More classy late-80s influenced R&B from Colombian/Italian musician Desta French on new track Like No Other. This track follows on from Take You For Dead, a track I featured back in May.
Like No Other treads a fine line between a throw-back and futuristic sound - I can't help but love that big analogue feel.
Iridescent Love is the new single from Estonian-born London-based artist Iiris, whom I featured last year on the stellar EBY track Getaway.
This new track is similar in style - stellar vocals meet light and fluffy production that reflects Iiris' inspiration, drawn from a range that spans Debussy to Björk. The drum break in the closing third creates a lovely dreamy rave-like feel to Iridescent Love, almost reminiscent of early Ima-era BT.
Iridescent Love is the first single to be taken from Iiris' forthcoming Hope EP, to be released through Hand In Hive.
Say Yes Dog were a band formed out of necessity. Unable to score any tickets to Germany's Fusion festival then just bandmates-to-be Aaron, Pascal and Paul asked a friend to video them playing music, submitting the video in an attempt to get a spot performing. That got them in, but left them needing to write enough songs to fill a set. The end result was their 2013 EP A Friend, and now their debut album Plastic Love.
Say Yes Dog create the kind of introspective electronic pop records fans of Hot Chip and Metronomy swoon over. If there is a clear difference between the Say Hes Dog and those bands it is that the production on Plastic Love favours function over form.
The bouncy electronic melodies on single Stronger feel like they are there in support of the band's vocal harmonies - propelling the track whilst making space for those big hooks. The electronic instrumentation is still a core part of the band's appeal - it just feels a little less contrived, clean and timeless where others mimic and riff.
Plastic Love is packed with a kind of bespectacled and studious style of music. Ernest, eager and emotionally open - on Hold Me falsetto vocals croon "Hold me tonight before I give myself up" recreating a heartfelt plea for support. You Want My Love attempts to assert confidence in its refrain of "you want my love so bad / I want your love so bad" yet the lyrics elsewhere betray a nervous feeling of love slipping gently slipping through your fingers.
And so Plastic Love will appeal to fans of a certain style of emotive electronic pop. Much like the early work of their aforementioned contemporaries it doesn't feel like this debut album has enough to stand-out as a crossover album... The sophisticated pop ambitions hinted at on Stronger, Girlfriend and the beautifully vulnerable Before I Go are never quite realised in full... Yet that almost makes me appreciate this album more - it is a simple, touching mission statement from a band with huge promise... An album made for gloomy autumnal evenings, cherished memories, pining and ransom pangs of mild melchanoly.
Plastic Love is released this Friday via Diskodogs Records / Cargo, order through iTunes. Check out new single Plastik below:
I've already blogged about Chinah twice in the past six weeks but as long as they keep brining the tunes I'm going to keep sharing them. We Go Back is the band's sophomore track and follow-up to Away From Me.
Another bedroom production effort, We Go Back sounds even more impressive than the Nørrebro, Copenhagen based groups' debut track. This new song is still a glittering track full of cool muted guitars and softly hushed vocals but here those elements are paired with some serious analogue-style synths... The first half of the track is lush, but everything from the bridge the kicks in after 3-plus-minutes is just golden.
Check the band out when they play London's New Shapes night on 2 September. Get tickets here.
Bones is a fantastic new track and video from Icelandic art-pop act Young Karin. Young Karin were formed back in 2013 when Karin Sveinsdóttir met Logi Pedro Stefánsson at an Icelandic talent show. Having released their debut EP N1 on Pannonica in 2014 the band have recently unleashed new EP PYK as a free download. Bones is the lead track from that release and you can check out the video below. I can't get enough of this track and can't recommend it higher: