Listen: Gently Brutal — Lyhre

It’s not often that I hear a song that is as perfectly summed up by its title as Gently Brutal. Whilst the production work moves softly, it broods and menaces in equal measures, sinister exactly because it seethes as opposed to rages.

Gently Brutal is the second song to be released from Sad Cyborg, the debut EP from Berlin-based multi-instrumentalist, producer and singer-songwriter Lyhre. The EP is an exploration of identity, gender and humanity — envisioning the cyborg as post-gender figure for the future. Lyhre sees this as the inevitable solution in order to “smash patriarchal structures and consistently asymmetrical power relations”.

If it all sounds a little Westworld on the page, you wouldn’t be a million miles away from the existential dread that Lyhre constructs in the ear. Soft piano keys weave their melodies like a web, Lyhre’s haunting vocal manoeuvring like a spider in your mind, drums shuffling like the threat of plucked silk. It’s both beautiful and terrifying, particularly when she hits her repeated, breathless chorus, vocals leveraged like another instrument in Lyhre’s arsenal, both human and somehow… something else.

stream on your favorite platform 👉https://lyhre.lnk.to/GentlyBrutal my Debut EP will be released very soon 18.12 @modularfield 🖤 This is the second single I share with you, which is an honour for me. I have the desire to say, without getting pathetic, that this EP is for you. As an unknown artist I have the privilege to read all your words to me and my music. And I am deeply touched by you and the sometimes really hard shit you are going through. I see your enormous resilience, the pain, your strength and your courage to fragility and empathy. I feel humbled by such a diverse audience and I feel deeply connected to every single one of you. Sad cyborg is for you who cross the borders, for you who think and create new worlds beyond terminologies, for you who face systemic injustice and social inequality and oppose social and political inscriptions in our bodies. This is for you.

Premiere: I’m On Fire — NRVS LVRS

Having originally featured on BlackPlastic.co.uk back in January, before the world went crazy, husband and wife duo Bevin Fernandez and Andrew Gomez are back with a new version of an old song. In a period that has triggered self reflection for many of us, NRVS LVRS have looked back at the oeuvre of Bruce Springsteen and pulled out his 1984 track from Born In The U.S.A., I’m On Fire, for a contemporary take rooted firmly in retrospection.

Recorded during lockdown from their home studio, NRVS LVRS take the percussive, momentum filled original and retain it’s quiet, contemplative sound whilst emphasising the dreamlike quality through the use of synthesisers, present in the original but given centre stage here. The result is a take that sounds more of the era the song was born in than even Springsteen’s original.

The last NRVS LVRS track I featured, Only Human, buzzed with a nervous energy. In contrast, I’m On Fire sounds slow, dramatic and haunted. Both songs sound a little reminiscent of Au Revoir Simone, innocent vocals surrounded in a feeling of nostalgia. But where Only Human felt like it could have been on the soundtrack to The Virgin Suicides, I’m On Fire is pure Twin Peaks, and would have easily found a place in the show’s weird, beautiful third season. It is a stark, haunting piece of music, drenched in drama and atmospheric.

Talking to Andrew, he acknowledged the fact that both he and Bevin love Twin Peaks and recently rewatched the series. Given it is one of the couple’s favourite shows, he isn’t surprised that I can hear David Lynch’s influence here. Indeed, Andrew mentioned the fact that he regularly watches Angelo Badalamenti’s explanation for how he wrote Laura Palmer’s Theme. If you haven’t ever watched the video and you have any interest in TV and film scores, it’s worth five minutes of your time.

I’m On Fire is a song that NRVS LVRS have always been drawn to, and Bevin explains what led them to release it now:

“We've always admired the song 'I'm On Fire' because it captures the feeling of intense longing and how difficult it is to cope with it. We played with this cover years ago when we were first starting as a two piece, and with so much time on our hands due to quarantine, we ended up recording this version of the song to see how our approach had changed. Soon after, most of California was on fire, and the song seemed to ring in our heads and rhyme with everything we were seeing around us. In fact, Andrew shot the cover photo of the red sky when we were up at my parents' place as fires were raging a couple miles away. We ended up having to evacuate a week later not knowing if we'd ever see their home again.

“Lyrically, the song captures our feelings of the moment well. Between existential and literal threats to life as we have known it, most of us are trying to cope and do our best as we are stuck inside going stir crazy & longing for a better time or just another person to help weather the storm with.”

I can’t help but feeling this version of I’m On Fire is a little bit perfect for the weird, dramatic and otherworldly year that has been 2020. Check it out below:

Watch: Only Breathing — I Was Love

I Was Love are an electronic duo based in Manchester. Working with visual artist Charles Leek, they are making distinctive, atmospheric electronic music with an emotive edge.

Previous single Hands Open combined a crisp and stark production sound with deep bass and innocent vocals. Here, I Was Love deliver a duet, a male vocal recalling the work of Factory Records luminaries New Order as it graces Only Breathing’s opening. The other half of that duet comes from those same angelic female vocals as Hands Open, only here they shimmer in the contrast of a second voice.

Only Breathing feels remarkably physical, bass flows like syrup, percussion rattles as it echoes around my head. I Was Love have brought together a lot here — the track feels fat and heavy, full of detail. Synths bite, chords ooze and rhythms snap.

Lyrically, Only Breathing delivers what feel like half-thoughts snatched from your mind as you navigate a deepening relationship. With a focus on the human experience of relationships, the opaque nature of the words here feel like a metaphor for the experience of what we can only ever know from our own perspective. Describing the inspiration for the song, I Was Love said:

“Only Breathing is a song about relationships romantic but also interpersonal. It explores the idea of whether it is possible to ever truly know anyone, and what that means for those trying to navigate that which cannot be known. When you give such a large portion of yourself to someone else: what does the hidden quantity mean for yourself and them?”

This is a riveting, beautiful and thrilling record, and I want more. Check out the video below, or find it on your preferred streaming service here.

Listen: Swimming / Drowning — Shima

Having previously impressed with her singles Rare and Machine, half-Japanese, half-American musician Shima is back with another distinctive slice of modern R&B-influenced pop.

Swimming / Drowning is Shima’s most polished song yet, her cool vocal skipping across the polished surface of the song’s production. Synths play out an unfussy, laid back melody before crunchy bass kicks in for a chorus that creates a complex tune from multiple layered vocals. The production here really stands out for the way it feels at once both restrained and sophisticated.

That forward-slash in the title seeks to convey the proximity between swimming and drowning, and how one can actually feel like the other. Focusing on the relationships between success and failure, Shima looks to portray the struggle and energy it takes not just to succeed, but to fail as well. Here is hoping that she gets the success she deserves here.

Check out Swimming / Drowning below:

Stream Swimming / Drowning by SHIMA from desktop or your mobile device

Watch: Back To The Start — KALI

KALI is a 16-year-old singer, multi-instrumentalist and producer. Yes, 16. Having started writing and recording music a few years ago, her blend of indie-rock with an edge of California surf has drawn young audiences to her performances in LA venues, including The Smell and The Viper Room. With Back To The Start, KALI is unveiling her debut release.

KALI’s lo-fi reimagining of indie pop draws on similar inspiration as Clairo and Soccer Mommy, with that kind of flabby looseness Rostam has been so influential in popularising. The windy-beach feel of debut single Back To The Start hints at a distinctive direction for KALI that is her own, however.

What initially drew me in with Back To The Start is the way KALI blends a rawness with deliberate and purposeful polish. Just the opening 30-seconds or so demonstrate a sophistication rarely heard on a debut release. Thick and heavy bass underpinning shimmering guitar work, an overheard voice talking on the phone, and suddenly Back To The Start is off... A granite-like guitar riff throwing caution to the wind, as snares pound the pavement like rapid footsteps slapping the pavement, running both to and from the same thing.

Back To The Start feels like a lovely nightmare — one of those things you know you should escape from, but can’t quite bring yourself to. In describing her writing inspiration, KALI says:

“As I got older, I started to have experiences that were much more emotional and personal, and songwriting became an actual necessity instead of something that was fun for me to do.”

There is a surprising emotional maturity and authenticity to KALI’s sound here that validates that statement. It’s a cliché, but her sound betrays a wiseness beyond her years. With its sophisticated production, beautiful artwork and a great video (co-directed by KALI, Zealand Yancy and Sophia Ziskin), Back To The Start feels set for success. I can’t wait to hear more.