JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month and the 89th anniversary of the birth of Roberta Flack.
Tag: women who kick ass
New Video: Bratakus Shares Bruising Ripper “Tonight”
Based near Tomintoul, a small whiskey village in the Scottish Highlands, rising punk duo Bratakus — sisters Brègha Cuinn (guitar, vocals) and Onnagh Cuinn (bass, vocals) — formed back in 2015. And since their formation, they’ve been fiercely DIY. The duo ran their own label Screaming Babies Records and with no music on streaming services and no booking agent, they landed airplay on BBC Scotland and elsewhere, opened for The Hives and toured as far as Japan.
Last year, the band caught the attention of Venn Records, who signed the band and will be releasing their Johan Gustafsson co-produced album Hagridden, which is slated for a Friday release. Recorded at Stockholm-based Studio Gröndahl, the album, which will feature previously released tracks “Final Girls,” “Tokened,” and “Turnstile,” is ten tracks of screaming and cathartic punk.
“Tonight,” Hagridden‘s latest single is a bruising, old school punk ripper anchored around some incendiary guitar work and the duo’s howled lyrics., which focus on the timely subject of media manipulation. “It’s about how everyone is angry about the state of the world, but we are being thrown distractions to get us to hate the wrong people,” Bratakus’ Brègha Cuinn says. “The fact that some people are happy to just look the other way and let it happen if they perceive that it’s not going to affect them, but in reality, we’re all on this planet together, and if we don’t have compassion for each other, and help each other out, we’ll be left with nothing.”
Directed by Alice Black, the accompanying video for “Tonight” is split between the pair performing the song in a grungy, dungeon-like space and the duo walking about their town with creepy baby masks — the same baby masks the are featured on the album’s cover art. This is informed by the fact that the album thematically touches on the uneasy fact that life often feels like a waking nightmare.
“I’m an avid listener of the Blindboy podcast and one of the things he talks about that I find really interesting is how most adults nowadays aren’t really being offered the opportunity to actually grow up due to the current state of the world,” the band’s Onnagh Cuinn says. “The cost of living is so high that a lot of millennials aren’t even able to move out of their parents’ house, so it feels like a lot of the milestones that used to define adulthood are becoming more unattainable, so we’re left in this weird “in between” where technically we’re adults, but we still feel like kids. It’s something I think about a lot, and I think it ties in with the meaning of the song, so I wanted to try and create a kind of visual for that by going around doing a lot of regular day to day things while wearing the baby faces.”
Throwback: Happy 84th Birthday, Carole King!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Carole King’s 84th birthday.
Throwback: Black History Month: Sister Rosetta Tharpe!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
Throwback: Happy Black History Month!/Happy Belated Birthday, 76th Birthday, Natalie Cole!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month and the belated anniversary of Natalie Cole’s birth.
Throwback: Happy Black History Month: Sudan Archives
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month and Sudan Archives.
New Audio: Lowly Light Teams Up with Mishell Ivon on infectiously Hopeful “Impossible Possibility”
Matt Gorny is an award-winning, New York-based songwriter and producer, best known as Lowly Light. As a songwriter and producer, Gorny’s work has shown continual evolution, ranging from tunes like “Get Over Yourself,” “Prayin,’” “Candy Lied” and “Down the Coast,” which bounce between nu-disco, chilled out grooves and energetic indie pop, while also collaborating with an growing number of dance music artists, including Ultra Naté, Amanda Lepore, Luca Perra and others.
Gorny’s latest Lowly Light single, “Impossible Possibility” feat. Mishell Ivon is a bit of French touch-like house/nu-disco that’s a much-needed hope and joy bomb in our desperate, uneasy moment. We have to hold tightly onto hope because the regime wants us to feel as though all is completely lost.
As the New York-based songwriter and producer explains, “Impossible Possibility” is a song about holding onto hope, bravely diving for the brand new and reaching for what may be the one-in-a-million shot.
Throwback: Happy 67th Birthday, Jody Watley!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Jody Watley’s 67th birthday.
New Video: Haylie Davis Shares Shimmering and Introspective “Country Boy”
Raised in Northern California and currently based in Los Angeles, Haylie Davis is a rising artist, who has received attention global attention for her passionate reimagining of classic Laurel Canyon folk pop, anchored by her gorgeous, remarkable vocal range and her knack for intricate storytelling.
After collaborating with a series of like-minded artists including Drugdealer, Sylvie, Alex Amen and Sam Burton, Davis steps out into her own path, meshing gorgeous melodies and strikingly original songcraft its a new band of cosmic Americana.
“Young Man” is latest single off the Los Angeles-based artist’s highly-anticipated debut album, which will feature the previously released “Country Boy” and “Golden Age,” and is slated for release later this year through Fire Records. “Young Man” is an introspective lived-in lament on the breakup of a misplaced, perhaps even unearned affection and its aftermath. And as a result, the song’s narrator expresses a mix of relief, exhaustion, despair and bit of “wait, what the fuck was that?” while nursing a bruised heart.
Fittingly, the song features some heartbreakingly gorgeous steel guitar paired with Davis’ timeless, world-weary delivery. It sounds a bit like a 70s country ballad, much like Johnny Cash‘s take on the Kris Kristofferson-penned “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” — with a subtly modern vibe.
“‘Young Man’ was born a few years back in a Texas green room while I was out on tour with Sam Burton,” Davis explains. ““I was fresh off a breakup, emotionally raw, and the song arrived naturally in that in-between space – part exhaustion, part reflection, part release. Later, I brought it to life with Michael Harris at Valentine Recording Studio. Working with Michael was a joy; he creates an atmosphere that’s both encouraging and effortless, making the recording process feel less like work and more like discovery.”
Directed by Magnolia Ellenburg, the accompanying video for “Young Man” is a gorgeously shot fever dream of heartache, despair and pride that should feel familiar to anyone who has had to nurse their bruised heart and investigate themselves in the aftermath of a breakup. Those answers aren’t easy to come by, but you figure out a way to move on and learn from it as best as you can.
New Video: ADULT. Shares Urgent, Anthemic “No One is Coming”
Throughout the course of their 25-year history, Detroit-based industrial, synth punks ADULT. — Nicola Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller — have embodied steadfast frustration, distrust and apprehension. Typically for acts that have been together that long, the edges began to soften with time, but the duo isn’t interested or even remotely concerned about the comfort of legacy.
Kissing Luck Goodbye, the duo’s 10th album is slated for a March 27, 2026 release through Dais Records. Reportedly, the album features music that may arguably be the most visceral, urgent, angry and uncompromising effort of their career to date. Built with upgraded gear and a whole new library of sounds, Kissing Luck Goodbye‘s material is crushingly dynamic, louder and much clearer with Kuperus’ commanding delivery being given much greater delivery in the mix, outlining an arsenal of vivid, caustic calls, chants and music. Laughter, whether in the lyrics or as possessed presence, serves as a leitmotif through the material that speaks to the menacing absurdity of our moment.
The album’s lead single “No One is Coming” is a rousingly anthemic and urgent industrial scorcher anchored around a forceful baseline and noisy feedback that’s one-part dire warning, one-part call to arms that directly attacks inaction in the face of fascism. And at its core, it reminds the listener that there will be no calvary, no saviors, no deus ex machina to save us. We’re all we got. We’re going to have to save ourselves — or perish.
“‘No one is coming to your rescue . . . ‘ A lyric that was written in early 2025 and is even more relevant on its release date a year later. A song speaking to moral collapse and political corruption ‘to a T.'” ADULT.’s Nicola Kuperus says. “These subhumans attempting to run the show are more concerned with cashing in and political cosplay than the well being of mankind. While working on this album, I read an article from an esteemed environmental scientist about “what’s coming in the future”. What stuck with me was their point that we are entering a new phase in existence where the most important thing we can do is know our neighbors and know the strengths of each other and what resources everyone has. Who needs extra care? Who is on their own? This song was written as a call to arms. Be alert. Be aware. Be prepared. Stand up for yourself and look out for your community. We are better when we are united. Social media is wearing us down. Deluding us. The political landscape is horrifying, distracting, deranged and unhinged. We are seeing this go down in real time right now in Minneapolis… NO ONE IS COMING TO YOUR RESCUE… except ALL OF US! Keep speaking up! Keep using your right to protest and most importantly keep showing kindness to one another.”
The accompanying video features the duo playing in front of a backdrop of edited stock footage of crowds clapping, dancing and consuming mindlessly as the surrounding world burns down.
Throwback: Happy 68th Birthday, Anita Baker!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Anita Baker’s 68th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 88th Birthday, Etta James!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 88th anniversary of the birth of the legendary Etta James.