s arrangement in an ethereal haze.

Thematically, the Los Angeles-based artist’s work sees her pondering the big existential questions, her own innermost turmoil and what it really means to be human in a mad, mad, mad world.

“Patience, Etc.” appears on Loveglow’s self-produced, full-length debut, Strawberry, which was released earlier this year. Featuring woozy synth arpeggios, a tweeter and woofer rattling boom bap-like breakbeat, distorted and reverb-drenched guitars paired with the Los Angeles-based artist’s ethereal cooing, “Patience” sonically brings The xx, The Horrors, Amber Arcades, and others to mind — but while rooted in yearning and heartbreakingly lived-in lyricism.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Brontë Horder is a rising Aussie-born and-based singer/songwriter, composer and producer, who has written and produced both scores and bespoke songs for TV, films and documentary projects. Her song “Day By Day,” which appeared in the short film Fourteen received a Best Original Song Composed For The Screen nomination at 2019’s APRA-AGSC Screen Music Awardss. Holder also wrote and produced “Everybody Wants To Be Me,” which appeared in Chloe Morello’s YouTube series Not So Famous.

The rising Aussie singer/songwriter, composer and producer has also made a name for herself as a session vocalist, contributing vocals to a variety of projects and ad campaigns, including Survivor Australia, Celebrity Name Game and the ABC. After winning Sony Music Australia‘s songwriting competition Breaking Ground back in 2013, Holder stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist.

Her video for “The Eleventh Hour” premiered on MTV Australia. “Switch It Off” received nods at the Indie Music Channel Awards for Best Pop Song, Best Pop Recording and Best Female Pop Artist.

Cali Satellites specialize in effortless yet deliberately crafted songwriting that’s sometimes beautiful, sometimes dark and always engaging. Their debut single “In the Sunshine” is a silky bit of electro pop/house with nods to funk and indie rock that features sultry vocals from Los Angeles-based artist TIAAN.

Leo Gaurdo is an Italian-born, Melbourne-based DJ, producer and sound engineer, who started DJ’ing at a very young age. Back in 2001, he gained popularity within Italy’s house music scene after playing at Chalet delle Rose. In 2008, Guardo relocated to Australia with the intention of perfecting his skills in sound engineering. With over a decade in the audio industry, Guardo has worked on a number of projects across music, television. But recently, the Italian-born, Aussie-based DJ, producer and sound engineer has been focused on his own production work, releasing crowd pleasing material that meshes elements of tech, deep and house grooves with Balearic and tribal house through several renowned electronic music labels, including Orianna Music, MoBlack Records, King Street Sounds, Wired, Tribe Records and Merecumbe Recordings among others.

The trio collaborated together on the four-song EP Only The Good Ones, which was released earlier this year. Thematically, the EP focuses on the power of words — especially on our mindset. The EP’s first single, EP title track “Only The Good Ones” is a slickly produced pop confection centered around glistening, reverb-drenched guitar, shimmering synth arpeggios, skittering beats and a soaring hook paired with Horder’s ethereal vocals. Sonically, “Only The Good Ones” manages to be simultaneously radio friendly and as though it could played at clubs in Ibiza.

“Only The Good Ones” can trace its origins back to a jam session between Holder and members of Cali Satellites. “At the time we were listening to stories of people who had distorted perceptions of themselves. As Brontë was searching for a melody, out came the lyrics, being at war with ourselves and wanting to reframe the way we think and speak about our minds and our bodies. Everyone’s inner dialogue would be so much kinder if we treated ourselves the way we treat our friends. When our friends talk about their insecurities, we always say beautiful words to them, encouraging them to practice love and forgiveness like ‘don’t be so hard on yourself ’ & ‘you’re doing an amazing job,'” they explain. “We sent it to Leo, who felt inspired and imbued his electronic magic.” Ultimately, the song is a gentle, cautionary tale, that reminds the listener to choose their words carefully.

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singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 68th Birthday, Annie Lennox!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Annie Lennox’s 68th birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas (War Is Over)”

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms offers some thoughts on the holiday season.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 58th Birthday, Eddie Vedder!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Eddie Vedder’s 58th birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: CIAN Shares Slickly Produced and Yearning “Far From Home”

CIAN is a young and emerging Bogota-born and-based singer/songwriter and pop artist, who spent the bulk of his life in Miami. He grew up listening to Justin Timberlake, Usher and Michael Jackson, although as a pop artist, the Colombian artist cites The Weeknd, Zayn, Drake, Khalid, Majid Jordan, Justin Bieber, and Bazzi as influences on his work.

“Far From Home,” the Bogota-based artist’s latest single is a sickly produced and woozy confection featuring glistening synths, wobbling low end paired with his achingly plaintive vocals and some well-placed, razor sharp hooks. While sonically bringing the likes of The Weeknd and other contemporary pop stars to mind, “Far From Home” manages to reveal a budding star, who can express yearning and vulnerability within a turn of a phrase.

The accompanying moodily shot video follows CIAN in a Nike jumpsuit walking through a forest before we see him the a brisk job — in slow motion. Every few feet, we see him turn his head as though expecting someone or something to chase him.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Linsley Hartenstein is an emerging Nashville-based singer/songwriter and the creative mastermind behind the solo recording project Darity. Hartenstein derives the project’s name partially from the word “solidarity” and partially from the word “darity,” which according to the artist is defined as “the sum of.” Fittingly, the Nashville-based artist sees her new project as the result of collective influences and changing of hands, resulting in “out of the box” songwriting and production.

Hartenstein has been pretty busy this year, releasing three EPs — You Choose What Remains, Stay Home and Sunroom Sessions. “Pretending” which interestingly enough appears on both You Choose What Remains and Stay Home a slick synthesis of 90s singer/songwriter alt rock and 90s pop with the song being centered classic 90s alt rock-like song structures — the familiar alternating dreamily contemplative verses paired with power chord-driven and stormy choruses before closing out with a dreamy coda. But at its core, the song manages to display the Nashville-based artist’s penchant for rousingly cathartic hooks rooted in earnest, lived-in lyricism: “Pretending” actually speaks about how no matter how much a victim may pretend nothing happened, trauma linger and sit with you.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Chicago’s Somi Shares Swaggering and Self-Assured “Talking”

Somi is a young, emerging Chicago-based singer/songwriter. Her latest single “Talking” is a decidedly lo-fi bit of R&B-leaning indie pop featuring gentle layers of wobbling and jangling guitars, a simple yet propulsive backbeat paired with the emerging Chicago-based artist’s self-assured, soulful delivery and a big, shout-along worthy hook. While sonically bringing early Tame Impala and JOVM mainstay Julien Chang to mind, “Talking” reveals a budding start with a swaggering self-assuredness that belie her relative youth.

The emerging Chicago-based artist explains that “Talking” is “about having confidence in yourself while still keeping an open mind, and learning to listen rather than simply talk at people.” It’s a hard lesson, even for those, who are older — yet it’s a much-needed message to help maneuver the difficulties of human nature and relationships.

Shot on grainy VHS video, the accompanying video follows the emerging Chicago-based artist skateboarding, hanging out at a local skatepark and just being a regular young person. But it has a fitting 90s nostalgia — especially for those olds, like me.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 64th Birthday, Joan Jett!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Joan Jett’s 64th birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New VIdeo: Warhaus Shares Lush and Groovy “Desire”

Maarten Devoldere is a Belgian singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known for being co-lead vocalist and one-half of the core songwriting duo behind the critically applauded Belgian indie rock outfit and JOVM mainstays Balthazar. Devoldere is also the creative mastermind behind the equally applauded solo recording project Warhaus. 

With Warhaus, Devoldere further cemented a reputation for crafting urbane, literate and decadent art rock with an accessible, pop-leaning sensibility. It shouldn’t be surprising that Devoldere’s Warhaus debut, 2016’s We Fucked A Flame Into Being derived its title from a line in DH Lawrence’s seminal, erotic novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Thematically, the album touched upon lust, desire, the inscrutability of random encounters, bittersweet and regret with the deeply confessional nature of someone baring the deepest recesses of their soul.

Devoldere’s sophomore Warhus album, 2017’s self-titled saw the acclaimed Belgian songwriter and artist thematically moving away from decadence, lust and sin towards earnest, hard-fought and harder-won love — with much of the material being informed by his relationship with vocalist Sylvie Kreusch. Interestingly, the recording sessions were much more spontaneous and heavily influenced by Dr. John‘s Night Tripper period: The album features heavy nods to voodoo rhythms and New Orleans jazz despite the fact that his backing band wasn’t known for being jazz musicians.

The Belgian songwriter and multi-instrumentalist’s third Warhaus album, Ha Ha Heartbreak is slated for a November 11, 2022 release through Play It Again Sam. Ha Ha Heartbreak‘s material was written during a three week stay in Palermo. All Devoldere needed was the solitude of a hotel room, a guitar, a microphone and a recently broken heart.

The sorrow was too difficult to handle, so he went to Sicily to escape. But as it always turns out, those who try to outrun life and heartache quickly run into themselves. But the album sees Devoldere wrapping his sorrow into hooks, instant singalong choruses and irresistible melodies. Sonically, the material is light yet lush featuring strings, sensual vocals, horns and even playful piano parts. The end result is an album that’s a deep and moving emotional exploration yet something musically very rich.

Album opening track and first single “Open Window” the first bit of new Warhaus material in five years was centered around Devoldere’s brooding baritone, strummed acoustic guitar, a Quiet Storm-like groove, twinkling piano and a gorgeous, cinematic string arrangement. It’s the sort of song that you can gently sway along to with eyes closed and drifting off into your own nostalgia-induced dreams — or delusions.

Perhaps unsurprising, the song thematically is rooted in a heartbroken delusion that should feel painfully familiar to most of us: the delusional hope against hope that the breakup isn’t permanent, that they’ve just temporarily lost their minds and will return soon. But in the end it’s all vapor and blind, foolish denial.

“Open Window is about keeping reality at bay in that comfortable bubble of denial. Definitely my favourite stage of heartbreak,” Delvodere explains. 

Ha Ha Heartbreak‘s second and latest single “Desire” is a lush and sultry bop centered around mournful horns, soaring strings, an infectious, two-step inducing groove and twinkling keys paired with Devoldere’s breathy baritone. The song’s narrator desperately addresses just about every god he can imagine, but as he says in the song, “No matter what I turn to/it’s failing me.”

“Trying to love without attachment? Trying to stop the hedonic treadmill from spinning? Trying to reincarnate as Celine Dion’s voice? Follow me on Instagram for misinformation. This song’s dedicated to all those false idols out there. Love, Warhaus,” Devoldere says of the new single.

Directed by Pieter De Cnudde features Devoldere in a musty, old apartment as a bored man, fulfilling Sisyphean-like tasks on old analog devices, including an old train monitoring system and a phone operator bank, which at one point he’s connected to by umbilical cord. The visual continues a run of brooding and surreal visuals, rooted in heartache and despair.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Julia Jacklin Shares Hazy and Earnest “Be Careful With Yourself”

With the release of 2016’s full-length debut, the folky Don’t Let The Kids Win, acclaimed Melbourne-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Julia Jacklin quickly carved out a reputation for being a direct lyricist, willing to excavate the parameters of intimacy and anger with songs that were simultaneously stark and raw, loose and playful. 2018’s sophomore album Crushing managed to draw the listener in even closer. 

Jacklin’s third album PRE PLEASURE is slated for a Friday release through Polyvinyl Record Co. Conceived upon returning home at the end of an extensive world tour to support Crushing, PRE PLEASURE‘s material was finished in a frantic few months of recording in Montreal with co-producer Marcus Paquin. “The songs on this record took either three years to write or three minutes,” Jacklin says. 

Jacklin teamed up with her Canadian touring band, which features The Weather Station’s Ben Whiteley (bass) and Will Kidman (guitar), Folly and the Hunter’s Laurie Torres (drums) and Adam Kinner (drums), as well as string arrangements by Owen Pallett recorded by a full orchestra in Prague. 

“Making a record to me has always just been about the experience, a new experience in a new place with a new person at the desk, taking the plunge and just seeing what happens” Jacklin says of traveling to Canada to work with a new producer for the third time in as many albums. “For the first time I stepped away from the guitar, and wrote a lot of the album on the Roland keyboard in my apartment in Montreal with its inbuilt band tracks. I blu-tacked reams of butcher paper to the walls, covered in lyrics and ideas, praying to the music gods that my brain would arrange everything in time.” 

The album reportedly sees Jacklin expanding upon her signature sound while thematically conjuring the ripples and fault lines caused by unreliable communication. 

In the lead-up to PRE PLEASURE‘s release, I’ve written about two of the album’s singles:

  • “I Was Neon,” a relentless motorik groove-driven track featuring buzzing guitars, Jacklin’s plaintive delivery and an enormous, arena rock friendly hook. And while being an anthemic bit of rock-leaning pop — or perhaps pop-leaning rock? — the song is rooted in earnest, lived-in lyricism that simultaneously expresses crippling self-doubt with a deeply, intelligent, almost winking self-awareness of how ridiculous it all is. 
  •  “Love, Try Not To Let Go” is a shimmering and swooning Fleetwood Mac-like track featuring Jacklin’s achingly tender delivery floating over twinkling keys, reverb-drenched guitars before exploding into thundering guitar chords during the song’s bridge. It’s a fittingly gorgeous yet brooding arrangement for a song that describes the confusing mix of hesitation and desire one feels towards love, heartbreak and moving forward. 

“Be Careful With Yourself,” PRE PLEASURE‘s is a hazy and dreamy slow-burner, centered around layers of jangling guitars, driving rhythms and ethereal harmonies paired with Jacklin’s effortless vocals and her unerring knack for anthemic hooks. At itNs core though, “Be Careful With Yourself” is an honest and vulnerable love song full of hope — hope for the longevity of the partner and the relationship in a way that captures the hopes of a fledging relationship.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Lillian Frances is a Sacramento-based singer/songwriter, producer and self-professed “sonic collager.” Inspired by the creative and imaginative nature of children, Frances’ work generally isn’t bound to genre or style conventions. Her work frequently meshes and blurs genre and style lines, often within the same song with lyrics sung in English and Spanish.

Frances’ 2018 EP Timeism featured a sound that some have compared to Lorde, Sylvan Esso, and Billie Eilish — and received praise from NPR’s Heavy Rotation, Indie Shuffle, and Cap Radio.  She supported the EP with appearances across the state and regional festival circuit with sets at  Sacramento PorchFest, the Davis Music Festival and the Davis Cherry Blossom Festival among others. Adding to a growing profile, Frances has opened for Sylvan Esso — and she has played alongside Shakey Graves, Sage the Gemini, and Lexi Panterra.

The Sacramento-based artist released her full-length debut Moonrise Queendom back in 2020 and the album featured “Raincheck Summer,” a breezy and forward-thinking, summery pop confection centered around a coquettish and mischievous push and pull — and a deep, timely sense of irony: A summertime bop for the summer in which you never actually saw anyone. Interestingly, underlying the song’s bold playfulness and irony, the song as Frances explains “explores the idea of authentic connection.”

This February, Frances did something she had been dreaming of for years: She finally moved out of her parents’ home and into her own apartment. The pandemic had been in full swing for about a year, and she was — understandably — champing at the bit to get out of the way-too-close quarters with her mother, father and sister.

When she moved, the Sacramento-based artist was overwhelmed by what she describes as a beautiful wave of freedom. She felt as though she could go anywhere, do anything, be anyone (within reason) — and so she did.

Week after week, Frances would jump into her Chevy Volt and head to some new outdoorsy location, usually revolving around rock climbing, like Joshua Tree, CA; Smith Rock, OR; Red Rocks, NV; and so on. Through her road trips, the Sacramento-based artist experienced a level of freedom, adventure and romance that reminded her of what it’s like to be truly alive and present.

Those road trips wound up informing and influencing her latest single “Direct Sunlight.” Around the time, she started writing the song, she was figuring out how to be a good plant mom — i.e., figuring out where in the house is the sunniest? shadiest? how much water? etc. — she was figuring out how much sunlight and care, she really needed.

Written, recorded and produced by Frances, “Direct Sunlight” is a breezy pop confection centered around skittering trap-like beats, atmospheric synths and glistening bursts of mandolin paired with Frances’ coquettish, come hither delivery. The song captures the feeling of being on the road — perhaps for the first time in some time — and the sense of adventure and possibility that every single trip brings with it. Add it to your road trip playlist.