Watch: Technicolour Chandelier — Leebo Freeman

Technicolour Chandelier is the woozy-sounding new single from musician Leebo Freeman, and it combines elements of vintage 80s-sounding electronic pop with thick, psychedelic 70s sounds in a way that feels new. Overdubbed vocals give the feeling of layered, disorientated moments in time, a little like someone moving backwards and forwards in their own mind in search of something they can’t find.

Perhaps that feeling is no coincidence. Technicolour Chandelier was written back when Freeman was stuck in a toxic relationship that saw him seeking a way out of “dark state it put (his) mind in”. He goes on to say:

“The song was me speaking to myself about finding the courage to lift myself out and to start anew, finding light and solace in anything I could (like music and my imagination) … I felt myself not only speaking to myself in the lyrics but also wanting to extend a helping hand to anyone silently going through something by themselves no matter what the situation.”

A self-proclaimed American-Brit, Leebo hails from “the dynamic opposites of Sunny Florida and Rainy Manchester”… Those influences seemingly create some of the warm friction the gives Technicolour Chandelier its edge — the moody Manchester atmospherics draped in melting synths reminiscent of the Florida coast. Check out it comes to life below:

Apologies about the original being deleted along with your lovely comments and views, had some quality/compression issues with Youtube and had to start over...

Listen: Who Blinks First (Electric Version) — Wooden Peak

Ahead of their forthcoming fifth album, Electric Vesions, Leipzig-based indie/electronica duo Wooden Peak have unveiled Who Blinks First. Originally released on their 2013 album Polar, here Who Blinks First appears in a slightly more minimal form. Trading off the earthy, folkiness of the song’s original version, here synthesisers mingle with brass and woodwind instruments.

The resulting song has a wintery, Scandinavian atmosphere — the warmth of your favourite coat, gloved hand-in-hand, a touching embrace. It will be interesting to hear the remaining versions when the album comes out. Describing the album, the duo say:

“The idea in the new album has been simplicity and reduction. Interpreting the original tracks sensitively and reinventing them with gentle beats, to play them live in a small ensemble. In the studio we decided to record synthesiser melodies as well as unison parts using real instruments. Our favourite orchestration has always been clarinet and trombone, as it was already evident on our polygon EP in 2015. Therefore, we reached out to Antonia and Wencke again. When we started arranging and recording we immediately realised we wanted to come together as an ensemble again.”

Check out Who Blinks First below, and look out for Electric Versions, due on 26 February 2021.

Listen: Young Strangers — Be Good

Starting up with a wavering synth line and some deep bass, Young Strangers has a crisp and initially slightly clinical feel. In contrast to this sound, the track centres on a hurt but hopeful vocal, performed by four-piece Be Good’s singer, Ash Cooke. The sound of Cooke’s vocals, contrasted as they are against a clean yet unfussy electronic backing, evoke the sound of early Hot Chip… Those pre-The Warning tracks that benefitted from a rawness that always tends to rub away with commercial success. It grants Young Strangers an authenticity that is hard to buy.

This is a song about a breakup - the period where two people try to unpick and tease out the edges of their own identity. Sometimes that is carried out slowly and cautiously, sometimes rapidly and dramatically, and occasionally one then the other. Regardless of how it happens, it always happens - thoughts and feelings that were shared become private once more, and with that comes a sense of loss.

That feeling of loss is perfectly conveyed here - the bruising, the feeling of lost perspective both still fresh. But that loss also comes with the weird sense of gratitude, and even hope, inspired by the fact a connection was created in the first place. There is a beautiful line where Cooke references stealing a picture that hints at the complexities in what we feel as things fall apart. The thing that initially sticks out is the hurt felt, and implicitly shared (the picture will be identified as missing). And yet, that action comes from a love that still hums in the background, behind a breakup, particularly those played out more cautiously.

Ash described that feeling as he talked about the creation of the song:

“Some of the lyrics and melodies for Young Strangers had been floating around various voice memos and recording sessions for a while, but they didn't really feel like they had found a home until we paired them with this simple synth bass pattern. (Drummer) Charlie and I spent a few evenings delving into stories from each other’s past relationships to find vignettes to capture in the song. We tried to convey the ambivalence of a certain type of heartbreak where two people are still in love but know they aren't good for each other.”

Young Strangers is taken from Be Good’s forthcoming sophomore EP. Check it out below:

Listen: Pandora’s Box — MOUI

Pandora’s Box is the new song from Chinese-German singer-songwriter MOUI. Something about this sounds a little perfect for this time of year, and MOUI acknowledges that herself, describing the song’s arrival in “the slumber of this winter season”. The song starts with a delicate sounding vocal that suggests walks outside in the crisp December air — there is something a little frost-like about the sound.

Things change gear as the song hits the drop, however. Big, crunchy bass enrobes that vocal with something that feels like a warm, magical coat. Deep, glitchy electronics establish a solid foundation for what previously felt insecure — the stabilising force for what originally felt fragile.

Describing Pandora’s Box, MOUI said:

“I like to think of it as a calming lullaby that makes you hover above the ground. Like dancing on a soft cloud and setting aside the duties that tie you to this world. But here comes the reality check, it's a temporary escape as we're not done yet, we face the somewhat dull reality of now, and we deal with our fears that were suppressed and locked like in the myth of Pandora. This feeling of flying and falling is manifested into the bubbly and glitchy future-bass instrumental.”

Check out Pandora’s Box by MOUI below.

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.