Tulsa-born, Philadelphia-based musician and visual artist Jacob Theriot’s career began in earnest when he began writing and recording music in grade school with his brother and childhood friend. Those early efforts led to the acclaimed […]
Tag: Single Review
New Audio: BUÑUEL Shares a Furiously Primal Ripper
BUÑUEL — OXBOW‘s Eugene S. Robinson, Afterhours and A Short Apnea‘s Xabier Iriondo (guitar), The Framers‘ Andrea Lombardini (bass) and Il Teatro Degli Orrori’s Franz Valente (drums) — is a transatlantic supergroup that specializes in heavy music that’s been described as beautiful, merciless and unforgiving.
Creatively, the band has always been led by instinct and the id-like impulse to expressed completely unfiltered and unvarnished emotion through song. And through their close musical alliance, they’ve displayed a seemingly innate ability to craft material that warps and buckles with complexity, freedom, tenderness and primeval energy — simultaneously.
“BUÑUEL is a name that embodies a certain cultural and literary reference, which evokes an entire world,” the band’s Franz Valente says. “Like his films, our Buñuel is surrealism. We take the listeners into a place that’s suspended between dream and reality.” Eugene S. Robinson adds “What we’re doing with BUÑUEL is to carve out a very specific glimpse… partly into hearts of darkness, but more specifically into the depth of our secrets. Secrets we keep from each other, ourselves and whatever futures we’ve imagined for ourselves. We are ultimately trying to communicate something direct and deadly about the human condition.”
Slated for an October 25, 2024 release through SKiN Graft Records and OVERDRIVE Records, the transatlantic supergroup’s latest album, the Timo Ellis-produced Mansuetude derives its title from an archaic word, which means “meekness’ or “gentleness.” Certainly, for a band known for being punishingly heavy, the title seems like an ironic juxtaposition. Firmly anchored in the band’s long-held penchant for surrealism, the album reportedly sees the band taking every opportunity they can to stretch their musical tendrils towards discomfort and the deconstruction of tradition, all while reaching absolute abandon. Sonically, the album’s material encompasses many moods — sometimes simultaneously — while blurring elements of post-hardcore, avant-noise, hard blues, post-industrial, symphonic thrash, metal and free-jazz, played at great cost. The record is, in Robinson’s words “extreme but articulate.”
The album also features guest spots from Converge‘s Jacob Bannon (vocals), The Jesus Lizard‘s Tomahawk‘s and The Denison Kimball Trio‘s Duane Denison (guitar), Andrea Beninati (cello) and David Binney(alto sax, vocals).
Earlier this month, I wrote about “Class,” an urgent, amygdala-driven teeth-bared, id-fueled ripper built around Robinson’s primal shouts and howls, thunderous drumming and scorching riffage. Seemingly featuring elements of heavy metal, No Wave, thrash punk and noise rock, “Class” sonically seems like a forceful synthesis of Boris, Bo Ningen, The Stooges and several others while being deliriously artful. But underpinning it all, the song is rooted in incisive socioeconomic criticism that’s furious yet very funny. “America is schizophrenic about class and class attributes,” BUÑUEL’s Robinson explains. “On the one hand we claim it doesn’t exist here, on the other hand like Paul Fussell lays out in his book on class it works its way through every aspect of American life and living. The song itself eviscerates the notion by placing it where it most needs to be placed: in the iD fuelled [sic] underworld.”
Mansuetude‘s latest single “American Steel” features The Jesus Lizard’s, Tomahawk’s and the Denison Kimball Trio’s Duane Denison continues a run of unhinged, amygdala-driven, id-fueled rippers anchored around Robinson’s primal shouts and howls, thunderous drumming and scorching riffage. Sounding much like a man, who has gone absolutely mad, “American Steel” captures a certain kind of power madness with the song pays tribute to something particularly American: our love of big bore hemis, assault weapons, tanks, violence and Harleys.
Duane Denison says. “Eugene Robinson’s vocals have the effect of listening to a desperately flailing drowning man, and my guitar serves as a malfunctioning floatation device–it never quite makes it long enough to provide actual safety.”
New Audio: Terciopelo Returns with Soulful “Nothing Can Stop Me”
Terciopelo is the solo recording project of a mysterious and emerging Costa Rican-born and-based electronic music producer and artist, who blends diverse instrumental elements, trap beats, jazz and soulful melodies into a unique and moody sound that has been described as thought provoking.
The mysterious Costa Rican-born and-based electronic music producer and artist’s forthcoming full-length debut, The Breakaways reportedly sees him collaborating with a talented and diverse group of female vocalists. Thematically, the album focuses on women and their journeys through life — with each vocalist singing lyrics that detail the trials, tribulations and joys of their life through their perspective. The album’s material delves into the depths of passion, love and all of the various aspects of human life.
“This album represents a significant chapter in my musical journey,” the mysterious producer and artist says. The Breakaways is not just a music album, it’s a celebration of life, love and the magnetic power of music. We poured our hearts into every note, and we hope it resonates with our audience on a profound level.”
Late last year, I wrote about “Your Love . . .,” a brooding and slickly produced synthesis of Portishead-like trip hop, trap beats and contemporary electro pop paired with yearning vocals and evocative lyrics. The song thematically is a deep dive into the lives of women trapped in abusive romantic relationships. The song’s narrator paints a poignant and haunting picture of the internal and external struggles that domestic abuse victims face with a seemingly lived-in specificity.
The Breakaways’ latest single “Nothing Can Stop Me” continues a run of slickly produced material that pairs contemporary pop with trap beats, shimmering acoustic guitar, bursts of twinkling Rhodes with a soulful vocal, pop starlet delivery. Much like its predecessor, the song capture the interior world of its narrator with a lived-in specificity.
New Audio: Lowly Light Teams up with Nouvelle Vague’s Liset Alea on 80s Synth Pop-Inspired “Chill Child”
Matt Gorny is an award-winning, New York-based songwriter and producer, best known as Lowly Light, who has collaborated with dance music artists like Ultra Naté, Amanda Lepore, Luca Perra and others. As a producer, Gorny’s work has show continually evolution, ranging from nu-disco jams like “Get Over Yourself,” the chilled out groove of “Prayin'” and “Candy Lied,” to the energetic indie pop of “Down the Coast.”
“Do You Feel Me” amassed over 115,000 Spotify streams. And building upon a growing profile. “Lose You (John “J-C” Carr & Bill Coleman 808 Beach Remix) along with The Weekend remix on Acid Stag and was on regular rotation on SiriusXM channel 312.
Gorny’s latest single “Chill Child” is a collaboration with Nouvelle Vague‘s frontperson Liset Alea. Alea’s ethereal pop starlet cooing floats over a percussive and ebullient, 80s synth pop and dance pop-like production that recalls Madonna‘s 1984 self-titled debut, Banarama‘s “Cruel Summer” and St. Lucia.
The New York-based songwriter and producer explains that the song lyrically is a meditation on the much-needed art of patience and perspective. Ultimately, it’s about “giving time a chance to work its magic to reveal what’s truly worth fighting for,” he says. He goes on to say that the collaboration came about when he pitched the song to Alea, who has been on the top of his list of artists he wanted to work with. She loved the track and the lyrical message and was eager to bring her own vision to the song.
New Audio: Jack Manley Returns with Grunge Rock-Influenced “Grow Up”
Jack Manley is a grizzled veteran music, whose career has proven to be the embodiment of resilience and rebirth: He has played in a number of projects, including Cosmonaut, The Jennifer Shop, and Spires. While touring in those projects, Manley struggled with depression and addiction.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck and the world came to a grinding halt, Manley spiraled downward. Two near-fatal overdoses served as a wake-up call that propelled him back to music. In the confines of a Poughkeepsie hospital room, armed with a broken guitar and sheer determination, Manley began to craft melodies from the threads of his experiences.
Fueled by a hard-won, newfound clarity, Manley reunited with his childhood friend, classically trained guitarist Billy Pierson. Andy Idol (bass), Josh Eppard (drums) and Noah Sonenstein (drums) were recruited to be the grizzled indie artist’s backing band and collaborated. Since then, Manley and his backing band play regularly for audiences in and around Woodstock, NY.
Earlier this year, I wrote about “Save Your Own,” a remarkably catchy song that nodded at The Beatles, Elvis Costello and the like while revealing a slick combination of earnestness and lived-in experience. Building upon the momentum of “Save Your Own,” Manley returns with “Grow Up,” a 90s grunge-like anthem that recalls Pablo Honey-era Radiohead featuring distortion pedaled power chords, enormous raise-your-beer-in-the-air-and-shout-along worthy hooks and choruses paired with Manley’s plaintive delivery.
Anchored around a classic grunge song structure of alternating quiet verses and loud choruses, the song is arguably one of the most personal song Manley has ever written: The song sees the Kingston, NY-based artist reflecting on his life’s journey through young adulthood, addiction and loss. Thematically, the song explores Manley’s need to desperately take control of his life, a message directed at himself as he continues to navigate adulthood and sobriety. Initially dismissed as a rambling note to himself, the song’s words resurfaced after Manley’s father died from COVID in 2022. And in some way, the song unexpectedly echoes his feelings of grief and loss.
Ultimately, the song captures the complexity of adult life, of maneuvering through a life of sobriety and the grief of loss with lived-in bitterness, heartache and resolve.
New Audio: LENny (IT) Shares A Lush Club Banger
Lenny Lorenzi is a Romagna, Italy-born, New York-based electronic music producer and DJ, best known as LENny (IT). Lorenzi’s career started in earnest when he was a teenager with his first DJ sets and first original productions.
By the time, he was 17, Lorenzi was on the decks at Titilla, a room at the Riccione-based club Cocoricò. And in a short period of time, the Italian-born, New York-based producer and DJ played some of the most important, internationally renowned clubs including Ibiza‘s Sankeys, Barcelona‘s Macarena, Brooklyn’s Output and Miami‘s Clevelander, as well as the most important clubs of the Romagna Riviera.
Adding to a growing profile in the electronic music scene, back in 2011, Lorenzi started the Wave Music Boat, a traveling party that cuts across the Adriatic with stops in Catalonia and the Balearics that featured guests like Sam Divine, Michael Cleis, Argy, Supernova and a lengthy list of others. Wave Music Boat is a major backer of the Molo Street Parade, an event that pairs seafaring traditions with contemporary electronic music. Lorenzi also serves as the artistic director of the event.
Currently based in New York, the Italian-born DJ continues to push the sonic and stylistic boundaries of electronic music. Earlier this year, I wrote about “Night Lights,” a lush club and lounge friendly track featuring glistening and arpeggiated synths, skittering beats, bursts of African-influenced percussion and twinkling keys.
The Italian-born, New York-based DJ and electronic music producer’s latest single “Encontarte” continues a run of lush, soulful club friendly material that recalls a slickly produced synthesis of Between Two Selves-era Octo Octa, 90s house.
New Audio: slo/tide Shares Rousingly Anthemic “Rather Be Blind”
Perhaps best known for being the frontman of the Grammy-nominated outfit Underoath, Spencer Chamberlain is the creative mastermind behind the Underoath side project slo/tide. Chamberlain collaborated with alt rock darlings Sir Sly on the project’s debut “Neck High.”
Chamberlain’s latest slo/tide single “Rather Be Blind” is crowd-pleasing synthesis of indie rock, shoegaze, indie pop and emo anchored around big power chords, twinkling synths even bigger hooks paired with Chamberlin’s plaintive falsetto. Sonically, seemingly to draw from Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here-era Pink Floyd, Tame Impala, Radiohead and others, “Rather Be Blind,” as Chamberlain explains “was a cry for help. We often struggle mentally, appearing to be at our “best” while feeling far from it. I wrote this in the throes of the hell I was in. It’s a bit different than my other band Underoath.”
New Audio: Pythies Return with PJ Harvey-like “I Pythie You”
Emerging Paris-based punk outfit Pythies — founding member Lise L. (vocals) with Thérèse La Garce (guitar) and Anna B. Void (drums) — was formed by Lise L. in late 2022 with the intent of starting an all-woman band. In early 2023, Lise L. met Thérèse La Garce and Anna B. Void through social media. The trio felt a very strong simpatico, rooted in the meshing of three distinct and strong personalities, and from that point on, the band’s lineup was solidified.
The trio’s debut EP Disillusion was released last month. The EP featured “Toy,” a track that saw the French outfit further cementing a sound indebted to riot grrl-era punk and grunge, featuring fuzzy power chords, thunderous drumming and enormous hooks and choruses placed within the classic grunge song structure.
Disillusion’s second and latest single “I Pythie You” is a grunge and riot grrl-inspired ripper that reminds me a bit of early PJ Harvey, The Breeders and Hole anchored around Lise L. feral delivery. “I Pythie You” is the sort of song I can picture a crowd of sweaty young people bouncing around to in a dark and dank little club somewhere. As the band explains, the song is about a place in Paris, where people rot and become shadows of themselves.
New Audio: Los Angeles’ Reindeer Flotilla Shares Wistful and Brooding “Today”
Los Angeles-based duo Reindeer Flotilla — Neal Harris (vocals, keys) and Josh Brown (guitar) — started jamming together in the basement of an Atwater Village wine store, playing covers of John Carpenter, Brian Eno and Elliot Smith. Those early days playing covers helped the ban develop their own sound anchored around synths and guitar, which they’ve managed to further refine through the release of a batch of singles and two studio albums.
The duo’s latest single “Today” is a swaying and shoegazey bit of New Wave or a New Wavey bit of shoegaze featuring glistening synths, reverb-soaked guitar textures paired with Harris’ wistful croon. The result is a song that seems indebted to Yes‘ “Owner of a Lonely Heart” and Avalon-era Roxy Music.
New Audio: BIJOU Teams Up with Jenny Voss on a Club Rocking Banger
Best known in electronic music circles as BIJOU, Ben Dorman is a rising house music producer, who exploded into the scene with 2016’s “Hello” with Dr. Fresch. Over the past handful of years, Dorman has released a series of bangers that includes “I KNOW” with Marten Hørger, “The Players Anthem” feat. Benny the Butcher and “Gang Gang,” along with chart topping EPs 2019’s Gangsta Party and 2021’s Street Knowledge. That material revealed a producer, who melds timeless hip-hop vibes with classic house undertones that remain underground while being main stage ready.
Along with production, he started his own label, Do Not Duplicate Recordings (DND RECS) while heading out on a multiple sold-out tours.
Dorman will be embarking on a Stateside tour that will see him playing sets in NYC, Seattle and Chicago, as well as making a run of the festival circuit with a set at Orlando‘s Home Bass Festival.
Dorman’s latest track, the anthemic “Seduction” is an slick and swaggering “Rhythm Is A Dancer“-like tune with skittering beats, euphoria-inducing drops and hooks and twinkling synths anchored around Jenny Voss‘ soulful, powerhouse delivery. “Seduction” reveals a producer, who can boldly craft an enormous, crowd-pleasing, club banger.
New Audio: Los Angeles’ Steel Wool Shares “120 Minutes” era MTV-like “Eyes Closed”
Los Angeles-based shoegazers Steel Wool — Sean Lissner (vocals, guitar), Jaden Amjadi (bass, screaming), Evan Landi (drums) and Sam Schlesinger (guitar) — sonically find themselves splitting the difference between drawing from early post punk and sheogaze revival, blending ethereal synths and fuzzed out guitars to create soft yet abrasive anthems for sitting in traffic on the 101.
The quartet’s debut single, “Eyes Closed” features atmospheric synths, fuzzy and swirling guitar textures, reverb-soaked boom bap-like drums paired with plaintive and earnest vocals and big hooks. While seemingly indebted to the 120 Minutes era MTV alt rock-like sound that many of us love and remember, the Los Angeles-based outfit’s debut single sees the them subtly pushing the boundaries of shoegaze in a way that reminds me of BLACKSTONE RNGRS and others.
New Audio: Frankie and the Witch Fingers Return with a Dystopian, DEVO-like Ripper
Since initially forming in Bloomington, IN over a decade ago, the acclaimed Los Angeles-based psych rock outfit and JOVM mainstays Frankie and the Witch Fingers — currently founding duo Dylan Sizemore (vocals, guitar) and Josh Menashe (lead guitar, synth), along with Death Valley Girls‘ Nikki “Pickle” Smith (bass) and Mike Watt’s Nick Aguilar (drums) — have a long-held reputation for restless experimentation rooted in the multiple permutations of their lineups, and for a high-powered, scuzzy, garage and thrash punk take on psych rock paired with absurdist lyrics frequently fueled by dreams, hallucinations, paranoia and lust. The result is material that can shift between mischievousness and menace.
Last year’s Data Doom was primarily built around the cerebral yet visceral songwriting of the band’s co-founders while marking the first batch of written and recorded material featuring the band’s Smith and Aguilar. While crafting what may arguably be their most rhythmically complex work to date, the band drew influence from each member’s distinct sensibilities: Smith tapped into her extensive background in West African drumming, an art form she first discovered through her music instructor parents. Aguilar leaned into formative influences like longtime Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen.
Self-produced by the proudly DIY-minded band and recorded direct to tape by the band’s Menashe, Data Doom ultimately took shape through countless sessions in their Southeast L.A.-based rehearsal space, with the band allowing themselves unlimited time to explore their gloriously strange impulses. “There was no pressure and no real time constraint for this record, and because of that the creativity flowed in a very free way that probably wouldn’t have happened if we’d been on the clock in a studio,” Frankie and the Witch’s Dylan Sizemore says in press notes. “It showed us that the more we take the time to communicate and share our ideas with each other, the more it feeds our creative energy and helps us to make something we’re all really excited about.”
Last month, I wrote about “Bonehead,” a scuzzy, mosh pit friendly ripper that begins with a menacing opening groove that quickly drops into a distorted, double-time cacophony of blistering power chords, thunderous drums, bursts of quivering synths paire with rousingly anthemic hooks and punchily delivered vocals.
“’Bonehead’ is a primitive, buzzy thumper, raw and stripped down,” the band says. “In a world where it’s easy to add more, we had a blast cooking out the junk and keeping it potent and pure. We wanted to capture the chaotic energy of those unfiltered live moments. Recorded the basics in one take, warts and all.
Thrashing around with a crowd of free spirits reminds us we can push back against the parasitic noise trying to keep us controlled—this is a little slice of that in recorded form.”
“i-Candy,” is the double AA side single to the previously released “Bonehead.” Beginning with a bleep and bloop-driven synth groove and propulsive drumming, “i-Candy” quickly turns into a bombastic, churning Devo-meets-King Gizz-like ripper. It’s nerdy — but goddamn it, it’s also blood thirsty.
“Bleeps and bloops tightly wound around a precise dystopian punk nodder, these were the magic digits we needed to punch in to bring ‘i-Candy’ to life,” the band explains. “This was one of the first songs to emerge from the incubator of recent demos. ‘i-Candy’ is a female sex robot, she isn’t programmed for any man’s need; she’s out to clean up the streets and settle the score in blood.”
New Audio: Miranda and the Beat Share Churning “Anxiety”
Formed back in 2018 here in NYC and now based in New Orleans, the rising rock outfit Miranda and the Beat — currently Miranda Zipse (vocals, guitar), Dylan Fernandez (Farfisa) and Alvin Jackson (bass) — have been renowned for their high-energy live shows and fearless punk approach.
After extensive touring to support last year’s self-titled full-length debut, the rising rock outfit will be releasing their highly-anticipated sophomore album Can’t Take it on October 25, 2024 through Ernest Jenning Record Co./Khannibalism across North America and Wild Honey in Europe.
Written and recorded in a five day burst at King Khan‘s Moon Studios Rock n Roll Vortex in a remote village on the German countryside, the album sees the band blending all the best flavors from pure punk anthems played at a eardrum shattering intensity, to grinding R&B, to hypnotic, edgy sci-fi alchemy and some heartbreaking balladry too. “If you need a soundtrack to an evening of Germs burns and mind-altering mayhem followed by warm heartfelt embraces and skid marks this is the band for you,” King Khan says. “The soundtrack to the real apocalypse has arrived and is waiting for you at your favorite record store. Real Rock n’ Roll is alive and well, the torches have been passed and the Molotov cocktails are being lit and thrown. Miranda and the Beat are the wild fire you have been waiting for to light under the collective asses to destroy patriarchies, topple kingdoms, smash colonies with a bold middle stink finger in place. Be forewarned…. And come find out what ‘Earthquake Water’ is, it may one day save your life.”
Last month, I wrote about “Manipulate Me,” a breakneck and bruising, mosh pit friendly ripper anchored around scorching riffs and Miranda Zipse’s take-no-shit delivery. It shouldn’t be surprising that the song brought back memories of sweaty, hardcore punk shows Coney Island High and The Continental.
“This song was probably the most fun to write for the album,” Miranda and the Beat’s Miranda Zipse says. “We were all in King Khan’s studio getting wine drunk and spitballing lines back and forth. We pretty much spent the whole time rolling on the floor dying of laughter, which ended up being very therapeutic and what we needed to do at the time. This song’s about some real shit and it felt really good to get it out of our system in the form of an absolute fuckin banger. Moral of the story: always be a weirdo but never be a manipulative creep.”
Can’t Take It‘s fourth and latest single “Anxiety” is a churning and chugging ripper that evokes the creeping dread, racing thoughts, racing heartbeat, sweaty palms, dry mouth and the lack of control of anxiety with an uncanny and seemingly lived in precision.
According to the band, these are the things that give them anxiety:
1. People who wear sandals on the subway
2. The accidental text on purpose
3. When Alvin can’t find Backwoods
4. Losing a tooth
“This song legit causes anxiety. This goddamn song has got me so stumped,” the band’s Miranda Zipse adds. “I shot two different ideas for music videos and pulled two all-nighters this past week at work trying to get them together between working this job and nothing was looking good enough to put out.”
New Audio: Babe Rainbow Shares Breezy and Deceptively Upbeat “Long Live The Wilderness”
Acclaimed Aussie psych outfit Babe Rainbow — Angus Dowling, Jack “Cool Breeze Crowther, Elliot “Dr. Love Wisdom” O’Reilly and Miles Myjavec — recently signed to King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard‘s newly minted p(doom) records imprint. And to celebrate the occasion, the Aussie quartet shared their latest single, the Timon Martin-produced, Stu Mackenzie-mixed, sun-soaked and breezy bop “Long Live The Wilderness.”
But underneath the twinkling, reverb-drenched keys, the 70s AM rock-inspired guitar work, dusty beats and the incredibly catchy, danceable hooks, “Long Live The Wilderness” contemplates the changing of the seasons, the time rushing by, and in turn, the transient nature of everything we know and experience. All things pass, y’all. Seasons change, and we come and go like the tides.
“Hey mama, space brother, sleeptravellor [sic], dream walker. We’re keeping it indie and joining p(doom). Recorded a special session in Mullum Creek with my bruddhas, my fav record we’ve done so far,” Babe Rainbow’s frontman Angus Dowling says. “The song is a celebration of the sheer beauty of the lush Hinterland landscape, in Autumn time in particular. A stream (burn) racing down the hillside, going over a waterfall, and then passing across a dark pool, shaded by the great high hills (fells) that surround it,” Dowling continues. “The major theme of the song is the loss of innocence, which is reflected through Babe Rainbow’s reaction to the changing seasons and realization of the transient nature of life. The constellation symbolizes the carefree perspective of childhood as nature transitions from the vibrancy of life in summer . It asks a good question. What is your view of it?: ‘What would the world be like if there were only towns? If there was no wilderness left to us?’”
New Audio: Homer Teams Up with MINOVA and Michael Rault on Slick and Swaggering “So Get Up!
Acclaimed New York-born and-based drummer, songwriter and producer Homer Steinweiss has a storied career that started in earnest when he was just a teenager. He has been instrumental in helping bring the raw-but-receptive soul sound back into the mainstream through his work with Amy Winehouse, Sharon Jones and Charles Bradley. Steinwess has also been behind the kit for nearly every contemporary soul outfit that has mattered.
The New York-born and-based musician is now one of the most in demand drummers in the world, playing with the likes of Clairo, Solange, Adele, Silk Sonic and Bruno Mars, among a lengthy list of others. And much like his longtime bandmate Dave Guy, Steinweiss is stepping into the spotlight as a both a musician and producer with Ensatina, his first solo album released under the moniker Homer.
Slated for a November 15, 2024 release through Big Crown Records, Ensatina is reflection of who Steinweiss is now and a testament of how struggle often brings about much-needed changes. He was dealing with considerable emotional turbulence; at the same time that his band Holy Hive broke up, a long-personal relationship fell apart, putting him in an uncertain place mentally. The fallout was significant enough for him to seek professional help. “I was going through these super manic highs and then very depressive lows,” Steinweiss explains. “And being in all that, it’s just so tough to imagine that the other side is there, that it’ll be ok.” But, with time, professional help, and support from friends and family, Homer made it through and has been forever changed. This album is a product of that period of his life.
For Steinweiss, creating the album was a refuge, and it put him back on track. Creatives across the world have an innate understanding of that. But the album is also a glimpse into the different energies that influences that make the man and the artist tick. And fittingly, the album is the beginning of a new, interesting chapter of Steinweiss’ life and career.
So far I’ve written about two of Ensantina‘s singles:
- “Deep Sea,” feat. Hether, a slow-burning and woozy love song set over a hypnotic back beat, a gorgeous, dreamy trumpet line and a strummed acoustic guitar line. The lush and meditative arrangement compliments Hether’s dreamily romantic delivery and lyrics, which includes a sweet nod to Steinwess now wife. The song seems to suggest that when we’re struggling in life’s deep sea, love — in all of its forms — can be the lifeline. The track between the two friends came together quickly, with Steinweiss remarking, “It’s my favorite song on the album. Hether, as a friend, saw me through my highs and lows, and this track captures the full energy of what was happening during the time we were recording.”
- The album’s second single, album opening track “Rollin‘” features the self-proclaimed “granddaughter of soul” KIRBY. The song is anchored around a lush and swaggering, Quiet Storm-like soundscape with skittering and plinking 808s, broodingly regal horns, bursts of strummed guitar. KIRBY’s ethereal delivery, which alternates between scatting and cooing lyrics, floats over the lush production. Steinweiss fell in love with the melody scratch track, and, as he puts it, “the first take, that scratch take is always the one with the most feeling to it.” He ultimately decided to keep the first take for the album, loving the way it forces the listener to come up with their own interpretation of what exactly KIRBY is singing.
Ensatina’s latest single “So Get Up!” feat. MINOVA and Michael Rault is a strutting and swaggering bit of hook-driven, genre-blurring funk anchored around dusty and skittering boom bap, twinkling synth oscillations and glistening and arpeggiated synth melodies serving as a lush and euphoric bed for MINOVA’s ethereal and expressive delivery. Sonically resembling a slick synthesis of 80s synth funk, Rush Midnight and Tame Impala, “So Get Up!” reveals an artist with an adept production style.