Following up his track Pacing from last month, Canadian producer Tep No is back with this new big soulful electronic pop track. There is a bit less of a washed out feel to Under Rage, and instead we get something that sounds like a Balearic take on Prince. Cue big insistent hooks and warm gorgeous melodies.
Say Yes Dog were formed back in 2011 by two Germans and one Luxembourger and they create clever electronic pop music reminiscent of Hot Chip and Metronomy. Stronger, out yesterday, is their latest single and it combines a killer hook with the vocals adding to the appeal here - loving this track!
Look out for album Plastic Love, out 4 September 2015 through Diskodogs Records / Cargo. Listen to Stronger below:
Evvol are a one-part-Irish, one-part-Australian duo who have somewhat appropriately evolved out from previous moniker Kool Thing. Eternalism represents a debut for the two female bandmates as Evvol, even if it does follow on from their 2013 album within their previous act.
Eternalism is a short, sharp injection of dark atmospheric pop music. Opening the album with dischordent feedback and synths, I See You (I Am You) initially sounds restrained, but Evvol show their true colours through the soaring layered vocals and scratched guitar melodies that gradually emerge.
Tracks take on the shapeless groove-like form that Warpaint have successfully based their career on, but layered with electronic, futurist touches. Sola is a dreamy cinematic example of this, sweeping melodies given ample space to form their gently shifting song-shapes. Where Warpaint seemingly hit upon songs in spite of themselves the slow building grooves of Eternalism always feel a bit more deliberate. That may mean they never feel quite as miraculous as Warpaint's Undertow or Love Is To Die, but they manage a consistent brilliance all the same.
Evvol are unafraid to mix some real hooks in amongst their jams, and the chorus the tumbles out of No Love feels revelatory because it comes just when you least expect it. Similarly the nagging chorus and atmospheric calypso percussion of Four Steps From Home feels like an epic encore to everything that precedes it on Eternalism.
The only problem with Evvol's debut album is that there isn't enough of it. With nine tracks it is over all too briefly - of those nine, even two of those clock in below two-minutes, forming short but perfectly crafted interludes. It says something that the simple stark keyboards of one of these short interludes, Sirius A, is still more beautiful than most things I've heard this year. Simple, yet brilliantly effective.
Eternalism is released through !K7 on 24 July, pre-order now on iTunes.
Belfast band Girls Names have just unleashed new track A Hunger Artist and it's a belter. Talent borrows, genius steals and Girls Names steal from the best - there is a lot of Joy Division / New Order here but they weave it through a grungy wave of sonic disharmony, taking the drunk sounding vocal style of post-Roxy Eno.
A Hunger Artist is taken from forthcoming album Arms Around A Vision, due on 2 October through Tough Love Records. You can see the band live in London at the 100 Club on 19 October.
Chasing Paper / Beautiful Things is the latest release from producer Blacksmif, real name Yemi.
Blacksmif's music is the result of a youth spent growing up in South London surrounded my a melting pot of music - from jazz, R&B and gospel initially through to garage, drum & bass and dubstep in his teens. Having previously focused on a producer role, on Chasing Paper and Beautiful Things Blacksmif provides vocals for the first time.
Both songs are surprisingly heartfelt. Chasing Paper is a collage of warm US House and IDM inspired sounds. A soft drum beat propels the track whilst layered synths create a warm duvet of sound. Blacksmif's vocals are delicately and honestly delivered, creating a dreamy soundscape.
Beautiful Things is more angular in feel. Slow dubstep-style rhythms punctuate the track as steel drums and oversized synth patterns create a contrasting sense of the clinical and organic.
Blacksmif has lots of talent on show on this focused release and it sounds like we can expect more in the coming months.
Chasing Paper / Beautiful Things is released through Shining Path on 13 July. Listen to Chasing Paper below: