Whenever we have featured Mega Emotion in the past, we have always been taken aback by the sheer ferocity of their sound. Huge, cacophonous electronics have battered us into submission, and we have graciously bent the knee in servitude to their frenetic chaos-pop. Today though, they have taken pity on us and provided a moment of delightfully light and airy pop respite.
With a hint of the Human League about it, “Laura” is a glorious late autumn sunset of a track. Balmy and tender, the synths drift effortlessly as Lisa and Jan’s vocals entwine and then harmonise with Iain’s. Even the machine gun beats are more gentle, pulsing rather than clattering as they have done in the past. It’s a moment of serenity, three minutes of blissful euphoria and contentment, full to bursting with love when everything comes good, before the inevitable tumultuous crash that follows.
Mind you, Mega Emotion are pretty damn good at soundtracking that crash as well, and we look forward to more of that in the future. They have promised to get more experimental soon, but for now we are getting lost in the dreamy, soft-focus sounds of “Laura”.
”Laura” is out now on Fake Feelings and is available to buy here.
If history has taught us one thing, it is that the very best pop songs are usually born from heartbreak. The melancholic and reflective lyrics are often married with a lively, upbeat melody that we can’t help but dance to and sing along with. So it is with “Rollout”, whose accompanying video is every bit as addictive as the song itself.
The third track from Self Esteem (Slow Club’s Rebecca Lucy Taylor) deals in part with how, no matter how much love you are surrounded by, it can feel meaningless if it doesn’t come from the person you want it from the most. It’s reflective and painfully honest as the chorus contemplates the sacrifice of personal wellbeing to please another.
It’s not what you would think of as being the most uplifting of subjects, but there is brightness to both the video and the song. It is one of the catchiest songs we’ve heard in some time and we have often woken with it bouncing round our brain of a morning. The marching band-esque drumbeat rouses cheerily and there is defiance in Taylor’s vocals, as well as resignation.
The video, directed by Piers Dennis, brilliantly captures the distracted nature of a recent break up, the inability to focus properly and the need for a connection. Alongside this is some great choreographed dancing (which we’re a total sucker for) that again, shows strength and weakness in equal measure.
Following on from last year’s “Your Wife” and previous single, “Wrestling”; “Rollout” continues the Self Esteem streak of great tracks. Long may it continue.
”Rollout” is out now and available to stream or buy via the service of your chooice here
Hailing from Norwich, The Wolf Number describe themselves as being ”either the loudest ambient group in the world or the quietest stoner rock band. Specialising in long, proggy and psychedelic riffs and melodies, we’d be inclined to veer towards the latter, though anyone who has seen them gig would confirm, they ain’t that quiet!
Their live shows contain a swagger and kinetic energy that builds with each track. Their wonderful line in experimentation is given license to wander and find new paths, to take the abrasive techno-punk “Breathe” by the Prodigy and turn it into something much more like an aural lava lamp (for example).
It’s this atmospheric experimentation that they have captured in their debut EP and that is perfectly demonstrated by the single, “Del Mars”. A marbled instrumental journey through time, space and colour, pieces tumble and crash, merging together into a near five minute trip of the mind and ears. The kaleidoscopic video (below) is perfectly in tune with the fluidity of the guitar lines and the squall of the rhythm as it whips in across the melody.
”Del Mars” is taken from ‘The Bunker Sessions’ EP which is out now and available to buy here.
Here at Alphabet Bands, the start of every New Year means the start of a new Alphabet, and we have something rather special to open up our Class of 2018. Showcasing bright indie-pop and dark, sinewy electronica, Pikoe is a act to get excited about and take note of in 2018.
Originally beginning as a solo project for Hunting Stories Rafael Sanchez, Pikoe was never intended to be anything more than a personal project to explore a different sound. Such was the reaction to early demos posted online last year however that Rafeal soon realised it could be much more. A quick recruitment of his younger brother Jose (who has been playing in bands with his older brother since they were little) as well as music college friends Ben Marino and Michael Summer and Pikoe quickly became a four-strong band. With production coming from Patrick Taylor (of Trash Panda fame), Rafeal was ready to go to work.
Their latest release is “Suydam”, a dark echoey presence that twists and shudders hypnotically as it twists and contracts around a deliciously infectious pop hook. As the track builds it vibrates; warped electronics reach out into your mind and soul, probing and electrifying before the whole thing breaks down into a stark, thudding electro-hip-hop finale. It’s Oh Wonder meets Hezen meets Harry Edwards and it is just incredible.
“Suydam” is the second track to be taken from Pikoe’s forthcoming Songs to Dance Alone To EP, following on from the dazzlingly bright and Arcade Fire-y “Fall-N-Out”. A veritable hookapalooza, it’s big and vibrant, hugely danceable and an effortlessly fun tune that belie the heartfelt emotions contained within. It’s pretty much everything good pop music should be.
The video for “Fall-N-Out’ was made as part of the Dance Alone Film Project, an idea that will see each of the four songs on the EP have videos made by different local directors from the Bushwick, Brooklyn area. Director Mark Sylvester and producer Maggie Miller put together the video you can see below (using just an iPhone X) and “Suydam” will soon have a one-shot video from Dan Stebbins and choreographer Margaret Jones to accompany it.
This is just the beginning of what promises to be a pretty good year for Pikoe, with not only Songs To Dance Alone To due out soon, but also a second EP, Mourners/Murmurs pencilled in for late 2018. Keep an ear and an eye out for them, big things are surely ahead of them and we are absolutely delighted to kick that all off by inducting them as the first entrant to the Alphabet Bands Class of 2018.
“Suydam” is out now and available to buy from iTunes. “Suydam” is taken from the ‘Songs To Dance Alone To’ EP which is due for release on 2 March.
Earlier this week, we started a quick series of posts designed to catch us up with some of the fantastic tunes we’ve missed in recent weeks and months.
The first five of the (planned) 25 tracks we’ll be looking back at can be found here and the next five, such is the way a series works, can be found after the snazzy line on the page below.
Enjoy.
Penny Bridges – “For The Things”
Blessed with a gorgeously delicate voice and unconventional pronunciation, it was no surprise that we fell for Penny Bridges last year. Her distinct style and beautifully layered arrangements are soft and enchanting and her latest, “For The Things”, is no different.
Like a cool breeze on a warm summer’s day, Bridge’s vocals drifts over and soothes what ails you. The piano drips enticingly and the melody floats dreamingly and delicately. It’s beautiful, becalming and wonderful. We could, and have, listen to it for hours.
Look to the absolute opposite end of the spectrum to Penny Bridges and you will find Yonaka.
With its immediate and sprawling intensity, “Wouldn’t Wanna Be Ya” is an attitude fuelled kick to the balls. It has the kind of swagger and brooding coolness that makes kids want to learn guitar and be a rock star. Jesus, it makes us want to learn guitar and be a rock star and we’re [age redacted to protect our own sense of wellbeing] and cursed with stubby fingers! Full of frenetic energy, it’s jump up and down and get entirely lost in the moment brilliant.
When we last featured Luca Chesney, the New York based singer was soothing us with the gently beautiful “We Made A Fire”. That was a couple of years ago now and the intervening period has seen Chesney take a turn onto the road marked ‘electronica’.
Her most recent offering from this journey is the wonderfully monochromatic “Return”. A melodic and glitchy piece of electro-pop whose sparseness is perfectly juxtaposed with Chesney’s rich and alluring vocals. As the digital beats spit like a fire in the darkness, the synths purr and growl with a soft vigour to give us something mysterious and magical.
Having got together in 2015, Norwich based Painted Heathers are now starting to get some well deserved attention thanks to airplay from the likes of Future Radio and celebrity endorsements from the likes of Elastica.
The Elastica nod is especially relevant as they, along with ‘transition period’ Blur (when they began to move away from Madchester and towards what would become brit-pop) appear to be two of the bands biggest influences. “Party For One” for example, showcases the addictiveness of the Frischmann/Matthews guitar sound and effortlessly relatable Albarn vocals. It is a heady wooze of angular mid-nineties riffs and sweet-smoke-thick melodies.
If you were to put up a checklist of things that we love to hear in pop music, Australian’s Ginger and the Ghost would hit a fair few of them with their latest, “Kindred Spirits”.
Produced by Avec Sans collaborator, Benbrick (tick) “Kindred Spirits” is a very scandi-pop (tick) song with an undulating melody (tick) that sounds like Robyn (tick) meets Oh Land (tick) meets Niki and the Dove (tick). It reaches up into the sky like a twisted beanstalk of tribal beats (tick) and soaring synths (tick) before swirling and dancing in a kaleidoscope of colour and sound.
Alphabet Bands 