Electro – Page 15 – 7th Level Music

JayWood says “Thank You” on his dreamy new single.

JayWood – the moniker of Winnipeg musician & songwriter Jeremy Haywood-Smith – presents a new single/video, “Thank You,” from his forthcoming album, Slingshot, out July 15th on Captured Tracks. The album’s penultimate track, “Thank You” was co-produced with Jacob Portrait of Unknown Mortal Orchestra & Blouse and features string arrangements by Johan Lenox. The song brings JayWood’s sound full circle, offering something reminiscent of Haywood-Smith’s earliest recordings while flaunting that “the best is yet to come.” “‘Thank You’ is a song that’s dedicated to the folks that aren’t really in my life anymore, but more importantly it’s for my mom who passed away back in 2019.” says Haywood-Smith. “I feel like this song kinda wrote itself, it felt so easy to put together because I knew the core of what I was trying to get across. The demo for this song felt super strong but after Jake and I spent some time expanding a few ideas, the song really blossomed into something I couldn’t ever imagine.”

The charming accompanying video, directed by Chantel Simpson, shows Haywood-Smith passing out flowers across Harlem.

Watch Jaywood’s Video for “Thank You”

The narrative for Slingshot takes place in the span of one day. From the first track to the last track, JayWood takes you on a journey that touches on themes of childhood, religion, and identity. While writing and recording the album, Haywood-Smith put together a complex “script” mapping out all of the plot points, environments, characters that make up this surreal version of his real life. Musically, Haywood-Smith wrote and performed a bulk of the track’s instrumentations, but the LP has notable appearances from Canadian contemporaries Ami Cheon and McKinley Dixon, and fellow Manitoban musician Kayla Fernandes who fronts the doom-metal band Vagina Witchcraft. Despite the culturally homogenous nature of his hometown, Haywood-Smith takes inspiration from a wide range of Black performers and artists working in all genres and eras. “This album felt like I was making something that I would want my younger self to hear.”

Born and raised in the Canadian prairies, JayWood has captured Haywood-Smith’s journey of self-discovery and heartache through unique songwriting since 2015. After the loss of his mother in 2019 and a global standstill with multiple social crises throughout 2020, Haywood-Smith yearned for forward momentum. “The idea of looking back to go forward became a really big thing for me—hence the title, ‘Slingshot,’” Haywood-Smith explains. Feeling disconnected from his past and ancestry after the death of a parent, Haywood-Smith made a conscious effort to better understand his identity and unique Black experience living in the predominantly white province of Manitoba. Slingshot is a self-portrait of JayWood at his surface and his depths, merging fantasy scenarios, personal anecdotes, and infectious pop and dance instrumentals.

Watch “Just Sayin” Video

Watch “God is a Reptile” Video

Pre-order Slingshot

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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

October and the Eyes hits hard with her new single, “When I Was Your Girl.”

Photo by Erika Denis Feble
Having recently toured with **Yves Tumor**, New Zealand-born, London-based singer & songwriter **October and the Eyes** has announced her new EP ‘Who Upset You?‘ is set for release **June 24th** via KRO Records and is sharing new single & video ***“When I Was Your Girl”***.

Speaking about the track, October said “‘When I Was Your Girl’ ruminates on my former love and life spent in our Queen Street, Auckland flat; Dancing on our dining table, playing music too loudly, filling the room with cigarette smoke and masking the scent with our favourite Curio Noir perfume ‘Tobacco Nights’. We would always host these big parties and subject everyone to The Kinks or The Rolling Stones or Jefferson Airplane with our best mate assigned as rock n roll DJ for the night. I remember feeling angry when writing this too – I felt bruised by the whole experience. But time is a great healer, and now I’m able to find peace in its nostalgia. I guess it’s a bitter sweet meditation on a love now lost but not forgotten.”

**Listen to & watch *“When I Was Your Girl”* here:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PdNOwoipwI
**Listen via other streaming services here:** https://orcd.co/vey8n44

**October** is no new-comer to music, the New Zealand born musician has been involved in musical pursuits since she was a child. Heralding from a musical family, the prospect of pursuing music in one form or another was almost inescapable: A classical pianist mother, fanatic music fan father, and two older multi- instrumentalist brothers who were always holding their band practices in the family playroom. October’s childhood was that of a humble upbringing; having grown up in a small rural town in New Zealand’s wine country, she turned to songwriting as a means to stave the boredom away. She taught herself how to record and produce her own music aged 12, locking herself away in her bedroom for hours on end, and hasn’t looked back since. Claiming the internet raised her, it’s clear she had her sights set on broader horizons and bigger cities.

Having moved half way across the world to her new home in East London, October has remained true to her traditional isolated writing style by holing up in her East London flat for several months and writing a small collection of songs that can be described as dizzying, darkly kaleidoscopic, and dauntless above all. October describes her musical style as ‘collage-rock’ (not the be confused with college rock). Pulling musical inspiration from the likes of Bauhaus, Bowie, Siouxsie Sioux and Suicide, she then squeezes her influences through the gauze of modernity and electronics, thus creating something entirely of her own.

With nods to acid rock, psychobilly and post-punk, October and The Eyes’ music is equal parts nostalgia-drenched as it is future forward, employing layers of ambient synth drones to anchor the crunched guitars and jagged organ parts. Delivered with a twisted theatricality, her vocals pendulum between commanding chants and soothing coo’s, proving that not only is she a versatile songwriter and producer, but a versatile vocalist too.

October released her debut EP *Dogs and Gods* in 2020 and will release the follow up with ***‘Who Upset You?’*** on **June 24th** via KRO Records.

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[Thanks to Frankie at Stereo Sanctity.]

Regressive Left profess “Bad Faith” on their new single.

The much-tipped Regressive Left return today with news of their signing to new tastemaker label Bad Vibrations, born from the revered live promoters of the same name, and that their debut EP, On the Wrong Side of History, is set for release on July 15th.

PRE-ORDER HERE

The Luton trio also share their first new material of the year with the DFA-flavoured “Bad Faith”, featuring a vocal contribution from Manchester’s experimental-pop act Mandy, Indiana – quoting French psychoanalyst Octave Mannoni’s paradoxical mechanism: “Je sais bien, mais quand même.” In other words: “I know very well, but even so…” – and picking up the ascent exactly where earlier singles left off, placing wry social commentary and dancefloor ambition right at their front and center.

Front-man Simon Tyrie says the following about the themes behind the track:

“This song essentially focuses on the idea of deliberately assuming the worst of someone or something they’ve said or done. Social media has really amplified this trend: everyone has to have a take. So we read between the lines and make wild accusations on the faintest of evidence. It’s something of an art, but one that I think is ultimately detrimental to society.”

WATCH VIDEO TO “BAD FAITH” HERE

Already chalking up a strong live reputation, the band have toured in support of BODEGA and Folly Group in 2022 already, and today announce their first ever headlining dates.

Catch Regressive Left live at:

MAY

14 Brighton – The Great Escape – Revenge
14 Brighton – The Alt Escape – The Hope & Ruin
15 Leeds – Brudenell Social Club
21 York – The Crescent
27 London – Wide Awake

JUNE

11 Bristol – Strange Brew
18 The Hague – Grauzone (NL)

SEP

26 Birmingham – Hare & Hounds
28 Glasgow – Hug & Pint
30 Manchester – YES

OCT

2 Bedford – Esquires
4 Brighton – Prince Albert
6 Margate – Elsewhere

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[Thanks to James at Prescription PR.]

Saajtak announces debut album with first single – “Big Exit.”

Saajtak (pronounced: sahje-talk)—based in Detroit (Jonathan Barahal Taylor, Ben Willis, Simon Alexander-Adams) and Brooklyn (Alex Koi)—today announced their debut album, For the Makers, out June 3, 2022 via American Dreams.

On anthemic lead track “Big Exit,” Koi treats her words like playthings, stretching syllables past semantics, vocal lines in conversation with one another. Alexander-Adams’ electronics quiver, and Taylor’s clattering kit seems to deconstruct the rhythm it builds, before the song unspools into a lush, minimal coda just before the 4-minute mark. Watch the video for “Big Exit” here.

Saajtak makes futuristic music that synthesizes a wide range of genres—often in ways that seem to clash against each other, always in service to the song. The band has quietly made music in Detroit for the better part of a decade, collaborating with members of clipping. and sharing bills with Xiu Xiu, Ava Mendoza and Greg Fox. Koi sings and writes lyrics; Taylor plays drums, Willis bass; Alexander-Adams contributes keyboard and electronics. But to individuate their contributions does the music a disservice. Saajtak sounds, feels, like a living, breathing organism, for which recordings don’t present definitive documents as much as they reflect songs at given points in their lives. For the Makers, the band’s first album, brims with ideas, treating their shape-shifting compositions with a high depth of field.

Saajtak’s compositions are rooted in collective improvisation; their first release, spectral [ drips ], collects several free improvisations. The band was recording music live for a full-length debut when the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic pressed pause on their principal way of making music. In response, the band began working on new music remotely, in increments of eight days. Every two days, members would trade songs, gradually sculpting them into final iterations. Willis recalls putting on his headphones as he began recording bass: “The layers that Alex, Simon, and Jon had begun to craft engulfed me like a wave, filling me. I was suddenly surrounded by my friends.” Over time, the music organically cohered into an album, bringing together influences as wide-ranging as Richard Davis, Meredith Monk and Melvins. Koi’s lyrics balance narrative and enigma, incorporating several perspectives within a song in an approach she calls polyphonic narrative. “I like to imagine how personas might converse in worlds with varying levels of familiarity and skewness,” she explains. “What we receive are relationships that flow between splintery and harmonious, and that contain both ecstasy and affliction. There’s a big thrill in all this, when nothing can be apathetic.”

Throughout, the album mixes the organic and synthetic. Even as motifs, images and lyrics recur, the music thrums with energy, opening into new worlds. This, perhaps, is part of the point: to illustrate an escape, to be one. To Alexander-Adams, For the Makers was “as much a healing practice as it was a means to create”; to Willis, it “feels like a year-improvisation, for which the music never stopped the whole time.” Says Taylor, “it represents our collective voice in the deepest sense: an amalgamation of our individual vulnerabilities, imaginations, ambitions, and love for each other.” The album is testament to the restless creativity powering Saajtak’s engine, and the importance of cultivating creativity, trust and community.

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[Thanks to Cody at Clandestine PR.]

Review: Blanck Mass – Ted K (original film score)

The irony that Blanck Mass has created the film score for Ted K, a film about Ted “The Unabomber” Kaczynski – the man responsible for multiple bombings done as a form of protest against modern technology – isn’t lost on Benjamin John Power (AKA Blanck Mass) or the film’s director, Tony Stone. Blanck Mass is known for creating bold, wild electro soundscapes that mix industrial sounds with ambient noise (or is it industrial noise with ambient sounds?) and being able to play an entire set with a laptop, a sequencer, a DAW, and a couple thumb drives. There are no wood winds on this score. There are no natural strings, drums made of scrap metal, or acoustic guitars. It’s all electronic.

It’s also all good. The main theme (“Montana”) is menacing. “Noise Destroys Something Wonderful” is surprisingly soft, while “Pesticides” creeps around you like a deadly fog. The first half of “ComTech” sounds like a kaiju approaching an oil refinery on the west coast of Japan, and the second sounds like the rolling smoke seen in its aftermath. “Greyhound” has a fuzzy edge to it that unnerves you just a bit. “Tell Me Your Heart” is a slow-dance song for tired robots.

“Dark Materials” is the soundtrack to a robot cat’s dream. “Becky’s Theme” is a song for a Montana woman who worked at a general store near the remote area where Kacyznski lived and befriended him somewhat. “Manifesto” starts out like an old single-propeller plane warming up and then becomes the sound of rising tension and smoldering rage. “Ranger Gary” is peaceful enough to enjoy while meditating next to a mountain stream, while and “At Peace / Freedom Club” starts that way but drifts into dread. By the time we get to “Skidders,” we’re into full-blown madness.

It’s another fine piece of work from Blanck Mass. I need to check out this film, which has garnered many good reviews – as should its score.

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: P.E. – The Leather Lemon

Combining the talents of members of Pill and Eaters, NYC’s P.E. easily weave in and out of psychedelia, post-punk, no wave, bedroom rock, and dream pop on their second album, The Leather Lemon.

Benjamin Jaffe‘s opening saxophone on “Blue Nude (Reclined)” automatically takes you into a cool headspace while Veronica Torres sings sexy lyrics. “Contradiction of Wants” is a perfect song for 2022. It’s about not knowing what you want, even though you already have everything you need. The bass line on it is wicked. I can’t tell you who plays it, because all the band members (Jonny Campolo, Jaffe, Bob Jones, Jonathan Schenke, Torres) are multi-instrumentalists and often switch axes from track to track. “Lying with the Wolf” goes into low rock and mixes it with synthwave and old school techno beats.

The title track is a short, proto-industrial puzzler. “Tears in the Rain” does invoke some Blade Runner imagery and has guest vocals from Parquet Courts‘ Adam Savage as he teams with Torres to give us a song of romantic hope in times that can be gray and bleak. “The Reason for My Love” is a hot dance track with yet another great bass line (The album is full of them.).

“Magic Hands” has plucked string instruments dancing around slightly loopy synths and drunken android vocals. The darkwave sound of “New Kind of Zen” is powerful and haunting. You’re never sure where the track is going to lead, especially when it floats into spoken word psychedelia. The instrumental “86ed” drifts into “Majesty,” which returns some of the musical themes from other tracks as Torres sings, “I don’t want that life. I don’t want that majesty.” and her bandmates reply, “I want everything.” It’s a neat loop to be in for a couple minutes.

The whole album is worth a visit. It sizzles, saunters, and seduces.

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[Thanks to Tom at Hive Mind PR.]

Anika releases Psychic TV cover and North American tour dates.

Anika shares new music for the first time since the release of her new album, Change (out now on Sacred Bones), ahead of her North American headline tour next month with live musicians Sally Wanda Whitton (bass, vox), Eilis Kiera Frawley (drums), and Zooey Rosa Agro (keys, vox). Tickets are on sale now here. The cover of Psychic TV’s “Godstar” appears on Sacred Bones’ Todo Muere SBXVcompilation out May 27th, and was recorded in tribute to the late Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, one of Anika’s biggest inspirations.

“Psychic TV, specifically the album Orchids, has been a huge influence on my music and human psyche over this musical life,” says Anika. “[Genesis] is a big inspiration, the humor and investigation element in their work. I remember going to a talk in NYC where G recommended that no-one finish art school. I like this concept. Perhaps it leaves things unfinished and room for the individual to grow shoots, continue on their own journey. Perhaps this is like music school or any creative school. I think G specifically thought the place was bull and that they could do it better on their own terms, which turned out great. They also told a story about an art school work, which involved a used tampon in the shell of a clock. It was called Period Piece. I like the humor in this piece and the deconstruction of social boundaries. They are for sure an inspiration, in how to do things your own way, carve out your own path and don’t worry too much about what other people are doing.”
Listen to Anika’s “Godstar” (Psychic TV Cover)

Anika Tour Dates
Sat. May 14 – Austin, TX @ Oblivion Access Festival
Sun. May 15 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah
Mon. May 16 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
Tue. May 17 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
Wed. May 19 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
Thu. May 20 – Seattle, WA @ Vera Project
Fri. May 21 – Vancouver, BC @ The Fox Cabaret
Mon. Mon. May 23 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
Wed. May 25 – Toronto, ON @ The Garrison
Thu. May 26 – Montreal, QC @ Fairmount Theatre
Sat. May 28 – New York, NY @ Knockdown Center
Sun. May 29 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
Mon. May 30 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage
Tue. May 31 – Knoxville, TN @ Pilot Light
Wed. June 1 – Nashville, TN @ Third Man Records
Thu. June 2 – Memphis, TN @ Crosstown Arts
Fri. June 3 – Dallas, TX @ Cheap Steaks

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[Thanks to Jaycee and Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Grace Ives cuts “Loose” on her new single.

Brooklyn-based musician Grace Ives presents “Loose,” her debut release on her new label True Panther/Harvest. This is her first new piece of music and video since 2019’s 2nd, an immediate pop record that found critical acclaim (and won over the likes of Grimes and Khalid). Ives wrote and did initial production of “Loose” at her home in Brooklyn and then teamed up with co-producer Justin Raisen (Yves Tumor, Charli XCX). Despite the song’s somewhat self-effacing lyrics – “Oh what a loser sound // I let out when I hit the ground // I never squeal like that // I need some respite, please” – “Loose” oozes confidence. The song is grounded in familiar sonics, but “Loose” is an elevated Ives. “Living in a bed bug infested apartment, withdrawing from SSRIs, not sleeping,” says Ives about where she was mentally and physically when she wrote the song. “There’s nowhere to go but up.”
WATCH “LOOSE” VIDEO

Music has always followed Grace Ives – she was raised in New York City by creative parents (her dad is a cinematographer and her mother worked in music), and when she was younger, she was inspired by the sounds of Brittany Spears and Rihanna. A brief stint at MICA in Baltimore and a three year study at SUNY Purchase led to Grace starting to perform, slowly winning over a crowd that has only grown more insatiable. Most recently, Ives opened for Remi Wolf, bringing her infectious songs to a new audience. “Loose” is the first taste of much more to come.

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[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

October and the Eyes returns with “Spiral.”

Following the release of her debut EP Dogs and Gods in 2020, New Zealand-born, London-based singer & songwriter October and the Eyes is back with a new single “Spiral“, which is out now via KRO Records.

Speaking about the new single, October said “‘Spiral’ is about a problematic friendship where you never quite know where you stand at any given time – a constant pendulum between being pulled in and then spat out again, going round and round in circles until you’re left dizzied and jaded by the whole thing. The song is pretty scathing and somewhat of a waving fist.

I wanted the song to sound in constant flux, with reverberating percussion and vocals that feel like they could spiral out of control at any moment.”

Listen to “Spiral” here on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/octoberandtheeyes-music/spiral

Listen via other streaming services here:https://orcd.co/octoberspiral

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[Thanks to Frankie at Stereo Sanctity.]

Death Valley Girls and Peaches combine their super powers.

Los Angeles’s Death Valley Girls have shared a remix of their new track “When I’m Free” by the legendary multi-disciplinary artist Peaches via Suicide Squeeze Records.

For nearly a decade, Death Valley Girls have made it their mission to remind the punks, psych rockers, garage aficionados, and desert mystics of the communal, transcendental, and triumphant power of music, as evidenced most recently in the riotous affirmations of their 2022 track “When I’m Free.”

The song fuses Bonnie Bloomgarden’s passionate vocals, Larry Schemel’s anthemic guitar chords, rousing sing-along choruses, and feverish organ lines into a perfect three-minute shot of adrenaline and dopamine. Despite the old-school nature of their instrumentation, Death Valley Girls are well aware of the revolutionary power of the dance floor, so they approached one of their heroes — Peaches — to help re-envision “When I’m Free” for the club crowd.

What better way to reinforce the liberating spirit of the song than to give it to Peaches, an artist who continues to push boundaries in a career that spans over two decades, and who has helped so many people navigate sexuality, gender, identity, and being comfortable in one’s body in the new millennium.

Under Peaches’ meticulous care, “When I’m Free” transforms from a scrappy rock song to a throbbing, minimalist club banger. The musical key switches from major to minor, taking the song from celebratory mode into a leaner and meaner message of empowerment. Bloomgarden’s impassioned vocals remain in place along with a few organ glissandos, though the rest of the original is excised in favor of stark four-on-the-floor beats and pulsing synth bass. The sound may prompt a different type of gyration than the original, but the spirit of freedom and revelry remains and takes on a whole new angle under Peaches’ masterful manipulations.

Listen / share “When I’m Free (Peaches Remix)” on YouTube.

See Death Valley Girls and Peaches both on tour this spring/summer:

Death Valley Girls:

May 13 San Pedro, CA @ The Sardine

May 19 Everett, WA @ Fisherman’s Village Music Fest

May 31 Paris, FR @ Supersonic

June 2 Aix-en-Provence, FR @ 6MIC

June 3 Bourg-en-Bresse, FR @ La Tannerie

June 4 Angers, FR @ Levitation Fest

June 6 Koln, DE @ Sonic Ballroom

June 7 Munster, DE @ Gleis 22

June 8 Berlin, DE @ Urban Spree

June 9 Malmo, SE @ Plan B

June 10 Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen

June 11 Goteborg, SE @ Showdown

June 13 Le Havre, FR @ Mc Daid’s

June 14 Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds

June 15 Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club

June 16 Newcastle, UK @ The Clunny

June 17 Nottingham, UK @ The Bodega

June 18 London, UK @ The Lexington

June 19 Brighton, UK @ The Hope & Ruin

June 21 Barcelona, SP @ Upload

June 22 Valencia, SP @ Loco Club

June 23 Madrid, SP @ Wurlitzer Ballroom

June 14 Vigo, SP@ La Iguana Club

June 25 Oviedo, SP @ La Salvaje

June 26 Sopelana, SP @ La Triangu

June 28 Ravenna, IT @ Hana-Bi

June 29 Perugia, IT @ Fat Art Club

June 30 Livorno, IT @ Ultima Cecina

July 1 Padova, IT @ Sub Cult Fest

July 15 San Francisco, CA @The Chapel

July 16 Santa Cruz, CA @ Crepe Place

July 17 Cayucos, CA @ Schooners

August 5 Indianapolis, IN @ Back Alley Ballyhoo Fest

The Teaches of Peaches Anniversary Tour 2022:

May 15 Vancouver, BC @ Harbour Event Centre

May 16 Seattle, WA @ The Showbox

May 17 Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom

May 20 San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic

May 21 Pasadena, CA @ Just Like Heaven Festival

May 22 San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park

May 25 Montreal, QC @ MTelus

May 26 Toronto, ON @ Rebel

May 28 Brooklyn, NY @ Great Hall at Avant Gardner

May 29 Boston, MA @ House of Blues

June 4 Bergen, NO @ Bergen International Festival

June 5 Stockholm, SE @ Berns

June 6 Malmö, SE @ Malmö Live

June 10 Brighton, UK @ Brighton Dome

June 11 London, UK @ Grace Jones’ Meltdown Festival

June 13 Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 Galvanizers

June 14 Manchester, UK @ O2 Ritz Manchester

June 15 Liverpool, UK @ Invisible Wind Factory

June 16 Bristol, UK @ Marble Factory

June 19 Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso

June 20 Paris, FR @ Le Trianon

June 21 Brussels, BE @ AB

June 26 Dublin, IE @ The Mother Pride Block Party

July 1 Porto, PT @ GBT+ Music Festival

July 9 Bilbao, SP @ Bilbao BBK Live

July 16 Graz, AT @ Elevate Festival

Sept 1-3 Lisbon, PT @ Kalorama Festival

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON PEACHES, VISIT:

TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON DEATH VALLEY GIRLS, VISIT:

TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK

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[Thanks to Stephanie at Indie Publicity.]