Stream: In My Mind - Du Tonc feat. Vania

In My Mind is a surprise end-of-year release from Du Tonc, a collaboration between Matthew Haynes (AKA Mighty Mouse) and Matt Van Schie (of Van She). Whilst they haven’t appeared on these pages with a standalone release since 2015’s Animals, they have been a fairly regular feature of Eskimo Recordings’ long-running colour Collection series (Orange & Yellow, to name two).

Ahead of a planned album release in 2019, Du Tonc have released this collaboration with Vania, who features heavily on the duo’s debut album. Vania wrote her vocals to match the cinematic 80s feel of Du Tonc’s music and they were impressed at just how good the resulting track was:

“It was a pure joy writing with Vania, when we sent her the music we were blown away with what she came back with, and we knew we had to release it.”

The result is a sweeping melancholic love song - alien yet emotionally alive. Check out In My Mind below:

With the final touches being put to their debut album (penned for releases in the first half of 2019) Du Tonc treat us with a surprise release to end the year featuring the the beautiful soul that is Vania. The native New York singer/songwriter is heavily present on their debut album, In My Mind is a song they wrote together earlier this year. Vania has written a soundscape to match to the dreamy 80’s infused sound we’ve come to love so much from Du Tonc. In My Mind is a melancholic alien love song with cinematic emotion. “It was a pure joy writing with Vania, when we sent her the music we were blown away with what she came back with, and we knew we had to release it”.

Stream: Ouch! - Sasha

Sometimes you get caught in a moment and something happens and it’s like you just pricked your finger or stubbed your toe. Only the pain you feel isn’t physical, it’s emotional.

Sasha’s new single Ouch! captures that experience perfectly. With a melody that rattles along like a absent minded lover it all comes to a crashing stop at the point where Sasha deadpans the line, “Ouch! That hurt more than it should... Ouch! That hurt more than I thought it would.”

In her own words, Sasha describes the feeling that inspired Ouch!:

“It’s about knowing deep down that a situation is eventually going to hurt you, but seeing things through rose-tinted glasses at the time. And then kicking yourself when everything goes to shit because you saw it coming from the start. Tragic!”

The track manages to recreate that dizzy feeling of getting carried away with something - cinematic synths swirling around beautifully, yet ultimately shown up for their dramatic lack of realism when contrasted to the song’s chorus.

@tragicsasha

Video: Armadilla - Kitzl

Armadilla is the latest single from Kitzl and on it she creates a weird tripped out piece of frantic pop music that feels like things slipping through your fingers.

Kitzl is focused on creating electronic soundscapes that leverage found sounds - gates, pottery and branches - and weaves them into something akin to pop. The result manages to be instantly infectious and yet weird and woozy. Backwards sounds, hollow drums... its alien and strange, the multiple layers of overdubbed vocals depicting a mind wrestling with multiple divergent thoughts at once.

The video fits the music perfectly - Kitzl somehow perfectly lit by headlights, looking like she is in daylight against a pitch black sky. Backwards footage and weird symbolism provide the visuals whilst she repeats the refrain “I don’t ever wanna see you again”. You have to wonder just what this person did. The result is innocent and yet threatening - perhaps the sound of innocence pushed over the edge.

Video: Stories - Refs

It has been over a years since I last featured Refs on BlackPlastic. Back then it was for the lovely track Fool, but they are back to close out 2018 with new one Stories.

The new track builds on the established Refs sound - soulful, bruised vocals combine with stark rhythms and beautiful melodies to create something that feels emotional and human but mechanical and futuristic.

Paired with a video that gives us the first proper glimpse of the artists themselves, Stories sounds like the pair gearing up for a big 2019. The emotional honesty and musical sophistication on display here are a lovely combination. Stories sounds raw, and yet it also feels like a salve.

Video: Grow In Me - Lee Triffon

Grow In Me is a collaboration between the Israeli-born, LA-based artist Lee Triffon and LA-based musician and producer Roy Regev. The pair have actually known each other since high school and had long been hoping for a point in time when they would be able to collaborate. Over the past two year both Triffon and Regev ended up living in LA, creating the opportunity to work together on creating music. Whilst they come from different musical backgrounds, the pair complement each other and are able to deliver against a musical vision they ultimately share.

Grow In Me is the first track to come out from a year-long period of collaboration, a slowly shifting, dark piece of music based around the chilling combination of Triffon’s vocals and minimalist analogue synths. The song was written shortly after Lee found out she was pregnant with her first child, with the stark monochromatic video itself shot towards the end of last year when she was almost 9-months pregnant. It captures the transformational and turbulent experience of entering motherhood and experiencing lots of things changing.

Check out the video for Grow In Me below, and look out for a first official single, Meditate, in 2019.