JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 78th anniversary of the birth of Anita Pointer.
Tag: women who kick ass
New Video: Bibi Club Shares Dreamy “Washing Machine”
Deriving their name from their living room discotheque, where their “bibis” — or loved ones — come to dance, the Montréal-based duo Bibi Club — Adèle Trottier-Rivard (vocals, keys) and Nicolas Basque (guitar) — earned acclaim across both Québec and Europe with their debut album, 2022’s Le soleil et la mer, an album that won a Most Promising Award at that year’s GAMIQ Awards, a Discovery of the Year at that year’s ADISQ Awards and landed on the Polaris Music Prize long list.
Le soleil et la mer received praise by a number of French outfits including Les Inrocks, Magic Magazine, Libération and France Inter and landed on Le Devoir, Les Inrocks‘ and Tsugi’s Best Albums of 2022 lists. And adding to a rapidly growing international profile, the album received airplay from BBC 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq.
Their sophomore album, 2024’s Feu de garde saw the band expanding upon their sound with darker textures and luminous synths. The album earned several nominations at that year’s ADISQ Awards and landed on the Polaris Music Prize short ling. The album was FNAC‘s album of the month for May and received praise from MOJO, Télérama, Record Collector, Uncut and many more.
Building upon a growing profile, the Montréal-based duo have begun making a run of the international festival circuit with sets at SXSW, The Great Escape, FOCUS Wales, MaMA Festival, Osheaga, The New Colossus Festival, as well as clubs in Brazil, Germany and Canada. They’ve also opened for Blonde Redhead, Circuit des Yuex and a list of others.
Bibi Club’s highly-anticipated third album Amaro is slated for a February 27, 2026 release through Secret City Records. The album sees the acclaimed French Canadian duo inviting the listener to brave the dark beasts that shadow us beneath the surface, and to devote ourselves to the healing power of a fierce will to live. It explores the liminal spectrum between the here and beyond, pointing to love, nature and community as the deeply unifying purpose. The album’s material reportedly draw a detailed map of a world completely of its own, following the trajectory traced by the pair in recent years.
Now, out of the living room, we dance in a mental space overloaded with grief and fear in their most rawest forms. Following the death of two dear, loved ones in the last year, the mantra “I want to love, I want to live,” resonates intensely in each song’s melody, underlined by the belief that if the heart is a place that never dies, we must reach it as quickly as possible.
Inspired by their tours with Blonde Redhead and Circuit des Yeux and a collaboration with Calvin Johnson, the duo’s sound now incorporates elements of avant pop, electronic body music, dark wave and neo-folk while simultaneously borrowing from baroque sounds with harpsichord, trumpet and ritual chants. The album also features contributions from saxophonist Dimitri Milbrun and singer/songwriter Helena Deland, who help contribute to its overall sound.
“Washing Machine,” Amaro‘s second and latest single, as well as the album’s first English language single is a breakneck churn of a song that’s one-part shoegaze, one-part dream pop, one-part post punk that evokes a complicated yet lived-in mix of joy and sorrow that often coexists throughout our lives — if we pay attention.
The duo say of the album’s new single: “The anomaly. This song is a homage to Tobie, who loved washing machines, the way they rush in and spin in every direction. It’s also a reflection on our experience as parents and the visceral bonds that connect us to our children. The song is full of light and life despite its underlying grief, the guitars dance together, the keyboard pulses with life, it’s energetic, even danceable. It evokes the short passage on Earth of a child who left a vivid, powerful mark on everyone who loved him.”
Directed by Anna Arrobas and featuring sculptures by Anna Arrobas and Marin McMillan, the accompanying video for “Washing Machine” features various sculpted pieces meant to look like ancient symbols. “For ‘Washing Machine,’ I wanted to explore symbols of life, death and reincarnation,” Arrobas explains. “Marin and I sculpted them to look like ancient relics and I filmed them in flickering light in front of a black backdrop to make them look suspended and floating.”
New Audio: Silverdeer Shares Lush and Yearning “Open Mouth”
Los Angeles-based duo Silverdeer — longtime friends Halsey Bousquet (vocals) and Nika Fazeli — have been centered by a long-held warm, flirty and playful kinetic energy that they first established with their first project saturn 17.
Formed back in 2019, saturn 17 quickly gained attention with their breakout single “could this be love,” which amassed over 10 million streams. But by 2024, the duo found themselves facing unexacting challenges. Bouts of writer’s block and an overwhelming urge to explore new sounds and genres led to a creative hiatus.
Both Fazeli and Bosquet recognized that they were undergoing a personal and artistic metamorphosis that ultimately required a new name for their project that matched it. Over the past couple of years as Silverdeer, the duo have established a sound that melds the spirit of 90s alternative rock with lush, dream pop textures.
The duo’s latest effort, the Casey Lagos-produced House of Devotion is slated for a March 20, 2026 release. The forthcoming EP will feature the previously released “Montauk” and “Drift.”
“Meeting Casey was like finding the missing puzzle piece,” the Los Angeles duo say. “We had been trying for so long to explain our vision to people, and it was so refreshing to find someone who immediately understood it and had the tools and the creativity to push us where we wanted to go. He is such a supportive and sweet person too, we feel so safe being vulnerable and creative with him.”
“House of Devotion is inspired by the beach house in Eternal Sunshine — a place meant to feel safe and intimate, but one that starts collapsing the moment you step inside,” the duo explain. “It’s built from memories, desire, and the fragile structures two people create together, and it begins to fall apart under the emotional weight of devotion.” And fittingly, the EP’s material explores themes of love, connection, nostalgia and longing. “House of Devotion invites you to reflect on connection — how we relate to people who have entered and exited our lives.”
The EP’s third and latest single, “Open Mouth” is a dreamy mix of dream pop, shoegaze and trip hop, anchored around the duo’s penchant for remarkably catchy, razor sharp hooks — and a palpable sense of yearning and barely controlled desire that feels youthful and explosive.
“‘Open Mouth’ is our most addicting song on the EP,” the duo shares. “It exists as a celebration of sexuality, a snapshot of desire and almost-caught moments.”
Live Footage: DVTR “Live on the Big Rusty Ferry”
Montréal-based JOVM mainstays DVTR — Le Couleur‘s Laurence G-Do a.k.a. Demi Lune and Gazoline‘s, Kandle‘s Xavier Caféine‘s and Gab Bouchard‘s JC Tellier, a.k.a. Jean Divorce — have exploded into the Canadian indie scene with the release of their debut EP, 2023’s BONJOUR. The EP earned a plethora of rapturous reviews, landed on a number of Best of 2023 lists and earned the duo the first batch of a growing number of Québec-based music industry awards.
Building upon 2023’s momentum, the duo released an expanded edition of their debut EP, 2024’s BONJOUR (BIS), which featured a couple of bonus tracks.
The Montrealers supported the original and expanded editions of BONJOUR EP with a frenetic and whirlwind world tour that saw the band playing sets across the international club and festival circuit in Asia, Mexico, Germany, Québec and France. During this remarkably busy period,. the duo released a live album on VHS — yes, VHS! — and added a few more awards to their already crowded mantle, including the 2025 Breakout Artist of the Year at the GAMIQ Gala early last year. And they also managed to release new material, including “Né pour flâner (Born to loiter),” and “Couleur peau (Your Next Token Asian Friend).”
The duo along with their live backing band of masked minions/henchmen filmed a blistering and unhinged 17-minute live session on a big rusting ferry on the St. Lawrence River. Live on the Big Rusty Ferry features live version of BONJOUR tracks “Anu Cuni,” “Les flics,” “Vasectomia,” “Rhum cokeMD” and “Sound $ex Change,” and “DVTR,” as well as last year’s standalone “Né pour flâner,” and accurately captures the wild and frenetic energy that has helped the act win fans at clubs and festivals across the globe.
Throwback: Happy 80th Birthday, Dolly Parton!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Dolly Parton’s 80th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 83rd Birthday, Janis Joplin!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 83rd anniversary of the birth of Janis Joplin.
Throwback: Happy 67th Birthday, Susanna Hoffs!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Susanna Hoffs’ 67th birthday.
New Video: clubdrugs Return with Yearning, Club Friendly “Heart 2 Break”
clubdrugs are a Chicago-based, self-described goth pop duo that has developed a reputation and profile both locally and regionally for a genre-defying sound and for captivating live shows.
The duo begin 2026 with their latest single “Heart 2 Break,” an electro goth bop anchored around buzzing and wobbling bass synths, angular bursts of feedback-fueled guitars and thumping, industrial-like beats paired with the duo’s uncanny knack for catchy hooks. Maria dreamily yearning coos ethereally float over the brooding, club friendly production. Much like the previously released “Waiting,” “Heart 2 Break” is a dance song for the lovelorn, the heartbroken and the perpetually unrequited to dance to, in between their tears.
Directed by the Chicago-based duo, the accompanying video for “Heart 2 Break” is a hallucinogen-fueled dream that features the pair performing the song in a studio in front of trippy projections that manages to capture the yearning at the core of the song.
New Audio: Dublin’s Martina and the Moons Share Broodingly Cinematic “Higher Than A Hawk”
Led by Spanish-Scottish frontperson Martina Moon, Dublin-based indie outfit Martina and the Moons can trace their origins back to when Moon relocated to Dublin to study at BIMM University, where she met and quickly connected with her then-future bandmates Ruby Levins (bass), Zahira Ellis (drums) and Sarah Morgan (guitar).
The Dublin-based quartet quickly established a sound that blended elements of post-punk, indie rock, 90s Brit Pop and the 60s and 70s Laurel Canyon sound while featuring gorgeous melodies and a youthful aggression and angst. In fact, Moon, who cites Paul Simon, Lady Gaga, Catatonia, Radiohead, Bruno Mars and an eclectic list of others as influences, writes lyrics that frequently touch on themes of alienation, being misunderstood, being an outsider, and yearning with a deeply lived-in sensibility and earnestness.
In a short period of time, the band has played opening slots for Porridge Radio and Thumper. They’ve played Whelan’s Main Stage at Ones to Watch. And adding to a growing regional profile, they played 2025’s The Great Escape Festival, receiving mentions from BBC Introducing and praise from Golden Plec and from Hotpress, who named them one of their Hot for ’25 acts.
Last year, the band signed to Dublin-based artist development label Rubarb Music, who released recently released their Ruadhrí Cushnan-produced EP Starfish Social Club, which features the previously released “Baby Turtle” and “Laundry Mat.”
Starfish Social Club EP‘s third and latest single “Higher Than A Hawk” showcases a more shoegazer and post punk-tinged take on their Brit Pop-inspired sound. Featuring swirling and shimmering guitars, an angular and propulsive bass line, forceful drumming paired with Moon’s bold, almost in-your-face delivery, “Higher Than A Hawk” may arguably be the most brooding and cinematic song on the EP, seemingly channeling the likes of A Storm in Heaven-era The Verve, Slowdive, The Church and others, all while anchored around Moon’s earnest lyricism.
Throwback: Happy 67th Birthday, Sade!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Sade’s 67th birthday.
New Audio: Us and I Share Melancholy “What’s There to Dream”
Formed back in 2018 in Bangalore and currently based in Düsseldorf, synth pop duo Us and I — Bidisha Kesh (vocals) and Guarav Govilkar (production) — features members who come from very different backgrounds and who bonded over having similar musical sensibilities. As the story goes, when teh pair started to work together, they quickly realized that they shared a unique way of crafting songs: deeply personal lyrics paired with the melancholia of the orange and yellow colors leaking from their synthesizers.
Th duo then spent the next two years developing a sound that they believed acted as a bridge between the synth-driven work of Chromatics and the slow-burning, dream pop of Beach House — with subtle nods to darkwave and post-punk. Thematically, the duo’s material generally draws from everyday life and the relationships around them.
The duo’s debut EP, 2021’s Loveless thematically focused on a deeply universal subject, love — in particular, a past love, and how the nostalgia and grief of that past love can hit us like a wave hitting the shore. Since the release of Loveless EP, the duo relocated to Düsseldorf — for work and for potentially better opportunities for their music.
The Düsseldorf-based duo begins 2026 with their latest single, “What’s There To Dream,” a slow-burning and melancholy song that continues a run of material that to my ears sounds like a synthesis of Still Corners and Beach House — but while evoking a mix of nostalgia, reverie and creeping doubt.
“We all have days when we question the meaning of this quiet banality of life. Moments where everything feels soft, heavy and strangely beautiful at once,” the duo explain. “This song is an invitation to sit with those thoughts. To dive into existentialism in colour. . . “
New Video: Kim Gordon Shares Woozy “NOT TODAY”
The legendary Kim Gordon will be releasing her third solo album, the Justin Raisen-produced PLAY ME on March 13, 2026 through Matador Records. PLAY ME is reportedly distilled and immediate, and sees Gordon expanding on her sonic palette to include more melodic beats and the motorik drive of krautock.
“We wanted the songs to be short,” Gordon says of her continued collaboration with acclaimed, Los Angeles-based producer Justin Raisen. “We wanted to do it really fast. It’s more focused, and maybe more confident. I always kind of work off of rhythms, and I knew I wanted it to be even more beat-oriented than the last one. Justin really gets my voice and my lyrics and he understands how I work—that came forth even more on this record.”
PLAY ME is the follow-up to 2024’s critically applauded sophomore album The Collective, which featured the two-time Grammy-nominated single “BYE BYE.” PLAY ME sees Gordon processing in her imitable way, the collateral damage of the billionaire class: the demolition of democracy, technocratic end-times-like fascism, the A.I.-fueled chill vibes flattering of culture — where dark humor voices the absurdity of our moment. But despite its frequent outward gave, the album is essentially an interior effort, one in which heightened emotionality pulses through physical jams, while rejecting definitive statements in favor of an inquisitiveness and curiosity that keeps Gordon searching — and ever in process.
Amid PLAY ME’s rabbit-hole reality bricolage, pitch-shifted vocals and shadowy layers of dissonance, the album’s material are clear-eyed about the attention they pay to a world that would rather you be distracted and rage-baited into oblivion. “I have to say, the thing that influenced me most was the news. We are in some kind of ‘post empire’ now, where people just disappear,” Gordon says, echoing the title of one of PLAY ME’s tracks.
PLAY ME’s lead single “NOT TODAY” pairs Gordon’s imitable croon with woozily dreamy production anchored around a motorik-like groove, bursts of feedback-driven shoegazer guitar textures, glitchy electronics and driving beats. “I started singing in a way I hadn’t sung in a long time,” Gordon says. “This other voice came out.”
The accompanying video was directed by Rodarte fashion label founders and filmmakers Kate and Laura Mulleavy with director of photography Christopher Blauvelt. Throughout the video, Gordon wears a hand-dyed silk tulle dress from an early Rodarte collection, that was custom-made for her by the Mulleavys. “She was our idol and we vividly remember fitting the dress with her in NYC,” the Mulleavys said. “When we started to conceptualize the video, Kim brought up wearing the dress, which we knew was perfect for the video idea.”
New Video: Sylvia Black Shares Broodingly Hypnotic “The Snake”
Los Angeles-based multifaceted producer, singer/songwriter, bassist, performer, restless performer and JOVM mainstay Sylvia Black will be releasing her long-awaited new album, the 11-song Shadowtime on Friday, January 16, 2026.
The album reportedly sees Black continuing her long-held approach of songwriting from the bottom up. “I find a beat that I’m in love with and go forward,” Black says. “The bass provides the floor, but as a singer, I’m also coming in with the roof. If you can write a beautiful song with just those two elements, bass notes and the voice, that’s a job well done.”
Written, produced and performed primarily by the JOVM mainstay, the album was crafted with support from longtime mix engineer and creative foil Ruddy Lee Cullers. The album’s material is a haunting exploration of nostalgia and futurism that also sees the Los Angeles-based artist body pushing her sound in new directions by weaving hypnotic rhythms, cinematic layers and raw, visceral emotion, while moving effortlessly from dance floor anthems to atmospheric meditations on love, loss and transcendence. “This album is about finding beauty in ruins,” Black says. “About letting the shadows speak through me. Returning to California brought out the memory and soul of my goth days gone by.”
Shadowtime will feature the album singles “Talking in Tongues,” and “Long Gone Gardens,” both of which were released last year. The JOVM mainstay begins 2026 with album opening track “The Snake,” a synth-driven song anchored around a motorik groove and industrial thump paired with Black’s beguiling vocal and hypnotic countermelodies. The result is song that sounds much like a sultry, club friendly take on the likes of Suicide that showcases Black’s unerring knack for razor sharp, remarkably catchy hooks.
“The album opens with the fall of mankind or the awakening and the struggle with the birth pangs to traverse into a new paradigm for better or worse. You decide,” Black explains. “Apparently it’s a choose your own adventure and this is the story of those and their choice.”
The accompanying video was shot and edited by Black, and features mind-bending animation that ties into the album’s overall themes and zeitgeist. “A deadline, no plan, a green sheet sloppily tacked to the side of a barn way out in Virginia, and some holiday time with my fussy old laptop,” Black says of the video.