Author: electricityclub (Page 84 of 441)

“I don’t like country & western, I don’t like rock music… I don’t like rockabilly! I don’t like much really do I? But what I do like, I love passionately!!”: CHRIS LOWE

“Good taste is exclusive”: NICK RHODES

A Short Conversation with HANNA RUA

20 September 2022 /

Hanna Rua is a potential new star in the making. Her bright demeanour and morning sun are just the tonic right now to overcome life’s various curveballs.

Debuting with the positive pop narrative of ‘Don’t Cut Your Angels’, it was catchy and joyous in the way it hit all manner of scales.

But with her debut EP ‘Light Up Your Dark’ released on Aztec Records, within the infectious innocence and messages of motivation, the Brighton-based Swedish songstress displayed some of her more introspective possibilities on the brilliant title song.

Hanna Rua kindly stopped by for a quick chat with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about opening herself to all sorts of directions, embracing electronic pop and going disco…

How did you become to be captivated by electronic-based pop, as opposed to R’n’B or rock?

I have always been into pop music, growing up there was a lot of ABBA (which there still is), Spice Girls, Aqua and Kelly Clarkson. I’m not pretentious when it comes to music, I enjoy it when it’s not too difficult, songs with catchy clear melodies that you can easily sing along to, it can be both an emotional ballad or a happy dance song, as long as I can sing along I’m happy.

It wasn’t until I met my co-writer and producer Sam Martin that I started doing synthpop. Sam was experimenting with 80s inspired synth music and I co-wrote a song with him just for fun. Our collaboration worked so well and I liked the genre, it was nostalgic and fun. I felt like it allowed me to be playful and imaginative with the lyrics and vocals and that I could be a bit cheesy and theatrical, which I love. We decided to keep writing together and stick to this style, and that’s how the EP became to be.

Did you have a more traditional music background?

I’ve always been a lot of pop, Disney and musicals. When I started the music program at the gymnasium / upper second school at 16 and I had my first vocal lessons, I was mostly focused on musicals and pop ballads. Back then, my plan was to either become a Broadway star, a singer for Disney movies, or the next ”Celine Dion” and sing heartfelt power ballads. Now the main focus for me is to just make great music that I myself would listen do, and songs that are fun for me to sing.

‘Don’t Cut Your Angels’ was a fantastic first single, how did that come together lyrically and musically?

Thank you! Sam sent me a rough instrumental backing track of the song for me to write something for. I liked the melody and the synth lines so I gave it a try and came up with a topline. Sam then helped me polish the lyrics. I recorded the vocals in Sweden in my old room with my home studio equipment, Sam was guiding me on how to record the vocals properly. I then sent him the vocal stems and he put it together in Brighton.

How would you describe your creative dynamic with Sam Martin?

I think we complement each other well. My strength is to write toplines, and Sam is brilliant at creating soundscapes, melodies and arranging songs, he’s also good with lyrics. There’s been times when I’ve doubted myself and my abilities and Sam has been a great support in those times, he’s pushed me to believe in myself, to not listen to the gremlins in my head, and to also challenge myself vocally and sing in ways I’m not used to.

We actually wrote all our songs remotely. It was during the pandemic and Sam was in Brighton and I in Sweden. It was tricky but since we work the way we do (he sent me backing tracks for me to write to), it worked well for us.

Talking of Martins, what do you think of the more synthpop based material that Max Martin (with Oscar Holter of NECRO FACILITY) is doing with THE WEEKND?

I love THE WEEKND’s synth album, especially ‘Blinding Lights’ and ‘In Your Eyes’. This album is actually something that Sam and I used as inspiration for the EP.

There was some confusion initially about what artist moniker to use? Was this prompted by the need for an online presence in the modern music world?

Hanna was just too generic, there were too many artists with that name which would make it hard for people to find me, and I felt it wasn’t exciting enough. Hanna is my real name and I wanted to have an artist name that would separate my personal self from my artist self. Therefore I added the Rua.

How have you been handling the social media attention you have received since ‘Don’t Cut Your Angels’?

I was pleasantly surprised that so many seemed to love ‘DCYA’. Radio stations were playing it, it got great reviews from music blogs and friends and family were loving it as well. It was humbling and touching. However, it’s been harder than I thought it would be to spread the song further, maybe I had hoped that the song would get a ”life on its own” and just magically spread. I think it’s a great song that deserves attention, so I’m still hoping for that big break.

‘Tears On Your Pillow’, a song about unfulfilled dreams and encourages the listener to “get up again”, do you write from a personal perspective or in a narrative?

Like with almost all of the other songs for this EP, this song is about finding the light in the dark. I have written it from a narrative more than from my own experiences. I of course have days where I struggle like any other person, but I’m in general a joyful person with a positive outlook on life.

I think I have my spirituality to thank for that. I believe that we’re all souls living a temporary human life and when we die we just go somewhere else, we never actually truly die. I believe that things happen for a reason, good and bad, and that on a grand scale – all is well. This is what I’ve tried to communicate through these songs.

‘Hear Me Now’ is airy angelic pop which allows you to project a scaling vocal style, how big is your range and what do you consider in the studio when deciding how best you use your voice?

I have a wide range, I can sing alto, mezzo soprano and soprano, but I am most comfortable in the middle. The songs in this EP are quite up there though, so I’ve had to push my vocals more than I’m used to in order to reach the higher notes, it’s been challenging but worth it. ‘Don’t Cut Your Angels’ were initially in a lower key but it sounded much better higher, it made it sound brighter and more energetic.

Your debut EP ‘Light Up The Dark’ features a wonderful title track that recalls ‘Cynisk’ by Swedish veterans LUSTANS LAKEJER, are you familiar with their work or is this “unga moderna” something you would prefer to leave with your parents’ generation?

I’ve heard of them, but am not familiar with their music. I listened to ‘Cynisk’ now and you’re right, it does have similarities to ‘Light Up Your Dark’. ‘LUYD’ is an unusually dark song to be coming from me, but I think it’s nice to show some variation, even though I personally prefer the happy songs. And LUSTANS LAKEJER, I think I’d rather leave it with my parents 😉

You made an online video of you singing ABBA’s ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’, what did you think of the return of Agnetha, Björn & Benny and Anni-Frid? Are you intending to see the ABBA-tars ‘Voyage’ show?

ABBA is my favourite band and I loved that they put out another album and was eager to hear it. I am not that eager to see the show though, maybe I will sound a bit old-fashioned but I like my artists to be present on stage, digital avatars scare me a little to be honest. If only I could have gone back in time and see ABBA in their heyday, that’d be something.

What is next for you? Are you intending to perform live at all?

I am currently working on new songs with a writer and producer called Villemann, and we’re going a slightly different direction. We’re making funky disco music, dance floor songs. I love dancing and I love disco music (the more strings the better) so this is something I think was bound to happen sooner or later.

With my EP ‘Light Up Your Dark’, I wanted to encourage people to think positively, now I just want to make people dance and not think at all! I am putting together a live show at the moment and I already have two gigs booked for this autumn, location and date will be announced soon…

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Hanna Rua

Special thanks to John Feltham at Aztec Records

‘Light Up Your Dark’ is released as a digital EP by Aztec Records, available via https://hannaruamusic.bandcamp.com/releases

https://www.hannarua.com/

https://www.facebook.com/hannaruamusic

https://twitter.com/Hannaruamusic

https://www.instagram.com/hannaruamusic/

https://open.spotify.com/album/3ZcifuP5TRKg3YRPec3fwz

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
20th September 2022

MECHA MAIKO NOT OK

17 September 2022 /

Toronto-based synthy songstress Hayley Stewart is back as MECHA MAIKO with her third long player ‘NOT OK’. Conceived in a rural retreat away from civilisation on her synthpop farm before being finished in the big city with engineer and producer Jack Marko, the various social-political flashpoints that emerged during the worldwide pandemic such as Black Lives Matter, misogyny, fake news, corruption and global warming shape the themes of ‘NOT OK’.

Hayley Stewart first became known as a member of DEAD ASTRONAUTS with Jared Nickerson, appearing on the albums ‘Constellations’ and ‘Arms Of Night’. But she found herself a solo creative outlet as the Japanese inspired MECHA MAIKO; the resulting 2018 debut record ‘Mad But Soft’ was a collection of sweet dreamy synthpop and featured ‘Cold’, a collaboration with fellow Canadian Dana Jean Phoenix. The interim ‘Okiya’ EP from 2019 stated greater ambitions and demonstrated that Stewart was already standing apart from many of the acts who she appeared with on ‘The Rise Of The Synths’ documentary in her uninhibited experimental approach.

This was all swiftly cemented by the marvellous second album ‘Let’s!’; its opening track ‘Apathy’ saw a quirky amalgam of swing, techno and Far Eastern influences which seemed ridiculous on paper but proved to be magnificent in practice. Also from ‘Let’s!’, ‘Phones’ was a Eurocentric club friendly offering that presented MECHA MAIKO’s answer to ‘Rhythm Is A Dancer’ and in hindsight, was a sign of things to come.

The MECHA MAIKO Bento box continues its care-free sonic development on ‘NOT OK’ which sees a greater influx of dance rhythms acting as the backbone to the catchy imaginative electronica. Opener ‘Innocent’ starts sedately but spacey pulsations and otherworldly detunings provide a Sci-Fi setting for Stewart’s pretty vocals. Feeling the force of some mighty electro, ‘Sunny, Softly (I Feel Love)’ throws in the iconic throb from the Giorgio Moroder produced Donna Summer hit for a glorious beat driven statement enhanced by an angelic delivery.

The thumping ‘400 Humans’ thrusts the agenda further to the point that it is almost EBM before it threatens to do even stranger things and morph into ‘Running Up That Hill’. Meanwhile ‘Hard’ does as the title suggests with Stewart treating the listener to her high-pitched warble as she enunciates over pentatonic interventions and a frantic rhythmic construction.

‘Shut It Down’ takes its lead from more house-driven forms but also adds an oriental twist while as an observation of those youngsters “born under the bus”, ‘The Kids’ is an attack on the spectre of the far right while utilising the charm of tinny drum machines in its trip to Detroit with some sparkling keyboard work and enticing synthesizer drama.

The industrial disco of ‘Webs’ uses metallic textures and compressed snare snaps over a pattern of repetition that echoes early HEAVEN 17 and DEPECHE MODE so as a result, comes over like Philadelphian synth girl Catherine Moan. At a moderate pace with something more musically introspective, ‘Broken Tongue’ adopts various drones but is still hauntingly melodic and addictively squelchy, building and cleverly altering into different aesthetic layers as it progresses to its conclusion.

Possibly the darkest track on the album, ‘Name Power’ offers buzz ‘n’ grit in a call-to-action that alters in tempo at various stages to suit. With shades of Kelli Ali, the sombre doom syncopation of ‘NOT OK’ is a worthy title track with cascading arpeggios, penetrative synthbass and an incessant beat to accompany a passionate message that “IT’S NOT OK”.

While the programme is traditionally concluded, a bonus track appears in a move off concept due to it being about ‘Just Some Guy’; speedy synthetic drum mantras and HI-NRG digital claps accompany the absorbing machine disco to provide the +1, like a B-side stuck onto the space left on one side of a C90 tape after recording the album.

While earlier MECHA MAIKO works may have had a charming naivety, a more worldly lyrical maturity has enveloped while not losing the sense of fun in the instrumentation. This ensures that the message can get through and be appreciated on a number of levels. As OMD proved in the past and as outlined in a Charlie Brown meme “…beautiful melodies telling me terrible things” is a highly impactful approach.

‘NOT OK’ is a fine collection of dance-friendly avant pop; as our heroine herself said: “Hopefully it can validate some of the feelings and frustrations that others have been grappling with, and to serve as a reminder that we don’t have to accept things as they are”

‘NOT OK’ is released by New Retro Wave, available as a white / black coloured vinyl, CD, cassette, Minidisc and download from https://newretrowave.bandcamp.com/album/not-ok

https://www.mechamaiko.com/

https://www.facebook.com/mechamaiko/

https://twitter.com/mechamaiko

https://www.instagram.com/mechamaiko/

https://soundcloud.com/mecha-maiko

https://open.spotify.com/album/2ghVQRu4Wn1cS2FccPzZWQ

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Zackery Hobler
17th September 2022

Lost Albums: STACEY Q Better Than Heaven

15 September 2022 /

Born Stacey Lynn Swain, Stacey Q is the Californian songstress best known for the 1986 international hit single ‘Two Of Hearts’.

However Stacey Q did not export to Britain in great numbers and ‘Two Of Hearts’ only reached No87 in the UK chart. But the single was a Top10 in West Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland and Canada. Meanwhile its parent album ‘Better Than Heaven’ was certified gold in the USA but thanks to it gaining cult status in the UK over the decades, it is now reissued by Cherry Red Records as a deluxe 2CD set featuring the period’s 12” mixes and assorted single edits.

Stacey Lynn Swain studied ballet and performed as a showgirl, but she found herself a job on a Los Angeles radio station making introductions and announcements while impersonating members of THE GO-GO’S. In 1981, Swain was introduced to Jon St James of Casbah Recording Studio and Dan Van Patten who had produced BERLIN and their ‘Pleasure Victim’ mini-album. The pair had been developing a KRAFTWERK and M influenced project called Q named after the James Bond character. While working as assistant producer on the Q EP, Swain was asked to contribute vocals to the song ‘Sushi’. In promotion, the threesome identified themselves as Jon Q, Dan Q and Stacey Q.

Q were only a moderate success but St James and Swain continued working on songs and the project morphed into SSQ with the inclusion of drummer Karl Moet and synth player Rich West. In 1983, the album ‘Playback’ was released and featured the catchy BERLIN meets MISSING PERSONS single ‘Synthicide’.

Jon St James was convinced he had a star on his hands so using Stacey Q as her solo moniker, Stacey Lynn Swain released her first single ‘Shy Girl’ and a self-titled cassette EP in 1985. The latter featured ‘Two Of Hearts’, a song written by John Mitchell which was brought in by St James via his studio network. The EP attracted interest from several labels so St. James brokered a multi-album deal with Atlantic Records.

Recorded in three weeks, the ‘Better Than Heaven’ album also featured SSQ members Moet and West as backing musicians and songwriters, although main compositional duties remained with St. James. Opening with ‘Two Of Hearts’, it remains a classic Eurocentric dance tune, more rigid than Madonna and played quite straight compared to Cyndi Lauper, but nevertheless, its appeal has stood the test of time. As a feistier sister song, ‘We Connect’ raised the BPM stakes slightly but it was an enjoyable variation on the theme with more percussive interplay.

Despite an octave shift blow-out, ‘Insecurity’ allowed space for a spirited vocal like a HI-NRG Belinda Carlisle with minimal but juicy hooks. Meanwhile with the wonderfully pretty and metronomic ‘Better Then Heaven’ title track, it wasn’t difficult to imagine it on the soundtrack of a John Hughes movie.

However with its harp samples, ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ took things midtempo in the album’s nearest thing to a ballad, although the overblown synth toms that were ubiquitous back in the day sound obtrusive today. With a fantastic range of keys and synths, ‘Music Out Of Bounds’ took a leaf out of the Jam & Lewis production manual and its delivery was sumptuous in its electro funky homage to Cherelle, the singer who did the original version of ‘I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On’.

Going clap and cowbell crazy, the Latin-tinged ‘Love Or Desire’ was a true HI-NRG romp driven by some boisterous triplets. Meanwhile with a wispy innocence and some cute voice sample hooks, ‘Don’t Break My Heart’ grooved in a soulful manner that was a clearly an influence on dreamier modern day exponents such as Sally Shapiro.

With a strident synthbass squelch, ‘He Doesn’t Understand’ placed string pads and a cacophony of vocal stabs into a hypnotic cocoon for a punchy dance pop excursion that remains clearly in the root of Norwegian songstress Annie’s style although the track’s closing fade remains a little strange.

Sounding like a Moroder production for BERLIN thanks to its crashing LinnDrum, ‘Dancing Nowhere’ closed the album with orchestral stabs, deck scratching and a guitar solo around a fierce backbone while confirming its spiritual connection with Terri Nunn and John Crawford’s combo in its male vocal harmonises.

The second Stacey Q album ‘Hard Machine’ was released in 1988 while the final Atlantic era long player ‘Nights Like This’ came the year after. Although singles such as ‘Don’t Make A Fool Of Yourself’ and ‘Give You All My Love’ maintained her profile in the clubs, album sales were down compared with ‘Better Than Heaven’.

Swain returned as Stacey Q in 1997 with the ‘Boomerang’ album and followed it up 3 years later with ‘Color Me Cinnamon’. More recently, SSQ made a surprise return in 2020 with a new album entitled ‘Jet Town Je T’aime’ while Stacey Q still performs on the North American nostalgia circuit alongside the likes of MISSING PERSONS, ANIMOTION, A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS, WANG CHUNG, NAKED EYES, MEN WITHOUT HATS, TRANS-X and THE FLIRTS.

Achieving longevity, ‘Two Of Hearts’ itself was featured in the 2003 Macaulay Culkin and Seth Green electroclash movie ‘Party Monster’ alongside ABC and LADYTRON while it was covered by Annie in 2008 in a squelchy electro production by Richard X. Stacey Q may have begun as a ‘Shy Girl’ but with its fair number of tunes as good as ‘Two Of Hearts’, ‘Better Than Heaven’ is a reminder how fun and carefree pop music once was and should still be. This remains a collection of wonderfully innocent escapism.

‘Better Than Heaven’ is released by Cherry Red Records as a 2CD set on 16th September 2022, pre-order from https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/stacey-q-better-than-heaven-2cd-edition/

https://www.facebook.com/people/Stacey-Q/100040905591794

https://twitter.com/officialStaceyQ

https://www.instagram.com/staceyqband/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
15th September 2022

DINER Cassini EP

12 September 2022 /

Emerging Chinese singer / songwriter Diner Liu is the latest artist to follow bands such as STOLEN and Re-TROS to make a breakthrough in the West.

Born in China but also living and studying in Hong Kong and London, like Fifi Rong who collaborated with YELLO, Diner Liu is a cross culture kid.

In 2021, she released her eerie alternative rock driven debut EP ‘Inevitable’ on China’s leading independent music label Modern Sky. The second EP ‘Cassini’ sees her working with Berlin-based Mancunian Mark Reeder and his long time studio partner Micha Adam.

Having been inspired by ‘Blue Monday’, Diner Liu’s post-punk sound has been embellished by pentatonic textures and a greater use of electronic dance elements, hence the invitation for the NEW ORDER connected Reeder to be at the production helm. Influences range from PJ Harvey to traditional Chinese music with Patrick Cowley sitting in between.

With a greater but not exclusive use of synths, it is fitting that this sophomore work was conceived around the 2017 Cassini–Huygens space research mission to the planet Saturn. At the conclusion of its mission, the probe deorbited and burned up in the gas giant’s upper atmosphere. Written in London, Beijing and Berlin, Diner Liu was inspired by the mission’s parallels to her own personal health; having suffered from an extremely rare disease called LGESS, she eventually lost her uterus before she was 24.

Despite her mental and physical battles dealing with the situation, she saw that her life journey and music career were only just getting started. So just as the Cassini probe eventually burned up around Saturn, she saw a new chapter beginning, realising that “starting a family might not be the ultimate goal of my life.”

The best track on ‘Cassini’ comes with the rhythmic  ‘大星’ (‘Big Star’) which takes on a wonderfully cosmic air that comes dressed with Guzheng, a Chinese zither that even SPANDAU BALLET once used on the experimental ‘Innocence & Science’ from 1982’s ‘Diamond’ album.

Meanwhile, the colder ‘Cassini’ title song is a steadfast slice of Sci-Fi electro featuring Mark Reeder’s trademark synthbass pulse over a bangy offbeat, with the hypnotism enhanced by the enigmatic vocals as the closing mutant metallic textures provide the cerebral sensations.

The remainder of the EP offers variations on modern post-punk augmented with live guitar and drums.  ‘Athena’ musically recalls JOY DIVISION but proceedings are progressively paced up into an exotic throbbing trance while with synthy swoops and a tinkling motif, ‘Circle Of A Down’ captures a mysterious Middle Eastern flavoured vibe from Diner Liu’s angelic tones contrasting with the inherent sense of foreboding. The percussion-less ‘Exile’ is shaped by six string and ivories, but the downbeat doom of ‘Midnight Panorama’ takes an unexpected turn into dreamy electro which is reminiscent of Kid Moxie.

With a stylistic blend and commentary on the uncertainties of life, its extinction and its rebirth, this EP captures a dark romantic consciousness as all good gothically inclined journeys should. Life can be fulfilling outside of the expected conventions.

‘Cassini’ is released by Modern Sky and available now on the usual online platforms

https://www.instagram.com/kydiner/

https://www.modernsky.com/home/artists/216

https://open.spotify.com/album/5I9Xuf6beLX0HxCJ7397Kd

Text by Chi Ming Lai
12th September 2022

MINIMAL SCHLAGER Love, Sex & Dreams

9 September 2022 /


Based in London and Berlin, MINIMAL SCHLAGER began in 2020 during the pandemic.

Remotely, they developed a brand of synth heavy dreampop that was debuted on their ‘Voodoo Eyes’ EP in 2021; it included an unusual dark electro-disco take on JOY DIVISION’s ‘Disorder’.

With no songs carried over from ‘Voodoo Eyes’, Argentine sibling duo Alicia Macanás and Francisco Parisi have recorded their first album ‘Love, Sex & Dreams’ in Berlin with producer Robbie Moore whose credits have included THE IRREPRESSIBLES and PEACHES.

The MINIMAL SCHLAGER name dates back to when Macanás first moved to Berlin and was a reaction to her German friends who considered that the domestic melodic pop form of Schlager was not worthy; so she came up with the concept of “Minimalistic Schlager”.

Opening ‘Love, Sex & Dreams’, ‘Nana Del Caballo Grande’ packs a punch with a sombre electronic bassline and a reverberant calling in their native tongue for a “Lullaby of the Big Horse”, before a Rachmaninov mini-piano concerto cocooned in shoegaze appears.

Following on, ‘Before’ captures strident moods and airy vocals but despite their moniker of minimalism, this is a densely produced affair. As discussed in the brief studio banter beforehand, ‘Forbidden Fruit’ is ghostly with an ominous octave shift thrust and alluring “little girl lost” enunciations that wouldn’t sound out of place on a David Lynch film soundtrack.

Sounding like it could have come straight out of the Italian Do It Better playbook with a delicious feline quality, ‘Rush’ is gorgeous Europop escapism, tingling with joy in its disco vibes and electrifying synth solo. With a message of resilience and hope, it is a song that gets high on life.

Possibly even better, ‘Submission’ is a more of a new wave number with subtle guitar, glistening synths and a rhythmic bounce that sets it apart from the other songs. While it is all very is sexy, the chorus is exhilarating as “For a second, I know I can win!”

After that slice of optimism, ‘Fate’ returns to the album’s earlier introspection as “it’s so over” but Macanás remains enticing in her delivery, especially in the more major key chorus that get instrumental support from some higher range keys despite the cacophony of distortion underneath.

Buzzing but pretty, ‘Glow’ provides a seductive uplift as the title suggests, although the gnarled keyboard lines offset any illusions that perhaps something is maybe on the cards.

Almost electroclash in its frantic construction, ‘Euphoria’ verges on Miss Kittin territory in its semi-spoken expression. And when it dynamically jumps up a gear halfway into an angelic chorus trapped within a wall of strung and synthetic sound, it is enthralling.

‘Ridiculous’ pars things down with a disntinctly metronomic backbeat as Macanás laments while “crying over spilled milk every day” because it was “too ridiculous to save” and “it took me a while to know”. Taking things right down, the organ-led ‘Prayers’ acts as a haunting closer and at times, comes over like an indie Fifi Rong.

Delightfully delicious with a good number of excellent songs in different colours and different shades, ‘Love, Sex & Dreams’ is a wonderful debut album that does exactly what is says on the tin! Artful, alluring and enchanting, this is the modern spirit of la nueva ola.

‘Love, Sex & Dreams’ is released by Duchess Box Records as a limited edition red vinyl LP available from https://minimalschlager.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/minimalschlager

https://twitter.com/minimalschlager

https://www.instagram.com/minimal.schlager/

https://spoti.fi/3i3X2rQ

Text by Chi Ming Lai
9th September 2022

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