Tag: Video Review

Video by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: TEKE :: TEKE Shares Punchy and Expansive “Shura”

With the release of their 2021’s debut Shrirushi and 2023’s Hagata, Montréal-based Japanese psych rock outfit and JOVM mainstays TEKE :: TEKE quickly cemented an explosive, genre-defying blend of psych rock, surf rock, experimental music and traditional Japanese instrumentation paired with the distinct vocals and visual artist of frontperson Maya Kuroki. The Canadian outfit’s adventurous compositions and electrify live performances have held to widespread international praise, including from The New Yorker, The Times and Billboard Canada.

Last year, TEKE :: TEKE expanded upon their international profile by contribution original compositions to Assassin’s Creed: Shadows.

Recently, the Montréal-based band have teased studio sessions for their highly-anticipated third album while going through recent a lineup change: The band has gone from a septet to a sextet while featuring a new rhythm section of Camilly (bass) and Oli Bernachez (percussion). Their newest single “Shura,” which was part of those teased studio sessions was released today through Kill Rock Stars.

The endlessly shifting “Shura” continues their remarkable run of playfully adventurous and cinematic material, blending psych rock, film scores, post-punk and traditional Japanese folk instrumentation rooted in their distinct spirited and punchy moxie before closing out with a cacophonous crescendo.

Deriving its title from an abbreviated form of Ashura (or Asura), a divine figure, whose name appears across many cultures. Often associated with a relentless, almost reckless fighting nature, the figure also represents intense struggle and conflict, while continually transforming through those experiences.

Drawing from ancient mythology and Buddhist philosophy, “Shura” explores the beauty of struggle, transformation and perseverance with a deeply human reflection on the realities of fighting through life’s seemingly endless challenges — with your dignity most intact. The song opens with the band’s Maya Kuroki singing “Shogyo Mujo,” a Buddhist expression that translates into English as “the impermanence of all things,” and is famously echoed in the opening lines of the Japanese epic, The Tale of the Heike. But rather than just simply embracing the philosophical conceit that everything is temporary, “Shura” actively questions who gets the privilege of contemplating such ideas from a place of comfort and protection, while others are in the muck and grime of every day life, desperately fighting to stay afloat. And yet, there’s something beautiful, deeply human and extraordinary when one blooms with all of their strength.

“‘Shura’ was the first song idea we explored for new music,” the band’s Sei Nakauchi Pelletier explains. “The various musical elements that make up the song emerged over a fairly long period of time in the dead of winter and the song went through several versions before settling on this one. Unconsciously, as if to honor the song’s lyrics about changes and impermanence, the music, while raw and heavy like the figure that is ‘Ashura’, also took on a somewhat unpredictable form, with a sudden change of pace for the song’s instrumental build-up finale.”

Directed by the band’s Maya Kuroki, the accompanying video for “Shura” is a mind-bending journey through the beautiful and odd muck, slime and mess of human life.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Twin Temple Shares Soulful and Yearning “Haunt Me”

Acclaimed Los Angeles-based duo Twin Temple — married couple Alexandra and Zachary James — released their Shooter Jennings-produced third album Doomed Lovers through their own Pentagrammation Records back in October.

Recorded at Hollywood-based Sunset Sound‘s iconic Studio 3, Doomed Lovers marks the duo’s boldest chapter to date. Born from one of the darkest periods of their personal lives, Doomed Lovers is reportedly their most intimate and emotionally revealing work to date. Expanding upon the cinematic scope of the sound that has won them acclaim while remaining rooted in the timeless sound and traditions of early rock ‘n’ roll, the album is their most ambitious and fully realized artistic statement so far. The album continues the band’s commitment to analog recording while expanding upon their sound with lush orchestral arrangements performed by a 37-member orchestra. Yes, 37!

“We poured everything into this new record that we made with Shooter,” says the acclaimed and controversial duo. “We wanted to push ourselves creatively and expand the production further than we have before, drawing inspiration from the lush orchestral productions of Roy Orbison, The Ronettes, and The Shangri-Las, and added in some Countrypolitan flair. We brought in some incredible musicians like Matt Chamberlain and Jay Bellerose, and a 37-piece orchestra. We wanted to make something as beautiful as we possibly could – of course with our dark spin on things.”

The truth is, this album was made during one of the darkest periods of our lives. We had been struggling with grief, health issues, addiction, and depression. But day by day, going into Sunset Sound, making music with incredible people who believed in us, and being surrounded by that creativity slowly brought us back to life. We started smiling and laughing again. I was becoming alive again. It connected us to why we fell in love with music in the first place and became our most personal album yet.”

The album includes the breathtaking gorgeous, album title track “Doomed Lovers,” “Nothing Matters” and “Haunt Me.” “Haunt Me” is a decidedly twangy, Wall of Sound-meets-Sun Records-like tune with a subtle node to gospel that should remind the listener that country’s iconic period is heavily indebted to gospel, the blues and a early rock ‘n’ roll. That’s right, think of some of those early Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Chuck Berry albums — but rooted in a confusing, paradoxical mix of dread, jealousy, fear and longing that feels lived-in and deeply experienced. 

“‘Haunt Me’ is a gothic love song about fear, obsession, dread and jealousy with nods to classic American gospel, 1960s rock n roll and the blues,” the duo explain. “It romanticizes the terrifying nightmares your lover brings, and the paradox of never wanting them to stop haunting you.”

Featuring live footage of the band performing on hand-developed Super 8 film while the band was on tour back in September, the accompanying video for “Haunt Me” was shot, edited and directed by Dante Capone.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Amsterdam’s Baby Berserk Shares Trippy “French Manicure”

Born at the intersection of punk, fashion and club culture, Amsterdam-based trio Baby Berserk — Lieselot Elzinga, Eva Wijnbergen and Mano Hollestelle — have spent the past years building a world entirely of their own in which raw guitars collide with drum machines, glamour meets chaos and the boundaries between the dance floor, the stage and runway are continuously blurred.

The Dutch trio’s third album, Psycho Dance Sleaze is slated for a March 19, 2027 release through Les Disques Bongo Joe and Mothland. Drawing on their shared roots in Amsterdam’s punk and garage scenes, the trio reconnects with their visceral energy of live instrumentation while pushing deeper into the electronic territory that has defined their sound. Sonically, the material moves freely between garage rock, post-punk, indie dance and rave culture as a way of simultaneously embracing both the physical intensity of rock ‘n’ roll and the irresistible grooves of dance music.

The result is an effort that showcases the Dutch trio’s approach — instinctive, irreverent, unpredictable and driven by a deep-seated belief that exciting things happen when different worlds collide.

Psycho Dance Sleaze’s latest single “French Manicure” is a trippy blend of slashing, post punk-styled guitar attack, machine gun-like staccato beats, glistening synths and woozily buzzing bass synths paired with lyrics delivered in a punchy yet sultry mix of French and English non-sequiturs, and a remarkably catchy hook. The result is a song that sounds as though it could have been released during the height of the indie sleaze era — but with a distinctly European flair and sophistication.

Filmed and edited by Sara Elzinga, the accompanying video for “French Manicure” follows the trio driving around Amsterdam in a convertible pink Cadillac looking stylish, vamping and overall being cooler than you’ll ever be.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Always You Share Glistening and Breezy “Shadow Play”

Los Angeles-based duo Always You — twin brothers Christoph and Anton Hochheim –will be releasing their third album, the Jack Tatum-produced Against The World is slated for a Friday release through Hit The North Records.

With Jack Tatum at helm guiding production and mixing, he tirelessly broke down and then reconstructed all the elements of the material with the twins, pushing the album’s overall sonics to the absolute breaking point while still retaining their signature sophtisipop sheen. Throughout the album’s run time, heavy guitars and bending sheets of white noise clash over frenzied hi-hats and The Prodigy-like sub bass. Abrupt starts and stops seemingly crash down with the weight of the world. Drum ‘n’ bass and house beats thump over soaring melodies and chopped up vocal samples. The ballads seemingly sparkle with more heart and tension than anything in their previously released work.

Thematically speaking, Against The World is a statement for and against the times: a manic manifesto drawing a line in the sand, pointing out that love is the only resistance against the forces manufacturing distance and endless dissent between us. It’s a rallying cry pushing for something better, a staunch refusal of the status quo, fueled by the belief that we all deserve much better. The album’s material is rooted in the deep sense of longing for something, hell, anything else than this — a different reality, an alternate timeline, anything. Increasingly divorced from the world around us, the false promises of a new lover, a new leader, a quick and seemingly effortless salutation or a new savior become impossible to resist. That fantasy leads us further and further underground, leaving miles of rubble in its wake and keeping us all just out of reach.

Against The World will include”1994,” “Eye to Eye,” and the album’s final pre-release single “Shadow Play.” “Shadow Play” is the album’s most sophistipop-leaning tracks of the released singles. Featuring glistening synths, thumping electro pop-like beats, “Shadow Play” is a breezy tune that’s rooted in inquisitive themes.

“‘Shadow Play’ is about living for an imagined audience,” the duo explain. “We all do this to some extent in life and in love. Relationships are a type of performance, with specific roles that get cast and stories that get etched out and retold with time. It’s about love as a projection, as something very personal to a person rather than something created by two, and the dangers of copy and pasting that onto others.”
 

The accompanying video for “Shadow Play” follows a woman and one-half of the duo performing — in their own way– for an audience with concert strobe lights to emphasize the performative nature at the core of the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Alain Void Shares Brooding “Amo questa vita”

Alain Void is an Italian electronic music scene and producer, who first emerged into the synthwave and electro pop scenes in 2022 with his solo recording project Empty Essence, which saw him blending elements of post-punk, electro pop and darkwave paired with lyrics that frequently tackle philosophical themes.

Void eventually stepped out into the spotlight as solo artist, writing and recording under his own name. His work as a solo artist has largely been inspired by the nee to spread awareness and awaken consciousness through music.

The Italian artist’s latest single “Amo questa vita” continues a run of material that pairs Void’s remarkably Dave Gahan-like vocal with a brooding early era-meets-Violator-era Depeche Mode-inspired production featuring layers of glistening and shimmering synths, a motorik-like bass synth-driven groove and industrial beats. “Amo questa vita” thematically touches upon accepting oneself entirely — including their complicated history.

The accompanying video was shot in black and white and follows Void wandering through a wood area and in graffiti-strewn ruins — and in some way it reminds me of early era MTV videos.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Yoo Doo Right Share Patient, Shimmering “Tortue”

Montréal-based experiential rock outfit and JOVM mainstays Yoo Doo Right‘s fourth album, the Ky Brooks co-produced Build and Rest by the Shepherd’s Light was officially released today through Mothland.

Build and Rest by the Shepherd’s Light‘s material ranges from eardrum shatteringly loud forays into post-rock and krautrock, highly-tempered, effects-driven pieces seemingly drawing from ambient, noise, done and more. Eschewing genre strictures and boundaries, the album sees the band — currently Justin Cober (guitar, bass, VI, synthesizer, piano, tape recordings and vocals) and John Talbot (drums, percussion) — opting for a symbolic approach to creation, with each of its different pieces free to unfold in a myriad of ways upon each listen.

From its creators’ point of view, Build and Rest by the Shepherd’s Light chronicles the hardships of artistic resolve, acknowledging the daily grind required to keep the momentum while embracing the shared joy of the creative process. Throughout the album’s runtime, there’s an underlying tribute to the communities that foster art: “Industriestraße 9” pays homage to a defunct Luzerne squat where they used to play. Symbolism seeps through song titles like “Tortue,” “Sofort, Si fort,” and “To Be a Lambskin (Or to Be the Whole Flock)”, which offer enigmatic glimpses into creative vision. Co-producer Ky Brooks contributes a spoken word poem to album track “Neighbours Report Their Neighboours.” Timothy Aaron Brynan, who recently joined the duo on tour was invited to play bass on “Doldrums, Doldrums, Eviler Than the Devil,” a song that has quickly become a live set staple. Additionally Jessica Moss (violin) and Francis Leduc-Bélanger (trumpet, flugelhorn) make vital contributions to the album.

The Ky Brooks co-produced album was recorded at Montréal’s Hotel2Tango and Studio Error 403. Seth Manchester mixed the album at Providence’s Machine with Magnets. Amal Lal mixed the album at Oakland’s Macro Sound. The album’s cover art is a photo taken in Ovronanz, Switzerland by Julia Bender.

“There is a lot of joy and laughter in this album. For the first time in a while, we were feeling enriched and energized by what we were creating, the instruments we were using, and what was coming out,” the band says in a lengthy statement. “The record is us looking at our place in the world and deciding we were still committed to making music together. Boldly doing so with as much joy as we can drag out of the dried roots of modern day life. Rather than the anxiety-inducing white knuckle ‘when is it going to break’ energy we have worked with in the past, this record is optimistic but pensive. It holds onto the idea of transcendental musical themes and is deeply rooted in repetition and a clear momentum. A momentum we hope moves people, whether it is in thought or the physical.

“The title—Build and Rest by the Shepherd’s Light—highlights the main themes and motifs of the record as it stands. Rest and build, and rest and build, and rest and build… What else is there in our stories? Everyday is caring for ourselves and then doing everything in your power to care for those around us. A heroic journey is nothing but helping set camp up every night and making sure everyone is fed. A person’s ‘shepherd’ is defined by themselves, whether it’s music, their friends and families, their companion animals, or the very equipment they use to create! In each of our lives, we have the potential to draw strength and find rest in what is around us, build and rest by the shepherd’s light.

“Half the record came fully-formed, the other half was born of improvisational jamming. Originally made as pieces of music to help his partner sleep, Justin created ‘Industriestraße 9’ and ‘Neighbours Report Their Neighbours’ while isolated in a cabin over the Winter. ‘Doldrums, Doldrums, Eviler Than the Devil,’ ‘Tortue,’ and ‘Build and Rest by the Shepherd’s Light’ were us just having lots of fun in the studio, being excited by new ideas and sounds, challenging ourselves to dive deeply into new grooves and styles. The rest were either old ideas born anew or fully conceptualized pieces brought to life. While quite exploratory in its sonic landscape, we see the record as one cohesive story. A cinematic exercise that we hope people listen to in full.

We recorded with co-producer Ky Brooks. They are one of our favourite artists and a dear friend so the choice to have them hop on was an easy and exciting one. We booked studio time with no intention of finishing a record. The goal was to lay down some new ideas and get in the mindset of recording. Hotel2Tango is an incredibly warm and creatively conductive place for us. For four days straight, we put in 12-14 hour days and routinely got lost in the haze of creative fervor. Timothy joined us to record “Doldrums […]”. Jessica, Ezra, and Francis’ instruments, as well as Ky’s vocals, were recorded at Error 403. Having finished recording, we of course turned to Seth (mixing) at Machines with Magnets and Amar (mastering) at Macro Sound  to elevate the album.”

Over the past handful of months, I wrote about album tracks “Doldrums, Doldrums Eviler Than the Devil,” and “Sofort Si Fort.” The album’s latest single “Tortue” is a remarkably restrained yet expansive, shoegazer-like take on post-rock that sees the band patiently adding sonic layer upon sonic layer, beginning with droning modal harmonies, furtive melodic bursts and free-flowing percussion. And as the song progresses, a new element is introduced until the song reaches a gorgeous, dream-like coda featuring bass VI, guitar, shimmering synths and twinkling piano.

The accompanying video by visual artist Trevor Yardley-Jones is fittingly a painterly and downright trippy visual that layers the colors and increase with intensity.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays GIFT Returns with Introspective and Woozy “Every Step”

Brooklyn-based JOVM mainstays GIFT — TJ Freda (vocals, guitar, production), Jessica Gurewitz (synths, vocals, guitar), Kallan Campbell (bass), Justin Hrabovsky (synths, guitar) and Gabe Camarano (drums) — will be releasing their third album, the TJ Freda and Teddy Mars co-produced Frenzy For The Thill on January 15, 2027 through Captured Tracks.

The JOVM mainstays began in earnest during the pandemic with the band’s Freda holed up in Brooklyn building the lush layers of what would become the band’s 2022 full-length debut, Momentary Presence. Both Momentary Presence and it’s follow-up, 2024’s Illuminator saw the band blending various strains of psychedelic music — krautrock, New Wave, electronic music and shoegaze — while cataloging Freda’s ongoing battles with panic attacks, frequently seeking to counter anxiety with transcendence. However, before the creation of GIFT’s third album, TJ Freda found that particular metaphorical drug wasn’t working.

The tours to support Illuminator had left Freda ragged and burned out. When a friend offered to let him stay at their Los Angeles home for two months, it seemed — at the time — to be a perfect way to decompress, to take time and write songs for other artists, and to put GIFT to the side for a bit. However, Freda arrived in Los Angeles as firefighters put out the final fires of early last year, to a house full of ash and not much else than the instruments he brought him. Moved by the renewal and resilience he saw in Angelenos coming together in the wake of the wildfires, the GIFT frontman suddenly felt a creative outpouring.

New GIFT songs arrived much more angst-ridden than in the past, yet not within their own sense of release. For the GIFT frontman, the songs were vehicles to ask the big, existential questions: Now, in his 30s, had watched friends settle down, but he found he was not doing searching. “Making Frenzy For The Thrill was partially about exploring the balance of living as an artist without disappearing into it,” Freda explains. From despondence, Freda emerged with a revitalized sense of creative purpose and direction.

Freda found himself gravitation towards grittier, angstier inspirations including 90s alt-rock, grunge and brasher iterations of electronic music. Combined with the band having become a tight, deeply connected unit honed by rigorous touring. Freda wanted to create something more visceral and collaborative. And as a result, Frenzy For The Thrill may arguably be the most-band orientated album of their catalog to date, anchored around the sound of five musicians diving into the madness together with an “one-for-all, all-for-one” sort of approach.

While adopting much of the ethos and structure of dance music, the album reportedly harnesses the energy the immediate energy the band cultivated onstage, while also incorporating more of their individual personalities and instincts in the overall arrangements and songwriting, Frenzy For The Thrill is anchored in far-seeing melodies and synth textures the band has become known for, while paired with what may be the most muscular performances to date.

Lessons are learned by the end of the album, including a soft of hard-won self-acceptance on the other side of the album’s violence, a healthier, more balanced life after staring into the void. “We’re always looking for resolutions, but life isn’t like that,” Freda concludes. “Frenzy For The Thrill is about still being in love with the chase knowing we might not find answers on the other side. This is the sound of us crashing headlong into the unknown.” 

Frenzy For The Thrill will include the previously released “Hand To The Flame” and the album’s second and latest single, “Every Step.” Arguably one of the most meditative and introspective songs the JOVM mainstays have released to date, “Every Step” is anchored around a grunge song structure featuring quiet, acoustic guitar-driven verses, woozy feedback and power chord-driven choruses and hooks beneath TJ Freda’s breathy crooning. Evening out the album’s feverish state, the song sonically — and thematically — offers flickers of clarity and perspective poking out of the haze of a scattered, frazzled mind.

“Everything comes down to perspective. There’s so much happening in the world that matters more than the small things we let upset us,” Freda says. “But when those small things feel just as big, guilt comes along with them, and it’s easy to feel disillusioned with yourself for not feeling the way you think you should. Perspective follows every step, whether you lean toward hope or toward heaviness. Beauty lives in the broken places, and something broken lives in every beautiful thing.”

Directed by TJ Freda and Crista Simiriglia, the accompanying video for “Every Step” brings Memento and Groundhog’s Day to mind as it follows Freda with an impressive shiner as he wanders around Chinatown, the West Village and Brooklyn with his actions and that of the world surrounding him going forward and backward — seemingly at will.

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul Share a Funky, Club Friendly Critique of Wellness Culture

Acclaimed Belgian duo Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul‘s sophomore album, the Stephen and David Dawæle co-produced Mainland Madinina is slated for a February 5, 2027 release through DEEWEE/Because Music. The highly-anticipated follow-up to their globally praised 2022 debut, Topical Dancer marks the duo’s first collaborative album in almost five years. More personal in its focus but no less ambition, the duo’s forthcoming sophomore album explores grief, parenthood, lineage and colonial history through their distinct blend of electro pop and dance punk, delivered with their signature sharp, irreverent humor.

The album reflects on family, belonging and the histories we carry, and is named for their respective places of origins — for Pupul, mainland China where his grandparents are from and Hong Kong where his mother is from; and Madinina, the Indigenous name for the Caribbean island of Martinique, where Adigéry’s mother is from. The album’s tile imagines a meeting point between two seemingly distant places, questioning the boundaries between mainland and island, while creating a shared space in which their stories can sit alongside one another.

Much like its predecessor, Mainland Madinina‘s material grew out of conversations between the two friends and collaborators as their lives changed. In the years since Topical Dancer was recorded, both have become parents, while Adigéry has also experienced the loss of her father to Alzheimer’ disease. Pupul’s solo album, 2024’s Letter to Yu, which was inspired by his journeys to his late mother’s homeland of Hong Kong, brought his own family history into focus. Together, these experiences led the duo to explore the parallels between their backgrounds coming together in Belgium — from Pupul’s grandparents’ Chinese restaurant in Aalst to Adigéry’s mother’s cocktail bar, Madinina, in Ghent.

Written in Ghent and Martinique, Mainland Madinina moves between deeply intimate songwriting and the duo’s long-held and familiar electronic intensity. The pair returned to songwriting fundamentals, working with little more than a guitar to creat songs that couldn’t hide between sleek production. The result is an album that makes space for vulnerability, while retaining the energy, wit and unpredictability that has defined their collaboration.

At its core, the acclaimed duo’s sophomore album is about what we inherit, what we choose to carry and how we find a sense of belonging. While Topical Dancer confronted the absurdities of contemporary life through privation and humor, the sophomore album turns inward, towards the duo’s own histories, finding connections between personal experience and wide questions of identity, memory and community. Yes, it’s an album shaped by life’s changes and by loss, but also the sustaining power of a deep and abiding friendship, and the possibility of making something new from the past.

Soulwax once again assisted as mentors/co-producers on the album, with Adigéry describing the duo’s contribution to Mainland Madinina as invaluable. “They’re people who can really inspire us when we get stuck – they invite us to go deeper, to really grasp the intention behind the song,” she says. Pupul adds, “They’re still the musical chiropractors – they really know where to push when stuck.” 

Mainland Madinina will feature the previously released “GOOGOO GAGA” and the album’s latest single “From Healer to Dealer.” Built around a strutting bass line, skittering, tweeter and woofer thumping beats and shimmering synths, “From Healer to Dealer” is a hilarious and incisive critique of spiritual materialism and heath culture that features a ridiculous phone conversation between “Grace” and “Ruben,” two wellness-obsessed manics that Adigéry and Puul use to explore the complex, often confused vernacular of health culture — while also pointing out its vapidity and self-absorption.

Directed by Lennert Madou, the accompanying video feature the duo doing a mix of pilates and yoga and in front of a wind machine — while seemingly reaching a higher plane of consciousness. But they look ridiculous while doing so.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay Naomi Shares Euphoric “Tranquille”

2026 has been a busy year for Montréal-based JOVM mainstay Naomi: She has continued to be wildly prolific while entering a bold new era working with French producer Elior Chaudagne, who produced “Univers,” and “Hershey Kiss” feat. Anglophone Montréal-based emcee SLM (pronounced “SLIM”)

The French-Canadian artist’s latest single, the Naomi, Elior Chaudagne and John Adam co-written “Tranquille” is a breezy, remarkably catchy bit of pop anchored around a strutting, dance floor friendly bass line, glistening synths and Naomi’s sultry and soulful R&B-tinged pop star delivery. “Tranquille” is a euphoric, escapist fantasy, specifically meant for you to dance your frustrations and worries away.

Fittingly, the song is rooted in a familiar story for all of us: When a friend goes through a breakup, Naomi steps in to console her. And she comes up with a simple plan — get dressed up and head to the club to dance the night away and get her friend’s mind off things.

The Naomi and Wym Holmes co-directed video for “Tranquille” features dancers Miambi Kassé and Zanna Allepot performing choreography that Naomi developed in collaboration with Guillaume Michaud. The video follows the trio as they get ready for their night out. Gabriel Poirier handled the cinematography and editing for the clip.

Additionally, Naomi was recently named an ambassador for Maybelline Canada, further adding to her reputation as a fashion enthusiast.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Always You Returns with Breezy Yet Tense “Eye to Eye”

Los Angeles-based duo Always You — twin brothers Christoph and Anton Hochheim — have managed to forge their own path while working alongside a hive mind-like collection of musician friends, including Beach Fossils, Wild Nothing, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, MGMT, Jerry Paper, The Depreciation Guild and a lengthy list of others, which has helped shaped the siblings sonic identity along the way. Formerly known as Ablebody, the Hochheim Brothers have spent their careers exploring lo fi hypnagogic laptop pop, sophisticated synth pop informed by 80s UK and Japanese New Wave, as well as kitsch-en sink lounge ballads inspired by the great chansons.

The Los Angeles-based duo’s third album, the Jack Tatum-produced Against The World is slated for a November 13, 2026 release through Hit The North Records. With Jack Tatum at helm guiding production and mixing, he tirelessly broke down and then reconstructed all the elements of the material with the twins, pushing the album’s overall sonics to the absolute breaking point while still retaining their signature sophtisipop sheen. Throughout the album’s run time, heavy guitars and bending sheets of white noise clash over frenzied hi-hats and The Prodigy-like sub bass. Abrupt starts and stops seemingly crash down with the weight of the world. Drum ‘n’ bass and house beats thump over soaring melodies and chopped up vocal samples. The ballads seemingly sparkle with more heart and tension than anything in their previously released work.

Thematically speaking, Against The World is a statement for and against the times: a manic manifesto drawing a line in the sand, pointing out that love is the only resistance against the forces manufacturing distance and endless dissent between us. It’s a rallying cry pushing for something better, a staunch refusal of the status quo, fueled by the belief that we all deserve much better. The album’s material is rooted in the deep sense of longing for something, hell, anything else than this — a different reality, an alternate timeline, anything. Increasingly divorced from the world around us, the false promises of a new lover, a new leader, a quick and seemingly effortless salutation or a new savior become impossible to resist. That fantasy leads us further and further underground, leaving miles of rubble in its wake and keeping us all just out of reach.

Against The World will include the previously released “1994” and the album’s latest single “Eye to Eye.” “Eye to Eye” features glistening synths and uptempo, footwork-like breakbeats paired with a supple baseline beneath ethereal vocals. But beneath the breezy atmosphere, the song possess a simmering anger, as the song explores the feeling of resentment on the brink of rage.

“I usually try to avoid writing from an angry perspective but ‘Eye To Eye’ is explicitly that,” the duo explain. “I suppose it’s about being in a pressure cooker of simmering resentment, where belittling comments stack up until you feel like the walls are closing in on you and efforts to self-soothe and self-centre are all in vain. The only moment of harmony is in impending separation which becomes a fantasy one wouldn’t dare act on. It’s draped in a somber atmosphere but propelled with aggressive breakbeats to help punctuate that frenetic headspace.

“The video by Skellyot portrays Anton dressed as Death chasing me through an abandoned mall,” the duo says of the accompanying video. “We, in turn, were running from security the entire video shoot, sneaking through backdoors and hidden passageways to remain out of view while Skellyot followed closely behind in a pair of bright orange roller skates with light-up wheels they bought from the one store still open in the mall.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Norway’s The Clumps Share Anthemic “Easy”

With the release of last year’s “Worthless,” Norwegian rock outfit The Clumps have quickly exploded into the European and global scenes. “Worthless” has amassed over 3.3 million streams and over 100,000 monthly listeners since its release. Adding to a growing profile, the band’s previously releases have received national radio airplay on NRK P3 and P13 and they’ve began to make a run of both the national and European festival circuits, playin sets at Norway’s Bergenfest and Tons of Rock, as well as Eurosonic and London’s Soho Calling.

The band recently signed to AWAL, who released their latest single “Easy.” “Easy” is a slick, arena rock friendly blend of grunge, shoegaze, and indie rock, anchored around a pop-leaning sensibility and earnest, seemingly lived-in lyricism. The band explains that the ne single explores the psychological toll that’s often behind pursing something you care about deeply — the pressure, the exhaustion and uncertainty that are often flattened into the the idea that following your passion should somehow feel effortless.

The band’s highly anticipated sophomore EP is currently slated for release next year. But in the meantime, the accompanying video, which was shot, edited and directed by Filip Glezgo set at a presumed training session that quickly goes awry when the trainer seems to completely lose his mind, while seemingly daring his trainee how badly they want the job.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Trinket Shares Woozy, Hook-Driven “If Not Soon Then Now”

Formed back in 2023. Brooklyn-based indie duo Trinket — Lightheaded‘s and Betty Brite‘s Madison Kate Profitt and S.C.A.B.’s Sean Carmargo — have quickly carved out their own corner of the local indie scene with their […]

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: On Le Ore Shares Punchy “Backroom Deal”

Split between NYC and Nashville, On Le Ore — Jon Moore (vocals, guitar), and longtime Guided by Voices producer and engineer Travis Harrison (drums) — specializes in what they dub mid-fi indie rock that’s unpolished and a bit damaged, anchored around grimy guitars, crooked, off-kilter hooks, blown out melodies and recordings that leave the seams and bolts showing.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the band cites Guided by Voices. Pavement, Sugar, MJ Lenderman, Hotline TNT and Weird Nightmare as influences and sonic references. I’ll leave that one up to y’all. Everyone’s ear is different. Their latest single “Backroom Deal” is a punchy tune that showcases their knack for punchy, off-kilter yet remarkably catchy hooks and rousingly, anthemic, shout-along worthy choruses paired with distorted guitars and equally punchy vocals. And at the core of the song is a soulful, heart-proudly-worn-on-sleeve earnestness.

The accompanying video by Dunkel features a slick collage of old-time stock footage, the digital binary code and fuzzy footage of the band’s Jon Moore playing and singing the song, further emphasizing the song’s gritty nature.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Trentemøller and The Raveonettes’ Sune Rose Wagner Team Up on Stormy “Your Love Walks Alone”

Anders Trentemøller’s self-titled eighth Trentemøller album is slated for a November 13, 2026 release through his In My Room Records. The self-titled album will include the previously released “Terrified” feat. Mew‘s Jonas Bjerre and the album’s latest single “Your Love Walks Alone” feat. The Raveonettes‘ Sune Rose Wagner.

“Your Love Walks Alone” is a stormy touch song featuring Wagner’s imitable delivery expressing despair, confusion, heartache and anger set to a brooding goth-inspired soundscape of scorching industrial-meets-shoegaze like fuzz, thunderclap-like beats. “A depiction of pure love slowly winding down and how it affects you in those moments where you realise you’re being ‘replaced,” Wagner says.

Trentemøller traces this collaboration back to an earlier collaboration: “Ever since Sune sang on my track ‘Deceive,’ we’d been talking about doing another song together. This time I had an instrumental that felt right for his voice, so I sent it over. He loved it, and pretty quickly came back with that great vocal that’s unmistakably Sune / The Raveonettes. With ‘Your Love Walks Alone,’ I feel like he hit the mood of the music perfectly. What I love is how the vocal melody is kind of ‘happy’ in a way, when the lyrics are actually pretty dark. It makes for a good contrast against the more brooding, insistent sound underneath. “

The accompanying video by DACU features brightly colored child-like, hand-drawn animation that captures the sentiment of the song while being simultaneously trippy and menacing.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: St. Panther Shares Strutting, Old School-Inspired “OUT ON THE CORNER”

Los Angeles-based Mexican/Colombian producer, singer/songwriter, rapper and multi-instrumentalist Dani Bojorges-Giraldo (they/them) is the creative mastermind behind the critically applauded recording project St. Panther. Bojorges-Giraldo’s previously released work was the soundtrack to the early part of this decade for many folks, but following their departure from the major label network, the Los Angeles-based artist took time to be among their peers, friends and loved ones. 

Last year’s McClenney and Bojorges-Giraldo co-produced EP Strange World featured a defiant, genre-transforming collection of soulful, modern pop songs that narrate and confront the wider climate of uncertainty and oblivion. Thematically, Strange World was as much about Bojorges-Giraldo’ and their world — their village, their people, themselves — but also, the very strange world we inhabit right now. Drawing from soul, R&B, jazz, hip-hop and alt-pop the EP’s material sets out to urge for a sense of purpose, security and love admits seemingly universal apathy and chaos. 

The EP featured the EP title track “Strange World,” the old-school Quiet Storm-meets D’Angelo-like “The Deal” and “American Dreams.”

Bojorges-Giraldo’s highly anticipated McClenney co-produced St. Panther full-length debut, East Side Love Story is slated for a November 20, 2026 release through Los Angeles-based label drink sum wtr. East Side Love Story is reportedly an effervescent, soulful set of love songs dedicated to both their hometown and their neighborhood. Work began subconsciously when the rising and acclaimed Los Angeles-based artist started Shazamming songs that their neighbors were playing every day, populating a playlist that they playfully titled “East Side Love Story,” a nod to their cat’s bustling social life. “She’s a stray, literally got her from my neighborhood outside. She has a roster of boyfriends who come to visit her at the door and window. Pretty soon, my life started mirroring hers,” explains Bojorges-Giraldo. East Side Love Story traces seasons of relationships, from the ecstasy of newness to the pitfalls of monogamy, the distance between one another on respective paths, and an evolving understanding of love in its totality.

Coloring their craft with their surrounding neighborhood and culture, the acclaimed Los Angeles-based artist’s full length debut captures a chapter in their life defined by freedom and love. Continuing their ongoing collaboration with McClenney, Bojorges-Giraldo sees the album as a culmination: “I’ve been able to apply my influences and build a world around what my signature is, pulling the best of my performances and musicality, figuring out the place that I want it all to sit.” 

East Side Love Story’s latest single “OUT ON THE CORNER” is a strutting blend of Chicano and Motown-era soul featuring twinkling keys, old-school soul drum fills, a supple bass line and soul/funk guitar stabs beneath Bojorges-Giraldo’s soulful, lullaby-like croon . While showcasing their uncanny knack for pairing catchy hooks with earnest, lived-in lyricism, “OUT ON THE CORNER” details the often complicated and fleeting nature of modern romance with a sweet, old school-inspired charm. Lemme tell y’all, sometimes a sweet love song is what you need when the world is on fire and everything is seemingly full of hopelessness and doom. I say that because life, dear friends, is often about the small moments — especially the seemingly endless process of falling in love, falling out of love, heartbreak and repeat.

“I was pacing around my apartment singing the ‘oo’s’ and quickly picked up my Cordoba to try and sound out the chords,” Bojorges-Giraldo says of OUT ON THE CORNER’S creative process. “That demo was like an ear worm, it lent all the space for a Motown approach but we still needed a modern touch. After reworking it with Chris (McClenney) I called in Brian Gazo to track some “oo’s” on top of mine. There’s these isolated moments that crack a whole album open, hearing Brian’s first takes was exactly that. By the end of that session his vocals were on four songs on the album.” 

They continued: “What was important to me was capturing this particular moment in time on a record. I think we’ll look back on records like this and be able to appreciate that from Boyle Heights to Long Beach we were a movement of brown artists, the next generation of the music we grew up loving. To be able to have him across the album felt just right, like a family photo that will be passed down for generations.”

Directed by St. Panther and Khari Cousins, the accompanying video for “OUT ON THE CORNER” follows the acclaimed Los Angeles-based artist through their neighborhood and hometown, lovingly capturing its soul and character, as well as the warmth and kindness of its people.