Tag: singles

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Montreal-based collective TEKE: TEKE – Yuki Isami (flute, shinobue and keys), Hidetaka Yoneyama (guitar), Sergio Nakauchi Pelletier (guitar), Mishka Stein (bass), Etienne Lebel (trombone), Ian Lettree (drums, percussion) and Maya Kuroki (vocals, keys and percussion) —  features a collection of accomplished Montreal-based musicians, who have played with Pawa Up First, Patrick Wilson, Boogat, Gypsy Kumbia Orchestra and others. Initially started as a loving homage and tribute band to legendary Japanese guitarist Takeshi “Terry” Terauchi, the Montreal-based collective came into their own when they started to blend Japanese Eleki surf rock with elements of modern Western music including shoegaze, post-punk, psych rock, ska, Latin music and Balkan music on their debut EP 2018’s Jikaku.

Last year, I caught the genre-bending Montreal collective play an energetic set of material that reminded me of The Bombay Royale at an M for Montreal showcase at the Cafe Cleopatre, one of the most interesting venues I’ve personally ever been in. (A live music venue with a strip club down stairs? Uh, sure.)

Earlier this year, the members of TEKE: TEKE released “Kala Kala,” the first single off the rising act’s forthcoming full-length debut. Deriving its title from a phrase that roughly translates to clattering, “Kala Kala” captures the band’s frenzied live energy and difficult to pigeonhole sound centered around a mind-melting arrangement and song structure and Kuroki’s wild howling and crooning. Since the release of “Kala Kala,” the rising Montreal-based act signed to Kill Rock Stars Records, who will be releasing their forthcoming debut.

“We are deeply honored to be joining the great Kill Rock Stars family, a label we’ve long admired and that shares our community-oriented values and artistic vision,” the band shares in press notes. “Not to mention, the incredible roster that was pretty much the soundtrack to our lives, featuring artists we humbly look up to. Exciting things to come.” Slim Moon, Kill Rock Stars’ President and Founder adds “I learned about Teke::Teke from Mi’ens, who are another Canadian band on our roster.  I love every single thing about them, and I believe they will be embraced by fans of all ages, cuz the magic of the music and their personalities are just impossible to deny. They are perfect ambassadors for what Kill Rock Stars is all about as we head into our 4th decade.”

“Chidori,” TEKE: TEKE’s second single of this year is a cinematic mosh pit friendly freak out that’s part psych rock, part surf rock part of Ennio Morricone soundtrack centered around a propulsive groove, shimmering organ arpeggios, Dick Dale-like guitar lines, delivered with a frenetic aplomb.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Pearl Charles Releases a Pop Confection with a Dark Undertone

Pearl Charles is a rising, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who has been playing music since she was five. When she was 18, she formed the country duo The Driftwood Singers with Christian Lee Hutson, contributing vocals, guitar and autoharp. By the time Charles turned 22, she joined The Blank Tapes, playing drums.

After a handful of years in which she fully immersed herself in the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. she decided it was time to pursue a solo career, and she began writing the material that would eventually comprise 2015’s self-titled debut EP and 2017’s full-length debut — both of which were released through Kanine Records. Building upon a growing profile, Charles toured internationally and nationally as an headliner and as an opener, sharing stages with Best Coast, Sunflower Bean, Mac Demarco, Conor Oberst and others. The Los Angeles-born and-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has also played across the national festival circuit with stops at Austin City Limits, Huichica, and Desert Daze.

Interestingly, Charles’ work can be seen as a sort of chronological progression in which she has played and written 60s garage rock and psych rock — and most recently 70s pop country and AM radio rock. Drawn to catch pop hooks and choruses, the Los Angeles-based artist’s work generally draws on what she has loved about each era’s sound and approach while developing a unique take and voice.

Slated for a January 15, 2020 release through Charles’ long-time label home, Magic Mirror is a reflective album that follows a woman that has lived a full and occasionally messy life, gaining self-reflection and wisdom through the natural progression of love and heartache — and eventually finding new love as a result.

“Imposter,” Magic Mirror’s second and latest single is a breezy bit of AM radio rock centered around twinkling Rhodes, a blue-eyed soul-inspired horn line, a sinuous bass line, Charles’ gorgeous vocals and an infectious, hook. And while the song may seem like a breezy and sun-dappled, pop confection, the song has a darkness that lurks just below the surface — if you pay close attention.

“On the surface ‘Imposter’ sounds like a sun-soaked day,” Pearl Charles explains, ” but there is a darkness that lurks beneath. An experience reminiscent of Ram Dass’ first trip in Be Here Now, ‘Imposter’ tells the story of someone wrestling with their larger cosmic identity beyond the human form and deals with the general idea of ‘Imposter Syndrome’, feeling like a fraud despite your qualifications and accomplishments, which many professional women struggle with.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Starting her lengthy career as a member of acclaimed breakbeat outfit The Bombazines, Porto, Portugal-born and based-vocalist and JOVM mainstay Marta Ren has kept herself very busy: after a two-record stint with The Bombazines, Ren contributed her vocals to a number of nationally known acts. Over the past couple of years, Ren, who has long been inspired by 60s funk and soul, has received national and international attention with The Groovelets, releasing 2016’s full-length debut Stop Look Listen to airplay from BBC Radio 6′s Craig Charles and Radio France‘s Francis Viel, as well as praise from this site and others.

As a result of a rapidly growing profile, Marta Ren and The Groovelets played sets across the European festival circuit, including stops at Trans Musicales Festival, Sziget Festival, Eurosonic Nooderslag and Mostly Jazz Funk and Soul Festival. But since then, Ren decided to go solo, further establishing what she has dubbed “Funk & Roll,” while uncompromisingly asserting her own destiny.

Last year, Ren collaborated with Matosinhos Jazz Orchestra on re-interpreted and re-worekd versions songs off her critically applauded debut with The Groovelets, the psych soul barnburner “Worth It” and beloved classics from the American Songbook. The collaboration was so fruitful that it continued with Ren performing with Matosinhos Jazz Orchestra at this year’s Avant Festival, which was aired nationally on Antena3/RTP in her native Portugal. That live set included Ren’s latest single “22:22.”

Centered around a propulsive groove, wah wah pedaled guitar, an enormous horn line and Ren’s self-assured, take-no-prisoners and take-no-bullshit delivery, “22;22” sounds as though it owes a sonic debt to James Brown — in particular The Payback-era James Brown. Thematically, the song finds Ren’s narrator referencing the continuous need to be honest struggling with the need to listen to herself while maneuvering the challenges and pitfalls of pleasing others, who may not be easily pleased.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Ligne Quatre is en emerging Paris-based hip-hop collective that derives its name from one of the French capital’s busiest lines — Ligne Quatre, which connects the Porte de Clignancourt section and the Mairie de Montrouge section, passing through the heart of the city. The emerging French hip-hop collective — Dr. Lulu, Pif Au Mic, Koco and Exil — live in a 18th century home together off the Chateau Rouge stop of the aforementioned Ligne Quatre.

Inspired by Nepal, Sopico, NTM, Saian Supa Crew, Pablo Servigne and the films of Wong Kar-wai and Jim Jarmusch, the individual members of Ligne Quatre can trace the origins of their careers and of their collective back to a over a decade ago: Koco and Dr. Lulu started rapping ten years ago in Rouen. And around the same time, Pif Au Mic and Exil started rapping in Brittany. The act’s debut effort, the recently released Arret Demande EP thematically finds the act’s material touching upon global warming, lost loves, failure and more.

“Trop de temps,” Arret Demande’s latest single is centered around a slow-burning and brooding production featuring twinkling keys and stuttering, tweeter and woofer rocking beats. The production is roomy enough for each emcee to spit some incredibly self-assured verses in a rapid-fire French. Sonically while the track may remind some listeners of J. Dilla and of Jurassic 5, let it be a reminder that hip-hop is the lingua franca of the hip and youthful. And because of that it may help lead us all out of the tremendous mess we’ve made of everything.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Superstaste — rising DJ and producer Hundreds Thousands and Slug Father — are a Brooklyn-based electronic music production and artist duo . The duo have a unique artistic mission: bringing the 80s sound and aesthetic — i.e., Walkmen and mixtapes — to the 21st century while evoking the feeling of heading to your local bodega for a chopped cheese or a bacon egg and cheese after a night of partying.

The duo’s debut ep Breakup Disco is inspired by the music that got through heartbreak — funk driven, club bangers. And since its release, EP singles have appeared on Spotify’s Soda Playlist, and on playlists curated by Goldroom, The Knocks, and JOVM mainstay Washed Out. Building upon a growing profile, the Brooklyn-based duo signed to Kitsuné, who released “Comedown” earlier this year.

Supertaste’s latest single finds them tackling Kylie Minogue‘s slinky, smash hit, club banger “I Can’t Get You Out of My Head.” While retaining, the overall slinkiness of original, the Supertaste cover turns the song into a sultry and slow-burning 80s Quiet Storm-inspired jam with a soulful horn line.

“We both remember hearing this track on our hometown radios when we were 11/12 years old,” the members of Supertaste explain. “It was such an instant classic and we’ve honestly had this on repeat all summer. We had to do it right and keep this rendition as subtle and sexy as possible, while also doing our best to keep those iconic melodies and hooks intact. Our only hope is it finds its way to dancing feet in living rooms all across the globe.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Initially started as a studio project tracked by Mike Tallman at Color Red Studios, Denver-based funk act Gold Leader — Zach Jackson (bass), Thomas Jennings (guitar), Eric Luba (electric organ), Will Trask (drums), Alex Cazet (tenor sax) and Carrie McCune (trumpet) — has evolved into a collective of Denver music scene vets and friends, who also play in local bands like Mama Magnolia, Analog Son, ManyColors and others.

The Denver-based sextet’s latest single “Creeper” is a cinematic, devil-may-care bit of funk featuring a strutting bass line, expressive horns, shimmering guitar and glistening organs seemingly inspired by The Pink Panther. You can almost picture the quirky,. cartoon sleuth following the criminal through a bunch of comic set ups.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Aalston is a rising French electronic music producer, who has developed and honed a unique, melodic and deeply personal take on techno music with releases through Sinners, Teho’s Labo T, Soul Button‘s Steyoyoke — and he’s played with the likes of Extrawelt, Teho and Kiasmos.

As a result of pandemic-related lockdowns and restrictions, the rising French producer has been focusing on writing a new material — including the “Serene”/”Reverse” 7 inch, which was released earlier this year. “Serene,” the 7 inch’s first single is a glistening and hypnotic bit of techno, centered around shimmering and arpeggiated synths, skittering beats, oscillating low frequencies and a motorik-like groove. And while featuring brooding atmospherics, the track is a club banger.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Baltimore’s Native Sunz Release a Cinematic New Single

Baltimore-based production, engineering, licensing and sonic branding agency and collective Native Sunz — Frank “R.E.I.G.N.” Reed (songwriting, production, engineering and graphic design), STIXX (production), Lipp J. Allen (writer/artist) Jimmy “Jimmy Proton” a.k.a. “Astronomix” Cardo (writer, artist) — sources suitable tracks for a wide variety of contexts, including film, television, advertising campaigns, websites and more. While they work with a select group of composers and songwriters to create a unique (and growing) catalog of material with a decided focus on hip-hop.

With the release of the hypnotic, Frank Reed-penned “Ride 4 You,” the Charm City-based collective began to receive attention outside of their hometown. The track received video play on over 70 different regional outlets including Las Vegas‘ The Pulse Network, Rochester, NY‘s Video Hits — and The Bowling Network has aired the video at their 500 alleys across North America. They’ve also had their work played in rotation at MGM Grand Hotels and Casinos, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, and Caesar Palace Hotels and Casinos. Building up on a growing profile, the act opened for the legendary KRS One at Baltimore’s Ram’s Head Live back in 2016.

Earlier this year, Native Sunz released an incredibly cinematic 16 track mixtape/soundtrack L’appel du Vide and the album’s latest single is the stunningly gorgeous “The Alliance.” Centered around a brooding string section and old school, tweeter and woofer boom bap beats, “The Alliance” sonically speaking is one part The Godfather, one part American Gangster and one part J. Dilla’s Donuts.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: Public Enemy Teams Up with Run-DMC and Beastie Boys’ Mike D and Ad-Rock

Earlier this year, the legendary Public Enemy — Chuck D, Flavor Flav, and DJ Lord — released their critically applauded 15th album What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down? The album which features guest spots from a who’s who list of just about everyone who’s truly dope — including Nas, YG, Rapsody, DJ Premier, Black Thought, Questlove, Cypress Hill, Run DMC, Ice-T, PMD, Daddy-O, Jahi, The Impossebulls, Mark Jenkins, the S1W’s Pop Diesel and James Bomb and Beastie Boys’ Mike D and Ad-Rock — marks the act’s return to their longtime label home, Def Jam.

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site throughout the course of this year, you may recall that I’ve written about two of What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down? singles:

“State of the Union (STFU),” a righteous and much-needed DJ Premier-produced tweeter and woofer rocking boom bap condemnation of the Trump Administration. Naturally, the track continues their long-held reputation for boldly speaking truth to power with teh track urging the listener to get involved and fight systemic racism, injustice and oppression with their voices and through collective action — but most importantly, through their vote. So far about 1 million New Yorkers have voted in early elections, but you still have election day. If you haven’t voted or thinking about not voting because you think that your vote isn’t important, think of it this way: if i’m not mistaken, Trump won a state by less than 100,000 votes. So go out there and vote like your life depends on it — because it does.
“Fight The Power: Remix 2020.” an updated version of their seminal 1989 anthem “Fight The Power” that features inspired guest verses from Nas, Rapsody, Black Thought, YG and JAHI. The original may have been released 31 years ago but it still manages to be relevant and necessary until there’s equity and equality for all.

What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?’s latest single “Public Enemy Number Won” is a much-needed blast of tweeter and woofer rocking, old-school boom bap goodness featuring guest verses from a Hall of Fame crew of legends: Run DMC and The Beastie Boys’ Ad-Rock and Mike D. And for that added blast of nostalgia, the hip-hop legends released a lyric video featuring classic 80s Def Jam footage of all of the artists.

Along with the release of the video, Public Enemy announced their support of Election Super Centers’ Make History Here initiative. The non-partisan group has been working with local election authorities and more than 70 NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL and MLS arenas, stadia and teams, as well as prominent artists and athletes to inform communities that their local arena or stadium is open as a polling location, ensuring safe, socially-distanced voting.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

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Born to an English father and Italian mother,  Paris-born and-based composer, multi-instrumentalist, electronic music producer and electronic music artist, Frank Woodbridge grew up in a passionate, musical household: at an early age, the Woodbridge family spent their evening listening to their vinyl record collection in front of their huge stereo. “My father loved The Kinks, The Beatles, The Bee Gees and Al Jarreau. My mother introduced me to Stan Getz, Carole King and the romantic refrains of the crooners that reminded her of her childhood,” Woodbridge recalls fondly in press notes. “From the age of ten, I was already deep into The Cure, Depeche Mode, U2. My teenage neighbor had decided to perfect my musical education. And then, Bernard Lenoir on Inter, the many weekends in London . . . I was an indie kid, that was my life.”

After spending many years in rock and electro pop groups as a singer/songwriter and self-taught multi-instrumentalist, Woodbridge has spent the past few years focusing on composing for films, the web, TV, as well as  sound design for events and stage music for theater. Currently, Woodbridge works with Andre Manoukian on his daily chronicle for the Daphne Burki-hosted TV show, Je T’aime, ETC — and he wrote a comic book Inversion, which follows its composer protagonist.

2020 has been a busy year for the French artist: companies like Kenzo Parfums and Oris Watches commissioned him to compose music for web campaigns and for a series of 10 films. He also composed the soundtrack for Florie Martin and Melissa Theuriau’s documentary  Seine Saint Denis Style, which aired on French station C8 earlier this year. Woodbridge also released an album of original compositions LOLA LIFE DEATH ETC earlier this year.  

I’ve written about two of LOLA LIFE DEATH ETC’s singles so far:

  • “Lola dans le bus” a melancholic and cinematic M83-like track specially composed to drive to or daydream along with, inspired by personal experience: Woodbridge ran into an ex-girlfriend he had lost contact with. He saw her on a bus and waved at her but unfortunately, she didn’t see her. And as a result, the song is punctuated with a profound sadness over a missed connection, as well as nostalgia for something you can’t ever really get back.
  • “To The End” is an optimistic, motorik-groove driven track, reminiscent of  New Order and From Here to Eternity and From Here to Eternity . . . and Back-era Giorgio Moroder As Woodbridge said at the time “It is music driven with an urge, a dream for something else, a lot of energy and yet peacefulness coming from inner strength and will, I composed it thinking of movies I love, where people are at a turning point of their lives knowing it or not, and heading for their future. Although slightly melancholic, it has a positive light and effect.”

LOLA LIFE DEATH ETC‘s lats single “Je me souviens de tout,” (which translates into English as I remember it all)” is a dreamy, downtempo track centered around shimmering synth arpeggios and thumping beats paired with a a heartfelt mantra as its main lyric, a lyric that simply says ” Love, in the end, is just love.” Interestingly, the track is one of the few off the album with lyrics — and was specifically written as a way to “escape gravy and access an inner light” as Woodbridge explains in press notes.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Formed back in 2013, Vola Tila — Johannes Henriksson and Richard Andersson — is an acclaimed Swedish songwriting and production duo that have spent several years writing smash hits for a number of internationally known, major artists, including Passion Pit. Fueled by a desire to create the music they desperately craved, the the duo stepped out from behind the sceneswith the release of last year’s critically applauded, Sonic Boom-produced debut EP Personality Apocalypse, which featured their debut single “New Behaviour.”

The acclaimed Swedish duo’s latest single “Forget That I Love You” is the first bit of new material from the duo since the release of Personality Apocalypse EP. The new single will further cement the duo’s reputation for crafting infectious pop bangers with “Forget That I Love You” being centered around shimmering synth arpeggios, a sinuous and propulsive bass line, falsetto vocals and a soaring hook. And while superficially being an upbeat, 80s synth pop-inspired anthem, the track finds its narrator simultaneously bitterly indicting and yearning for a long lost love, that the narrator feels ambivalent towards.

“This song somehow reflects our thousands of questions about who you really are, and what really remains if you are forced to let go of all that? When we found the chorus, we could loop it for several days and just live in that nostalgic feeling. There is so much sadness in there, but also hope to be on the way,” the members of Vola Tila explain.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Rising Persian-born Kiwi-based Artist CHAII Releases a Bold and Brash Banger

Over the past few months, I’ve written about the rapidly rising Persian-born, New Zealand-based emcee and producer, CHAII. When the Persian-born Kiwi-based artist was eight, her family migrated to New Zealand — and as the story goes, she was introduced to hip-hop through Eminem, who at the time had just released The Marshall Mathers LP. Fueled by a growing interest in his music, the rising Persian-Kiwi emcee was rhyming along to his work before she really learned how to speak English. “Mr. Eminem was my English teacher,” CHAII recalls in press notes.

When CHAII turned 11, she started to write her own rhymes to express everything she was feeling and experiencing at the time — from being a confused, third culture kid to her troubles adapting to a new way of life in a new country. By the time, she was in high school. the Persian-born, Kiwi-based artist started to make beats to accompany her rhymes. Around that time, she began to realize a deep and abiding love for all aspects of creating and writing music, including producing, recording and music. And after several years of experimenting, the Persian-born, Kiwi-based artist began developing her own unique sound, which features elements of traditional Persian music, experimental pop, electro pop and hip-hip.

And from that point onward, the material she began to release was “the closest music to me and who I am,” she says. As an adult, she developed an interest in film, which has lead to a synergistic approach to all of her creative efforts, fueled by a decidedly DIY ethos. Earlier this year, CHAII released the Lightswitch EP, an effort that has served as her global coming out party — and as a teaser for what we should expect from her forthcoming full-length debut Safar (Journey). Now, as you may recall the rising Persian-born, Kiwi-based artist has released three attention-grabbing, genre-defying singles this year:

“South:” CHAII’s debut single, which was featured by FENDI.
“Digebasse,” an urgent, club-banger collaboration with Aussie emcee B Wise. Featuring lyrics in English and Farsi, the track offers a fiery commentary on millennial social pressures and urges the listener to say “that’s enough!” and to stand up for their rights — right now.
“Trouble,” continued a run of club-banging material paired with incisive social commentary on the social pressure millennials face — in this case, millennial women.

Her latest single “Wow (Look at Me)” is centered around a dense, club-friendly production featuring thumping beats, synth arpeggios and wobbling low end, the track is a perfect vehicle for the rising Persian-born, Kiwi-based artist’s swaggering and self-assured flow. Of course, the track finds the CHAII at what may arguably be her most brash and bold, challenging any and all comers to battle her, because she’ll soundly defeat them all. Interestingly, the track appears as part of T-Mobile’s attention grabbing ad campaign for the new iPhone 12.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past three or four years or so, I’ve managed to spill quite a bit of ink covering the Portland, OR-based JOVM mainstays The Parson Red Heads. The act — currently Evan Way (guitar, vocals), Brette Marie Way (drums, vocals), Robbie Augspurger (bass), Raymond Richards (multi-instrumentalist, production), the band’s newest member Jake Smith (guitar) and a rotating cast of friends, collaborators and associates — can trace their origins back to when its founding members met while attending college in Eugene OR back in 2004, studying for degrees that as the band’s Evan Way once joked “never used or even completed.” 

Now, as you may recall, 2017’s Blurred Harmony found the JOVM mainstays actively intending to do things much differential than their previously released work — with the band recording and tracking themselves. They would set up drums and amps and furiously record Blurred Harmony‘s material after everyone put their kids to sleep, finishing that day’s session before it got too late. And as a result, Way says  “the record is more a true part of us than any record we have made before — we put ourselves into it, made ourselves fully responsible for it. Even the themes of the songs are more personal than ever — it’s an album dealing with everything that has come before. It’s an album about nostalgia, about time, change, about the hilarious, wonderful, bittersweet, sometimes sad, always incredible experience of living. Sometimes it is about regret or the possibility of regret. These are big topics, and to us, it is a big album, yet somehow still intimate and honest.”

After the release of Blurred Harmony, the band’s founding member Sam Fowles left the band, and the members of the band were forced to ask themselves tough questions about both the future of the band and its creative direction. The remaining founding members recruited touring guitarist Jake Smith to join the band full-time, and then they decided to approach any new material with a completely new lens. The end result turned out to be the band’s fifth album, Lifetime of Comedy.

Slated for a November 13, 2020 release through their longtime label homes Fluff and Gravy Records across North America and You Are The Cosmos across Europe, The Parson Red Heads’ fifth album reportedly finds the band excavating the bedrock of their well-honed sound and allowing it to be remolded. While remaining a quintessentially Parson Red Heads album, the material as Way contends in press notes are the most collaborative they’ve written and recorded to date. 

Initially starting the recording of Lifetime of Comedy earlier this year, The Parson Red Heads, like countless acts across the globe, quickly found themselves and their plans in limbo as a result of pandemic-related lockdowns and quarantines. And once studios could reopen, sessions continued at a snail’s place for small, very intimate sessions. With the material being recorded in a delicate, touch and go period, the album’s material seems to be deeply informed by a sense of perseverance and hope. Two things, which we need so much more of in our bleak and uncertain age.

So far I’ve written about two of the album’s previously released singles:

  • “All I Wanted,” a classic Parson Red Heads song that superficially sounded as though it could have been part of the Blurred Harmony sessions but with a subtly free-flowing, jammier vibe that evoked the sensation of longtime friends creating something new with a revitalized sense of togetherness centered around incredibly earnest lyricism, born from lived-in experience.
  • “Turn Around” is a heartfelt deflation of devotion seemingly influenced by 80s and early 90s jangle pop that’s simple yet absolutely necessary. After all, sometimes all that ever needs to be said to our loved ones is “I’ll be always there.” 

“Coming Along,” Lifetime of Comedy‘s third and latest single continues an incredible run of anthemic material centered around the sort of introspective songwriting that can only come from living a full and messy life. And as a result, there’s an accumulation of weariness and regret mixed with resiliency, wisdom and hope that feels intimately familiar and necessary. Personally, much of their material has felt as though it speaks to me about my life, and the things I know and have felt with the exact words I would have said if I could put it all on paper. But at its core, the song has a road trip playlist friendliness paired with a lush yet unfussy arrangement and production.

“’Coming Along’ resulted from countless rehearsals, just spending lots of time playing it through, finding the arrangement that felt right, where each little piece fit,” The Parson Red Heads’ Evan Way explains inn press notes. “It’s a really fun song, because over the course of its 5 minutes, it manages to feature each member of the band in really great ways: the engine of the song, Brette and Robbie holding down the driving underpinning that bookends the song; Jake’s beautiful and melodic electric guitar skipping over the top of the driving groove; Raymond’s counterpoint pedal steel swells and Farfisa instrumental breakdown; my gritty guitar solo that comes in towards the end before handing things back off to the power of the full band; and the signature lush vocal harmonies filling out the verses.”
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Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Victor Jansåker is an emerging Stockholm-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, who writes, records and performs under the moniker Alec Baker. With a background in jazz and a deep and abiding love of hip-hop and pop, Jansåker cites Chet Baker, Tirzah and Chance the Rapper as influences on his sound and approach.

Jansåker spent the past couple of years traveling between Stockholm, London and New York, writing and recording material in bedrooms and studios. And as a result, the material on Jansåker’s full-length Alec Baker debut will evoke a much different, seemingly more careful time in which artists, creatives and everyone else could freely travel from place to place, absorbing the musical and cultural influences they came across during their travels. While circumstances have forced everyone to change, the emerging Swedish artist’s desire to connect and collaborate have remained a large part of his mission.

The emerging Stockholm-based artist’s latest single “Say What’s On Your Mind:” is a breezy pop confection, centered around thumping beats, finger snaps, twinkling synth arpeggios, shimmering and reverb-drenched guitars, Jansåker’s plaintive vocals, vocodered baking vocals and an infectious hook. Sonically, the song may bring Stockholm-based JOVM mainstay Summer Heart to mind; but just underneath its exuberance and playfulness, the song features melancholic lyrics that focus on the confusion and heartache of a relationship in an uncertain flux. And as a result, the song has an ironic yet deeply emotional punch if you’ve been in the sort of situation the song describes.

According to Jansåker, the song “is a result of accidents leading us in new directions, and a bit different from my previous releases. It’s an uptempo hopeful song that I had so much fun creating so I wish it can bring some thoughtfulness and joy to the listener.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Los Angeles-based duo Junaco — Shahanna Jaffer and Joey LaRosa — derive their name for a term that generally means rolling with the pace of life and enjoying the present; living and working with intention, and not just running on autopilot. The act can trace their origins to the duo having a mutual desire to make music for music’s sake, and to write honest songs that meant something for them — and that listeners may be able to have mean something to them, as well. Much like the term that inspired their name, the duo have developed a deliberate creative approach, eschewing the commonly-held attempts to placate the short attention spans of the blogosphere.

The Los Angeles-duo released their Omar Yakar-produced EP Awry last year, an effort that featured the lovelorn “Willow,” which to my ears brought Caveman, Eliza Shaddad and even Fleetwood Mac to mind — and “In Between,” which seemed equally indebted to 70s AM rock and Mazzy Star. Interestingly, Junaco’s latest single “In Between (Reprise)” is a reworking of the successful “In Between.” Collaborating with James McAllister, the reworked song is an ethereal and softer take on the song, evoking the confusing feelings of change, uncertainty and progress with a plaintive slow-burn.

“’In Between’ was one of the first songs we ever wrote, at a time when we both felt a lack of control in our own lives – unsure of how to get to where we wanted to be,” the duo explain in press notes. “Leaving town and writing felt like a step towards something – even though we didn’t know what that was. We didn’t intend to write stories, we just wanted to describe a feeling.” And with the reworked version the song, the band feels the song has come full circle from its original intent, now more than ever.

“There’s something about accepting the unknown that’s very comforting, almost feeling like a surrender. Each time we’ve played the song live, I’ve always felt a relief from just saying ‘i don’t know.’ Now, we’re experiencing a collective feeling of uncertainty – no matter who you are and what you believe. The reprise is a reminder.” 

The term ‘Junaco’ means rolling with the pace of life and enjoying the present; living and working with intention, not just running, which is what they seem to be doing with “In Between (Reprise).” With lyrics “I know this is the way I have to go, but I don’t know, I’ll be back and I will be what I show, when I go home,” Junaco expresses the conflicting feelings of change and progress through soft and lush vocal

With James McAlister as a collaborator, the expression of emotions in the song began to adapt and change: “Working with James McAlister in revisiting the song has given it a new color; he solidified our intention of creating a mood with our music.”