Building upon the buzz they’ve received for their first two singles and the video for “Step Into the Mood,” the Los Angeles, CA-based electro pop trio Iconique recently released the fittingly 80s influenced video for “Sitting Pretty,” a video that visually reminds me quite a bit of the visuals for Roxy Music’s “More Than This,” The Human LeagueR’s “Don’t You Want Me” and others — but with a focus on the video’s glamour being seemingly fleeting and unattainable for most.
Tag: The Human League
Comprised of Leo Paparella (vocals, synths) and brothers Eric Promani (drums, synths) and Greg Promani (guitar), Los Angeles-based electro pop trio Iconique have quickly exploded across the blogosphere and elsewhere as their previous single “Step Into The Mood” was praised by Gawker and Surviving the Golden Age, was featured on Hype Machine and received radio airplay on KUCI and KCHUNG. And honestly, that shouldn’t be surprising as the band’s sound has been described by some of my colleague as a “synthesis of influences like Prince, David Bowie and Chic.” Interestingly, the trio’s latest single “Sitting Pretty” sonically seems as though it draws from Roxy Music, The Human League, Howard Jones and others as Paparella’s sultry speak-song and crooning is paired with a sinuous bass line, shimmering synths and propulsive drumming; in other words, it sounds as though it could have been released sometime between 1980 and 1983.
As the band’s Leo Paparella explained in press notes “‘Sitting Pretty’ is both a celebration and critique of vanity. There’s very much an innate cruelty to glamor. It operates out of exclusivity, which keeps its scope woefully narrow and out of touch. And I bet that’s why people want it so badly.” And as a result, the song possess a subtle yet palpable sense of menace and anxiousness under the clean, hyper-modern and danceable sheen.
Live Footage: Oakland, CA-based Duo Introflirt Return With Another Dark, 80s Inspired Electro Pop Song
Introflirt’s latest single “Orange Light” has them pairing undulating and cascading layers of synths and propulsive drum programming with Benjamin’s crooning and sonically, the song sounds indebted to 80s synth pop — in particular, Depeche Mode, The Human League and New Order but with a modern production sheen. And much like their previously released singles, the duo’s material thematically speaking the song focuses on the fractured psyche of its narrator, a narrator, who seems plagued by an overwhelming sensation of disappointment and frustration, repressed feelings and desires finally bursting out at an inopportune time.
New Video: Lust For Youth’s “Sudden Ambition” Reveals Small Slices of Daily Life in Amager, Copenhagen
If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past two years, you’d be pretty familiar with Copenhagen, Denmark-based electro pop trio, Lust For Youth as I’ve written about them a handful of times in that period. The […]
Over the past couple of months I’ve been experimenting with a monthly Spotify playlist that covers the songs I’ve reviewed over the course of the past month, along with the songs I’ve referenced. And although some songs almost always seem to be missing during the initial compilation, I think it still manages to be a fairly comprehensive look at the past month on JOVM. (Just an early world, December will be pretty interesting as there will be a monthly playlist and I will be doing a Best of List primarily through Spotify as an additional experiment. But we’re jumping ahead here.)
November’s playlist continues the eclectic and tasteful curation that this site has long been known for and includes Aroc!‘s collaborations with Eric Bellinger, the gorgeous sounds of Floating Points, the socially conscious psych rock of Brazilian superstars Boogarins, JOVM mainstays Rene Lopez, Escort, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Pr0files, White Reaper, Beacon, New Order and Freddie Gibbs and others among a lengthy list. You’ll catch new singles from the Houston, TX-born, New York-based indie soul artist Melany Watson, several singles off Coke Weed‘s excellent Mary Weaver, two singles off The Giraffes kick ass, stoner rock album Usury, a new single from Swedish psych rock sensation Caviare Days, anthemic singles from Brandi Carlile‘s powerhouse country album, The Firewatcher’s Daughter and Canadian trio Red Moon Road, a few singles off Neon Indian‘s club-friendly VEGA Intl. Night School and more. There’s quite a bit of funk on this list as I make references to The Whispers, The Gap Band, Kool and the Gang, Chic, Rick James, and others. And there’s quite of synth pop including Tears For Fears, Depeche Mode, The Human League and more. Check it out and tell your friends while you’re at it!
Comprised of Jimmy Jönsson (vocals), Stefan Aronsson (synths and programming) and Per Linnerblad (synths and programming), the Stockholm, Sweden-based electro pop trio Red Cell can trace their origins to when the band’s founding duo of Jönsson and Aronsson formed the back during the winter of 2002-2003. Deriving their name from a character that appears in the TV series Nikita, the duo recorded their first demo “In Command” a few months after forming, and it was released to praise in the Swedish press for an industrial metal sound.
Stefan Aronsson, who played guitar on their first single was recruited into the band along with another member on synths and as a newly constituted quartet, the band’s sound became much more synth-based. After recording two more demos — “I Am The Way” and “Related Skin,” which received national attention, the band entered the Swedish demo-contest Quest For Fame and won a recording contract. And although the band eventually turned down the recording deal they won, with a growing national profile, the quartet toured around Sweden and started playing regular gigs in Copenhagen, Denmark, which begun to expand their international profile across Scandinavia.
By January 2005, the Swedish electro pop quartet had signed with Torny Gotberg’s Gothenburg, Sweden-based Progress Productions, who released their commercially successful full-length debut effort, Hybrid Society that September. The album peaked at number 7 on the Swedish metal charts and at number 53 on the National charts. A national tour to support Hybrid Society followed, along with the band’s first gigs in Norway.
The band’s last effort Lead or Follow was released in 2008, and as you can imagine across Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia, the news of their forthcoming third, full-length release, slated for release sometime next year has been long-anticipated. Although currently untitled, the album’s first single “Taking Back The Crown” is an anthemic bit of synth pop that sounds indebted to Depeche Mode‘s “People Are People” and “Policy of Truth” as well as The Human League‘s “Don’t You Want Me?” as layers of undulating synths are paired with propulsive drumming, enormous arena-friendly hooks and plaintive vocals.
Comprised of Karolina Komstedt and Johan Angergård, the Ahus, Sweden-based electro pop duo Club 8 have a long-held reputation for being incredibly difficult to pigeonhole since their formation in 1995. Initially, the Swedish duo began as a Bossa Nova-inspired guitar pop act with the release of their debut effort, Nouvelle. But with the 1998 release of their sophomore effort, The Friend I Once Had, the duo went through a complete and radical change of sonic direction, as that effort had the duo writing electro dance music. The duo’s next three albums, released between 2001 and 2003 had the duo switching things up with material that leaned towards indie soul.
Up until 2010, Angergård had served as produced — until the 2013 release of Above The City; however, Angergård takes up production duties on the duo’s soon-to-be released Pleasure slated for a November 20 release through Labrador Records. And as Komstedt explains in press notes, “Pleasure is an album about love, sex and jealousy. Musically, it is possibly our most focused release to date.” Interestingly, the album’s latest single “Late Night” is a swooningly wistful and melancholic song that looks at a love affair, viewing it as immediately exciting and passionate — that is until that initial excitement wanes and the bright colors of the relationship gently turn grey. At its very core, the song’s narrator clings to seemingly old-fashioned romantic dreams and notions, and their nostalgia, all while desperately wishing that feeling would come back. It seems to subtly suggest that while love is something that we all desperately desire, relationships with other people can be confusing and hellish — and yet, we want so badly that we’ll do anything for it.
Sonically, the song pairs wistful nostalgia with layers of glistening and undulating synths reminiscent of Stevie Nicks‘ “Stand Back,” and The Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me?” and Komstedt’s hushed coos to craft a song that’s a slickly produced pop confection — but from the viewpoint of someone who’s been in a number of love relationships and has seen them repeatedly fail and yet remarkably hasn’t had their hope beaten down.
Interview: A Q&A with Painted Palms’ Chris Prudhomme
If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past year to about 18 months or so, you likely came across a post or two on the cousin duo of Reese Donahue and Chris Prudhomme, best known […]
New Audio: Painted Palms, New, 80s Synth Pop and New Wave-Inspired Sound on “Refractor”
If you’ve been following JOVM over the past couple of years, you’d likely recall coming across a number of posts on Painted Palms. Comprised of the cousin duo of Reese Donahue and Christopher Prudhomme, the duo have […]
Interestingly, the cousin duo behind Painted Palms, Reese Donahue and Christopher Prudhomme have almost always used the Internet – at first out of necessity, and later out of preference – to collaborate on their songwriting. When […]
Deriving their name from a theory about Earth possibly having a twin moon, and comprised of Bryce Boudreau (vocals) and Chris Murphy (multi-instrumentalist, producer), the duo of Lunar Twin can trace their origins to when […]
Founded by Parisian electronic music artist, producer, DJ and remixer, Douze, L.O.V.E LTD (an acronym for Living On Variable Emotions), the label was created to put his vision of meshing 80s synth pop with modern […]
If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few months, you’d likely be familiar with the electro pop duo project of Rodney Connell and Brandon Duhon, better known as Night Drive. And as previously mentioned […]