Electro – Page 40 – 7th Level Music

Review: Anika – Change

Dreamy. Sexy. Mysterious. Alluring. Distant. Intimate. Psychedelic. Stylish. All of those adjectives could sum up Anika‘s fine new album, Change. Or they could not. Those could all be projections one puts upon the record as it shape-shifts across its span.

The opening bass and beats of “Finger Pies” sets you off on a train across Western Europe late at night and has you noticing a beautiful person across the dining car that may be a spy, murderess, hitman, painter, or tourist looking for adventure. “My intention is my intention,” Anika sings. We don’t need to know. She’s keeping that secret for now, which only makes her more intriguing.

“Critical” is a tale of danger, both of love and of delusion, told with processed dance beats. “I always give my man the last word. I always give him what he deserves, but don’t forget that little twist of cyanide in his little gift,” she sings as futuristic synths build around her like a digital cloak. The album’s title track is possibly the most uplifting song of the year. Anika encourages us to move away from illusions and comfortable patterns of behavior in order to conquer fear and embrace one another. “We could do well to listen sometimes, and not just shout around things we know nothing about. But I think we have it all inside. I think we can learn from each other. I think we can change.” It’s a great anthem for 2021 and beyond.

Anika continues that call to action on the somewhat industrial “Naysayer” with lyrics like “Youngblood, I’m calling on you. Stand, standing tall and take what’s yours. Time, time to run the show.” “Sand Witches” is downright creepy with its warped bass and Anika’s lyrics about rivers running red with blood in England – a country she barely recognizes anymore. “Never Coming Back” is a synthwave ode to things that have slipped away from us without us even noticing (“I saw the signs. I chose to ignore them. I saw all the warnings. I saw them all.”).

“Rights” is a call to women everyone to reclaim their power (“Tall, small, tiny, full and feel your power!”). “Freedom” has Anika expressing her power underneath a Terminator film score-like synth sizzle. One can’t help but think the lyrics of “I’m not being silenced by anyone…I’m not being silenced by my learned mutism…I’m not being silenced, least by you.” reflect on something that happened over the last decade. Changes is, after all, Anika’s first solo record in eleven years. The closing track, “Wait for Something,” is a mostly acoustic heartbreaker with Anika telling a tale of how she waited and waited “for something to come…for something to break through,” but realizing that holding onto the past only drags you to death.

Anika had a lot on her mind from the last decade, and she let it all out on Changes. She has spoken about how all the lyrics of the album were written on the spot without a filter or second thoughts. There is optimism and sorrow, but few pangs of regret. We could all do well to follow her example and let go of things dragging us down into a place we think is comfortable but is actually a tomb.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Cold Beat release first single, “See You Again,” from upcoming album – “War Garden.”

San Francisco-based band Cold Beat announce their new album, War Garden, out September 17th via Like LTD, and share its lead single/video, “See You Again.” The name War Garden is both a reference and a revelation. Although it gets its namesake from the self-sufficiency of World War II civilians to plant and grow their own food, in a more metaphorical sense it sprouted from a sense of connection, during a time where it was physically impossible to do so. The distance caused by the pandemic strengthened the bond between members Hannah Lew, Sean Monaghan, Kyle King, and Luciano Talpini Aita, resulting in an album that’s a remarkable leap from their earlier guitar-forward work. Following multiple albums and EPs, plus collaborations with notable contemporaries and icons such as Los Angeles artist Cooper Saver and Cabaret Voltaire’s Stephen Mallinder, War Garden presents Cold Beat as a fully realized unit. They openly embrace a synthesized landscape with rich harmonies and 80s pop flourishes, all while maintaining a complex emotional depth.

Rather than the sound reflecting the surrounding despair, the music is often suitable for the dance-floor, driven by steady, machine-like rhythms and ethereal vocals. War Garden calls to mind some of the greats: The melodies of Human League, the syncopation of Oppenheimer Analysis, and everything about New Order. While Lew is the front person, all members all contributed to the songwriting.

Lead single “See You Again” was written via zoom, like the rest of the album. This particular track was created in the first three months of lockdown and chronicled the feelings that came with the realization that they wouldn’t see each other for an unknown stretch of time. After Lew sat a shiva for a family friend, Monaghan sent another version of the song, and it developed into meditation on the unknown possibility of reconnecting with loved ones in the afterlife. “I had spent many months toiling in the dirt, tending to my War Garden,” says Lew. “Working with the soil is so hopeful, but also morbid. I had to bury some bulbs instead of being able to be present for the burial of a close friend. It became almost fetishistic to bury seeds, like a physical way to be there without actually being able to be there.”

The accompanying video, directed by Mimi Pfahler and shot in Lew’s yard and at Ocean Beach, was the first reconnection opportunity many had. “Among people on set I know there was a sense of transcendence – just a moment to give form to the feelings of isolation and physical need for each other that had built up,” says Lew.

Watch Cold Beat’s Video for “See You Again”

War Garden’s complexities reveal themselves piece by piece—an instrument at a time. Although some of its explorations are heavy, there’s a sense of optimism in the final beat build-up and fading choral and keyboard arrangement—a harbinger of much better things to come.

Pre-order War Garden

War Garden Tracklist
1. Mandelbrot Fall
2. SOS
3. Tumescent Decoy
4. Weeds
5. See You Again
6. Arms Reach
7. Year Without A Shadow
8. Rubble Ren
9. Part The Sea
10. Leaves And Branches
11. New World

Cold Beat online:
https://twitter.com/coldbeatsf?lang=en
https://www.facebook.com/coldbeatsf/
https://coldbeatsf.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.pitchperfectpr.com/cold-beat/
https://www.instagram.com/cold_beat/?hl=en

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[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Plattenblau release first single, “Hollywood,” ahead of new album due this autumn.

“Hollywood” is the first single from Berlin art punks Plattenbau‘s upcoming album Shape / Shifting. Sounding like Joy Division on a dark VHS soundtrack, derailing into an explosive chorus soaked in overdrive, ‘Hollywood’“ is a song about greed and infatuation depicting man’s primal impulses to take, to extract, to possess – rather than to give and to share, but ultimately evinces the belief that this cycle can be broken.

Combining icy digital synthesizers and mechanical percussion with wiry, brutal post-punk and an explosive, fiery chorus hook, “Hollywood” is a corporate ghost story dancing on the grave of ideology with howling laughter and reckless abandon. The song artfully straddles the noise-pop boundary with layers of squelchy electronics, bouncing rhythms, and lyrics about the excess and brutality of our changing world. Yet it remains fun—a disco ball reflecting the burning light of post-capitalist Armageddon across your Wi-Fi network.

“Welcome to the Plattenbau club, come in for some sweaty wall-banging group therapy under strobe lights. The video represents the safe space of the club, the concert – where we can all connect on an intuitive level, interact with mutual respect and transform our shadows in darkness, through movement, into light.”

Pre-order Shape / Shifting here: https://dedstrange.bandcamp.com/

Plattenbau formed in 2011 in the dark basement of the former Stasi HQ in East Berlin. Originally strictly a recording project, they jammed over slow grinding death rock for hours and listened back to the tapes into cold dark nights, talking alternate realities, corporate ghost stories, and the death of ideology.

In the years since they have joined the likes of Idles, Preoccupations, Flasher, The Garden, La Luz, and Naomi Punk on stage. Their first US tour in Spring 2016 included dates at Silent Barn (NY), Empty Bottle (Chi), and a run of shows at SXSW. They subsequently toured Europe extensively, and returned to the US for two tours in 2018.

Over the years, frontman Lewis Lloyd’s songs have evolved from wiry and jagged post-punk to taut, ironclad synth fortresses, mechanical and repetitive, brutal and hypnotic. Early themes of fleeting youth and wasted nights have given way to lyrics embodying the excesses and brutalities of our world. Yet somehow these songs remain fun, straddling the ever-fruitful territory between noise and pop.

“Hollywood” is the first single from Plattenbau’s sophomore album which will be released later this fall. More details to come soon.

LISTEN TO “HOLLYWOOD” HERE.

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[Thanks to Steven at Dedstrange.]

Mano Le Tough shares “Aye Aye Mi Mi” from upcoming album – “At the Moment.”

Irish producer and DJ Mano Le Tough releases a new single, “Aye Aye Mi Mi,” from his forthcoming album, At The Moment, out August 20th on DJ Koze’s Pampa Record, and announces new tour dates with more to come. Following lead single “No Road Without A Turn,” “Aye Aye Mi Mi” is an indie dance ear-worm that’s hard to shake, and is the only track on the record that survived his original batch of demos and sketches. Beat and bass heavy, it highlights Mano’s skills for melodies and compelling vocal inflections. Mesmerizing instrumental flourishes, like ascending keys, filter in and out. “It’s a kind of reflection on narcissism, social media saturation and the ego,” Mano says.

Listen to Mano Le Tough’s “Aye Aye Mi Mi”

After more than a decade of releases and touring, Mano has spent the past year at home in Zurich, rearing his young family and focusing on the positives of 14 months without performing, amid the uncertainty of the pandemic. In the face of horror, Mano channelled inspiration. With At The Moment, the follow-up to 2015’s Trails, those struggles have produced a record which balances the ambivalence of the current moment, with wistful streaks of unguarded optimism.

At The Moment shows Mano’s modes of expression evolving too. The synths and rhythms common to earlier works are now complemented with less familiar sounds and influences. Jangling guitars and sun-bleached chords envelop his own tender, plaintive vocals in a dappled wash of summery pop. Another track grounds overlapping melodies and sci-fi soundtrack pads with hip hop beats, creating a hypnotic slice of slinky retro-futurism. Where there is reflection, there is also a sense of being unafraid.
Listen to Mano Le Tough’s “Aye Aye Mi Mi”

Listen to “No Road Without A Turn”

Pre-order/Pre-save At The Moment

Mano Le Tough Tour Dates

Fri. July 23 – Las Vegas, NV @ Art of the Wild
Sat. July 24 – New York, NY @ Teksupport
Sun. July 25 – Miami, FL @ Space
Thu July 29 – Athens, FR @ Island
Sun. Aug. 15 – Bloemendaal, NL @ Woodstock
Sun. Aug. 16 – Berlin, DE @ TBD
Mon. Aug. 17 – Verbier, CH @ Electroclette
Fri. Aug. 27 – Lincolnshire, UK @ Lost Village

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Anika shares “Rights” from upcoming album – “Change” – due July 23, 2021.

Anika – the project of Berlin-based musician Annika Henderson – shares the new single/video, “Rights,” from Change, her first new album in over a decade, out July 23rd on Sacred Bones and Invada. Following “Change” and “Finger Pies,” “Rights” drones with Anika’s beautifully plaintive voice and oscillating percussion. In her words, the song is about “turning the tables, giving power to those who normally feel disempowered. This song is about unification not division. This song is about female (/queer/non-binary/marginalised communities) empowerment – the joining of forces, not pitted against each other. This song is about wanting to escape reality but then we can never truly escape it, it will always be there to collect its dues. We can only ever achieve temporary escape. The better option is to bring whatever we want into reality.” During the song’s peak, Anika chants encouragingly: “Feel the power // feel the power // show me power.”

The accompanying video, directed by Anika and Sabrina Labis, features Anika and Mueran Humanos’s Carmen Burguess. The video toggles between the virtual and real worlds, playing with the ideas of dreams and displacement, and seeking places of empowerment. Anika elaborates: “At the end of the video, the memory of the feelings, the knowledge that it was possible, remained, that is enough to start bringing it into our own life. We all have rights.” Co-director Sabrina Labis adds: “Making videos is my way to feel power. The power of changing perspectives, escaping conservative structures and landing on a very close and free power-planet where everything is possible. Press play, take off and enjoy.”

Watch Anika’s Video for “Rights”

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Wings of Desire encourage us to “Choose a Life” with their new single.

Following last single ‘Better Late Than Never’ (video here), a song about self-discovery, the ever intriguing Wings Of Desire share new single ‘Choose A Life’, plus announce their new EP Amun-Ra to be released Friday 13th August 2021 on WMD Recordings.

Filmed in 8mm pre-covid, the video for ‘Choose A Life’ is meant to feel freeing from responsibility and life in general. Somehow that feels even more poignant now.

One the track, the duo say: “Choose A Life is about our automated programming which convinced us that once we get ‘there’ we will be happy. That once we’ve acquired the material check list we will be fulfilled, but this is never the case. The song explores finding joy in the smaller moments of the everyday, the mundane, those micro expressions that we take for granted. And realising that you don’t have to bend the world to make your mark. That it’s better to just enjoy it.“

Watch the video for ‘Choose A Life’ HERE.

Amun-Ra which is released on 13th August, moves on from the observant nature of debut EP End Of An Age and into a more inwardly focused journey of self-discovery. It is named after the ancient Egyptian deity, the transcendental creator of the universe and the god of light. It represents unlimited and boundless freedom. It explores the trappings of time, ageing, and looks back with a nostalgic glow on past misdealings and successes. Amun-Ra leaves breadcrumbs for anyone growing up and asking the big existential questions on life, lighting the way for the disenfranchised.

Sonically the EP continues the exploration of 60s pop songwriting, noise rock, and euphoric atmospherics, and lifts it into new horizons. Produced by the band and mixed by kindred spirit Vincent Cacchione (Caged Animals). It will include both ‘Choose A Life’, and ‘Better Late Than Never’.

The new EP Amun-Ra is out 13th August 2021 via WMD Recordings

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[Thanks to Amy at Prescription Music PR.]

Morly announces debut album, “‘Til I Start Speaking,” and new single – “Dance to You.”

Visual artist and singer-songwriter Morly (aka Katy Morley) announces her debut album ‘Til I Start Speaking, out August 20th on Cascine, and shares new single/video “Dance to You.” Morley’s soft, swooning strain of storyteller pop has distilled across the past half decade into an increasingly hushed and heartfelt private language, as lived in as it is lyrical. Her debut full-length took shape slowly during stints in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and London, stripping back the melodies to their essence, driven by a yearning to “reach ‘the other side,’ to live in and be art and music.” The songs that emerged are time-worn, aching, and acoustically rich, like hymns or traditionals, traced in piano, voice, and percussion. She describes the creation process as almost a “subconscious exorcism,” casting out old ghosts and outgrown loves.

After establishing her singular style with a series of EPs — In Defense of My Muse (2015), Something More Holy (2016) and Sleeping In My Own Bed (2017) — Morley took some necessary time away from the public eye as she battled chronic illness. She returns now with newfound strength and focused sound. Much of ‘Til I Start Speaking revealed itself as she found herself falling in love with someone across the Atlantic. The Minneapolis-born artist relocated from her homebase in Los Angeles to London this year, joining her partner, who was “a beam of light irrupting into the darkness” of her deteriorating health. The album paints a portrait of realizing you’re in love. It’s also the result of Morley finding herself at the crossroads of graduate school and considering pursuing music full time. Morley felt adrift and estranged from herself, but year by year she’s closed that gap in incremental ways: studying piano, pursuing painting (her artwork adorns the sleeves of her entire discography), unlearning self-doubt, trusting one’s inner voice.

Working with frequent collaborator Christopher Stracey, Morley followed a muse of stillness and naturalism, allowing each composition to flower in its own fluid, elegant way – arriving finally at a sequence he quipped as “nine sleep bangers and a bop.” There is indeed a sensuous, low-lidded mood to this music, as though sung at a quiet hour in an intimate setting, a quality she ascribes to her affinity for conscious listening: “It’s in my own silence that the world really comes alive, and I see the deep connections.” Morley’s voice moves in reflective pools, spotlit but subdued, full of lilts and breathy pauses. The effect is one of patience and hidden wisdom, transmuting sorrow into strength, inspired by her hero Nina Simone’s ability to “take the saddest feeling and alchemize it into joy.”

‘Til I Start Speaking represents a stylistic movement towards organic sounds that was hinted towards in Morley’s previous works, blending her love of classic acoustic songwriting and minimal electronic music. This manifests in new single “Dance to You,” the follow-up to previously released single “Twain Harte.” “Dance to You” opens with piano before expanding with Morley’s soothing voice and a velvety bass line and a mellow beat. Morley elaborates: “‘Dance to You’ is about the need for–and is the vehicle for–a benevolent exorcism. It sprang from an encounter with someone so radiant to me that they helped light my way, but that I had to outgrow in order to see my own brilliance: I can’t grow/inside your glow.”

The incredible accompanying video, directed by Lawrence Pumfrey and choreographed by Katya Bourviski, explores the sort of dream state and rush of inspiring infatuation, but also its malleability and destabilizing effect. “Katya and I talked about my experiences as a young artist finding my feet in a difficult industry, especially with flagging health, and the constant pressure to define and sell yourself which helped to inform the structure of the piece,” says Morley. “It’s also partially inspired by Pina Bausch’s dance, Kontakthof.”
Watch “Dance to You” Video

Pre-order ‘Til I Start Speaking

Stream “Twain Harte”‘Til I Start Speaking Tracklist
1. Til I Start Speaking (I & II)
2. Dance to You
3. Sleeping in My Own Bed
4. Wasted5. Twain Harte
6. Up Above
7. Jazz Angel (Bill)
8. Savior Mind Tattoo
9. Superlunar
10. Eliogy
11. Feels (Bonus Track)

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Museum of Love – Life of Mammals

Part-krautrock, post-house, part-funk, part-art rock, part…I don’t know what, Museum of Love‘s Life of Mammals is weird and wild.

“Your Nails Have Grown,” for instance, starts the album with Pat Mahoney and Dennis McNany‘s mechaniker krautrock synths for beats and lyrics about someone lost to time, and the extended, haunting saxophone solo by Peter Gordon is outstanding. The title track brings in ambient synths to blend with funky bass and hand percussion beats. It’s a song about facing reality and casting out illusions (“It’s a shocking truth. You were raised by wolves, but never told that rabbits eat their youth.”).

“Marching Orders” is a highly danceable track (those killer beats!), with a whistled chorus and lyrics about retreating into stability and walking away from chaos and the rat race. “Hotel at Home” could be a song about touring or living in quarantine with lyrics like “Everything you’ve done is washed away. This room wasn’t really yours anyway. Curl up and watch. Lockup extended stay.”

“Cluttered World” is a sauntering, sexy track about cutting away attachments in hopes of filling up the space in our homes and heads with better pleasures. “Ridiculous Body,” with its swaying bass and tense drums, is a witty take on toxic beauty and the ravages of time. “Flat Side” has dark-wave elements in its synths and lyrics about patience in love. The guitar on it soars like a robot hawk.

“Army of Children” is a song about regret, and not being able to fix bad habits (“When we met I was a picturesque wreck hanging around your neck…Why can I ever seem to stick to the plan?”). The addition of country guitars and Edwyn Collins-like vocals gives a cool, bluesy feel to the track, even when dance drums walk into the room. Bold horns and bouncing synth-beats propel “The Conversation,” which tells the tale of a talk going out of control in rapid time. The album closes with “Almost Certainly Not You,” in which we hear the tale of a relationship in which someone claims they’ve been telling the truth the whole time, not the other. The song is punctuated by finger snaps and synths that feel like sunlight breaking through cigarette smoke.

A lot of the album sounds like that image feels: Mysterious, yet bright. Angry, yet cheeky. Stealthy, yet bold. It’s a winner any way you slice it.

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Kelly Lee Owens announces U.S. tour and remix EP.

Producer and musician Kelly Lee Owens is “reclaiming space for women in dance music in really powerful and important ways” (NPR Music). Last year, she released Inner Song, one of 2020’s best albums, via Smalltown Supersound. Today, she announces a US tour in support of the album — tickets are on sale. Kicking off at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg, Owens will play across the states, including appearances at Chicago’s Pitchfork Music Festival and Miami’s III Points Festival. Additionally, she will release the Inner Song Remix Series EP this Friday. It features remixes by Loraine James, Coby Sey, Roza Terenzi, Elkka, Breaka, Yazzus, and Haider.

Inner Song Remixes EP Tracklist
1. Re-Wild (Breaka Remix)
2. Wake-Up (Loraine James Remix)
3. On (Elkka Remix)
4. Night (Roza Terenzi Remix)
5. L.I.N.E. (Yazzus Remix)
6. Corner of my Sky feat. John Cale (Coby Sey Rework)
7. Jeanette (Haider Remix)

Kelly Lee Owens Tour Dates
Wed. Sept. 8 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Fri. Sept. 10 – Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
Sat. Sept. 11 – Philadelphia, PA @ Making Time
Mon. Sept. 13 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
Tue. Sept. 14 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage
Thu. Sept. 16 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
Fri. Sept. 17 – Denver, CO @ Globe Hall
Sat. Sept. 18 – Seattle, WA @ Nuemos
Sun. Sept. 19 – Portland, OR @ Holocene
Wed. Sept. 22 – Oakland, CA @ Starline
Sat. Sept. 25 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
Fri. Oct. 22 – Sat. Oct. 23 – Miami, FL @ III Points Festival

Watch/Listen/Share
Preorder Inner Song Remix Series EP
Stream/Purchase Inner Song
“Melt!” Visuals
“On” Video
“Corner of My Sky” Video
“Night” Stream

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[Thanks to Ahmad at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Splash ’96 – Summers in Anniston

Summers in Anniston, the new album by Splash ’96 (AKA Jason LaRay Keener), is a time machine turned into a record. It takes us back to a time when you could still hang out at the pool, mall, record store, or a friend’s back yard patio and not have to worry about as many killer viruses, angry political conversations, or everyone talking on their damn phone all the damn time.

The bright synths of opening track “CD Baby” are like a blast of cool air that hits you while walking into the mall vestibule from the hot July day. “Our Camcorder” has some classic-sounding processed beats that would fit in fine on a Janet Jackson jam. “The Video Store” is a loving tribute to something that no longer exists (apart from a lone Blockbuster out west and specialty stores here and there), and captures the background music of such a place and the constant looping of advertising videos played there.

“Pool Water,” complete with sampled splashing sounds, is a fun bubbly track perfect for the opening of an early 1990s summer coming-of-age comedy. “Waterbed Nap” is as relaxing as its namesake. “Local Radar” is the sound of the local TV station’s 24-hour weather channel that you watch like a hawk all summer to see if your ballgame, pool party, or trip to the beach is going to be rained out.

“Splurgin’ at the Mall” sounds like a lost Pet Shop Boys cut and has a fun, fat bass lick throughout it to accompany your spending spree at the hot pretzel stand, Spencer’s Gifts, Sam Goody Records and Tapes, and the arcade. “Quintard Cruising” is a straight-up mid-1990s house track (referring to a shopping mall in Oxford, Alabama), and so good that Splash ’96 should consider putting out a house record (if he isn’t already creating one).

“Late Night Drive-Thru” is a perfect song for late night drives with the windows open and three pals in the car with nowhere to go and nothing to do but enjoy the warm night air and listen to the cool new CD one of them just bought with the money they earned at the video store. The album ends with the mellow, slightly warped “Please Adjust Your Tracking,” a phrase familiar to anyone who has ever owned a VCR. I’m surprised the phrase hasn’t transformed into a version of “Step off!” by now.

It’s a fun record, and one that brings back a lot of memories if you were at least a teenager in the 1990s.

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[Thanks to Splash ’96.]