Tag: Single Review

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Martin Oh Shares Breezy and Euphoric “Neverland”

Martin Oh is a rising singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, who recently released his SOHN co-produced debut EP Better Place. The EP is features shimming, euphoric electro pop that specifically designed to get you dancing — and to set hearts on fire.

Better Place EP’s latest single “Neverland” is a slickly produced breezy bop that recalls a mix of 80s pop, St. Lucia and Rush Midnight, anchored around earnest lyricism and the rising artist’s knack for remarkably catchy hooks. Simply put, it’s a much-needed reminder of joy and fun in our dark, uncertain times.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Julia Powell Shares Brooding and Cinematic “Lazarus”

With the release of her debut EP, 2022’s Ephyra, the Tampa-based artist Julia Powell gained a following for crafting cathartic pop that pairs sultry vocals with punchy, dark pop arrangements — and for a trippy live show that frequently featured mannequin heads and light displays.

After the release of Ephyra EP, Powell took a break from music, and it seems that during that period her life changed. She marked her return to music with the release of “2019” earlier this year. “2019” showcased her daring and honest approach to her music.

Her latest single “Lazarus” is a brooding, song featuring dramatically twinkling keys, subtly malevolent bass synths, skittering boom bap and swirling, atmospheric synths serving as an eerie yet lush bed for Powell’s sultry, soulful delivery. Sonically, “Lazarus” brings to mind a synthesis of Black to Black-era Amy Winhouse and Portishead, full of brooding yet cinematic sense of unease.

“‘Lazarus’ is about coming back to music. After my last EP, Ephyra, I burned out a little and had to focus on life for a minute,” Powell explains. “That was two years ago, and my life is so different now. So I decided it was time to finally come back. I wrote Lazarus as an apology to my fans who hadn’t heard from me for a while, and an announcement that I am back – for good.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Zara Wynn Shares a Swooning Ballad on Heartbreak and Indecision

Zara Wynn is an emerging Uruguayan singer/songwriter. From a very young age, music has been her refuge and driving force, leading her to create songs that both sound good and resonate with the listener. And in a short time, Wynn has received attention explosively authentic songs, anchored around bold lyrics and vibrant melodies and a blend of strength, resiliency and earnest emotion.

The Uruguayan artist’s latest single “Tengo Ganas de Llamarte” is a mid-tempo ballad that effortlessly pairs Wynn’s earnest delivery with a soulful and traditional-leaning arrangement that reminds me of the music you’d hear blaring out of cars, businesses and apartments around Roosevelt Avenue.

Wynn explains that the song captures the tension between the excitement of wanting to talk to that special someone and the fear of being rejected by that special someone. The song’s narrator is in a familiar situation to most of us: that struggle with the crippling indecision and self-doubt that affairs of the heart can inspire — no matter how self-assured we are.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Donïa Nö Shares a Brooding and Eerie Banger

Donïa Nö is a Tuscan-born singer/songwriter and electronic music artist, who relocated to Rome, where she studied guitar at Liceo Musicale F. Petrarca and privately, and graduated with a degree in pop vocals at the Saint Louis College of Music.

After spending some time in both cover and original music projects, the Tuscan-born artist felt the need to express herself completely and she started her first solo project The Silence with which she released her debut single “Intro-Right/Wrong,” and five follow-up singles written and sung in English.

She made her live debut back in 2022, opening for Cigno in Rome and for Le Cose Importanti. She also participated in Firenze Suona and Lazio Sound.

Back in 2023, the Tuscan-born, Rome-based artist rebranded her project Donïa Nö — and with the rebrand, she decided to write and sing her lyrics in her native Italian. As Donïa Nö, her sound is influenced by Nine Inch Nails, Fever Ray, Bones UK, Subsonica, Verdena and others — dark, industrial-like electronica paired with alternating screams, howls and ethereal melodies.

Her latest single “Cenere alla Cenere” is a slickly produced yet brooding bit of goth/industrial music anchored around an alternating eerie atmospheric verses and hard-hitting, club friendly hooks and choruses paired with Donïa Nö’s expressive vocal. Sonically, recalling Marie Davidson and Becoming Undone-era Adult.,” Cenere alla Cenere” makes a reference to Genesis while giving voice to women, who have suffered and have been silenced. She explains that the song “. . . is a ferocious cry and a celebration of the survivors who do not bend.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Lycoriscoris Shares Meditative “Light Leaks”

Yunosuke Senoo, best known as Lycoriscoris is a Japanese multi-instrumentalist, electronic music artist and producer, who over the course of the past decade has firmly established a signature blend of organic melodies made with both analog and digital equipment with intricate sound design. During that same period, he has built a cult following as a part of a new wave of Japanese electronic music producers.

His debut full-length debut was released on a Japanese indie label. But since then he has released material through Anjunadeep, KOMPAKT KX and Christian Löffler‘s Ki Records. 2018’s Flight, which was released through Anjunadeep landed in the Top 4 of the iTunes Electronic Albums Chart and received airplay on BBC Radio 1, KEXP and NTS Radio, while receiving international press coverage. 2021’s 9-track Chiyu showcased Senoo’s delicate production style while receiving praise from Mixmag Asia, DJ Mag and DJ Times while receiving spins from Nick Warren, Joris Voorn, Hernán Cattáneo and Eelke Kleijn.

Senoo’s latest Lycoriscoris single “Light Leaks” is a gorgeous track that manages to be simultaneously cinematic, mediative and deeply intimate. Featuring bursts of dramatic and twinkling piano and glistening synth oscillations paired with skittering beats, “Light Leaks” evokes a sense of wonder and awe, the recognition of our smallness in an infinite cosmos, and the recognition of our mortality. Today, things are harsh, uncertain and brutally unfair but there will always be small and profound moments of beauty and joy that you must hold on to with everything you’ve got.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Zay’Marie Shares Lush “Open”

Zay’Marie is a Virginia Beach-born, Washington, DC-based artist, who has quickly established a sound that seamlessly fuses soul, R&B and pop rooted in raw emotion and undeniable energy.

The Virginia Beach-born, DC-based artist’s debut EP Natural was released earlier this month. Thematically, the EP’s material is a raw, authentic journey through love, embracing the highs, navigating the uncertainties while standing firm in self-worth and resilience.

EP single “Open” is a slickly produced track that strikes me as being a sleek mix of elements of Afrobeats, contemporary pop and R&B featuring skittering polyrhythm, atmospheric synths and a supple, sinuous bass line serving as an ethereal yet lush bed for Zay’Marie’s soulful, self-assured yet longing delivery. The result is a song that showcases a burgeoning talent, who can craft a hook-driven yet soulful tune.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Baltimore’s Devin Nash Shares Swaggering and Strutting “Sounds Like Pain”

Devin Nash is a Baltimore-born and-based singer/songwriter and musician, who quickly established a sound that blends contemporary R&B and 80s synth pop with the release of his full-length debut, 2016’s Her. 

Her achieved commercial success with the album’s songs appearing on VH1’s Black Ink Crew Chicago and MTV’s Teen Mom — and he performed at the BET Awards. 

The Charm City-based artist released his latest EP Sounds Like Pain last month. “It is a soundtrack centered around love, relationships and heartbreak,” Nash explains.

EP single, title track and opening track “Sounds Like Pain” is a slickly produced, strutting bop anchored around a sinuous bass line, skittering cowbell-driven beats, atmospheric synths that serve as a lush bed for Nash’s yearning delivery singing lyrics about a love interest, who quickly proves to be cold-hearted and cruel — for no particular reason. But underneath the heartache are moments of self-reflection and pride, in which the song’s narrator realizes “Wait, what the fuck am I doing?”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Zumba la Calavera Shares Breezy and Nostalgia-Inducing “Selva Gris En Mi Corazón”

Founded by Roberto Alfaro in Villa Alemana in the Valaparaíso region of Chilé back in 2018, Zumba la Calavera has spent their career exploring different styles of music while crafting songs that discuss Latin American social problems and get listeners to think.

The Chilean outfit’s debut EP, 2020’s Ruidos Modesto’s saw the band creating a sound that meshed elements of funk and rock while tackling global warming, the abandonment of the elderly when they cease to be profitable, the perverse incentives of the healthcare industry and corporate image washing through Teletón, a Mexican TV channel that derives its name from a Chilean telethon that raised money for children’s charities.

The band’s latest album Sistema Pachanguers was released earlier this year. The album is an ode to life’s unexpected nature and absurd twists of fate and Peruvian cuisine — because priorities, right? Sonically, the album sees the band at their most defiantly genre agnostic while featuring lyrics and vocals that range from sarcasm to reflection.

Sistema Pachanguers latest single “Selva Gris En Mi Corazón,” is a breezy, nostalgia-inducing bit of dance floor friendly cumbia that captures the bittersweet nostalgia of old lovers and memories of the taste of fish, salsa and ice-cold pilsners on hot days. It’s those small memories that make us human — and give us life.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay MAGON Shares Freewheeling “Good Song”

Wildly prolific Israeli-born, Costa Rican-based singer/songwriter, musician and JOVM mainstay MAGON recently released his 11th album Tales of a Mountain Child.

In the lead-up to the album’s release, I wrote about two of the album’s previously released singles:

  • Album title track “Tales of a Mountain Child,” a track that possesses the same sort of freewheeling, restless nature reminiscent of early Bob Dylan, Harvest-era Neil Young and Inner Journey Out-era Psychic Ills. And while continuing upon the JOVM’s mainstay reputation for his uncanny knack for catchy hooks, the song captures a familiar feeling for me — the seemingly irresistible push and pull of a life on the road. 

  • “Outer Darkness,” a track that continues a run of material seemingly indebted to 60s psych rock and 70s album rock, with a dreamy yet introspective air. The result is a song that evokes nostalgia while anchored around a modern sensibility. 

Tales of a Mountain Child‘s latest single “Good Song” continues upon the album’s freewheeling nature – and his penchant for catchy grooves and hooks. And much like its predecessors, the song’s lyrics are surrealistic yet paint a vivid picture of late-night musings, fleeting thoughts and playfully odd imagery.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Sunglow Teams Up with Rachael Brianna on Rapid-Fire “figure 8s”

Daniel B. Lynch is a Savannah, GA-born, Chicago-based DIY electronic artist, best known as Sunglow. Lynch can trace the origins of his career in electronic/computer music back to when he was 12. Starting off with experimental, electronic songs, then gradually transitioning to weirdo pop, Lynch’s relocation to Chicago marked a return to his experimental roots.

His collaborations with Furious Hooves Records and Company Businesses Inc™ have led to some rather innovative sonic explorations, which have led to defining his unique “hypo-pop” style.

Lynch’s latest album, the recently released Chocolate, Strawberry, and Pistachio, a collaborative album that sees the Savannah-born, Chicago-based producer and artist working with a series of vocalists. The recently released album’s latest single “figure 8s” feat. Rachael Brianna is a rapid-fire bop anchored around squiggling and squawking electronics, twinkling synth arpeggios and skittering beats serving as a playful and sugary bed for Rachael Brianna’s sarcastic delivery. The song seems to say, when shit has gone dark, might as well make fun on of it.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: Me & Melancholy Shares Yearning Yet Dance Floor Friendly “Naive”

‘Peter Ehrling is a Stockholm-based electronic music producer, musician and creative mastermind behind the solo electro pop recording project Me & Melancholy. Inspired by Depeche Mode, New Order, Camouflage, and Swedish synth acts like The Mobile Homes and Elegant Machinery, Me & Melancholy sees the Stockholm-based artist and producer specializing in melancholy synth pop that blends both retro and contemporary sounds to create a nostalgic, upbeat yet introspective vibe.

Ehrling’s latest single “Naive,” is the fifth single from his forthcoming third Me & Melancholy album. Featuring glistening synth arpeggios and skittering, twitter and woofer thump paired with the Stockholm-based artist’s yearning delivery, “Naive” continues a run of material deeply indebted to New Order and Pet Shop Boys that manages to be simultaneously dance floor friendly and longing.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: San Antonio’s Beware Of Dog Shares Churning “Cold”

Emerging San Antonio-based shoegazer trio Beware Of Dog — Jakob Barrios (guitar/vocals), Liseth Rodriguez (drums), and Raul Martinez (bass) — recently released their fourth and latest single, “Cold.” Recorded, tracked and mixed at the band’s home studio, “Cold” to my ears brings a churning synthesis of Glixen, Lightfoils and Slowdive to mind while evoking a blusteringly cold wind that enters your coat, right at the seams and makes you shiver.

The new single will appear on the San Antonio-based band’s debut EP Junkyard, which is slated for release in May. But in the meantime, they will be playing a “Cold” all-ages release show at San Antonio’s The Starlighter.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Hello Cosmos Shares Furious and Urgent “Turn Off The News”

Manchester, UK area-based genre-defying, multimedia collective Hello Cosmos — Kendal Calling Festival founder Ben Robinson (vocals), Ben’s sibling Simon Robinson (drums), Placebo‘s and Lanterns on the Lake‘s Angela Chan (strings, keys) and Deathretro‘s Adrian Ingram (guitar, synths) — released their latest EP, Keep Digging earlier this year.

Written and recorded over a two-year period, the Jamie Lockheart-produced Keep Digging EP is the first of a batch of yet-to-be announced, forthcoming releases from the British outfit, which were created in Leeds-based Greenmount Studio, as well as studios in Manchester, New York, Florida, Los Angeles and Stockport, UK. The EP comes with a bold vision for the band, their Cosmic Glue imprint and their future live show.

Keep Digging EP‘s latest single “Turn Off The News” is also the first official single from the band’s forthcoming sophomore album slated for release next year. “Turn off the news,” begins with dramatic violin screeching before turning into blisteringly furious post-punk ripper anchored around alternating quiet-loud-quiet song structure that features scorching guitar riffage, thunderous drumming and a mosh pit friendly screamo-like hook paired with Ben Robinson’s incisive, politically-charged lyrics. Although rooted in UK political commentary, “Turn Off The News” captures the furious urgency of our moment here in the US with the daily normalization of fascism, lies and bullshit — with most decent people realizing they’ve been conned either by someone or the system as a whole.

The initial recording taking place the day after the UK left the European Union, the British outfit developed from a studio session that reflected the dark, uneasy, doom-laden and intense atmosphere throughout the country’s inner cities with the original working title “The Day After.” As the track progressed during sessions at Greenmount Studios during 2020, the song’s lyrics gradually developed around themes of negative news stories and who they serve, seeing the band tackling media manipulation and bullshit. And the song title’s changed to “Turn Off The News.”

“The story of this song threads through some dark times for me personally, the UK and the globe,” Hello Cosmos’ Ben Robinson explains. “I always aim to be positive with Hello Cosmos vocals, writing from a place of sadness or negativity is much easier than making a positive statement interesting. But this track was a sign of the times so I went through my darker lyric notes, a lot had been written in the harder moments of lockdown, the 5 o’clock updates from Witty and Borris [sic], the Twitter rabbit holes on info on how PPE contracts had been abused, the whole circus show of Hancock and the media shitshow surrounding UK politics. This is where the title of the track comes from, at that time the news was so unhealthy and was constant, it wasn’t helping people it was beating us down with doom and paranoia constantly, while the media was celebrating having something to run with that had the attention of the world . . .

“Frustrating times all bottled up, so I took every bit of my anger and went into the vocal booth for the first scream I’d done since lockdown happened, I channelled everything I could into that chorus and let it all out, what you hear is the first and only take.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Anil Shares Goth Interpretation of Emily Dickinson

Anil is an İzmir, Turkey-based singer/songwriter, producer, author and literary translator. He recently created a song around Emily Dickinson‘s “A Wounded Deer — Leaps Highest.”

The club rocking, industrial goth remix of the original mischievously reveals that Dickinson might have been a modern day goth.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstays The Lovelines Shares New Order-Inspired “Shades of Blue”

Over the past couple of years, I’ve spilled quite a bit of virtual ink on The Lovelines. The duo, which is currently split between Berlin and  Orlando, released material from their forthcoming full-length debut single-by-single.

The JOVM mainstays’ latest single “Shades of Blue” is a nostalgia-inducing and hook-driven bit of post punk, that reminds me a bit of fellow JOVM mainstays Club 8 — while clearly being indebted to early 80s New Order.

The band’s Todd Goings explains “‘Shades of Blue’ is an ode to New Wave; it was me pretending I was writing a song for New Order.”