Tag: women who kick ass

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Acclaimed Melbourne-based Punk Act Amyl and The Sniffers Release Campy Visuals for Anthemic “I Got You”

Featuring Amy Taylor (vocals), Gus Romer (bass), Bryce Wilson (drums) and Declan Martens (guitar), the Melbourne, Australia-based punk act Amyl and The Sniffers formed in early 2016 — and during that year, they wrote, self-recorded their debut EP Giddy Up. The Aussie quartet followed up with 2017’s Big Attractions EP, which they re-released as a double 12 inch EP with Giddy Up through Homeless Records in Australia and Damaged Goods in the UK.

The band made their international touring debut with an appearance at The Great Escape Festival and series of sold out London area shows, which they followed up by joining JOVM mainstays King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard for a 22 date Stateside tour. They made triumphant returns to the UK and the US that included packed houses and rave festival reviews. They ended the year by signing with Flightless Records for distribution across Australia and New Zealand and Rough Trade for the rest of the world — and they were also nominated for a Best New Act at the Q Awards and won the $30,000 Levis Prize.

The Aussie punk quartet took this year’s SXSW by storm, receiving gushing praise from the likes of Rolling Stone, Austin Chronicle, NME, Austin-American Statesman, BrooklynVegan, DIY and others. Building upon a buzz worthy and growing profile, the members of Amyl and The Sniffers will be releasing their highly-anticipated self-titled, full-length debut is slated for a May 24, 2019 through Flightless Records and Rough Trade Records — and the album’s latest single, “Got You” is a completely unhinged and explosive take on ’77 era punk, complete with a rousingly anthemic hook, enormous power chords paired with Taylor’s snottily delivered vocals. “‘Got You’ is about that feeling you get when you first start seeing someone and you’re excited to see them, no matter what shit they got,” the band’s Amy Taylor explains. “You just see them at the pub and it feels like the most exciting thing in the world, like you’re so lucky they’re even there. It’s definitely one of the ‘sweetest’ songs on the album and less punky. It was kind of inspired by Split Enz.”

Directed by Melbourne-based director Triana Hernandez, the recently released video for “Got You” features the members of the band in a dysfunctional and possessive relationship. The band’s Taylor adds “We worked with Melbourne director Triana Hernandez for the video and we decided to make it less like a love song and more cheeky. We wanted to play with the power dynamics a bit and turn ‘I got you’ into ‘I literally own you’, just to make it a bit more dark. It’s obviously not a healthy relationship but that kind of thing is easy to slip into, too.” 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Several years ago, I caught the Portland, OR-based singer/songwriter, electronic music producer and electronic music artist Natasha Kmeto open for JOVM mainstays Beacon at the Bowery Ballroom. And as you may recall, Kmeto developed a national profile for crafting thoughtful and soulful R&B and house music-inspired electro pop informed by her increasing embrace of her identity as a queer woman.

Slated for a Friday release, Verse/Versus EP is Kmeto’s first batch of new material in a couple of years, and the material thematically touches upon longing, desire and the gray areas of a romance felt but unexpressed. Sonically, the material finds Kmeto subtly pushing her sound in a new direction, as there’s a strong emphasis on organic instrumentation — i.e. bass and sax — that help accentuate the 80s post punk influence, all while retaining the late night, Quiet Storm vibes. Verse/Versus‘ swooning and atmospheric, latest single “Spoken Silence” finds Kmeto pairing her pop belter vocals with a sultry yet atmospheric production consisting of a sinuous bass line, twinkling and arpeggiated synths and stuttering beats — and while further cementing her reputation for crafting R&B and classic house-inspired electro pop with a track that recalls Lisa Stansfield’s “All Around the World,” the song focuses on a desire and longing that’s palpably felt among both parties.

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Acclaimed Act Mass Gothic Release Surrealistic Visual for Atmospheric “How I Love You”

Last year, I wrote about the acclaimed New York-based synth-based band Mass Gothic, and as you may recall the act, which is comprised of married duo Noel Heroux and Jessica Zambri can trace the project’s origins to the duo managing to dip in and out of their various creative projects throughout the course of their 18 year relationship, advising and supporting one another; but oddly, throughout the bulk of their relationship they never completely committed themselves to collaborating together on an entire album, sharing creative load.

Heroux stared Mass Gothic back in 2016 as a solo project, after the breakup of his previous band Hooray for Earth. Reportedly plagued by his own insecurities and anxieties, Heroux wasn’t yet ready to deal with putting his trust and confidence into a shared, collaborative project. And perhaps most important, he didn’t feel that he was ready to do so with someone as close and fundamental to his life, like his wife. But before he began work on the sophomore Mass Gothic, the phrase “I’ve Tortured You Long Enough” reverberated through his head and quickly became a mantra and a premonition of his collaboration with his wife. And in many ways, that mantra became the title of the band’s sophomore album, a tongue-in-check reference to the fact that it took so long for the duo to work together. “It just popped into my head,” Heroux explained in press notes. “You can say it to a loved one or to a friend. Or you could wish someone say it to you. It covers so many basses but it’s taken on extra meaning in the past couple of years, while everybody is at each other’s throats; frustrated and confused all the time.”

As the story goes, as Heroux was about to work on the band’s sophomore album, he felt that he needed to force himself out of his comfort zone — and his deep-seated stubbornness. By the fall of 2016, circumstances found him facing his biggest fears head on. “We rented a small tiny cabin in the middle of nowhere in upstate New York. We put ourselves away and worked on music all day, wondering what it would feel and sound like,” Jessica Zambri recalled in press notes. 

The first song they wrote together was an early iteration of “Keep On Dying.” Zambri had the melody and lyrics while Heroux had arranged the chords. From there, things snowballed and while the writing began in New York, in early 2017, the duo threw caution to wind, got rid of their Brooklyn apartment, purged most of their belongings and relocated to Los Angeles to write and record the album. They then bought a car, drove to L.A. where they lived out of duffle bag with co-producer Josh Ascalon, and they spent the bulk of their time writing. “The entire record from start to finish was done without having our own place to live,” Heroux said in press notes. “Maybe we wouldn’t have been able to do it if we were anchored at home. We were forced into it. Jess was trying to open me up and if we could have just sat on a couch and thrown on the TV it probably wouldn’t have worked.”

Working as a duo helped with the project’s sound evolving with the album’s material being an international meeting of the minds, centered around their openness to work together without rules or conditions — although oddly enough during the spring of 2017, Heroux and Zambri separately came to the conclusion that the material they wrote had way more potential. As the story goes, while they were preparing to tour with Zambri’s sister Cristi Jo and her boyfriend Joseph Stickney, Heroux woke up one morning, turned to his spouse and said “Oh God, we have to fucking re-record the whole album!” Heroux and Zambri agreed that re-recording was required and during the final ten days of recording, they made sure that the material was perfect while being as alive as possible.

Thematically, the album’s material basks in and celebrates the acceptance of co-dependence and independence simultaneously — and while being rooted within the relationship of its creators, the material isn’t so autobiographical that it’s off-putting and alienating in its intimacy; in fact, the material was intentionally written to be a conversation between its creators about something deeply universal. Now, as you may recall, the swooning  Kate Bush and Stevie Nicks-like “Keep On Dying” managed to be both vulnerable yet grounded in an earthy realism.  I’ve Tortured You Long Enough‘s latest single, the atmospheric and euphoric “How I Love You” is a song is centered around Zambri’s ethereal vocals, gently strummed guitar and shimmering synths — and while bearing an uncanny resemblance to Mazzy Star and others, the song as the act’s Jessica Zambri explains in press notes, “The lights turned on for me. Committing to something can be relieving, even pleasurable.  I used to think I had to protect myself from anything that I perceived to get in the way of making music, but all that did was close me off. Whatever is happening I want to enjoy it. I wrote this song as a reminder to live and not be lived.”

Directed by Evan Fellers, the recently released video is centered around strange yet realistic feeling environments that feel digitally constructed — and in some way, captures the unusual terrain of a new, committed relationship. “I wanted to create strange realistic feeling environments that also felt a bit digital. I used a process called photogrammetry to grab a bunch of real-world elements and turned them into 3d models which make up most of everything you see. Anything from small rocks to large sections of woods, trees, moss, and dirt, to Jess and Noel.

“I knew I wanted to take the viewer through these different environments, but I wanted it to be more than just a camera flying around — something simple and purposeful, searching for something. I wanted there to be this feeling of a journey. I also wanted to trace specific paths through the environment I thought were pleasing. Creating a single red orb that illuminated the environment was a nice way to accomplish all of those goals with the story, and control the way in which I revealed each scene at the same time. The red orb also came to represent the voice of the song to me.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay Shana Falana Releases a Lovingly Straightforward Cover of Depeche Mode’s “Stripped”

I’ve written and photographed the California-born, Upstate New York-based singer/songwriter and guitarist and JOVM mainstay Shana Falana quite a bit over the past few years — and as you may recall Falana can trace the origins of her music career to being a member of  San Francisco‘s D.I.Y. scene that included a stint in a local Bulgarian women’s choir. By 2006, she had been in New York for some time, and was struggling through drug addiction and financial woes, when she lost part of an index finger in a work-related accident.

Under most normal circumstances, the accident for most people would be considered extremely unlucky and tragic; however, the settlement money Falana received provided a much-needed period of financial stability and a desperately needed period in which she could get sober and find a new focus in her life and music. Her sophomore album, Here Comes the Wave was conceptualized and written during two different parts of Falana’s life — one part while she was struggling with drug addition and desperately trying to get sober and the subsequent years of sobriety. Naturally, the album’s material was rewritten and revised with the growing sense of perspective and awareness that comes when you’ve gotten older and perhaps even a bit wiser than what you once were before. Along with that, the album thematically touches upon transformation as a result of emotional and spiritual turmoil; the necessary inner strength, resolve and perseverance to overcome difficulties; the eventual acceptance of aging, time passing and of one’s own impending mortality.

A couple of years have passed since I’ve last written about the California-born, Upstate New York-based JOVM mainstay and as it turns out, Falana and her longtime collaborator and drummer Mike Amari have been busy working on the highly-anticipated follow-up to her critically applauded sophomore album — and it included a lovingly straightforward yet subtly atmospheric cover of Depeche Mode‘s “Stripped,” which retains the original’s plaintive and swooning romanticism. Directed by longtime collaborator Bon Jane, the accompanying video is centered around an extremely stripped down concept — the viewer sees Falana in a wardrobe and makeup by Anna Hafner signing the song in front of a projection screen with superimposed images of herself, which further emphasizes the song’s plaintive need.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing the Achingly Intimate Pop of Montreal’s Sophia Bel

Sophia Bel is an up-and-coming Quebec City-born, Montreal-based pop artist, who was musically raised by 2000s skate punk and emo wave. Her own work draws from the blurry outlines of her own childhood while exploring electro pop and trip-hop productions — while balancing candor and melancholy. Earlier this year, Bel released “Time,” a Moby-inspired track of her forthcoming, debut EP Princess of the Dead, Vol. 1.

Princess of the Dead, Vol. 1‘s second and latest single is the ethereal and moody “Don’t Forget.” Centered around softly strummed guitar and chunky synths, the song’s narrator finds herself desperately holding onto the last remnants of a relationship that’s been slowly drifting apart — and white reportedly inspired by Dido and Avril Lavigne, the song reminds me quite a bit of the breezy melancholy of JOVM mainstay (and fellow French Canadian) MUNYA and Tales of Us-era Goldfrapp.

Directed by Jean-François Sauvé, the incredibly intimate video for “Don’t Forget” was shot in the bathroom of Bel’s Montreal apartment in one continuous take, further emphasizing the sense of loss and ache at the core of the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Night School’s Shimmering New Single Paired with Proudly Feminist Visuals

Currently comprised of founding member Alexandra Morte (guitar, vocals), Cara LP (drums) and Cheyenne Avant (bass), the Oakland-based indie rock trio Night School can trace its origins to the close friendship of its founders Morte and Baylie Jiminez (drums, vocals). With Morte and Jiminez, the band recorded a split EP with their Graveface Records labelmates, Scotland’s Dott, Carousel. and their debut EP Heartbeat back in 2014. After the recording of the Heartbeat EP, Cheyenne Avant joined the band to complete what would become the band’s first lineup. The following year, the Oakland-based trio toured with the likes of Best Coast, Whirr and Creepoid.

The band’s long-awaited full-length debut Disappear Here was written and recorded over the course of the past two years with Nick Bassett. and the album reportedly finds the band moving away from the doo-wop and 60s girl pop influences of their earliest releases and towards a cleaner, more refined sound, as the band explains in press notes. Along with that such a decided change in sonic direction, the band went through a major lineup change with its co-founder Baylie Jiminez leaving the band during the recording sessions. Jiminez was replaced by Cara LP. And perhaps as a result of both the lineup change and their new sound, Disappear Here‘s features material written by Morte and Avant.

“Marigold,” Disappear Here‘s latest single is a self-assured and shimmering bit of guitar pop, centered around some gorgeous harmonizing and the sort of big, swooning hooks reminiscent of Dum Dum Girls. The recently released video follows the band’s songwriting duo as they go on a pleasant afternoon stroll near the California coast. Interestingly, during their stroll they encounter a beautiful pagan priestess, who quickly disappears when the ladies get near. After touching her left behind chalice, they encounter a bizarre ritual, which frightens them immensely; but they quickly receive acceptance from the priestess and her other followers, who let them join the group. While being mischievous, the video is decidedly feminist.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Up-and-Coming Canadian Singer-Songwriter J.R. Releases Bitterly Ironic Visuals for Anthemic “Be My Man”

Julianna Riolino is a rather mysterious Southern Ontario-based singer/songwriter and musician, who writes and records as J.R. Riolino’s latest single is the jangling and anthemic, 80s New Wave-like “Be My Man,” which is centered by her gritty yet plaintive vocal delivery, a rousing hook and a propulsive backbeat — all of which help to evoke a desperate hope that this time, it’ll be different. 

Inspired by her return back to her hometown after some time living in a bigger city, after she had left an abusive and dysfunctional relationship with a very angry man, the Southern Ontario-based singer/songwriter and musician explains in email that “is about making the same mistake over and over, hoping that you learn from it.” And in some way it’s a major leap of faith in which you hope for the best and brightest and maybe prepare yourself for the worst. 

Using stock footage from the mid 70s, the recently released video emphasizes the themes within the song as the viewer follows a desperate, young woman, packing her bags up to leave the chaotic city. During what may be seen as either an accident or an attack, the young woman envisions the scenes of a terrible musical around the song’s hook, and while those sequences are hopeful and joyous, they’re tinged with something hauntingly sad — the fact that something terrible had to happen for it to be possible. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Earlier this year, I wrote about the Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and multi-disciplinary artist, Tessa Rose Jackson, who’s perhaps best known for her solo recording project Someone. Now, as you may recall, her debut EP Chain Reaction was an ambitious and creative undertaking that involved an accompanying short film. Unsurprisingly, the Amsterdam-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and multi-disciplinary artist’s forthcoming sophomore EP, Orbit may arguably be her most ambitious undertaking yet:  the material finds Jackson exploring the intensity with which art and music can be fused and how they can fully enhanced.

Thematically, the material incisively comments on our overstimulated digital age, suggesting that we spend so much time on our phones and on social media being exposed to external distractions that we’re essentially orbiting  around each other and our passions, rarely touching, resting or even focusing long enough to truly connect to anything or anyone.  Jackson also created an interactive augmented reality exhibition that combines her music with cutting edge technology and hypnotic art, which employs elements reminiscent of space and planets, with the exhibition being presented in gallery spaces in Amsterdam, London, Berlin, and Paris.

When viewed through a tablet or a smartphone, the artwork comes to life, and the song linked to that particular piece will be played through the viewer’s headphones. The artworks each react differently and react to the music, dynamically building as the songs progress. They will also react to touch from the viewer on their tablet screens, allowing full interaction and immersion. Trippy, huh?

Orbit‘s first single, the dreamy and ethereal “Get It Together” was centered by shimmering and arpeggiated synths, thumping beats, buzzing power chords and a soaring hook that in some way brought Tame Impala and Air to mind. Centered around an infectious groove, shimmering guitars, four-on-the-floor like beats, the EP’s latest single “I Can’t Remember How To Talk To You” will further Jackson’s growing reputation for crafting breezy and buoyant hooks.

Orbit EP will see a May 1, 2019 release through [PIAS] Recordings.

 

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.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The KVB Releases Dreamy Visuals for Shimmering “Violet Noon”

Initially formed back in 2010 as a solo recording project of its founding member, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nicholas Wood, the British shoegazer act The KVB stated off with a number of limited cassette and vinyl releases that included “The Black Sun,” which was released through FLA Records and the Into the Night EP, which was released through Downwards Records. Vocalist, keyboardist and visual artist Kay Day joined Wood the following year, and the newly constituted duo released their full-length debut Always Then through Clan Destine Records. 

2013 was a busy year for the duo, as that year saw the release of their sophomore effort, Immaterial Visions, which was released through Cititrax that February. Wood and Day followed that up with a remix EP featuring contributions from Regis and Silent Servant that May — and a reissue of 2011’s limited edition cassette release Minus One through The Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Anton Newcombe’s label, A Recordings.

The following year, Wood and Day went to Newcombe’s Berlin studio to track what would eventually become the Out of Body EP, which A Records released later that year. Interestingly, those sessions marked a couple of firsts for the duo — the first time that they worked outside of their home studio and the first time that they worked with Joe Dilworth, a dummer known for his work with Stereolab and Cavern of Anti-Matter. The more experimental material they recorded the year, would up comprising 2015’s Mirror Being, which was released through Invada Records. 

2016’s Of Desire found the duo’s sound moving in a more experimental, electronic-leaning direction, as they recorded with vintage synths from Invada Records head and  Portishead and Beak> mastermind Geoff Barrow’s collection. Continuing at a busy pace, the duo’s Fixation/White Walls EP was release in 2017 and they released a re-masted, fifth anniversary edition of Always Then. Interestingly, last year’s Only Now Forever finds the duo returning to their DIY roots, with the duo recording in their Berlin apartment over the course of 2017. 

The album’s atmospheric, “Violet Noon” will further cement the duo’s reputation for pairing reverb-drenched shoegaze, 60s pop inspired boy-girl harmonies and minimalist  electronic production — but within a swooning and achingly hazy dream-like song.  “Influenced by Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra, ‘Violet Noon’ is a dark love song set against the backdrop of the apocalypse. While the world falls apart, all you can think of is the person you want to spend those last moments with,” The KVB say of the song and its accompanying video. “We shot the video last October, on the last unseasonably warm day of the year on the Jurassic coast in Dorset on the south coast of England. For us, the dreaminess of the video perfectly reflects the otherworldliness of this song, it feels like a hazy memory, timeless and romantic.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Formed last year, the Los Angeles-based indie rock act Cynister features Cynnie Jane (vocals) and two mysterious members, who wear black and white masks respectively.  The act’s debut single “Stuck” reveals a band, whose sound is centered around elements of arena friendly, power chord-based heavy rock, thumping trap beats and enormous, rousing hooks paired with Cynnie Jane’s powerhouse, pop belter vocals — and while bearing a resemblance to Paramore and Garbage, the song as the band’s Cynnie Jane explains in press notes “is about anxiety and sadness can feel like a trap, like prison walls closing in on you. Whether triggered by heartbreak or otherwise, racing thoughts and self-deprecating attitudes can be really difficult to control once they take ahold of you. This can be very destructive, and it’s something that many of us struggle with. With this song, our hope is for people to understand that they’re not alone in dealing with these emotions. We all go through it.”

 

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Teen Body’s Dreamy 80s Sitcom Inspired Visual for “Dreamo”

With the release of 2016’s full-length debut Get Home Safe, the Brooklyn-based indie rock act Teen Body, comprised of Shannon Lee (guitar, vocals), Xela French (bass, vocals), Alex Bush (guitar) and Marcus McDonald (drums) quickly developed a reputation for a sound that has been compared to the likes of Yo La Tengo, Slowdive, Galaxie 500 and others.

Dreamo, the Brooklyn-based quartet’s long-awaited sophomore album is slated for an April 12, 2019 release, and the album derives its name from a term coined by the band’s close friend, Casey Halter, who after a show, wryly said to the band “Your music is like dream pop and emo . . . dreamo music.” Interestingly, the forthcoming album reportedly features what arguably may be the most vulnerable, sincere and hopeful material of their growing catalog. Now, as you may recall, album single “Validation” retains the gorgeous and shimmering 4AD Records-like sound that has won them attention across the blogosphere while managing to be wistful yet comfortable, evoking a lover or dear friend gently squeezing your hand when you’re at your most desperate and uncertain.  The album’s latest track, album title track “Dreamo,” is a slow-burning and achingly beautiful song that further cements their reputation for crafting a classic shoegaze-like sound. Centered around boy-girl harmonizing, the song manages to possess the wistfulness of a relationship that’s ended, with the weighty recognition that what was once current is now part of your past. And yet, the song has the air of hope because once you’ve known love, you’ll see love come back — it’ll always be different, but it’s love all the same.

Directed by Shannon Lee, the recently released video for “Dreamo” features a ghostly figure, who haunts the vaguely Amish farmers, who reside where the video is set. (Of course, those vaguely Amish farmers are the three of the band members — and they seem to be kind of terrible at it; for the most part they seem prone to daydreaming. Shot much like an 80s sitcom, the video ends with the videos characters playing the song with homemade instruments — because of course. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of 2016’s mini-album Into Dimensions, the Copenhagen, Denmark-based  duo IRAH, comprised of Stone Grøn (vocals) and Adi Zukanović (keys) quickly received attention across the blogosphere for a unique take on atmospheric pop that’s ethereal yet earthy. 

Slated for a May 24, 2019 through Tambourhinoceros Records, the Danish duo’s forthcoming Mads Brinch Nielsen and IRAH-co-produced full-length debut Diamond Grid was written in between tours across Europe, features renowned drummer Seb Rochford, who has toured with the band, playing drums on all but one track — the album’s gorgeous Kate Bush and Junip/Jose Gonzalez-like first single “Unity of Gods,” a track that was centered around a sparse yet propulsive arrangement of twinkling keys, hushed  drumming, and ethereal and plaintive vocals singing lyrics about seeking oneness. The album’s second and latest single, the Kate Bush meets Bjork-like”Siu Hinama” features Grøn’s primordial chanting ethereally floating over atmospheric synths and propulsive drumming — and while continuing in a similar vein, as its immediate predecessor, the track also manages to evoke an ancient tribal ritual. “Siu Hinama occurred through vocalistic sound meditations,” Grøn explains in press notes. “The song never felt right with lyrics and therefore we decided to just let the words or word-sounds be as they were.”   

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: BRUTUS’ Forceful and Anthemic “Django”

With the release of their full-length debut, 2017’s Burst, the Leuven, Belgium-based post-rock trio BRUTUS, comprised of Stefanie Mannaerts (drums, vocals), Stijn Vanhoegaerden (guitar) and Peter Mulders (bass) quickly received a national and international presence — and since their full-length debut’s release, they’ve toured with JOVM mainstay Chelsea Wolfe, Thrice, Russian Circles, and played the major heavy EU festivals. Adding to a growing profile, Metallica‘s Lars Ulrich has proudly championed the Belgian trio. And interestingly enough, they’ve achieved this with a sound that was initially shaped by necessity — with Mannaerts adopting vocal duties because no one else would. 

The Leuven-based post-rock trio’s highly anticipated Jesse Gander-produced sophomore album Nest is slated for release later this week through Sargent House Records and the album’s material finds Mannaerts fully embracing her dual roles as vocalist and drummer and while the album’s material reveals the full range of her talents, the band has made a concerted effort to write tight songs with an expanded sound. Thematically speaking, the material focuses on the path the trio have taken together to get to the euphoric highs of achieving a lifelong dream; but there’s underlying moments of deep, introspection, in which they all consider the individual choices they’ve made to get there — and the impact those choices had on their loved ones, and those who they’ve left behind.  And as a result, the material possesses a strangely uncomfortable yet necessary friction between wanting to continue their forward progression and a desire to maintain and cherish those connections to all that they love at home. But is that possible when you’ve taken such enormous risks to achieve something extraordinary. And when the things you’ve seen, done and experienced have become so different than those of your peers, can you keep that connection?

Earlier this year, I wrote about, the expansive “War,” a track that alternated between dreamy and ruminative showcase and aggressive and forceful thrash metal, with enormous, arena rock friendly hooks and even larger power chords. Possessing a painterly quality in which the song’s musical layers are much like brushstrokes adding detail and texture to the canvas, the song evokes the raw ache of isolation and the bleakness of taking stock of oneself — completely alone. “Cemetery,” Nest‘s second and single effortlessly bridged doom metal, thrash metal, shoegaze, hardcore punk and stoner rock with an arrangement featuring thunderous drumming, blistering and enormous power chords, and Mannaerts howled vocals. “Django,” Nest’s third and latest single will further cement the Belgian trio’s reputation for crafting a huge, arena rock-like sound, as the track is centered around Mannaerts thunderous drumming, Vanhoegaerden’s towing power chords and Mulder’s rumbling low end — but the song may arguably be the most concise and forceful song on the album.