Electro – Page 4 – 7th Level Music

Lauren Auder shares “Praxis” from her upcoming album due this spring.

Today, the London-based composer, producer, and singer Lauren Auder is announcing her sophomore album Whole World As Vigil. The album will be out March 27th via untitled (recs) and to mark the announce she is sharing the incandescent new single “praxis”.

Auder’s baroquely orchestrated pop songs fuse classical, post-rock and experimental elements with contemporary reflections of generational discontent and personal turmoil, resulting in vivid musical portraits which have established her as one of pop’s most singular voices. Auder released her long-awaited debut album ‘the infinite spine’ in 2023 to critical acclaim, which documented how the weight of the world can transform you, following a remarkable run of 3 EPs, 2021’s 5 Songs For The Dysphoric, 2020’s two caves in, and 2018’s Who Carry’s You as well as a myriad of nuanced, poignant singles and collaborations with Vegyn, Celeste, Clams Casino, Caroline Polachek, Boris, Danny L Harle and Wendy & Lisa.

Lauren has also composed music for Virgil Abloh’s Louis Vuitton campaigns, and modelled for Marni, Gucci, Celine, Alexander McQueen, Ann Demeulemeester and Ganni, cementing herself as an auteur across the worlds of music and fashion. Lauren has toured with Deafheaven, Amen Dunes, Christine & The Queens, Celeste and WU LYF.

Rooted in the idea of movement as survival, “praxis” channels momentum into sound, spiralling upwards into an exhilarating, revelatory chorus. Lyrically and musically, the song turns on itself: “every step I take keeps the world on its axis” is mirrored by cyclical strings and an oscillating instrumental palette that feels in constant motion.

Speaking about the single, Lauren says: “‘praxis’ is built around a sample of a power drill cutting through metal, its seemingly perpetual motion and unstoppable movement felt apt to parallel with an important part of my own philosophy, that keeping yourself moving forward, is enough to live for. Musically I was inspired by Steve Reich, Kate Bush and Bruce Springsteen, trying to bring all these worlds together in a way that felt uniquely me.”

Where 2023’s debut the infinite spine traced Auder’s journey toward self-understanding, Whole World as Vigil turns outward. Inspired by a romantic relationship, the album captures not only the electrifying sheen of being in love, but the introspection it demands. Stripping back her process, Auder largely wrote and produced the record on laptops with long-time collaborators dviance and Alex Parish between Paris and London. Most tracks began as acapella voice notes recorded on walks through the city before any instrumentation took shape.

There’s a physicality that has always been deeply embedded in Auder’s music, and this visceral emotion is in every corner of the new record: the tracks feel bigger, the production more bombastic and the overarching sentiment filled with greater urgency than ever. Booming 808s nod to Auder’s roots in rap and beat-making, while her instinct for sonic collage pushes each song into new terrain. Ultimately, the collusion of all these sonic experimentations have resulted in the record that sounds the most unmistakably like Auder herself, a culmination of years of experimentation, now distilled into something boldly assured. Rather than a reinvention, Whole World As Vigil extends her ongoing archive of self: a body of work that grows richer in conversation with its own history.

“Vigil” in French, Auder’s second language, refers to a guard or a watcher, and this bilingual connotation places even greater emphasis on the album’s title. What will we do when we know the world is watching? Auder wrote many of Whole World As Vigil’s lyrics as theses to live by. “praxis,” as both concept and track, embodies the act of turning belief into action. More than just succumbing to desire, it’s a manifestation that what we deserve is possible. “yes,” one of the purest love songs on the album, most directly gives way to this ecstasy in steadfast declarations, but Whole World As Vigil ultimately imagines what we can do once that’s embraced.

Lauren will celebrate the release of the album by playing a headline London show at Chat’s Palace on 26th March, tickets here.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Tom at Terrorbird Media.]

Review: Model / Actriz – Pirouette

I didn’t know much about Model / Actriz before seeing them at the 2025 Levitation Music Festival, but I was instantly hooked by their frenetic, passionate live performance and their wild post-punk / electro-disco sound. I immediately bopped over to their merch booth after their set to buy their newest full-length album Pirouette.

“Vespers” opens the album. Vespers, in case you’re unaware, are prayers usually conducted at the end of a day for reflection of that day’s events (and your role and God’s role in them) and typically said before an evening mass. It is coincidence that Pirouette‘s cover appears to be an ornate gate – perhaps opening to a sacred place? Vocalist Cole Haden sings, here and elsewhere on the album, about his reconciliation with his faith growing up (“It’s all the days I carved in crimson streaks.”) and his embracing of his sexuality (“God gave me poise enough for the sharing. Claim that look, match that speed, claim that room.”)/.

On “Cinderella,” Jack Wetmore‘s guitar almost sets off a panic while Ruben Radlauer‘s acoustic and electric drums hit with wild disco abandon and Haden tells a tale of finding his true self. “Poppies” contains a central theme to the album in its lyrics: “As flesh is made in marble, as marble captures softness, as softness holds a violence within a pure expression.” The first two parts of that quote appear in large script in the middle of the liner notes.

Aaron Shapiro‘s bass on “Diva” will rumble your seat, while Haden’s whispered vocals on “Headlights” will make you sit still and pay attention. “Acid Rain” has Haden admiring the speed, grace, and weightlessness of hummingbirds and wondering if he could emulate them and leave behind cares and dwell in beauty all day. The heavy beats of “Departures” and “Audience” rush back and forth between dark house, krautrock, and industrial.

Speaking of industrial tracks, you can’t get much more machine-heavy than “Ring Road,” which is about being willing to spin a car into a whirlwind so you can forget everything and just be in one place for a little while. “Doves” seems to be another spiritual metaphor (The Holy Spirit coming down like a dove onto Christ? Haden embracing how the Creator made him?) and yet another track you’ll blast late nights on empty roads.

“Baton” closes the album. A baton can be something you pass on to the person ahead of you in the race, and Haden musing over the man he’s become and how “it can feel strange knowing I’ve been a person.” Leaving behind one life and embracing another can be intimidating to say the least, but Model / Actriz’s combined talents build the song into brightness in the second half, fading us out on a hopeful note.

It’s a sharp record from a band currently taking the world by storm. Like its title, it can make you spin with wild speed or subtle grace.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Belaria – Boost & Doubts (2022)

One of the descriptors for Belaria‘s Boost & Doubts EP on the record’s Bandcamp page is “dark disco.” That’s perfect. The sultry electro beats and vibe of the record is palpable. It sinks into you, moves you, and…alters you.

“Boost” blends disco with krautrock and synthwave into a pulsing, sexy smoothie. The beats on “Rest in B” (Does the “B” stand for “Beats?” Or “Boost?” Or “Belaria?”) pop and drip, while menacing synth chords wash over you like spotlights from an off-world colony ship. “Burning Inside” is the song spun by the replicant DJ on that ship as you walk into the exclusive lounge reserved for people who can afford the trip…or the android assassins who are there to deliver a message to those rich fat cats.

“Esteem” sounds like the theme to a forgotten late 1970s science fiction show that aired for perhaps half a season but was so brilliant and ahead of its time that the network didn’t know what to do with it. It’s fun, sexy, and practically makes you imagine a cavalcade of TV stars in tight outfits and slightly retro space ships.

The EP includes 12″ remixes of “Rest in B” and “Burning Inside.” The “Burning Inside” remix is the first song I heard from Belaria, and I was instantly intrigued. I love how her vocals are barely comprehensible or even noticeable in some cases. They sometimes sound like she’s speak-singing through a silk scarf, which only makes you lean in more to the song and the mysterious feel of her music.

Lean into this record. You won’t regret it.

[I’ll get a boost if you subscribe.]

Review: Grandbrothers – Elsewhere

Grandbrothers, the duo of pianist Erol Sarp and engineer / software designer Lukas Vogel, create a lovely blend of classical, jazz, electronica, and ambient music together. Their newest album, Elsewhere, is designed to take you to such a place…wherever it may be.

The duo decided to add more vintage synths, drum loops, and other electronic oddities to their newest album. The simmering intro of “Famara Dust” swirls like a slow whirlpool into the trip hop-inspired “Fable.” The funky drums of “We Collide” sizzle and snap while Sarp’s piano keeps you buzzing. The way Sarp’s piano loops (which remind me a bit of some Ennio Morricone compositions) and curls with Vogel’s programmed beats on “Where Else” is slick.

“Liminal” thumps and bumps in all the right places. “Velvet Roads” starts off as smooth as the fabric in its title and then drops a gorgeous house beat on you. “Cypress” might be your new favorite chill house track. “Rex Machina” does indeed sound like it uses samples, loops, bleeps, and bloops from various machines to accent the piano and alter field recordings (Thunder? Breaking ocean waves? Wind through trees?) and loosen that stress headache you’re enduring.

I can’t help but think Grandbrothers got the title for “run.run.run.run.run” – a snappy electro track that sounds like it’s mixing in steel drums at some points – from seeing it on some vintage synthesizer or computer they used to process the sounds of it. Ending with “NOWHERE,” the album has taken us to a place that’s nowhere yet everywhere, here and now, then and when.

The album is a journey for Grandbrothers, who were exploring new ways to make new music with Elsewhere, and for us. We all come through it with a fresh look on the world.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to George at Terrorbird Media.]

SPELLING teams up with Turnstile’s Brendon Yates for a new version of the title track to “Portrait of My Heart.”

SPELLLING (aka Chrystia Cabral) released her new album, Portrait of My Heart, last year via Sacred Bones to wide critical praise and year-end accolades. The New Yorker proclaimed, “SPELLLING…resists genre categorization in a way that allows her almost to defy time,” while Consequence described Portrait of My Heart as “a cubist collage of ’80s synth-pop, ’90s grunge, ’00s nu-metal and pop-punk, and contemporary electro-art-rock.”

Today, SPELLLING releases a new version of the album’s title track, “Portrait of My Heart,” featuring Turnstile’s Brendan Yates. Billboard included the original version on their list of “12 Great Pop Songs From 2025 You Might Have Missed” and says it “sweeps and shudders, dialing up the electric guitar, drums and ‘whoa-OA’s!’ during one of the most cathartic choruses of the year.” The new single arrives on the heels of a reworked version of “Destiny Arrives” featuring Weyes Blood, which was praised by Paste as “a wonderfully strong fusion of the two musicians’ strengths.”

On working with Yates, SPELLLING says, “I was really happy to discover that Brendan was into SPELLLING when I saw him speaking about The Turning Wheel being his album of the year on NPR’s ‘faves on faves’. It’s the most fun and affirming aspect of making music for me, finding out my favorite artists are also attuned to what I’m making. Turnstile brought me out to play some shows with them in 2022 and during a soundcheck I heard Brendan playfully singing ‘I hate the boys at school’. That planted the seed in my mind that a collaboration would work really well. Having him sing on this ‘Portrait of my Heart’ remix was such a cool way to capture our radically different but mutually appreciated musical expressions.”

Listen to “Portrait of My Heart” feat. Brendan Yates

On Portrait of My Heart, Cabral’s fourth album as SPELLLING, she transforms her acclaimed avant-pop project into a mirror. She fearlessly draws the curtain back on parts of herself that she’s never included in SPELLLING before—her feelings of being an outsider, her overly guarded nature, the way she can throw herself recklessly into intimate relationships and then cool on them just as quickly. “It’s very much an open diary of all those sensations,” she says. There’s a real generosity in that, as listeners may recognize themselves in Portrait of My Heart in a way they haven’t on past albums. It’s the sharpest, most direct SPELLLING album to date.

Watch/Stream:
Live on KEXP Performance
“Destiny Arrives” feat. Weyes Blood
“Destiny Arrives”
“Alibi”
“Portrait of My Heart”

Purchase/Stream Portrait of My Heart

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Rewind Review: Klangphonics – Songs to Try (2021)

The cover of Klangphonics‘ 2021 album Songs to Try takes an image of a forest and the sky above it, flips it, blurs it, and makes it something intriguing. The album does much the same with our perception.

In case you didn’t know, “deep house” is a thing, and Klangphonics might be the best proponents of it. The German trio eschew traditional DJ methods (How weird is it to write that?) and opt to create live electronic music from a blend of acoustic and electronic instruments (or sometimes household objects, tools, and even a riding lawn mower).

“Great Plains” starts off the record with dance grooves and drums that feel right at home in a night club or the Grand Canyon. The switch halfway through to the meditative song become a straight-up house banger is stunning. “Holocene” brings in Anna Metko on guest vocals that give the track a brightness that’s difficult to describe but lovely to experience.

“Dendrometry” (the study of the sizes and shapes of trees) is perfect for your morning run through the woods with its bumping beats, “wind through the leaves” synths, echoed birdsong, and encouraging bass line. “White Flower” takes off like a race car and doesn’t look back. “Heliosphere” uses Carl Sagan’s speech about all of us living on a speck of dust in a sunbeam to excellent effect and sends us out on an uplifting note.

The whole record is uplifting and intriguing…and danceable. These three are high on my must-see list now.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Fille – Only Skies Stay Eternal Remixes EP

Fille released her EP, Only Skies Stay Eternal, in June of 2025. It caught quite a few ears because, just three months later, she released the Only Skies Stay Eternal Remixes EP with mixes by four different collaborators.

The first is Rico Casazza‘s remix of “Reach the Nucleus” (and a shorter radio edit of it closes the EP). It’s a lush track with Fille’s breathy vocals mixed well with thudding bas and bright synths that burst like sunlight through clouds. Alienata‘s take on “Portals” is a bit spooky and might open a portal to a creepy (yet sexy) dimension if you play it loud enough.

Sestrica remixes “Time Is a Circle” with sizzling electric cymbals and just enough distortion to make the slick dance track a little trippy. Clouser takes “Thistles” and makes it into a somewhat goth track that sounds like a rare B-side you heard once in a club and have been searching for decades to find.

It’s a slick EP from start to finish. You’ll love it for your next workout or dance playlists.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Dina at Eclectica!]

Mandy, Indiana’s new single is in “Cursive.”

Mandy, Indiana — “one of the decade’s best new bands” (Bandcamp) — present “Cursive,” the latest single from their new album, URGH, out February 6th via Sacred Bones.

On URGH, Mandy, Indiana is a force of uncanny nature, grafting together a record that is as much a call to action as a parlay into oblivion and transcendence. It finds the band expanding their far-reaching sound with each member — vocalist Valentine Caulfield, guitarist and producer Scott Fair, synth player Simon Catling, and drummer Alex Macdougall — actively taking part in the songwriting process.

Following the “noisy, harrowing” (The Needle Drop) lead single, “Magazine,” today’s “Cursive” is a bristling techno track that recoils and unfurls, garnering drama from the juxtaposition of quiet moments and explosive commotion. The song’s accompanying video was directed by Stephen Agnew.

Catling comments: “‘Cursive’ is probably our most collaborative track to-date. Whilst Scott and Valentine often offer the initial impetus behind most of our songs, ‘Cursive’ was built up from a number of Alex’s rhythmic sketches and my bass sequence. Valentine added her vocals later and Scott worked to sculpt these elements together. It was exciting having everyone bring their own ideas to the table from the off, throwing them together and seeing what could come out of it — a bit of a step into the unknown for us as a band.”

Watch the Video for Mandy, Indiana’s “Cursive”

Co-produced and co-mixed by Fair and Daniel Fox of Gilla Band, much of URGH was written during an intense residency at an eerie studio house in the outskirts of Leeds and recorded across Berlin and Greater Manchester. The process was shaped by adversity with both Caulfield and Macdougall undergoing multiple rounds of surgeries in the same time frame as the album was being written and recorded. The harrowing experience and the exhaustion of their respective recoveries bleed into the surreality of Caufield’s writing, blurring the line between inner turmoil and external chaos.

URGH is deeply personal, yet also reflects the violent, fractured state of the wider world as Caulfield’s lyrics grapple with sexual assault, systemic indifference, and the omnipresence of pain. While most of the lyrics are in her native French, the emotional clarity cuts through regardless of language. Caulfield still uses her voice as a distorted instrument and a weapon, oscillating between equal parts playful and eviscerating.

Following their acclaimed 2023 debut, i’ve seen a way, URGH sees Mandy, Indiana interpolating their own unconventional language into a mantra for self-determination and resilience, forging a template for a brighter future before it fades to black.

Mandy, Indiana will tour across Europe next year with shows in London, Paris, Berlin and more. All dates are listed below.

Pre-Order URGH

Watch the Visualizer for “Magazine”

Stream “Cursive”

Mandy, Indiana Tour Dates
Sat. Jan. 31 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Ritz *
Wed. March 25 – London, UK @ Heaven
Fri. March 27 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Sat. March 28 – Glasgow, UK @ Room 2
Wed. April 8 – Dunkirk, FR @ Les 4 Ecluses
Thu. April 9 – Paris, FR @ Petit Bain
Sun. April 12 – Cologne, DE @ Bumann & Sohn
Tue. April 14 – Copenhagen, DK @ Huset
Wed. April 15 – Berlin, DE @ Urban Spree
Thu. April 16 – Hamburg, DE @ MS Stubnitz
Fri. April 17 – Tilburg, NL @ Roadburn
Sat. April 18 – Rotterdam, NL @ Motel Mozaique

* = supporting Machine Girl

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe!]

[Thanks to Ahmad at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Daniel Avery announces new remix album and tour.

Revered producer and composer Daniel Avery announces his new album, Tremor (Midnight Versions) — a reimagining of his acclaimed sixth studio album Tremor — out March 6th via Domino with lead single “Haze w/ Ellie (Midnight Version).” Remixing the entirety of the record himself, Avery presents a nocturnal counterpart to last year’s Tremor with a collection of darker, club-focused reworkings, drawing the record firmly into the late-night hours. Today’s announcement lands alongside news of a spring North American DJ tour.

Tremor (Midnight Versions) continues the world Avery created on Tremor, reframing its material through a techno lens and speaking directly to the dancefloor. Stripped back, intensified and retooled for the strobe light, these tracks channel Avery’s long-standing relationship with club culture while maintaining the emotional weight and textural depth that defines his work.

Two Midnight Versions have already surfaced, “Rapture In Blue w/ Cecile Believe” and “Greasy Off The Racing Line w/ Alison Mosshart,” offering a first glimpse of this shadowed universe. The full project expands on that energy, positioning itself as a vital bridge between Tremor’s expansive, collaborative spirit and Avery’s enduring techno lineage. Avery comments: “For every tremor, there’s a reaction. These are the Midnight Versions. Songs reimagined and sent directly into the night.”

On Tremor, Avery welcomed an inspiring cast of collaborators, including the likes of Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Walter Schreifels (Quicksand / Rival Schools), bdrmm, Julie Dawson(NewDad), yeule, Ellie, Art School Girlfriend, yunè pinku, and Cecile Believe. Each artist left their indelible mark, yet the record’s true power lies in the communal spirit at its core. Marking his debut on Domino, the album was mixed by Alan Moulder (Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails) and David Wrench (FKA twigs, Frank Ocean), and mastered by Heba Kadry—each vital to the creative fabric of the record.

Stream “Haze w/ Ellie (Midnight Version)”

Pre-order Tremor (Midnight Versions)

Stream / Purchase Tremor

Daniel Avery Tour Dates
Sat. Jan. 31 – Brighton, UK @ Patterns ^
Sat. Feb. 21 – Brussels, BE @ Fuse ^
Fri. Feb. 27 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds ^
Sat. Feb. 28 – Geneva, CH @ Audio ^
Fri. March 6 – London, UK @ Phonox Residency ^
Sat. March 7 – Bognor Regis, UK @ Bugged Out Weekender ^
Fri. March 13 – London, UK @ Phonox Residency ^
Fri. March 20 – London, UK @ Phonox Residency ^
Sat. March 21 – Manchester, UK @ Victoria Baths ^
Fri. March 27 – London, UK @ Phonox Residency ^
Thu. April 2 – Glasgow, UK @ Queen Margaret Union *
Fri. April 3 – Dublin, IE @ Opium *
Sat. April 4 – Belfast, UK @ Ulster Sports Club (b2b Richard Fearless) ^
Fri. April 24 – Toronto, CA @ Standard Time ^
Sat. April 25 – New York, NY @ Public Records ^
Thu. April 30 – Washington, DC @ Tigres de la Noche ^
Fri. May 1 – Chicago, IL @ Smoke & Mirrors ^
Sat. May 2 – Miami, FL @ The Ground ^
Thu. May 7 – Portland, OR @ Process ^
Fri. May 8 – Los Angeles, CA @ Into the Woods ^
Sat. May 9 – San Francisco, CA @ SquishFest ^
Sat. May 30 – Edinburgh, UK @ Dark Days (b2b Helena Hauff) ^

^ = DJ Set
* = Live Set

Keep your mind open.

[I’ll have tremors until you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Ahmad at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Just Mustard – We Were Just Here

Just Mustard‘s third album, We Were Just Here, opens with squalling guitar that sounds like an alarm that has a battery that’s slowly going dead. The band was looking for hope on the album, and I can’t help but think that its title refers to the deja vu (and dread) we’re all feeling right now in the political atmosphere.

“Pollyanna” is, in fact, named after a character who was eternally optimistic, and Katie Ball‘s vocals have a lovely bounce to them while her bandmates practically summon a UFO from outside our orbit. “Endless Deathless” roars off like a spacecraft designed in an Irish farmhouse going to meet that UFO and ask anyone inside how we can fix this place. It’s a stunner that will immediately go onto your cardio playlist. Guitarist David Noonan joins Ball on vocals for “Silver” – a song that bounces back and forth not only between their microphones, but also between Noonan’s guitar Mete Kalyoncuoglu‘s.

Ball’s vocals on “Dreamer” echo all around you, keeping on the theme of euphoria (and the healthy search for it – “I don’t wanna go where I can’t feel a thing.”) prominent across the record. The title track is another stunner with guitars roaring everywhere. “Somewhere” has Robert Hodgers-Clarke on bass and Shane Maguire on drums creating a neat, smoky, and slightly menacing atmosphere as the guitars swell and fall like waves.

“Dandelion” seems to be about perseverance, as dandelions can and do grow practically anywhere and Ball compares herself to one as she hopes she won’t be overlooked by a potential lover. “That I Might Not See” is a song about being so euphoric you’re not sure if what you’re experiencing is real or not. “The Steps” has Ball following her lover across unexplored territory, and the closer, “Out of Heaven,” has the band coming back down to Earth…but now the Earth has changed.

That’s what they hope for all of us: That the planet will change after we all take the time to have an out-of-body experience or two. Small actions create large changes. We don’t need to return to a place we’ve already been. That moment, that place, is gone and has been for a long while. Here is now. Just Mustard is now.

Keep your mind open.

[You were just here? The subscription box is just over there.]

[Thanks to Jaycee at Pitch Perfect PR.]