pop – and so she thinks

The Holydrug Couple – Waterfalls

admin — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 13:43:22 +0000

The Holydrug Couple have shared a second taste of the release of their new album Hyper Super Mega, which is set for release on September 14th via Sacred Bones. Latest single Waterfalls is a dizzy ballad that blends 60s and 70s psychedelia with modern production and synthesised textures. Having a woozy feel and simmering sense, it blurs retro feel with contemporary social commentary in a potent psych pop blend.

Cocoa Futures Interview

admin — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 19:03:13 +0000

Some bright and happy music is always needed, but especially at this grey time of this particularly tumultuous year, at least on the macro level. Cocoa Futures have released latest single Blue as something of an antidote, and will launch their new EP Blue on Lost In The Manor Records on 2 December, ready to add their ‘messed up pop’ to the 2016 mix. I caught up with frontman Greg to learn a little more…

When did you begin working as Cocoa Futures and how has the project developed?

We started working together back in 2014. Drummer Dave and I started the project, then we were lucky enough to find Zoe (synths/vocals) and Jack (guitar) to make us sound like a proper band.

What’s changed since then? Well, I think I’ve got a little bit better at writing songs and also I stopped playing the bass to concentrate on singing. I miss the bass but I think it was a good move – plus I don’t have to carry anything to gigs.

How does the writing process work for you, do you write alone then bring in the band?

I spend a lot of time writing ideas, lyrics and music and then trying to work them up into songs. A lot of these end up being pretty terrible, but there’s the odd one that can be exciting or sound good. With these ones, I take them to the rest of the band to make them better. I’ll also spend a lot of time listening to how they sound with the band to try and improve them. It’s a long process J

Listening to you, there’s definitely an eighties disco feel in there, but also some more modern electronica, as well as pop melodies? Are there any artists or bands who influence you?

I love the 80s a lot, but hope that we don’t sound too much like a straight up 80s band. I’m really into Roxy Music, loads of pop stuff and also some more out-there electronic stuff. It’s not even out-there I guess, just doing something different or trying to say something different. I think we were trying to bring some of those things together.

You described your music as ‘glee and gloomy’ and your music is a real mix – how do you straddle the two without coming out beige?

Good question. I sometimes like songs that leave you with a question, rather than an idea or a clear message. I think we are trying to mix messages a bit, rather than a musical mix of happy and sad. Mixed messages are sometimes talked about as bad things, but I don’t think they necessarily need to be.

Talking of questions, can you explain yumcore to me? It’s how you have referred to your ‘genre’ in the past, and certainly a better description than any journalist could come up with!

Not really! When we were first starting out, I was just making up genres. Yumcore seemed like a funny word, so went with that.

What’s the resonance of the colour blue?

Well, I think it’s a lovely colour and obviously has a connection with a certain emotion. It’s also a simple word or idea for a song, and connected well with the meaning of our song with the same name. So it seemed like a good thing to explore.

What’s the plan for 2017?

Aiming to play some nice shows. Also, we’re going to make another EP and try and develop what we’ve done with the first one. I’m writing a lot at the moment for that. I also turned veggie two months ago, so I’d hope that 2017 is my first full year of vegetarianism. It’s great.

Photo: Sara Amroussi-Gilissen

Photo: Sara Amroussi-Gilissen

Alpines – Another River

admin — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 08:33:24 +0000

Immediately captivating in sound even if not on paper to those of us who love indie boys with guitars, the new album from Alpines could be a game changer for my Spotify at least. They’re loved by the mainstream fashion industry, but musicians have got to make money somehow. The London duo – Bob Matthews and Catherine Pockson – return with Another River, their second album. It’s an emotive and charismatic record that shifts and pulses, building on debut Oasis.

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Pop for the winter months, there’s a slick glaze to synth aesthetic that shimmers over a complex arsenal of ideas and keyboards. Completely build and builds like sediment, but never gets weighed down; Stay is an R&B killer; things go down a notch on the chiming How It Hurts; whilst first single Heaven pops along with bounding beats that are unapologetically melodic. Well worth checking out, Alpines release Another River on the 28th October via Metropolis Recordings and headline London’s Moth Club on the 9th November.

Manou – Unmistakable

admin — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 14:16:38 +0000

A simple sentiment, looping rhyme scheme, familiar chord structure and chiming melodies make Manou‘s latest Unmistakable a summer r’n’b gem. With breathy vocals and a sassy beat the teen pop starlet’s this is the 2nd track off debut EP Venice Beach, released in July through new singles label SW Records. Gauzy and glitchy, the track shows that the half German half English singer is not just another kid with lofty ambitions, but a fresh individual with with a lot of talent.

Say Lou Lou – Nothing But A Heartbeat

admin — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 20:55:00 +0000

Sweden seems to do a good line in female electronic pop artists. Drenched in synths like frosty sunlight and featuring trademark woozy vocals, Say Lou Lou‘s new single Nothing But A Heartbeat is a bouyant tune that kicks off with a pop intro which gathers momentum and morphs into a rousing and forthright angular anthem. The Swedish/Australian sisters (their inner thermostats must be confused) release their debut album Lucid Dreaming on April 6th 2015, and will be returning to London for a headline show at Heaven in London on April 8th.
https://soundcloud.com/sayloulou/nothing-but-a-heartbeat/

Trust Fund – No One's Coming For Us

admin — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 17:46:24 +0000

Debut album No One’s Coming For Us by Trust Fund, the brainchild and output of Bristol’s Ellis Jones, is filled with a sparklingly melancholy and elements of pained introspection. There’s singalong choruses and shoegazey fuzz on Cut Me Out, upbeat rhythms on Sadness, as well as optimistic high pitched indie pop songcraft, a la Essay To Write. Ellis Jones is a proficient and clever writer, with the talent for creating a hooky tune, and has selected the perfect rafter of friends for his first full length. Just signed to label Turnstile Music, also home to Los Campesinos and Gruff Rhys, Trust Fund have created a short, snappy and earnest LP quivering with personality.
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Wyldest

admin — Fri, 16 Jan 2015 09:07:00 +0000

There seems to be a lot of duos on the scene at the moment. Talented musicians realising that safety does not necessarily come in numbers, and that if you want to make good music you don’t need a ton of friends to do so. Wyldest, Zoe Mead and Holly Mullineaux, are the latest, making woozy and dreamy pop that swirls in a fluid and bewitching fashion. Slick melodies and delicate drum beats flicker on the ear like a butterfly coming to land, guitars caressing and enticing the listener into an ethereal world of waterfalls and wonderment.
https://soundcloud.com/wyldest/wanders-1

Fish Doctor

admin — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 11:05:26 +0000

It’s funny how we think that bands must have one style or be part of one genre. That would be like telling people they could only wear full evening dresses and tuxedos, never rock the casual style. Or that they could only be part of one group – family, doctor’s surgery, or blood type, but never all three. Given that most people go through numerous fluctuations of personality strain daily, what are we to expect when 6 of them are thrown together? Not only that, but when those people are ‘creative types.’ Yes, you know what I mean.
And so I wasn’t surprised to hear that Brooklyn’s Fish Doctor (Michael, Jared, Michael, Alex, Brian and Rocco) change musical direction every time the wind does the same. Sometimes surf, like on last June’s Atlantic and the lead track from their 2011 EP Summer In Wintertime, sometimes electro a la Infantry Song, and sometimes going off kilter completely on the chilled psyche Hawaiian Blizzard, complete with hazy feminine vocals. Things are never as happy go surfy as they seem, with even the simple refrain of ‘and you drown in the Atlantic’ hinting at a more sinister layer below. Fun but far from throwaway, full of confidence and frivolity that smells of experience rather than naivety.

Wild Smiles – Never Wanted This

admin — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 11:57:00 +0000

Is it punk? Is it pop? Is it surfer? Who knows, but I like it. There’s no reinvention of the wheel here from Hampshire trio Wild Smiles, just a frantic and fuzzy that slaps you around the face like a thrashing fish whilst you stomp deliriously in a swirl of distortion. New single Never Wanted This is wildly exuberant, a testament in lyrics and melodies to never growing up.

Released on August 18th, it’s a less than gentle introduction to debut album Always Tomorrow, released on October 14th.

Alvvays – Archie, Marry Me

admin — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 10:10:09 +0000

Love a bit of summery pop, and Archie, Marry Me by Alvvays is probably the perfect example. From Toronto, the five piece make the bittersweet jangly pop that makes sunny evenings tingle.