Tag: Thank You

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Night Beats Shares Soaring and Groovy “Thank You”

Texas-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Danny Lee Blackwell is the creative mastermind behind the acclaimed psych rock outfit Night Beats. With Night Beats, Blackwell creates music like one might assemble a puzzle: He builds his work from one moment, an initial spark that for him, must fit a specific criteria — it must give him goosebumps. If he gets goosebumps, then he will purse that idea relentlessly until he has a new song; if not, he moves onto the next moment, constantly looking for the perfect molecule of a song. 

Rajan, Blackwell’s fifth Night Beats album is slated for a July 14, 2023 release through Suicide Squeeze/Fuzz Club. The album began much like every other Night Betas album before it: Shortly after the release of 2021’s Outlaw R&B, Blackwell had the familiar itch to create new music. Writing isn’t a process that Blackwell has to sit down and engage with, rather it’s something he’s always doing. The only differentiation between creative periods is what makes it on certain albums and what winds up falling victim to the cutting room. “Whenever my writing gets to a point where songs begin to take shape, it begins to feel like a faucet,” Blackwell explains. “As soon as Outlaw R&B was finished, I began writing and very quickly fell in love with a few ideas that encapsulated the feeling of Rajan. I think writing is a constant cycle in that it never really begins or ends, but there are definitive points where the writing is leading somewhere.” 

Early on, Blackwell felt that the album would be dedicated to his mother. Although thematically, it doesn’t always reflect his tribute, the material is informed by the familial tie. “This isn’t a concept album, because every album has a concept. That term never made sense to me. But if it’s about one thing, it’s about this pursuit of freedom that was instilled in me by my mother,” Blackwell says. “In the arts, I’m very lucky in that I have 100% control over what I want to say, and how I do it,” he explains. Fittingly, the album’s material is wildly diverse and lands somewhere between Spaghetti Western film score and psych pop opus — while being among Blackwell’s most cohesive works to date. Some of the album’s songs nod at Anataolian funk and Western tinged R&B. Others with 70s Brazilian psychedelia, Chicano soul, rock steady — and even Lee “Scratch” Perry-inspired dub. “Rajan is just one of six examples of me doing exactly what I want, and not caring about whether it’s checked out or not. I’m a journeyperson. I want to make things for the sake of making them,” Blackwell says. 

And while clearly indebted to its influences, Rajan is wildly innovative and finds Blackwell pursuing his wildest musical whims. “I’m here to explore. I think exploration is the underlying reason in a way, of why we do the things we do,” Blackwell explains. “I feel lucky. What can I say? I feel blessed.”

Last month, I wrote about Rajan‘s first single, album opener “Hot Ghee,” which simultaneously sets the stage for what to expect sonically from the album and establishing a scalding hot take on the interaction of psych rock, jazz, blues, soul, hip-hop and more. Built around bluesy and sultry guitar lines, swinging drumming, layers of intertwined harmonies, subtle bursts of twinkling piano, “Hot Ghee” sounds like a synthesis of Altin Gün, Sgt. Pepper-era Beatles and Free Your Mind . . . And Your Ass Will Follow-era Funkadelic that’s mind-bending while displaying Blackwell’s unerring and deft craftmanship. 

“Thank You,” Rajan‘s second single is a soaring and groovy bit of gospel-tinged psychedelia built around Blackwell’s yearning falsetto, twinkling keys, dense layers of bluesy wah wah pedaled guitar, towering feedback, paired with a gospel backing chorus. Sonically nodding at a bit at Sly and the Family Stone “Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself” and Parliament Funkadelic’s “Testify,” “Thank You” expresses a sense of profound gratitude.

Directed by Vanessa Pla, the accompanying video for “Thank You” is a slick and cinematically shot visual that visually tackles the themes of the song — gratitude and transformation, as we see Blackwell physically transform by the video’s conclusion.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Vacant Lots Share a Motorik Groove-Driven Bop

With the release of 2020’s Interzone through London-based psych label Fuzz Club, the Brooklyn-based psych duo The Vacant Lots — Jared Artaud (vocals, guitar, synths) and Brian McFayden (drums, synths, vocals) — crafted an album’s worth of material that saw the duo blending dance music and psych rock while maintaining the minimalist approach that has won the band acclaim across the international psych scene. 

The duo’s highly-anticipated fourth album Closure is slated for a September 30, 2022 release through Fuzz Club. Written during pandemic-related lockdowns, the eight-song Closure clocks in at 23 minutes and continues the Brooklyn-based duo’s established “minimal is maximal” ethos — all while being a soundtrack for a shattered, fucked up world. 

“During the pandemic the two of us were totally isolated in our home studios,” The Vacant Lots’ Jared Artaud says. “I don’t think the pandemic directly influenced the songs in an obvious way, but merely amplified existing feelings of alienation and isolation. We found ourselves writing in a more direct and vulnerable way than ever before.”

Last month, I wrote about Closure‘s first single “Chase.” Written on a Synsonics drum machine and a Yamaha CS-10 synthesizer, “Chase” is firmly rooted in their long-held “minimal is maximal” ethos but while seeing the Brooklyn-based duo pushing their sound in a club friendly direction while still being lysergic. Arguably one of their most dance floor friendly songs, “Chase” is centered around what may be the most vulnerable and direct lyrics of their growing catalog with the song subtly suggesting that at some point we will all need to dance away our heartache — if only for a three or four minutes.

“‘Chase’ is a song about longing, about the struggle of love across time zones,” The Vacant Lots’ Brian MacFayden explains in press notes. “It’s about the desire to close that gap of separation, but also the anticipation and excitement that builds between each encounter. It’s about a sense of knowing how it should be before it is.” The band’s Jared Artaud adds, “‘Chase’ has this duality that strikes a balance between wanting to dance and taking a pill that plunges you on the couch.”

Closure‘s second and latest single “Thank You” is a dance floor friendly banger centered around a relentless and angular, arpeggiated baseline paired with a four-on-the-floor drum machine pattern, glistening synths, angular guitar buzz and sneering vocals. But while being a New Order-like banger, “Thank You” is a bitter tell-off to a people (and situations) that have wasted valuable time.

“‘Thank You’ was built in the framework of simplicity,” The Vacant Lots Brian MacFayden says. “It has a relentless pace driven by an angular arpeggiated bassline and drum machine pattern. A Juno-6 was used for chords throughout, a Korg M500 for the leads, and the track is brought to another level with guitars layered on top. The process of crafting this song was done entirely remotely due to the pandemic and the layers over time became more and more refined until we were satisfied with each sound source.”

Directed by Alexander Schipper, the accompanying video brings Andy Warhol and The Velvet Underground to mind as it features two impossibly cool people in sunglasses smoking and swaying to music, shot in grainy black and white.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul Team Up with Soulwax on an Off-Kilter Banger

Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul are a Ghent, Belgium electronic duo, who exploded into the national and international scenes with the release of 2019’s critically applauded, David and Stephen Dewaele-produced Zandoli EP. Their unpredictable and subversive take on electro pop sees the pair poking and prodding at the pop zeitgeist with a provocative and sly sense of humor. Adding to a growing profile, EP singles “Paténipat” and “High Lights” received airplay on UK Radio and were playlisted by BBC Radio 6.

The duo will be playing at this year’s Pitchfork Paris and Pitchfork London festivals in November. Tickets can be purchased here: https://charlotteadigeryandbolispupul.com/Tour-1.

But in the meantime, the rising Belgian duo have released a new single, the Soulwax co-written and co-produced “Thank You.” Marking the first release as a duo under their own names for the first time ever, “Thank You” is an off-kilter yet dance floor friendly, club banger centered around Adigéry’s deadpan delivery, skittering beats, layers of buzzing synth arpeggios and an enormous hook. Adigéry describes the song as “a cheeky and cynical revenge for all the unwanted, unsolicited opinions some people generously offer us.”

Directed and produced by the team behind DEWEE TEEVEE, the recently released video for “Thank You” is full of VHS tape fuzz, weird imagery and acid-fueled effects.

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

“A Little Death,” is the B side to the Neighbourhood’s previously released single, “Let It Go,” on the Thank You 7" and the track has a sleek, sexy groove that’s perfect for hooking up with […]