Category: Reviews (Page 97 of 200)

BOY HARSHER Fate

24 December 2018 /


Following up the moody cosmic synthpop of ‘Face The Fire’, Massachusetts duo BOY HARSHER have issued a second single ‘Fate’ from their forthcoming sophomore album ‘Careful’.

Coming over a bit like ADULT. meeting THE KVB, the pairing of Jae Matthews and Augustus Muller first started working together in 2014 through a need to produce and consume, experimenting with sound, video and text.

Their first full length album ‘Yr Body is Nothing’ came out in 2016 and featured the gloomy single ‘Last Days’. ‘Fate’ is comparatively brighter but no less introspective, with a spiky electronic hook and hypnotic staccato bass line laced with Matthews’ hazy nonchalant vocals and layers of disconcerting synthesizers.

“This song is about how there’s no amount of running that will prevent you from your life” the duo explain, “You are raw and beat-down, yet you will continue to behave the same way – Fate is your own trouble, a magnetic force that’s stuck on you forever.”

With suitably blood curdling horror video directed by Bryan M. Ferguson recalling the Scarlet Johansson art horror flick ‘Under The Skin’ but without the nudity, it too was also filmed in Glasgow, the city where you go out for a laugh but leave in stiches…

Out in February 2019 via their own Nude Club Records imprint, ‘Careful’ is said to see BOY HARSHER “use the medium of minimal electronics to create a compelling narrative of a deteriorating family and the reaction to run away from it”.

Embroiled in Matthews and Muller’s emotional surroundings and potentially self-destructive creative tension, it attempts “to detail the enveloping trauma of loss combined with the fantasy of escape”.

‘Fate’ is from the upcoming album ‘Careful’ released on 1st February 2019 by Nude Club Records

BOY HARSHER play the following UK dates in 2019: Bristol Lanes (24th February), Leeds Wharf Chambers (25th February), Manchester Soup Kitchen (26th February), London Heaven (27th February)

http://boyharsher.com

https://www.facebook.com/boyharsher

https://twitter.com/boyharsher

https://www.instagram.com/boyharsher

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Nedda Afsari
24th December 2018

SARAH P. Maenads

14 December 2018 /


There’s a group of female artists out there, who are doing it for the girls and SARAH P. is certainly one of them.

Sarah Anna Psalti-Helbig started her love affair with music, while studying drama, by fronting the critically acclaimed Greek act KEEP SHELLY IN ATHENS for four years.

Looking for more opportunities, she moved to Berlin where her solo career took off with a bang around the release of a rather mature and deep LP ‘Who Am I’.

This winter sees her returning Greek goddess style with a five song EP borrowing its name from Greek mythology. ‘Maenads’ are female followers of Dionysus, the god of theatre, fertility and wine and SARAH P. feels united with her Hellenic heritage and describes the release as a true representation of herself.


“This record is the link between my previous work and what’s coming” she said, “Free symbolised my rebirth as an artist, Who Am I helped me discover different music paths and Maenads is representing 100% me, both musically and as an individual. I’m not big on classifying my music in genres, because I believe that this process is taking away from the magic of listening. I think that Maenads is way more accessible than my previous work, yet mysterious and uncommon.”

Indeed the opening ‘Sappho’s Leap’ borrows from traditional Greek poetry, and acts as a prelude to breathy ‘Mneme’, with whispered words and sparse guitar, seeing SARAH P. creating an amalgamation between KATE BUSH and BJÖRK vocally, while the musicality of this track hovers between dream pop and alternative, all wrapped in an unlaboured and carefree lullaby; a lullaby where the voice vixen channels her inner Robert Smith.

The need to rely on oneself is expressed in the foxy ‘Lotus Eaters’, which tunefully continues the echoes of THE CURE meeting THE PIXIES; the voice is edgy and sweet with an undertone of seduction. We mustn’t sleep, we must open our minds and make the change.

“We can’t undo our history, but we can learn from it and shape our future” is the message relayed in ‘Cybele’s Dream’, which is a serious tale of SARAH P.’s own heritage told by her ancestors.

The artist calls for a greater consideration of the burning issue of refugees over an easy listening piece, reminiscent of TEARS FOR FEARS. The closing eponymous track changes the tempo and direction, appearing to be more of a dance tune, celebrating the beauty and fun of Athens, MARNIE style.

More accessible than her previous provisions? Perhaps. Different? Hell, yes! One thing is for certain; SARAH P. is ever evolving and is on the right track, creating genre of her own and refusing to be categorised and labelled. The creation of music is a fluid process and no boundaries are required.

‘Maenads’ is released by EraseRestart Records via the usual digital outlets at http://smarturl.it/sarahpmaenads

http://sarahpofficial.com/

https://www.facebook.com/sarahpofficial/

https://twitter.com/sarahpofficial

https://www.instagram.com/sarahpofficial/

https://www.amour-records.com/sarah-p

https://open.spotify.com/album/5iaaDv6Oydcr40h7GKPzrQ

Text by Monika Izabela Trigwell
Photos by George Geranios
14th December 2018

OLLIE WRIDE The Driver

10 December 2018 /

Although best known as the lead vocalist for FM-84, the San Francisco based vehicle for Scotsman Colin Bennett, Los Angeles domiciled Brightonian Ollie Wride has been working with another Scot Michael Oakley on solo material.

And while ‘Running In The Night’ in 2016 with FM-84 made him more widely known within Synthwave circles, Wride’s ‘The Driver’ explores the synth assisted pop rock of Billy Idol and SIMPLE MINDS with a dynamic production from Michael Oakley, who himself could potentially develop into the next Keith Forsey, a one-time protégé of Da Maestro Giorgio Moroder.

Directed by Brad A Kinnan and filmed in Los Angeles, the visually accompaniment captures Wride as an outsider driving an open-top Buick who is living in the shadows of his past life and performing in seedy clubs.

With guitars by Chris Huggett who also co-wrote ‘The Driver’, the song follows up Wride’s previous popwave solo singles ‘Never Live Without You’ and ‘Overcome’. Also featuring THE NIGHT HOUR, the track shows how a Trans-Atlantic aesthetic can be applied effectively without wholly submitting to the insipid overtures of AOR.

Wride will be back in the UK with FM-84 for a sold out gig at The Garage in London on Saturday 16th February 2019, while Oakley has just released a new single ‘Control’ which will feature on his forthcoming debut album ‘Introspect’ and which was also co-written with Wride ?

‘The Driver’ is released by New Retro Wave and available from the usual digital outlets

https://olliewride.com/

https://www.facebook.com/olliewrideofficial/

https://twitter.com/OllieWride

https://www.instagram.com/olliewride/

https://www.facebook.com/fm84music/

https://www.facebook.com/MichaelOakleyOfficial/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
10th December 2018

I AM SNOW ANGEL Honeybee

5 December 2018 /

With her ‘Mothership’ opus about to land soon, Lake Placid’s I AM SNOW ANGEL has presented a new in-studio performance video of her current single ‘Honeybee’.

The vehicle of songstress and producer Julie Kathryn, her wonderful debut long player ‘Crocodile’ was a quietly subversive statement that crossed modern electronica with some Americana twang and even closed with a wispy drum ‘n’ bass cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘I’m On Fire’.

Recorded appropriately enough in a cabin located in the wintery Adirondack Woods which are north of New York, ‘Honeybee’ has been presented in two versions, depicting according to Kathryn: “two iterations of a dark and bittersweet metaphorical world where alienation is omnipresent, and love and salvation are ephemeral (never truly unattainable no matter how much I long for them).”

“In the City Mix” she said, “I overlayed trap beats with glitchy and robotic vocals to help bring the song’s melody to life while also depicting the inevitable merging of technology and nature.”

However, the more sedate and barer Cabin Mix recalls haunting air of Hilary Woods who released her debut solo album ‘Colt’ on Sacred Bones earlier this year; “I employed onamonapia by using sounds that, to me, are reminiscent of the buzzing and gurgling of a honeybee and it’s honeycomb lair, but with a dark edge.”

‘Honeybee’ is the follow-up to the chillingly bittersweet ‘You Were Mine’ and the long awaited parent long player ‘Mothership’ is now slated for 25th January 2019. As well as finishing the I AM SNOW ANGEL album, Kathryn has also undertaken some sound design with her own Dream Pack for Splice as well as engineering and producing ‘No Sound’, the new single by Canadian singer / songwriter Grace Lachance.

But despite the workload, Kathryn simply says: “I’m so grateful that I get to make music all day every day ✨? “

‘Honeybee’ available as a download via the usual digital outlets

The album ‘Mothership’ is released on 25th January 2019

http://iamsnowangel.com/

https://www.facebook.com/iamsnowangel

https://twitter.com/I_Am_SnowAngel

https://www.instagram.com/i_am_snowangel/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
5th December 2018

FUTURECOP! featuring PARALLELS Edge Of The Universe

26 November 2018 /

Featuring the delightful vocals of Holly Dodson from Canadian synthpop trio PARALLELS, ‘Edge Of The Universe’ is the new single by FUTURECOP!

The project of Mancunian Manzur Iqbal and his first new material since 2014, ‘Edge Of The Universe’ is a synthetic burst of Manga colour not far off the catchy sweetly flavoured ‘Metropolis’ album which gained PARALLELS some well-deserved momentum internationally. Iqbal says ‘Edge Of The Universe’ was “inspired by a mix of 80s Japanese pop culture, eighties American Teen movies and Retro Space Adventure Japanese-Western cartoons” and probably wouldn’t have sounded out of place on the soundtrack of an Anime remake ‘Pretty In Pink’ or ‘Some Kind Of Wonderful’.

A new album is pencilled in for 2019 to follow-up 2014 ‘Fairy Tales’, although ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK sincerely hopes that the FUTURECOP! declaration of Bruce Hornby as an influence is just an idle threat…

Meanwhile, the tune comes suitably dressed in a soft-focus visual presentation filmed in Osaka, Japan which is directed by Anise Mariko who has previously given her mikineko productions video treatment to the likes of COMPUTER MAGIC and SHOOK.

“Manzur first approached me about a year ago about co-writing some of their tracks. I’ve been a big fan of FUTURECOP! for so long so it was really cool to get to join our worlds. I feel like we both share similar influences, so the lyrical themes came through quite clearly for the instrumentals he sent.” Holly Dodson told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, “We worked over email, Manzur sent me demos, I recorded the vocals at my studio here in Toronto then he finished the productions in the UK”.

She continued, “Luckily we had some great synergy happening, when I heard the instrumentals I basically knew what I wanted to write upon first listen and Manzur was totally on board. I felt completely comfortable going dreamy and adventurous with them, a bit spiritual as well… even so far as to the edge of the universe 🙂 “

For PARALLELS, the RADIO WOLF remix of ‘The Last Man’ and the enjoyable ‘Golden’ recorded with Chris Huggett (not the WASP synth designer!) had been their only releases in 2018 so far.

But following a superb debut at Zigfrid Von Underbelly in London at Easter, their live double billing with German songstress NINA has just recently completed its American leg to great success and acclaim.

‘Edge Of The Universe’ is released by New Retro Wave Records as a digital bundle with four additional remixes

https://www.futurecop.info/

https://facebook.com/futurecopofficial/

https://twitter.com/futurecopx

https://www.instagram.com/futurecopofficial/

http://www.iloveparallels.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Parallels/

https://twitter.com/iloveparallels

https://www.instagram.com/iloveparallels/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Hayley Stewart
26th November 2018

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