French synth-dance duo Caspian Pool likes to keep us on our toes with their wide-ranging selection of electronic music. Cue the colour-fuelled visuals for the foot-thumping ‘Insider’.
Sounds like: Nimmo, The Chemical Brothers, Hercules & Love Affair, Goldfrapp, Joe Goddard, Chvrches, Digitalism, Holy Ghost!, Boys Noize, Little Dragon, Cut Copy, Icona Pop
Anthemic alt-rock band Psyence returns with psychedelic sensibilities in rousing new single ‘Retrospect’, reminding us that every bitter end has a new beginning.
Distinctive Norwegian voice, Beharie shares his soulful, folk and ambient blend in the form of ‘Me and My Lonely’. Pastoral and beautiful, the track orbits a peaceful finger-picked acoustic riff.
Wigan-based four-piece Flechettes share the radio-ready and uplifting ‘Chasing Youth’, with blazing indie-pop guitar riffs and catchy vocals, making for a seriously dynamic record.
Sounds like: Sea Girls, Red Rum Club, The Blinders, Stanleys, Garden Party
22-year-old producer, songwriter and musician Ethan Bedell – aka Chillhum – shares ‘Dancing Alone’, a stripped back and melodic blissed-out track that celebrates the joys of being alone.
Sounds like: Gaspar Narby, Couro, Flume, Ed Sheeran, Flume, Louis The Child, Petit Biscuit, Troye Sivan, Robotaki
Songwriting heavyweight Bre Kennedy winds down for the cooler months with her acoustic track ‘Where Did Summer Go’, a nostalgic ballad that symbolises the passing and loss of time and dreams that never got to see the heat of summer.
Dark-pop artist Izza chronicles the ups and downs of dealing with anxiety and depression in a world where people are obsessed with the perceived perfection of their online selves, in new single ‘Lows’.
Matt Couchois of atmospheric indie-pop project, fakelife, releases invigorating new single, ‘Drugs All Night’.
You can almost sense the energetic tension as Matt sings about a tumultuously toxic romantic relationship – what more could you want from a nightclub pop anthem?
Sounds like: The Knocks, Great Good Fine Ok, RAC, La Poré
Born from a simple plan – make music friends in a flatshare in former East Berlin, BLOODHYPE is a Berlin-based, independent gang of four that demand to be noticed.
Masterminded by frontman Weyland and UK producer John “P Nut” Harrison (AmyWinehouse, AliceMerton), their new single ‘Violent Heart’ caught us from the get-go. It’s an addictive slice of modern indie pop full of 80’s inspired self-pity.
Churchgoer-turned-open mic singer Tina Boonstra has shared her interesting new track, ‘Out of my depth’.
With a sharp emotional intensity, you can feel the angst bubbling underneath as the track progresses into a crushingly honest rage against the universe, God and insomnia.
German-born, Los Angeles-based indie artist NoMBe shares ‘HEELS’, a catchy AF funk-laden jam.
Oozing sass upon sass, it’s taken from his upcoming concept album, ‘CHROMATOPIA’ which is built upon the spectrum of colour and the spectrum of sexuality.
Foreign Fields is US-based Eric Hillman and Brian Holl, who create a bewitching melting pot of acoustic sounds.
As with all promising folk contenders, the duo wrote and recorded their upcoming album, ‘The Beauty of Survival’ in the winter in a back-to-basics cabin with no heating built by a two-man father-and-son team in Western Wisconsin.
Bronze Whale like to walk a lot. During this time, they talk about things they want to accomplish, music stuff and dinner.
This where the lyrical inspiration came for ‘Let’s Go Walk’, a resonating and atmospheric electronic piece about love, loss and learning. It’s out now on their own label, MagicMagic.
Sounds like: Glass Animals, Alt-j, OTR, CLN, Golden Vessel, Autograf
Multi-instrumentalist Zoë Phillips combines country with beautiful folktronica. Think DollyParton meets BombayBicycleClub.
Set for the same level of fandom, Phillips has already seen plenty of support from the BBC, and her new single ‘Love Is Gone’ is going to propel her closer.
Looking like they are having the best time, the video footage was taken from many of their past videos plus some extra shots from 2010 to 2019.
HUMANS is a Canadian indie-electronic duo made up of musicians Robbie Slade and Peter Ricq. Focusing on performance and production styles of both the past and present, HUMANS have consistently impressed upon audiophiles with their technical and compositional skills.
Introducing Zach DeGaetano and Bridget Boltz – aka Mannequin Online.
Pushing sonic and ideational barriers with gritty, yet refreshing off-kilter pop, may their sound forever remain bright, gritty, and unapologetic. Listen to ‘I Do’ and check out the glorious Gorgeous guitar solo.
Sounds like: Goldroom, Poolside, VHS Collection, The Knocks, Miami Horror
Norweigian artists, Röyksopp and SusanneSundfør are no strangers to working together, having collaborated on ‘Running To The Sea’ and ‘Save Me’.
New number, ‘Never Ever’, is a highly danceable, electronic track, seeing Röyksopp return in full force.
“The track has its own cosmos and its own place.” says Svein Berge. “The whole idea of us going away from the whole album concept was that we do have many musical expressions that we want to do,” says Torbjørn. “One of them might be a club track, but we don’t necessarily want to do an album of it. It’s that way with ‘Never Ever’ – we love it, but we don’t need 12 tracks like it.”
Sounds like: Robyn, Digitalism, Fever Ray, Little Boots, Goldfrapp
Techniques is the project of Manchester-based multi-instrumentalist, James Mulholland.
Like with all good electronic producers, James started creating and recording music in his bedroom, laying down drums, bass lines, guitars, synths and vocals all using one microphone and ‘whatever else was lying around’.
He has since released music on Kitsuné Musicand electronic rumors.
Techniques is now set to share a fine slice of electro-pop, just in time for the summer.
‘Heinous Love’ is a juxtaposing slur of bittersweet vocals against floor-filling and driving synths. It has been produced by Mark Ralph (HotChip, Digitalism, Years& Years, Clean Bandit, HotNatured, Foxes).
Techniques is also crowdfunding a vinyl release. Click here for more info and to support.
The track is out tomorrow.
Sounds like: Hot Chip, Digitalism, Hot Natured, Holy Ghost!, Miami Horror, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
Hamburg duo Digitalism (aka Jens Moelle and Ismail Tüfekçi) return with their third album called ‘Mirage’, which stems from “the ecstasy” of “epic trips around the globe”.
The second single from the album, ‘Go Time’, continues the theme of the album, comfortably sitting somewhere between nostalgia and futurism.
Stemming from one simple loop, this is an anthem for the weekend.
Live Tour Dates
27 April – Paris, France – Badaboum
28 April – London, England – XOYO
6 May – Cologne, Germany – Gebäude 9
13 May – Berlin, Germany – Ritter Butzke
19 May – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
20 May – Washington, DC – U Street Music Hall
21 May – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
24 May – Chicago, IL – Double Door
25 May – Detroit, MI – Shelter
26 May – Toronto, ON – The Garrison
27 May – Montreal, QC – L’Astral
28 May – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair
1 June – San Francisco, CA – The Independent
3 June – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey
17 June – Arhus, Denmark – Northside
18 June – Eindhoven, Holland – We Are Electric
24 June – Scheessel, Germany – Hurricane Festival
25 June – Neuhausen, Germany – Southside Festival
17 July – Berlin, Germany – !MELT Festival
10 Aug – Acquaviva (Siena), Italy – Live Rock festival
‘Mirage’ is released on 13 May and available for pre-order on iTunes.
Having hinted at a change in direction with a soundcloud-only release at the start of the year, Hamburg duo Digitalism (Jens Moelle and Ismail Tüfekçi) is finally back for our listening pleasure with ‘Wolves’; the first proper single that further underlines this new direction.
The boys spent the early part of this year in L.A., writing and producing new music, road testing new demos and trying out new ideas by going back to their roots and causing havoc amongst fans at their twice monthly East L.A. Warehouse parties.
Despite Digitalism’s European techno and EDM background, ‘Wolves’ is an upbeat and catchy track with American indie-pop vibes, courtesy of vocals from Youngblood Hawke, who focused on the classic EDM from the 70’s.
Röyksopp and Robyn have got together again to create more amazing collaborative music. They have just announced the release of the ‘Do It Again’ mini album, which will be released on Dog Triumph via Wall of Sound and Cooking Vinyl on 26th May 2014. You can preorder from here
Having previously worked together to produce the fantastic ‘The Girl and the Robot’, which appeared on Röyksopp’s ‘Junior’ album in 2009 and ‘None Of Dem’ on Robyn’s ‘Body Talk’ Pt. 1 in 2010, the ‘Do It Again’ mini album sees the two artists doing just that.
The super-duo from Sweden (Robyn) and Norway (Röyksopp) have also revealed a snippet of the track ‘Monument’ which you can hear below – can’t wait to hear the full track!
Brassica, an electronic producer from Tunbridge Wells/ London, UK, also know as makes luscious 80s inspired synth-pop and Italo using analog synths, vintage drum machines, and traditional instruments. His latest release; EP ‘Hayat Zor’, was out 18th November 2013, on Civic Laden, and is available to purchase here.
With breathy vocals and pulsating, sharp synths reminiscent of a Jan Hammer production, opening track ‘Everything’ certainly makes us think of the College & Electric Youth song ‘A Real Hero’, along with influential 80s outfit Bronski Beat.
The EP includes four original productions and two remixes of ‘Everything’ from Gavin Russom and Petrels. ‘Hayat Zor’ is a collection on which emotional resonance and technical expertise sit side by side.
Below is an album sampler and a version of ‘Everything’ with talk-over at the end from a radio play, so head over to Spotify to listen to the full EP, or buy from the link above.
