Tag Archives: Hayden James

Weekly Gems 109

Joshua Worden – Easy to Say Feat. Casey Harper

Joshua Worden

Joshua Worden recently hit a deeply introspective period and his new selection of releases shows this.

With an educational background in Jazz Guitar and English Literature, his music is stripped back and takes a slower pace these days, dabbling in R&B, pop, trip-hop, and chillwave. Listen to ‘Easy To Say’ featuring Casey Harper.

Sounds like: Kllo, Kudu Blue, Rhye, Blood Orange, Moses Sumney, The Internet

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Logan Prescott – How We Wanted

Logan Prescott

Dallas-based Indie Pop artist Logan Prescott shares the uber dreamy pop single ‘How We Wanted’.

Tender guitars, dreamy synths and an all encompassing 80’s boyband vibe. Perfect for fans of LANY and joan.

Sounds lik: LANY, The 1975, COIN, joan

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Junípero – New Beginnings

Junípero

The Mexican dream-pop scene is bubbling away like a reactive volcano.

Junípero is the project of Joán Melendrez and Janelle Saucedo, who enjoy experimenting with transcendent thunderous and melodic sounds. Listen to their debut single ‘New Beginnings’ below.

Sounds like: Beach House, Explosions In the Sky, Mogwai

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DiRTY RADiO x Jafunk – The Baddest

DiRTY RADiO x Jafunk

From dreampop to nu-disco tinged funk, DiRTY RADiO team up with Jafunk on ultra smooth new track, ‘The Baddest’.

Despite never meeting, the two worlds have somehow collided into a kaleidoscope of sounds. With summer written all over it, click play right now.

Sounds like: Pat Lok, Jean Tonique, Keljet, Gigamesh, Moon Boots, Tobtok, Moullinex, Pomo, Anderson Paak, Mac Miller

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Blu DeTiger – Figure It Out

Blu DeTiger

Meet Blu DeTiger, touring bassist for Caroline Polachek, The Knocks, and Fletcher, and a credible artist in her own right.

Her art-pop single ‘Figure It Out’ is so bright and colourful that you need to put on those sunnies sharpsih.

Sounds like: Kitten, Sofi Tukker, The Knocks

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Far West – Can’t Let Go

Far West - Can't Let Go

Far West is, as you’ve guessed it, from the West Coast of the US, in California.

They have a unique take on bellowing indie/synthpop, reminiscent of the early ’00s. The new single ‘Can’t Let Go’ has big synth leads with a poppy vibe, and is written about trying to let go of something that isn’t good for you.

Sounds like: Passion Pit, Bombay Bicycle Club

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Night Tales – Feel Nothing

Night Tales

Australian electronic duo Night Tales – aka amaliza (Australian-born Kamaliza Salamba, formerly of Olympic Ayres) and Third Floor (UK-born/Aussie-based Aaron Bannie) drop their 3rd single of 2020 titled ‘Feel Nothing.’

It’s a positively-led dance number with a tender touch, written about a relationship that is emotionally spent.

Sounds like: Duke Dumont, Just Kiddin, The Magician, The Aston Shuffle, Hayden James

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Makk Mikkael – fear

Makk Mikkael

Montreal based artist Makk Mikkael (MacKenzie Michael) has been writing music from a young age. Since then, she has explored different cities in her home country of Canada, to finally settle in Montréal.

The heartbeat of her new single is a minimalistic down-tempo electro track with ethereal vocals and driving rhythm, which soon goes off-kilter as the ‘fear’ takes over.

Sounds like: BABii, Men I Trust

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Bronze Whale – Hold. Wait. Fall. Feat Poles

Bronze Whale - Hold. Wait. Fall. Feat Poles

First Bronze Whale are walking, next they are stopping.

Stripped right back, the minimal electronic track features fellow label mate and longtime friend, Poles. It’s about being dragged back into a relationship even when you know it’s toxic. Needing to see it through regardless of what it takes from you.

Sounds like: James Blake, Chet Faker, Flume, Droeloe, Weeknd, OTR, CLN

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Nao Yoshioka – Up and Away feat. PHER

Nao Yoshioka

Rising Japanese star Nao Yoshioka is showcasing her modern R&B and soul.

Born in Japan, now living in the US, Nao has been perfecting her craft and working alongside legendary musicians in the scene to create an authentic & powerful new album ‘Undeniable’, out now. Listen to her slow and sensual single, ‘Up And Away’ featuring PHER.

Sounds like: Aaliyah, Solange, H.E.R, Marie Dahlstrom, Oscar Jerome, Ella Mai, Alicia Keys

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Madnap – Silhouettes Feat. Little Shadows

Madnap

After relocating to Los Angeles in 2017, producer/songwriter/remixer Madnap – aka Kyle Fitzgibbons – shares ‘Silhouettes’ featuring Little Shadows.

The emo-tinged, trap-pop track is his favourite to date, and perfectly captures the Madnap sound in 2020.

Sounds like: yetep, Rome In Silver, Manila Killa, LIONE, juuku

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SamYell – Lose Yourself

SAMYELL

California native Samyell has a creative superpower that he is meant to share with the world.

Produced by Osinachi Nwaneri (T.I., Ciara, Black Eyed Peas), ‘Lose Yourself’ will make you do just that.

An infectious nighttime, jazz infused R&B anthem, it urges you to “get lost through temptations of money drugs and false promises.”

Sounds like: The Weeknd, Babyface, Timbaland, Ginuwine, Pharrell

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Mona Vale – All This Time

Mona Vale

Songwriter/producer and multi-instrumentalist Jamie Hoddle – aka Mona Vale – has created an altogether chilled track called ‘All This Time’.

Starting in the pop realms and soon developing into an indie form of ambient electronica, the song is about the early stages of a relationship, setting nostalgic emotions on fire.

Sounds like: XY&O, Nightly, Great Good Fine Ok, Maribou State

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Melyz – Bad Together

Melyz

Swiss artist Melyz shares her provactive new single ‘Bad Together’.

with a hint of R&B club vibes, the song takes a darker approach than previous releases, as it considers how toxic and destructive a relationship can become when it gets too passionate.

Sounds like: Banks

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Weekly Gems 106

Zachary Knowles – Cherry Wine

Zachary Knowles

Fresh rising artist Zachary Knowles quenches our thirst for love with ‘Cherry Wine’, a song written about the girl he loved before she even realised (and don’t worry, it all worked out fine – they are very happy together as far as we know!)

Signed to the prestigious FADER Label (home to Clairo, Matt & Kim), The Texas-bred songwriter/instrumentalist crafts addictive R&B with silky flair.

Sounds like: The Weeknd, Alec Benjamin, Kayden, ASTN

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Latir – Wallflower

Latir - Wallflower

London-based, alt-RnB artist, Latir, loves to fuse the sounds of hip hop, old school jazz, indie and electronica. Glistens of his old soul expresses itself through his younger-leaning music.

Created with Leeds-based producer Luvian, ‘Wallflower’ shows a truly romantic side.

Sounds like: Miller Blue, Ayelle, Joe Hertz, Tom Misch, Miguel

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Mokita – Take It Back Feat. Ella Vos

Mokita

The project of multi-instrumentalist John-Luke Carter – aka Mokita – is growing from strength to strength.

His new song, in which has teamed up with the rising star Ella Vos, deals with some of the complexities of relationships.

Sounds like: EXES, Handsome Ghost, joan, FRND

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FARR – Wildflowers

FARR

Transatlantic alt-pop duo FARR – aka Roméo and producer Linden Jay – shares ‘Wildflowers’.

An almost eerie rendition that steps outside genre lines, with sultry vocals exposing the truth about someone’s actions. Listen below.

Sounds like: RKCB, Jadu Heart, Dan D’Lion, James Vickery, Rudimental

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Laura Hyde – Bliss

Laura Hyde - Bliss

Laura Hyde shares her third single, ‘Bliss’.

Using an old voice recording of Hyde’s, the electro-pop number is about distracting yourself from the mess of life, until finally letting someone in to see the mess and accepting their offer to help.

Sounds like: Sigrid, Billie Marten, Emilie Nicolas, Skott

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TENDER – Living

TENDER - Living

Originally planned to be released in this month, UK duo TENDER has made the decision to still share ‘Living’, inspite of the fact it serves a well recognised backdrop to these “unprecedented times”.

Speaking about the track, they explain,

“It’s about inspired by isolation, before we were isolating. It’s a song about locking yourself away with sadness. Hiding your emotions, in fear of showing how you feel to the world. The segregation only pushing you further into despair.”

Sounds like: MOTHXR, Jungle, Glass Animals, HUNTAR, Caribou, Air, The National, Tame Impala, Boxed In, Honne

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Chris James – Melancholy

Half American, half German songwriter-producer turned YouTuber Chris James shares his new single ‘Melancholy’.

Growing up in California, but moving to Germany at a young age, James is on a journey to showcase positivity and fun through his upbeat lyrics and melodies.

Sounds like: Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes, Calum Scott, Liam Payne

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Briskey – Don’t Want To Talk About It

Briskey - Don't Want To Talk About It

It may only be April, but the summer-tinged tracks are making their way out of the studios. Or maybe we’ve got this completely upside down, as Australian artists are coming out of summer and moving into their winter.

Anyway, cue Briskey and his new single ‘Don’t Want To Talk About It’. An emotionally-driven song that tinkes with alt-pop, dance, electronica, and even includes a cheeky sax solo.

Sounds like: Hayden James, Goldroom, Bag Raiders

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Harry Nathan – Frontin Me

Harry Nathan
 

He’s Australian. Based in Los Angeles. And has made a distinctly European turn in his new song.

Harry Nathan‘s ‘Frontin Me’, ladies & gentlemen.

Speaking about the new lo-fi house track, he explains,

“The song was recorded into a 1984 SONY M-10 microcassette recorder. I wasn’t really sure what I was singing, I was just jamming and mumbling, stream of consciousness kind of thing. When entering this kind of trance, my lyrics tend to reflect unsurfaced emotions, and it wasn’t until after I had finished recording that I realised the song was about people that are fake, putting up a façade trying to impress all the time.”

We can’t quite work out if this is filmed before, during or after the party, but with visuals as quirky and comedic as always, we suggest you go check it out!

‘Frontin Me’ is available everywhere now via French tastemaker label, Kitsuné.

Sounds like: Moby, Joe Goddard, Roosevelt, Classixx, Goldroom, Hayden James

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Hayden James & NAATIONS – Nowhere To Go

NAATIONS & Hayden James

You can’t go wrong with a Future Classic release. Cue ‘Nowhere To Go’ – the new collab between Australian talents, Hayden James & NAATIONS.

NAATIONS is a duo made up of singer/songwriter Nat Dunn who co-wrote Marshmello & Anne-Marie’s hit track ‘FRIENDS’ + Charli XCX’s single, ‘5 In The Morning’ and ex-Van She member + DJ Nicky Night Time also has been producing and writing for the likes of Purple Disco Machine and Kaz James.

Check out the video below:

Catch them supporting Hayden James on his North American and Australian tour in September.

Sounds like: Blonde, Just Kiddin, Goldroom, Lights

Hayden James
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NAATIONS
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Elderbrook – Woman

Elderbrook

Young UK producer Elderbrook (aka Alexander Kotz) shares his new neo-soul single, ‘Woman’.

A self-reflective, but laid back piece of work, it is the first single from his seven track ‘Talking’ EP and explores the use of Kotz’s vocals as another instrument in it’s own right.

‘Talking’ is released on 1 September via Kobalt

Sounds like: Fyfe, Jamie Woon, Hayden James, Bob Moses, Kaasi

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Frost – Better Off Lonely

FROST - Better Off Lonely

FROST – Better Off Lonely

Meet FROST. He’s just dropped his single, ‘Better Off Lonely’.

The track has addictively, recurrent beats which are brightened by its captivating vocals, courtesy of Brett Hite (Frenship)

‘Better Off Lonely’ is taken from his debut EP, out now.

Sounds like: ZHU, Disclosure, Hayden James

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RÜFÜS – Sundream

RUFUS

RUFUS

Australian trio RÜFÜS are back with their new single ‘Sundream’. The summery track is the third single from their album ‘Atlas’ which also includes remixes from Hayden James, Claptone, Wordlife, Classixx, Casino Gold and TACHES and can be purchased in Australia here.

The hypnotic and psychedelic video for ‘Sundream’ can be watched below.

‘Sundream’ is out on 8 September on Columbia Records and coincides with their tour dates below:

22 August – Reading Festival BBC Radio 1 Dance Stage

23 August – Leeds Festival BBC Radio 1 Dance Stage

31 August – Lodestar Festival, Cambridge

26 September – Glasgow King Tuts

27 September – Manchester Night & Day

30 September – Bristol Start the Bus

1 October – London Scala

2 October – Birmingham Temple

Sounds like: Cut Copy, Foals, Booka Shade, Holy Ghost!, Midnight Juggernauts, Goldroom

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