Tag: singer/songwriters

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Perhaps best known as the co-founder of Department of Eagles, multi-instrumentalist Fred Nicolaus’ solo, side project Golden Suits quickly won attention with the release of a self-titled full-length album that thematically focused around a breakup and an obsession with a collection of short stories by John Cheever. And as a result, Nicolaus developed a reputation for crafting contemplative, folk-leaning indie rock; however, with the release of “Is It Wrong” the multi-instrumentalist reveals a subtle change of sonic and songwriting approach as the song manages to sound like a breezy and mischievous version of The National covering the likes of Tom Petty and Paul McCartney.

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Check out Allen Stone Performing a Soulful and Aching Cover of Goyte’s Mega-hit “Somebody That I Used To Know”

With the release of his latest album Radius, Seattle, WA-based soul singer/songwriter Allen Stone has firmly cemented a burgeoning reputation for crafting uncompromising music that defies pop music conventions — and as a result, not only has the Seattle-based singer/songwriter received attention across the blogosphere, he’s recently been invited to play at Stevie Wonder’s British Summer Time show next week, which will most likely add to a growing international profile. And to celebrate a set of European shows and his addition to the Stevie Wonder show, Stone and his backing band released a video performing a slow-burning, Quiet Storm-soul cover of Goyte’s mega-hit “Somebody That I Used to Know” at Bear Creek Studio that actually possesses a deeper sense of the confusion, heartache, guilt, accusations and bitterness within the song than the original in mind; in fact, when Stone sings the line “you didn’t have to stoop so low,” I guarantee that you’ll feel punched the gut.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Comprised of four singer/songwriters Adrian Olsen, Alexandra Spalding, James Mason and JL Hodges, along with multi-instrumentalist Charlie Glenn, the Richmond, VA-based quintet Avers first caught national attention with the release of their 2014 debut effort, Empty Light, an effort that had them opening for Foo Fighters and J.  Roddy Walston and The Business, along with an appearance at last year’s SXSW that was praised by a number of major outlets including Esquire and The Daily Beast. Building upon the buzz they’ve received, the Virginia-based quintet’s anticipated sophomore effort Omega/Whatever was written,  recorded and self-produced at their unofficial headquarters Montrose Recording — and the album, which is slated for a July 29, 2016 release through Egghunt Records reportedly focuses on struggling through life in the modern world; in fact, the material covers divorce, how technology influences our lives, changing societal norms, corrupt politicians and more. And interestingly enough, the material also manages to continue the creative process that the band established for the sessions that comprised their debut effort — each songwriter brought in sketches and ideas with the entire group then pitching in to flesh out the idea into a song and quickly recording the material that same day, whenever possible. As you can hear on the album’s 90s alt rock-channeling single “Insects,” the result is a song that feels at times hushed and improvised and rousingly anthemic wall of sound-channeling song that captures a sense of powerlessness over the things you can’t control — while saying “Well, that’s life sometimes. Get on with it.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Check Out a Gorgeous and Aching, Acoustic Version of “Hurts Like Hell”

Building on the buzz of her critically praised and commercially successful EP Arrows, the Nashville-based singer/songwriter release “Hurts Like Hell, ” last year, and the single was featured on MTV’s Scream. Recently the folks at OurVinyl TV invited Straham in for an acoustic single and the first released bit of footage from that session is a gorgeous and stripped down rendition of “Hurts Like Hell” that features Straham accompanying herself on piano.

Lyrically, the song focuses on the conflicting feelings in the aftermath of a breakup — loss, longing, emptiness, heartache and self doubt, along with the sensations of self-reflection, of finality and of one’s life being altered in ways that are frequently beyond your own control and influence. And if you’ve been through a particularly messy and disastrous breakup the song should feel deeply familiar.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Perhaps best known as the keyboardist and guitarist of Twin Cabins, Los Angeles, CA-based multi-instrumentalist Drew Straus’s solo recording project Onsen recently released his full-length debut Earthquake Weather through Cosmic Dreamer Music. Straus’ solo project and debut effort was inspired by a major career change in which he went went from international police to music, a re-examination of sexuality and a relocation to another city — and as a result, the material captures an artist and a life in transition.

Straus’ latest single “My Own Advice” pairs shimmering and angular guitar chords, propulsive drumming and shimmering and ethereally atmospheric synths ad Straus’ plaintive falsetto in a song that Straus explains to the folks at Culture Collide is about “the end of first love. Written to myself from the perspective of the one I lost.” And as a result, the song possess a wistful “if I had known now what I had known then” vibe while the narrator also recognizes that the experience, despite the heartache, taught him something profound that he’ll take it on to his next relationship.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Wistful and Gorgeous Visuals for Charlotte Cardin’s “Faufile”

Cardin’s latest single “Faufile,” which translates into English as “to slip or sneak away” features Cardin’s gorgeous and aching vocals paired with the singer/songwriter accompanied by a sparse yet eerie piano accompaniment, and the single will further cement the French Canadian singer/songwriter’s growing reputation for crafting hauntingly eerie pop that owes a debt to jazz. And hot on the heels of the release of “Faufile,” comes the wistful music video, which features a brooding and seemingly heartbroken on the rooftops and streets of what appears to be Montreal after a devastating breakup.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Certainly, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past couple of months you may know that with the release of his debut single “Color Decay,” Westman Islands, Iceland-based singer/songwriter Júniús Meyvant quickly received attention across Iceland, Scandinavia and elsewhere for an old-school soul, funk, pop-inspired sound; in fact, the single was a breakout single that hit number 1 on the Icelandic charts, and as a result of the single’s success, Meyvant wound up dominating that year’s Icelandic Music Awards with nominations for Best Newcomer and Best Male Singer, which he also wound up winning — all of which naturally led to greater attention both across Scandinavia and the European Union, including airplay on Radio X, BBC Radio London, Amazing Radio and the song being chosen by KEXP’s Program Director Kevin Cole as his Song of The Year.

Last month, I wrote about “Neon Experience,”the first single off the Icelandic singer/songwriter’s highly-anticipated full-length debut Floating Harmonies, a single that I think further cements the Icelandic singer/songwriter’s reputation for a sound that possesses elements of old-school soul, pop and funk in mid-tempo arrangement comprised of warm and soulful horn line, a gorgeous and dramatic string arrangement, twinkling keys, a sinuous bass line paired with an infectiously anthemic hook and a slow-burning sultry bridge. All of which are perfect for the silky falsetto. Also you have to add an uplifting and resilient message that could push even the most jaded and cynical through the doldrums in a song that sonically reminded me of the Daptone Records roster — while subtly nodding at the work of Simply Red and Chet Faker.

Floating Harmonies‘ second and latest single “Mighty Backbone” pairs a similar arrangement of horns, strings, guitar and bass with complex polyrhythm. And although the breezy song sounds as though it could have been written and recorded in 1963 as it possesses a careful and deliberate attention to craft — but with a subtly modern production sheen. Ironically, despite the fact that song feels remarkably upbeat, lyrically the song is actually quite bittersweet as the song’s narrator seems to be seeking something that he  may not be able to ever truly achieve.

 

 

singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms

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Over the course of the soon-to-be six year history of JOVM, New York-based singer/songwriter Anna Rose has developed a growing national profile with the release of a self-titled EP and two full-length efforts Nomad and Behold A Pale Horse — and of course, over that time, the New York-based singer/songwriter has also been a JOVM mainstay artist since its inception.

Officially seeing its release today, Strays in the Cut is the long-awaited follow-up to the New York-based singer/songwriter’s exceptional Pale Horse and as Anna Rose has explained in press notes, the songwriting and recording process forced her and her collaborators to look at everything differently, with a careful and deliberate attention to telling a particular story and evoking a particular period within the artist’s life with a conciseness that wouldn’t necessarily happen on a full-length album. Interestingly, because of that very conciseness the material manages to possess a laser focus — not only do the New York-based singer/songwriter and her backing band play and sing with a greater sense of self-assuredness, the material possesses a visceral and emotional weight to it, as lyrically the songs come from a much more personal, truer place.

I recently spent a few minutes chatting with Anna Rose about the new EP, her and her collaborators songwriting and recording process and how it changed for the EP, her upcoming acoustic tour with guitarist Adam Stoler, her father’s influence on her and her music, the video concept for the EP’s first single “Start A War” and much more in a revealing and very funny interview. Check it out.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Now, if you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past month or so, you would have come across a couple of posts on Los Angeles, CA-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Stefan Weich. Weich specializes in a dreamy exploration of traditional music structures, alternate guitar tunings and analog synthesizers and has released music under a number of monikers, including Das Bowls, Chicle, Couch Baby and others; however, his latest effort, Granite Prism is Weich’s (true) solo debut and first album under his own name. Thematically, the album explores the Los Angeles-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist’s feelings of loneliness, aimlessness and his search for love and acceptance in a large, modern metropolis.

With Granite Prism‘s first single and video “Holy Nights,” Weich paired his plaintive falsetto croon with dreamily ambient synths, soft padded drumming and gently strummed guitar in a deliberate and carefully crafted song that sounded indebted to Brian Eno –but with a plaintive yearning at its core. The album’s second single “Louie,” continued on the same vein as Weich paired swirling and ambient electronics are paired with soft padded drumming, bursts of bluesy guitar chords and his plaintive falsetto crooning lyrics about a relationship in which both people are slowly drifting apart.  At the heart of the song is the unspoken and built up resentments that can cause people to slowly drift apart over time, and a lingering sense of regret of what happened — and how it happened.

Granite Prism‘s third and latest single “Toxic Landscape” is a subtly more muscular song and as a result it sounds as though it owes a sonic debt to shoegaze than ambient electronica as Weich pairs his plaintive falsetto with feedback-laden and buzzing power chords, strummed guitar chords played through layers of reverb, subtly forceful drumming and soaring synths in a song that to my ears reminds me quite a bit of A Storm in Heaven-era The Verve and Silversun Pickups. Much like the previously released singles, the song focuses on the slow dissolution of a relationship and its aftermath, complete with the feelings of bitterness, isolation, confusion, heartache and more — and in a way that’s reminiscent of 120 Minutes-era MTV indie rock.

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Mournful Sounds and Surreal Visuals for Stefan Weich’s Latest Single “Louie”

Stefan Weich’s second and latest single “Louie” continues on the same vein as “Holy Night” as swirling and ambient electronics are paired with soft padded drumming, bursts of bluesy guitar chords and Weich’s plaintive falsetto crooning lyrics about a relationship in which both people are slowly drifting apart. At the heart of the song is the unspoken and built up resentments that can cause people to slowly drift apart over time, and a lingering sense of regret of what happened — and how it happened.

The recently released music video for the song also fittingly featured some warped and kaleidoscopic, psychedelic imagery — in some way, it evokes what I would imagine tripping on hallucinogens would feel like as you were wandering around a lonely and surreal city landscape.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Dramatic Visuals for Oh, Pep!’s “Doctor Doctor”

This year may arguably be one of the biggest years to date for Oh, Pep! as their much-anticipated full-length debut Stadium Cake is slated for release next month through Dualtone Records. Recorded and produced by renowned Canadian producer Daniel Ledwell in Echo Lake, Nova Scotia last August, the album reportedly has the duo expanding upon the songwriting approach and sound that first won them national and international attention — namely the duo’s ability to subtly mesh lightness and darkness within their material. The album’s first single “Doctor Doctor” has the band pairing stuttering cascades of synths, propulsive boom bap drums with Hally and Emmerich’s ethereal and sultry vocals singing lyrics focusing on a narrator that is not only suffering through self-doubt and indecision but someone who from their own foolishness has found themselves forced to make one of the most difficult life-altering decisions of their entire life — in the case of the video, the song’s narrator discovers that she’s pregnant. And her decision not only impacts her life but the life of her partner — although to be fair, the bulk of impact will be on her. Of course the video reflects the palpable sense of tension within the song as you’ll see the fear and uncertainty on the faces of both of the video’s central pair.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Oh Pep! on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts

Comprised of Olivia Hally and Pepita Emmerichs, Melbourne, Australia-based electro folk duo Oh, Pep! derive their name from the first names of both members of the act, and they can trace the origins of their collaboration to […]

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Slick Electro Pop Sounds of Belgium’s Selah Sue

With the release of her acclaimed, multi-platinium debut effort, five years ago, Belgian singer/songwriter  Selah Sue quickly became a household name across the European Union. The Belgian singer/songwriter’s forthcoming, long-awaited sophomore effort Reason is slated for […]

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Hauntingly Introspective Video for Fernando’s “Save Me”

Born in Argentina, Fernando Viciconte, who now performs under the mononym Fernando, first made a name for himself with a stint as the frontman of the Los Angeles-based hard rock band Monkey Paw. Vicicconte relocated to Portland, to focus […]