Tag: The Line of Best Fit

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Liam Brown is a rapidly rising British singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and electro pop artist, who has been making waves across the blogosphere and elsewhere with his solo recording project pizzagirl.  With the release of last year’s An Extended Play EP, Brown was championed by Huw Stephens, Annie Mac and Lauren Laverne, and received praise from DIY, Highsnobiety, Wonderland, The Line of Best Fit and others for an 80s synth pop inspired sound.

Building upon a growing profile, the release of his sophomore EP, season 2 further cemented Brown’s reputation for crafting swooning and shimmering synth pop — but this year may be Brown’s breakthrough year: his highly anticipated full-length debut first timer is slated for release later this year through through Heist or Hit Records, the label home of the Her’s, Baywaves and Honey Moon among others.

Earlier this year, I wrote about first timer‘s second single “ball’s gonna keep on rollin,”a hook-driven synth pop bop with shimmering synths, explosive blasts of horns, dramatic drum rolls and Brown’s pop star vocals. The album’s latest single “yesterday” is a slow-burning  ballad-ice track centered around shimmering keys, boom bap-like beats,  and Brown’s plaintive vocals. Arguably, the album’s most melancholy and wistful track, “yesterday” touches upon the rapid passing of time, and the lingering ghosts of the past — particularly those of romantic relationships and lovers. And while achingly sad, the track possesses an underlying sense of hope.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Molina Releases a Feverish and Surreal Visual for Atmsopheric and Synth Driven “Parásito”

Rebecca Maria Molina, is an emerging Chilean-Danish singer/songwriter, electronic music artist and producer, who can trace the origins of her career to when she was eight. As the story goes, the Copenhagen, Denmark-based Molina began writing her own music, inspired by the music her mother frequently played for her, including Bjork, Kate Bush and Royksopp. “I remember wanting the Basement Jaxx’ Rooty album for my birthday at the same age as I was dancing to children’s music.” Molina recalls.

When Molina was in her teens, she furthered her musical education by searching the corners of the Internet and following a trail of like-minded bands and artists, eventually becoming obsessed with the work of Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, 70s-80s new wave and punk , shoegaze and the work of Miharu Koshi and Mariah among others. Unsurprisingly, all of those disparate sounds and styles have influenced the Chilean-Danish artist’s work. 

With the release of her debut EP Corpus, Molina received attention internationally from BBC Radio 6, Beats 1 Radio, The 405, The Line of Best Fit and countless others for a songwriting approached that openly embraces experimentalism — but while sonically drawing from late 70s and early 80s synth pop. Building upon a growing profile across Scandinavia and elsewhere, Molina has released three singles “Mike” “Venus and “Hey Kids” off her highly-awaited, forthcoming sophomore EP Vanilla Shell that have not only established her as a unique voice in the alternative pop scene, but have also received attention from a number of media outlets across the globe, including Gorilla vs. Bear and Pitchfork founder Ryan Schreiber, who highlighted “Venus” among the best tracks of this year. 
Slated for a January 24, 2020 release, Vanilla Shell finds Molina weaving layered vocals, string and flute arrangements and fretless bass into a synthetic universe, frequently characterized by inventive and challenging song structures, catchy melodies and brooding production. “Parásito,” Vanilla Shell’s latest single is centered around layers of ethereal and achingly plaintive vocals, a chilly, motorik-like groove with warm bursts of organic instrumentation — primarily strummed, acoustic guitar, fluttering flute and wobbling fretless bass lines. Sonically, the song is an exploration of the contrasts between hard and soft and the organic and the synthetic that will draw comparisons to Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. But thematically, the song focuses on two familiar emotions — that mix of longing and absorption for another that makes it feel impossible to get as close to that person as you’d want and the desperate, intense urge for that person that makes you feel as though you were a parasite, as though you couldn’t survive without them. In other words, it suggests that love can be kind of parasitical and confusing. 

“Parásito,” is the first song of Molina’s career written and sung in Spanish and interestingly when she wrote the song, she felt a deeply inherent power and energy than in either Danish and English. “I feel Spanish amplifies my message,” Molina explains in press notes. “The drama in the language makes it easier and more natural for me to be an extrovert and emotional.” 

While being a decidedly 80s-era MTV inspired visual, the recently released video possesses a surreal and feverish air that emphasizes the song’s longing at the song’s core. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay pizzagirl Releases a Feverish 80s Movie-Inspired Visual for “ball’s gonna keep on rollin”

Over the past year, Liam Brown, a rapidly rising singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and electro pop artist, best known as pizzagirl became one of this site’s many mainstay artists. With the release of last year’s An Extended Play EP, Brown was championed by Huw Stephens, Annie Mac and Lauren Laverne, and received praise from DIY, Highsnobiety, Wonderland, The Line of Best Fit and others for an 80s synth pop inspired sound. 

Building upon a growing profile, the release of his sophomore EP, season 2 further cemented Brown’s reputation for crafting swooning and shimmering synth pop. This year may be the biggest year of the JOVM mainstay’s career to date, as his highly-anticipated, full-length debut first timer is slated for an October 11, 2019 release through Heist or Hit Records, the label home of the Her’s, Baywaves and Honey Moon among others.

first timer‘s second and latest single “ball’s gonna keep on rollin” is a hook-driven, 80s synth pop bop with shimmering synths, explosive blasts of horns, dramatic drum rolls and Brown’s pop star vocals. And while sounding as though it could have been part of the soundtrack of Stranger Things, the track details the journey of a showbiz wannabe — from wide-eyed, hungry and humble origins to buzz-worthy artist to superstar to broke, washed up and bitter former star. In many ways, the success that the song’s protagonist desperately wanted to attain was his worst nightmare.“It’s a Twilight Zone-type of tale of hunting for the big ‘success’ whatever that may be,” Brown explains in press notes. “Anyways, just remember that if the grind is getting you down, that ball’s gonna keep on rollin.”

Directed by Tom Chetwode-Barton, the recently released, feverish video for “ball’s gonna keep on rollin” is set at a bowling alley and features an epic battle between rivals and an incredibly awkward and self-aware performance before we see that the entire visual is a chloroform induced dream. “The sequel to my first timer anthology series takes place in the smoky lanes of that bowling alley you used to go to years ago!” Brown says in press notes. “A made for TV, Rocky-esque sports battle of the millennium, starring corruption, redemption, Denise and introducing Pizzagirl like you’ve never seen her before! See you in there x!”

The video’s director Tom Chetwode-Barton adds “For this video Pizzagirl had loads of really strong references ranging from The Big Lebowski to Twin Peaks, so we took this and really ran with it – we wanted to create something camp, psychedelic and sort of nightmarish using tropes from all our favourite 80’s films, with a bit of slapstick thrown in for good measure.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Throughout the course of last year, I managed to write quite a bit about the rapidly rising Brighton, UK-based indie rock band Thyla. And as you may recall, the act can trace its origins back to when its founding trio — Millie Duthie, Danny Southwell and Dan Hole — met while attending college. Bonding over shared musical interests, the band’s founding trio started writing material together. But with the addition of Mitch Dutch, the band began to reimagine their sound and aesthetic, centered around a general distaste of what they felt was the stale and boring state of the British recording industry.

During that same period of time, they’ve helped establish and cement Brighton’s reputation for producing a music scene with some of England’s hottest emerging acts while playing shows with the likes of Dream Wife, Luxury Death, Matt Maltese, Yonaka, Husky Loops and Lazy Day.  Additionally, the band shared bills with Sunflower Bean, INHEAVEN and Fickle Friends while being spotlighted alongside Pale Waves, Nilüfer Yanya, and Sorry in NME‘s 100 Essential Acts for 2018.

They’ve continued on the remarkable momentum of last year with their debut EP What’s On Your Mind, which was released earlier this year to reviews from Pitchfork, Stereogum, NME, The Line of Best Fit and Dork. The EP also received airplay from BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6, Radio X and KCRW. Along with that they’ve spent a portion of this year on the road opening for Rolling Blackouts Costal Fever — and they’ve played attention-grabbing sets at The Great Escape, Live At Leeds and Hit The North. They’ll close out the year with their first national UK tour, which will include their biggest show to date at London’s Electrowerkz.

Interestingly, during a very busy year the members of Thyla have been working on new material, which will comprise their highly-anticipated sophomore EP slated for release early next year. The EP’s first official single “Two Sense” may be the most boldly ambitious song of the growing catalog, as it’s centered around an rousing and enormous, arena rock friendly hook, explosive power chords, thunderous drumming and earnest vocals with a purposeful and defiant message. All of this is placed within a slick. and modern production which helps further emphasize a band that has grown more confident and self-assured.

“‘Two Sense’ is about the short-term sacrifices we make in order to create space for long-term gains,” the band’s Millie Duthie explains in press notes. “It’s a song about growing up and claiming your right to self-determination. We’re really proud of the direction we’ve taken both in terms of the writing and production. It feels like our boldest cut yet; the vocals are purposefully front and centre and the message is clear.”

.  

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Arron Davey is British multi-instrumentalist, electronic music producer, electronic music artist and DJ, best known for his acclaimed and attention-grabbing solo recording project Astronomyy. Interestingly, Davey first made a name for himself with one of his earliest singles “Don’t Need U,” which quickly established his sound — guitars fused to R&B styled beats. With the track going viral, the British multi-instrumentalist, electronic music producer, electronic music artist and DJ landed a major label deal. And although, it wasn’t the right fit for him, signing to a major label allowed him to build a home studio, where he recorded his first two EPs, There For U and When I’m With You. His own original material has received praise from Noisey, The Line of Best Fit, IndieShuffle, Earmilk and countless others while amassing over 40 million streams. Simultaneously, Davey developed a reputation as a highly sought-after collaborator. He co-wrote the triple-platinum, international smash hit “Never Forget You” for Zara Larsson and MNEK. He also released a remix of Billie Eilish‘s “Ocean Eyes,” which eventually amassed over 100 million streams.

After the release of 2017’s “Rest in Paradise” 12 inch, Davey decided to take a sabbatical. “I was overwhelmed by the industry,” he admits. “I never got into this for money; I just love creating. I decided to put my head down and lock myself away in the studio for as long as it took to re-ignite the fire. I had to ignore other people and really feel it for myself. My life was imbalanced, and I needed to focus my headspace.  I started physically working out. I feel like a much more balanced person now. I’m finally I’m ready.”

“I’m focusing on moods now,” Davey continues. ““Before, I was trying to paint a perfect picture. I wasn’t allowing the chaos to exist in my songs, but I’ve welcomed the contrast. There’s a yin and yang. The new music has duality. There are a lot of raw and natural performances. There’s variety in tone. It’s wavy and it has more depth. It just comes with trusting my instinct and my ears. If you strip something of its flaws and fix every blemish, you take away the character, so I backed off from the polished sound.”

“Flamingo” is the first bit of new material from Davey in over two years. Centered around layers of shimmering and arpeggiated synths, a sinuous bass line, stuttering beats, Davey’s plaintive falsetto, stuttering beats, and an infectious hook, the new single is one part 80s synth R&B and one part Teddy Riley New Jack Swing-like jam. And while the brooding track manages to possess a breezy and nostalgic quality that’s befitting for a late summer, club banger the song is underpinned by several layers of irony. “I had the side somebody can be like a flamingo,” Davey explains. “A flamingo is very pretty, but if you try to cage it, you realize it’s a live animal and shouldn’t be contained. It’s also tough-in-cheek and pokes fun at people in Britain, because ‘bird’ is a slang word for ‘girlfriend.’ It’s the first song I wanted to share with the world in a couple of years, because it’s got so many elements that represent me. It’s moody, it’s broody, it’s weird, it’s funky, it’s textured and it’s also quite pretty.”

As for an August 30 release Davey says, “I’ve always been obsessed with space and as I’ve spent the last two years rebalancing myself and my sound, it seemed only right to release the first single under a new moon. Which also happens to be a super black new moon.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the last few months of last year, Liam Brown, an up-and-coming songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and electro pop artist, best known as pizzagirl quickly became a mainstay on this site. And as you may recall, with the release of last year’s An Extended Play EP, Brown was championed by Huw Stephens, Annie Mac and Lauren Laverne, and received praise from DIY, Highsnobiety, Wonderland, The Line of Best Fit and others for an 80s synth pop inspired sound. Brown also opened for the acclaimed — and all too tragic — British indie act Her’s, during one of their last UK tours.

Building upon a growing profile, the release of his sophomore EP, season 2 further cemented Brown’s reputation for crafting swooningly heartfelt, shimmering synth pop with a decidedly anachronistic sound and feel. But 2019 may be the JOVM mainstay’s biggest year to date, as his highly-anticipated full-length debut, first timer is slated for an October 11, 2019 release through Heist or Hit Records, the label home of the aforementioned Her’s, Baywaves and Honey Moon among others.

first timer‘s second and latest single “ball’s gonna keep on rollin” is a hook-driven, 80s synth pop bop with shimmering synths, explosive blasts of horns, dramatic drum rolls and Brown’s pop star vocals — and while sounding as though it could be part of the soundtrack of Stranger Things, the track details the journey of a showbiz wannabe — from wide-eyed, hungry and humble origins to buzz-worthy artist to superstar to broke, washed up and bitter former star. In many ways, the success that the song’s protagonist desperately wanted to attain was his worst nightmare.

“It’s a Twilight Zone-type of tale of hunting for the big ‘success’ whatever that may be,” Brown explains in press notes. “Anyways, just remember that if the grind is getting you down, that ball’s gonna keep on rollin.”

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Icelandic Duo Hugar Releases a Brooding and Gorgeously Cinematic Single

Hugar is an up-and-coming indie duo, comprised of longtime Seltjarnarnes, Iceland-born friends  Bergur Þórisson and Pétur Jónsson. Meeting when they were children, who played in a number of local bands,  Þórisson and  Jónsson quickly became friends. Back in 2013, Þórisson had collaborated with internationally acclaimed Icelandic artist Olafur Arnalds and was working in a local studio while Jónsson studied architecture. And as the story goes, when the owner of Þórisson’s studio went on tour, the duo started casually writing material together for fun. During these largely impromptu recordings sessions, the duo eventually wound up writing the material that would comprise their 2014 self-titled debut, which was independently released. 

Initially released as a free download on the duo’s website, their self-titled album quickly attained buzz across social media and the blogosphere:  The album quickly averaged over 430,000+ monthly listeners on Spotify, as “Inngangur” amassed over 20 million Spotify streams globally and “Felt” amassed over 12 million Spotify streams. The album received praise from the likes of The Line of Best Fit and The Independent — and as a result of their growing national and international profile, the duo have made appearances at festivals including Iceland Airwaves. 

Slated for an August 23, 2019 release through Sony Masterworks Records, the duo’s highly anticipated sophomore album Varða translates to English as “cairn,” a tiny rock tower that heralded the way as the next cairn would always be visible from its predecessor. Historically, such markers wound up signaling process for Icelandic travelers heading towards the country’s National Parliament — known as one of the oldest existing legislatures in the world. In fact, as a result of the country’s geographic location, which often meant extended daylight during the solstice, travelers used varða to help them find their way rather than the stars. 

Interestingly, the duo began quietly working on the material that would eventually comprise Varða as early as 2014, which they created out of their own studio. “There was never a plan to make our first album; it just happened,” Þórisson says in press notes. “This time around, we set out to make a record that functioned as a whole piece where everything was related. It’s more polished from beginning to end.” Jónsson adds, “The studio enabled us to experiment and explore. We had the freedom to do everything we wanted without barriers. Under normal conditions, you have to rent a studio. We moved at our own pace and learned a lot about being patient and how to work together.”

Sonically, the duo began using an increasing amount of electronic flourishes, which wound up expanding their sonic palette. And with the majority of the recording sessions taking place at night, the material wound up being imbued with a nocturnal vibe. “We’re obviously very affected by our environment,” Þórisson admits in press notes. “Recording at night in the summertime when it’s bright is an energy that doesn’t make sense. As a human being, you’re supposed to be awake when it’s light and asleep when it’s dark. When the sun is out all day, you get this weird energy. You’re tired, but you want to keep going. Iceland is an anomaly in general. We have earthquakes, glaciers melting, and avalanches. It’s a ridiculous place to live for man. At the same time, it’s so beautiful that you can’t escape it.”

Varða’s later single is the slow-burning and brooding “Logn.” Centered around a composition featuring gently arpeggiated keys and a gorgeous string arrangement, the new single manages to be cinematic while hinting at acclaimed countrymen Sigur Ros, as it possesses a similar yearning quality. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Rising British Singer/Songwriter and Guitarist Lauran Hibberd Releases a Satirical Video for Grunge Rock-Inspired “Hootchie”

Lauran Hibberd is a rising Isle of Wight-born and-based singer/songwriter and guitarist, whose witty off-kilter lyricism has welcomed comparisons to the likes of Courtney Barnett and Phoebe Bridgers. And over the past year or so, Hibberd has received a growing national profile across the UK as a result of airplay on the BBC Radio 1 programs of Annie Mac, Huw Stephens and Jack Saunders, and praise across the blogosphere and elsewhere from the likes of The Line of Best Fit, The 405, Clash Magazine and Gigwise. 

Earlier this year, the Isle of Wight-born and-based singer/songwriter and guitarist tour the UK and EU with acclaimed indie act Hippo Campus — and adding to a big 2019 for the rising artist, she earned a slot on the BBC Introducing stage at this year’s Glastonbury Festival.  

Fresh off the heels of all of this big news, Hibberd’s latest single, “Hoochie” is a 90s alt-rock/grunge rock-inspired track centered around the rising British singer/songwriter and guitarist’s ironic delivery, rousingly anthemic hooks, fuzzy and jangling power chords and forceful drumming, Now, we’re all familiar with what the slang term actually means but what makes the song hilarious is that it finds Hibberd laughingly taking the piss out of the term. 

The recently released video emphasizes the song’s theme by satirizing phone sex line TV commercials, as we see Hibberd play very specific and very bland fantasy roles — the high school cheerleader, the girl with daddy issues, the dominatrix and so on. At one point her backing band joins her. “Hoochie is a 90’s slang term for a bit of a you know what,” Hibberd says of the video. “I wanted to embrace that in the only way I knew how. No fruit or vegetables were harmed in the making of this. Why don’t you text/ call and see what happens? Filmed by Skinny Mammoth in a dodgy garage on the Isle of Wight. Say what you will”.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

With the release of last year’s debut EP The Call, the Paris-based electro pop duo SACRE, which is comprised of Hawaii and Sukil, burst into the international scene, as the EP received praise from the likes of Billboard, The Line of Best Fit, Clash Magazine, Impose Magazine, Earmilk and others, as well as a co-sign from Pharrell Williams. Building upon a growing, buzz worthy profile, their follow-up single “Lemonade” reached #2 on the Hype Machine charts — and their debut EP received the remix treatment, featuring remixes from Gigamesh, the Victoires de la Musique-nominated Elephanz, Chopstick & JohnJon, JOVM mainstay Uppermost and NTEIBINT.

Slated for a December 2019 release, the duo’s highly-anticipated, full-length debut Love Revolution will further cement the duo’s reputation for being full-circle creators, who write, sing, produce design everything related to their musical project with the album reportedly finds the members of SACRE meshing music, photography and narrative storytelling with each track of the album telling the story of 12 different characters over the course of 12 hours. The album’s fourth and latest track “10:00PM FIRE IRAE (which translates into “fire wrath”) is a sultry and propulsive trance-inducing, house banger, centered around layers of shimmering and arpeggiated synths, thumping beats, tweeter and woofer rocking low end, sultrily delivered ethereal vocals and a soaring hook — and while bearing a resemblance to Giorgio Moroder, Daft Punk, and Kylie Minogue, the song is set at 10:00pm. Bebe, the star of the evening, appears on stage. The crowd cheers for a moment, then hushes, hypnotized by her fire dancing, with her performance ending with Bebe triumphantly setting the entire bar on fire. Show over, time to go home, now — with the crowd slack jawed and with that space cadet glow, as an old song says.

 

 

s

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Up-and-Coming Singer/Songwriter Minke Releases an Emotionally Honest Visual for Anthemic “Too Late”

Over the past year or so, I’ve written a bit about the London-born and-based based singer/songwriter and musician Minke (pronounced as to rhyme with the word “link”), and as you may recall with the release of singles “Gold Angel” and “Armour,” the British singer/songwriter and pop artist quickly became a buzz-worthy artist: “Gold Angel” received airplay on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 Radio show, was featured on Spotify‘s New Music Friday and Pop Rising playlists and was a Hype Machine #1  — within a two week period. The Line of Best Fit  praised “Gold Angel” for its “elements of pop, rock, soul and R&B,” and “guitar riffs mingled with understated vocals like curls of smoke in a darkened bar” — while “Armour” was praised by Billboard, who said the song was “a female empowerment anthem about letting go of your defenses and learning how to be vulnerable, especially with those closest to you.”

Minke released her highly-anticipated debut EP The Tearoom last month, and from the soulful and self-assured “Maybe 25,” the up-and-coming British singer/songwriter revealed an uncanny ability to powerfully heartfelt and emotionally honest songs with soaring and anthemic hook. Continuing in a similar vein, The Tearoom’s second later single “Too Late” is centered around an enormous, shout along worthy hook and an unvarnished, lived-in emotional honesty — in particular, the bitter pettiness, ambivalent feelings and fury that’s inherent in a dysfunctional relationship and a nasty, heart wrenching breakup. 

“This was a moment after a bad breakup that I needed to get out of my system,” the up-and-coming British singer/songwriter and musician explains in press notes. “I was trying to rationalize it and take the high road but knew what had happened was wrong, so I was annoyed and reveling in the petty, just for a second. Thank you, next.”

Directed by actress, comedian and director Aisha Taylor, the recently released video stars Minke and Baby Daddy star Jean-Luc Bilodeau as a couple waiting for a train in a metro station, and the video manages to capture the ambivalence, bitterness, confusion and pettiness at the heart of the song.  As Minke says of the video “The ‘Too Late’ video was a joy to be a part of, mainly due to the limitless talents of Aisha who thought of the concept, directed and edited the video,” she gushes. “I couldn’t have asked for a more talented and supportive screen partner in Jean Luc to bring this broken relationship alive and I’m proud of the end result. It feels wholly representative of the song as it captures the dizzy confusion I was feeling at the time when I wrote it and I can’t wait for people to see it!” Adds, director, Aisha Tyler, “Minke is a stunningly evocative songwriter. Her music is visceral and emotionally intoxicating — dreamlike melodies encircling a razor’s edge. ‘Too Late’ is so intensely captivating that coming up with a visual language for the video was a delight — all I had to do was let her creativity and rock star quality shine through. We had an absolute blast filming a relatively unseen part of Los Angeles; I can’t wait to do it again in the future.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Minke Releases Her Most Emotionally Honest Song to Date

If you were frequenting this site last year, you may have come across a post featuring the London-born and-based based singer/songwriter and musician Minke (pronounced as to rhyme with the word “link”), and as you may recall with the release of her first tow singles “Gold Angel” and “Armour,” the British singer/songwriter and pop artist quickly became a buzz-worthy artist: “Gold Angel” received airplay on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 Radio show, was featured on Spotify‘s New Music Friday and Pop Rising playlists and was a Hype Machine #1  — within a two week period. Additionally, the song received praise from The Line of Best Fit for its “elements of pop, rock, soul and R&B,” and “guitar riffs, mingled with understated vocals like curls of smoke in a darkened bar.” “Armour” was released to praise from Billboard, who said the song was “a female empowerment anthem about letting go of your defenses and learning how to be vulnerable, especially with those closest to you.”

Minke’s first single of 2019 “Too Late,” is the follow up to the critically acclaimed “Maybe 25,” and the soulful and self-assured track, which is centered by Nile Rodgers-like guitar, thumping beats. a soaring hook (which she has an uncanny knack for) and an unvarnished, lived-in emotional honesty — the sort of bitter pettiness we all can get caught up in after a nasty breakup. And as Minke explains in press notes, “This was a moment after a bad breakup that I needed to get out of my system. I was trying to rationalize it and take the high road but knew what had happened was wrong, so I was annoyed and reveling in the petty, just for a second. Thank you, next.” 

Her highly-anticipated debut EP The Tearoom is slated for a March 8, 2019 release. She’s been confirmed to appear at this year’s SXSW and from what I understand there will be more tour dates forthcoming. Hopefully, they’ll be a New York City stop. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Liam Brown, an up-and-coming, Liverpool, UK-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and electro pop artist, best known as pizzagirl has become one of this site’s latest mainstays over the couple of months. Now, as you may recall, with the release of the An Extended Play EP earlier this year, Brown was quickly championed by Huw Stephens, Annie Mac and Lauren Laverne, and received praise from DIY, Highsnobiety, Wonderland, The Line of Best Fit and others for an 80s synth pop inspired sound. And adding to a growing profile, Brown opened for acclaimed British act Her’s during their most recent UK tour.

With the release of singles like “highschool,” “gymnasium,” “body part,” off Brown’s soon-to-be released sophomore pizzagirl EP season 2, the Liverpool-based artist further cements a growing national and international reputation for crafting swooningly heartfelt, shimmering synth pop that draws from several decades simultaneously, giving it a decidedly anachronistic sound and feel. “blossom at my feet, flower,” season 2‘s latest single is a classic 80s-inspired power ballad, centered around thumping beats, shimmering synths, chiming guitars, and an anthemic hook. Unsurprisingly, Brown’s latest continues a run of cinematic singles — but unlike its predecessors, it’s the most prom-like, evoking teenaged hopes, desires and dreams with a novelistic detail to psychology and the psychological state of his narrators.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Deriving their name from the Icelandic explorer, believed to be the first Westerner to reach the shores of the Americas, the London-based indie rock quintet Leif Erikson, comprised of Sam Johnston, Oliver Wright, Tom Leader, Greg Austin and Giles Robinson, can trace their origins to the breakup and reunion (of sorts) of the band’s previous iteration, Flashguns. The band’s self-titled debut effort was released last year to critical praise from the likes of Stereogum, Clash Magazine and The Line of Best Fit.

The British quintet’s latest single, the shimmering and atmospheric “Matter” is the first bit of new material since their self-titled effort, and is a bit of a taste of what to expect from a forthcoming EP slated for release early next year. Interestingly, the track is a bold step forward for the band as it finds them gently pushing their sound in a new direction, with the song nodding towards 70s AM radio rock while retaining a cinematic quality; thanks in part to an arrangement featuring dramatic piano arrangement, shimmering guitar lines, shuffling drumming and Johnston’s soulful crooning. But underneath the easy-going self-assuredness of the song, Johnston’s narrator find himself asking much larger questions about life and time, which he recognizes he won’t have easy answers for.

As the band’s Sam Johnston explains in press notes, the song was the band’s attempt “to capture something esoteric about life’s purpose, about making the right choices and following the path that is right for you. What it is to be human and be given this existence that is such a bizarre miracle, but can also be full of pain and struggles. Are there any clues within the infinite universe, a tiny blip of which we occupy or is everything simply the product of chaos? We were very inspired by Curtis Mayfield‘s album ‘Roots’ when thinking about ‘Matter’. He so effortlessly makes these incredible statements about life and society over these stunning, super funky musical arrangements.”

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past couple of months, I’ve written a bit about Liam Brown, an up-and-coming Liverpool, UK-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and electro pop artist, best known as Pizzagirl. Now, as you may recall, with the release of his debut EP An Extended Play earlier this year, Brown was quickly championed by Huw Stephens, Annie Mac and Lauren Laverne, and received praise from DIY, Highsnobiety, Wonderland, The Line of Best Fit and others for an 80s synth pop inspired sound. And adding to a growing profile, Brown opened for acclaimed British act Her’s during their most recent UK tour.

Building upon a growing profile and growing buzz, Brown’s sophomore Pizzagirl EP season 2 is slated for a November 2 release, and from the EP’s first two singles “highschool” and “gymnasium,”  Brown will further cement a reputation for crafting swooningly heartfelt, shimmering synth pop that draws from several decades simultaneously; in fact, both singles brought the likes of Washed Out, St. Lucia and Tears for Fears to mind. “body part,” the EP’s latest single while clearly bearing an uncanny resemblance to its predecessor, the song finds Brown successfully walking a difficult tightrope of an oversized, larger-than-life cinematic feel with an emotional intimacy that continues to evoke the very  urgent emotions and thoughts of being a teenager in love.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Deriving their name from one of the more vigorously outre films by Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli, Pom Poko is an up-and-coming Norwegian quartet, comprised of Ragnhild (lead vocals), Ola (Drums), Jonas (Bass) and Martin (guitar). The members of the band can trace their origins back to about 18 months ago when they met while they were all studying at Trondheim Music Conservatory.  Interestingly, the members of the band cite a wide and eclectic range of influences on their sound including Oumou Sangare, Ali Farka Toure, Vulfpeck, Palm, KNOWER, Hella, Death Grips, Jenny Hval and Nick Drake among others. Interestingly, they manage to defy easy description or categorization, as well as anything resembling a prescriptive approach. “We’ve all done lots of improvised music in the past, and I think that shapes the way we play, even though the tunes are not improvised. We like when new and strange things happen in an old song, and that music can change over time by being played live, because that removes predictability and the ‘recipe’ that some genres of music have.”

With the release of their first three officially released singles, the up-and-coming Norwegian band have received attention both nationally and internationally, receiving praise from the likes of Interview Magazine, The Line of Best Fit, The Independent, Clash Magazine, DIY Magazine and NME, who picked the band as one of the acts to watch out for this year. Building upon a growing profile, the band’s full-length debut effort Birthday is slated for a February 22, 2019 release through renowned indie label Bella Union Records. And the album’s latest single is the breakneck, math rock meets indie rock “My Blood,” which is centered by an arrangement featuring rapid-fire time signature changes, key and tone changes, thunderous drumming, enormous heavy metal-like power chords and a gorgeous melody underpinning it all. Sonically, the song strikes me as an amalgamation of The Cardigans, Cinemechanica and Bo Ningen while sounding (and being) wildly inventive.