Stream Petrol Station - Sorcha Richardson

Sorcha Richardson's Petrol Station has a number of things going for it. In the verses her vocals have just enough exposure to feel like a contemporary reimagining of Tom's Diner. In the chorus overdubbed vocals and heavier waves of synth create an infectious sense of forward momentum. The whole thing is tied up in a bow of mournful autumnal sense of neediness that feel irresistible. I just want to wrap it up in a warm hug.

Sorcha Richardson is an Irish-born New York-resident musician and Petrol Station follows a number of festival performances in Ireland and both headline shows and festival appearances in the US. Having moved to New York five years ago Richardson won over audiences with her bedroom recorded EP Sleep Will Set Me Free, which attracted 200,000 plays on Soundcloud, followed by her Last Train EP, released via Crosswalk Records/Delicieuse Musique.

Petrol Station will be released on May the 26th with a number of summer shows planned across the USA in 2015.

Show some love on hypem.com: http://hypem.com/track/2b9fk/Sorcha+Richardson+-+Petrol+Station Produced by @bailemusic Recorded by Gian Stone at Stone Recording Mixed by Gian Stone and Harper James at Stone Recording Mastered by Anthony Scott DePerto at ANS Studio Artwork by Shane Gormley Lyrics: We stayed up late to watch a movie April fools I think a Tuesday Spring had just arrived And so our clothes were hanging loosely We stepped outside To the old petrol station Out of nowhere started raining Kinda suited the occasion Reminded me of when we spent our whole summer vacation Two thousand eleven Sleeping in my basement Looking back I think that we just spent those 2 weeks wasted Some side of love we tasted You find your love you chase it If I, If I never told you That I wanna hold you That I wanna hold you I just wish it was old news If I, If I never told you That I wanna hold you That I wanna hold you I just wish it was old news By now, Cause you're coming over to my house You're coming over to my house Red eyes don't get rid of your doubt By now, Cause you're coming over to my house You're coming over to my house Red eyes don't get rid of your doubt We stayed up late to watch the day arrive Lucky number 25 Take a minute Just to live it And that's when you'll realize Every now and then The worst week makes the best weekend And everything is better Because I'm with all my friends Some suburban kids just getting drunk out in the garden Sitting by a swimming pool With the best dressed kid from Harlem Grass stains on my shoes My rib cage is bruised But that side of love we tasted You find that stuff you chase it If I, If I never told you That I wanna hold you That I wanna hold you I just wish it was old news If I, If I never told you That I wanna hold you That I wanna hold you I just wish it was old news By now, Cause you're coming over to my house You're coming over to my house Red eyes don't get rid of your doubt By now, Cause you're coming over to my house You're coming over to my house Red eyes don't get rid of your doubt I'm not holding out For anything better Can we just stay here forever? Can we just stay here forever? I'm not holding out For anything better Can we just stay here forever? Can we just stay here forever? I'm not holding out For anything better Can we just stay here forever? Can we just stay here forever? I'm not holding out For anything better Can we just stay here forever? Can we just stay here Cause I should have told you By now, Cause you're coming over to my house You're coming over to my house Red eyes don't get rid of your doubt By now, Cause you're coming over to my house You're coming over to my house Red eyes don't get rid of your doubt

EP Review: Hold It Like I Own It - Horixon feat. Maya

One of a clutch of tracks Eskimo have released from their recent Orange Collection compilation, Hold It Like I Own It is the new release from Horixon, featuring vocals from Maya.

Back when I reviewed The Orange Collection I described Hold It Like I Own It as "a glittering moment of electronic pop - a powerful vocal hook riding a deep sine wave bassline”… That still stands, but here the track is given a number of re-imaginings that build on the it.

The original (and its accompanying extended version) retains a sun blushed innocence, soft keys and husky melodic vocals soaring over clean percussion. First up on the remixes, label mates This Soft Machine give the track a slightly more cosmic and progressive sound, with a staggered building bassline and reverberating whooshing effects. The same act also provide an extended dub, which gives a deeper, druggier feel to the other mix and extends it out to a full ten-minutes.

Hermigervill’s remix is more Balearic - almost garage-influenced with swinging rhythms and loose, hollow bass. It’s a natural fit to the original and just as delicately played. Hermigervill’s dub is a deeper version of the same style, but with the extra space giving it a more minimal tech feel, albeit one that still feels drenched in sun and would be perfect for that post-sunset-on-the-beach moment.

Finally an additional original track rounds out the package - Burnt Orange is a deeper instrumental cut, the sound of hot weather and long evenings, the music warping like a mirage in the midday sun or vinyl left outside.

Hold It Like I Own It is out on Monday through Eskimo Recordings. Listen to the original below:

Stream: Shine - Years & Years

As we near the release of their debut album Communion new Years & Years material is coming thick and fast... New single Shine may well be their best track yet, full of the falsetto-laced emotional urgency of their best work.

Communion is out on Polydor on 10 July. Check the band on tour in May & June:

19/05 Fibbers, York
20/05 Liquid Room, Edinburgh
23/05 Southampton Common, Southhampton
01/06 O2 Academy2, Oxford
02/06 The Junction, Cambridge
03/06 The Lemon Grove, Exeter
12/06 O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
13/06 O2 Shepherds Bush Empire

Pre-order Shine here: po.st/ShineFB Pre-order Communion here: po.st/YYAlbumPreorder

Stream: Forever - Funktionslust

More great minimal electronic vocal pop from London duo Funktionslust. Forever is lifted from duo Sage Redman and Joe Gillick's debut EP A Different Street and is a great illustration of the near-industrial-gone-pop tendencies they have demonstrated over previous tracks. Accelerating rhythms and staccato melodies create a disorientating mechanical edge to this new one.

Artwork by Rebecca Ounstead http://rebeccaounstead.tumblr.com/

Album Review: Perfect Storm - Vanbot

Perfect Storm follows up on Vanbot's 2011 self-titled debut album. Having shelved an entire album's worth of material back in 2013, Vanbot (real-name Ester Ideskog) went back to the drawing board. Faced with a creative meltdown she chose to re-focus on something with more 'bite'...

And as electro-pop goes, Perfect Storm does indeed bite. This is ice-like cool Scandinavian pop. The comparisons with Robyn are obvious, but borderline lazy... Whilst both stars make razor-sharp female synth-heavy pop, the quality of music offered here is no simple inferior imitation.

As an album Perfect Storm is densely packed with catchy, single-worthy tracks. The Way You Say It is Vanbot at her most direct - a giant heartfelt chorus packed with big synth hooks. The sound throughout the album is consistent, but tracks play with it in different ways. In contrast to the album's more forthright moments, Adam Olenius collaboration Watching You Sleep is a complex and densely layered track, complete with a string section and a gorgeously softly-sung duet. And songs like Maniac demonstrate the bite Ideskog was striving for, insistent vocals aggressively hurling accusations.

It is pretty astounding just how many big Scandavian pop songs are crammed into Perfect Storm. If it were much longer than the 49-minutes a complete listen requires it might feel disorientating. There is a sense of narrative here that hints at progression, yet if you were to level a criticism at Vanbot's new album it would have to be that when emotion is consistently amped up to 11 it starts to feel a little irrelevant, and whilst the production is consistently slick and impressive it is never adventurous nor challenging.

Perfect Storm's closing title track, part two of a two part track that bookends the release, feels like a suitably cinematic close for the album... It is the perfect way to leave the listener wanting more. Vanbot and her co-writers Jan Kask and the aforementioned Adam Olenius (who have also worked with Say Lou Lou, Tove Styrke and Shout Out Louds) clearly know their way around a tune. The result is a solid album... By taking a little more risk Vanbot has the potential to make a great one.

Perfect Storm is released on 15 May through Lisch Recordings & Sony Music Sweden. Order from Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link], and check out The Way You Say It below.

Written by Ester Ideskog & Jan Kask. Produced and mixed by Johannes Berglund.