All We Are – “Feel Safe”

It’s been a while since we last heard from Liverpool’s All We Are, in fact it was quite a while since we’d heard from them before that as well. Popping up once a year with an amazing tune and then disappearing again, they were beginning to resemble some mythical creature, like a Unicorn perhaps, that people aren’t 100% sure ever existed or not. Well, nearly a year on from the release of the storming disco funk of “Utmost Good” (one of our tracks of 2013) the trio are back, newly signed to Domino imprint Double Six and all doubts over their existence have been expunged.

When we first encountered them, they had recently returned from the Norwegian woodland, cradling the (now sadly no longer online) wonderfully folky sounds of “Cardhouse”. Then last year they strutted down the street in their white suits all full of laidback funk and uber-cool grooves with the aforementioned “Utmost Good”.

For 2014 they have retained the funk vibes but turned it down to an even more chilled out setting, dialling down the dirty fuzziness a little, almost as if they have taken their underground disco back to the woods of Norway and don’t want to disturb the wildlife too much. Bet the animals would all come to the party for a dance of their own though.

From the opening lick of guitar you are taken away on a heady ride of late night funk, a soft shoe shuffle of deliciously smooth and relaxed grooves that will have you on your feet and indulging in a little swaysome and smile filled boogie. Deep within the guitar lines, the gently impulsive beats and the hushed vocals are random elements of yesteryear, hidden away. Little glimpses of Beats International’s “Dub Be Good To Me” spring to mind as well as the more obvious disco, indie and pop references.

There’s a gorgeously relaxed summer vibe to “Feels Safe”, a vibe that you can’t help but love and one that makes you feel great. It’s a wonderful piece of modern indie-funk that we know we’ll be coming back to time and time again over the year and with songs this fantastic, we can forgive All We Are for taking a year at a time to make them. We just hope they’ll be back a little sooner next time.

”Feel Safe” is out now on Double Six and can be bought from iTunes.

Stalk All We Are: Facebook / Twitter

Ronika – Shell Shocked

Has it really been nearly two years since we were last getting our neon groove on to the deliriously joyous and infectious sounds of Ronika? Was it really as long ago as September 2011 that we inducted her into the fabled hall of Alphabet Bands and proclaimed world domination was surely only a matter of time for Nottingham’s Queen of Disco?

Well time is fluid, so while we may have intended that statement to mean ‘imminently’, we can quite happily pretend we meant ‘when she’s ready’ and hope that no one calls us on it. It appears she is ready now and after much hard work and no small amount of personal difficulty, she is set to release her debut album, Selectadisc on 2 June. We’ve not heard it as yet but Mr Electronic Rumors (whose opinion counts for a fair bit in matters such as this) has and he has declared it is ”easily going to be one of the highlights of the year”.

Given that it includes reworked versions of each of her previous, and fantastic, singles, as well as this new and gloriously bouncy and bright retro-pop jam, “Shell Shocked”, we don’t doubt that he will be proved right.

A bubblegum popping jaunt down a very 80’s looking high street, “Shell Shocked” is the kind of upbeat and colourful electro-pop that will have you rolling up your jacket sleeves, back combing your hair and spinning round and round in delight with just the one arm sticking out as you go. The beat and synths dance a duet past flashing neon signs, skipping out into the road and past bemused police officers standing on the corner who, inevitably, bust a few moves of their own as the sounds move on. Ronika’s vocals are that infectious grin of a musical’s star as she entices and encourages others to join in and dance for love, happiness and the sheer joy of it.

Bright, colourful and fantastic, 2014 could finally be the year that Ronika takes over.

Ronika’s debut album, ‘Selectadisc’, is due for release on 2 June and pre-orders get an immediate download of “Shell Shocked”. A limited edition 12″ vinyl of the album is also available from RecordShopLabel.com.

Stalk Ronika: Website / Facebook / Twitter

Meanwhile – “Luvletta”

What do David Bowie, Prince and Peter Gabriel have in common?

There’s probably a lot of correct answers to that in all honesty but the one we have on the card is that they all appear to have been crumbled up into a giant bong and inhaled by mysterious newcomer Meanwhile. For everyone knows that the only way to truly know everything someone knows (and thereby get their talent and style) is by smoking them.

Featuring the same kind of bombastic energy as Mega Emotion, the debut track from this new signing to Universal imprint, Fiction, sounds a bit like all the instruments have additionally been taking LSD while Mr Meanwhile wasn’t looking. Superbold fractals of psychedelic funk pop spin and swirl in vibrant patterns taking your mind on a journey through space, time and colour and your limbs out to the dancefloor for some full on crazy boogying.

We’ve spent a couple of weeks with “Luvletta” now and it just gets better and better with each frenzied listen as colours splash in our ears. It’s music to be counteractive to and perfectly orchestrated aural chaos. Energised vocals compete with electrified synths which in turn compete with disco drums for supremacy in a schizophrenic sound-off for the ages.

It’s a big, room filling, set-closing explosion of sound, colour and energy. Perfect to send an audience home happy with a dancing spring in their step.

Stalk Meanwhile: Website / Facebook / Twitter

Watch: Salt Ashes – “Somebody”

Salt Ashes… Salt Ashes… we said to ourselves the other day when “Somebody” popped up in our Soundcloud feed. Where do we know Salt Ashes from? The name rings a definite bell but she only has this track up on her Soundcloud profile so how or why are we following her? This makes no sense! We exclaimed in confused anguish as the cat nonchalantly looked up, not quite sneering at us as cats are prone to do, but the level of disdain was clear.

As he settled back down to dreaming about catching pigeons and that ginger cat from over the road, we regained our composure and hit play. We’re glad we did as what followed was four minutes of deliciously dark and sultry sounding disco pop with a hint of Light Years era Kylie (probably our favourite ) bubbling away within. Strings and synths mesh with crashing electronic beats to create a vibrant and infectious energy that emerges from underground, into the night, leaving disco lights on everything it touches.

Brighton based Veiga Sanchez actually came to our attention last year when she covered Depeche Mode’s “Black Celebration” (as we would later recall) though that, like her other earlier tracks, are now no longer online. Clearly “Somebody” is meant to signify the start of something, or somebody even, new.

Whatever the intention or underlying significance of it, “Somebody” is a cracking and vivacious pop tune, marbled with a shadowy and sexy undercurrent. Indeed, that’s entirely the vibe you get from the newly released video (which you can view below) as bodies entwine and the rhythm pulses like a heartbeat.

We may not have recognised the name to start with, but we won’t be forgetting Salt Ashes now, that’s for sure.

”Somebody” will be released on 17 February and is available for pre-order on iTunes now.

Stalk Salt Ashes: Twitter

Listen: Broken Bells – “Holding On For Life”

Ok, so we know that this has already been covered extensively on many sites, but to paraphrase The Cranberries, everyone else is blogging it, why can’t we? Besides, we have particular interest in the latest release from the musical Bert and Ernie that is Broken Bells as, in a previous life we stated that Brian Burton and James Mercer were made for working together. A statement we have no problem re-stating following the release of new track, “Holding On For Life”, on which they have eschewed their previous genteel meanderings through a comforting and melodious countryside for something with a little more bite.

Just listen to that swaggering blaxploitation bassline beneath a ghoulish and ghostly opening that thrusts us through rickety doors of a glow-in-the- dark Scooby-Do style ghost train, past eerie, cobweb festooned graveyards and into an old haunted 70’s discotheque. There, like a white suited John Travolta auditioning for the “thriller” video, standing atop an illuminated dancefloor and surrounded by equally decomposed revellers, we will find Mercer. Giving it the full Bee Gees falsetto and alluring Dracula stare to entice the wide-eyed (eared?) listener into this underworld of synths and supernatural sounds, we are drawn in, under the spell and soon to become one of them.

”Holding On For Life” is taken from Broken Bells’ sophomore album, ‘After the Disco’ which is due for release on 14 January 2014.

Stalk Broken Bells: Facebook / Twitter /Website