Dance

Today’s Track: Ibibio Sound Machine – ‘Got To Be Who U Are’

March 15, 2024 — Leave a comment

Whether you’re reading in Surulere, Isale Eko or Ikoyi to Yaba – its time for a new post!

Pictured: Pictured: Eno Williams (Lead Vocals/Chief Songwriter/Producer), Scott Baylis (Synths/Trumpet), Max Grunhard (Saxophone/Synths), Alfred Kari Bannerman (Lead Guitar/Occasional Backing Vocals), Tony Hayden (Trombone/Synths), Phillip PK Ambrose (Bass Guitar), Anselmo Netto (Percussion) and Joseph Amoako (Drums) performing at the Pool Recording Studio, London (2019) (Photo Credit: Kimberly Junod/WXPN)

Good Morning to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and it used to be my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day before my adulthood got right in the way! I’ve got a multi-culturally appealing new release to share with you today from an 8-piece group called Ibibio Sound Machine, a contemporary Jazz project that was formed in 2010 by vocalist Eno Williams alongside producers Max Grunhard, Leon Brichard and Benji Bouton with the idea of fusing elements of 70’s jazz, traditional 80’s Afrobeat and modern Drum ‘N’ Bass together. After the first sessions were in the can, they diverted their attention to successfully completing the line-up by adding live musicians to form their initial live band. Since releasing their debut single on Soundway in 2014, the band have released four albums, performed at events such as KEXP’s commemorative World Clash Day in 2019 and collaborated with Alexis Doyle, the frontman of Hot Chip. Their new album – ‘Pull The Rope’ – has been set for a May 3rd release on Merge Records and a live tour in cities such as Cambridge, Birkenhead, Norwich, Leeds, Dublin, Brighton, London, Edinburgh, Nottingham and others will take place during the rest of the year. Seek identity with ‘Got To Be Who U Are’ below.

One signature element of Ibibio’s Sound Machine is how vocalist Eno Williams often sings in different languages because her mother’s native tongue was Ibibio. While she was born in London, she spent most of her childhood in Nigeria with her family. Her mother, in particular, would recount numerous stories concerning folklore to her and Williams has taken inspiration from these memories by crafting lyrics from these sources to use in her music with a modern twist. ‘Got To Be Who U Are’ gets off to a rapturous start by quickly pacing itself through the steps of emphasising the message of the songwriting to incorporating a percussive African mbira chord to the mix and introducing a more uplifting electronic dance tone to the track as the washing synths establish another groovy element. There’s a breakdown in the middle that gets the nightlife vibe across, before repeating the groove to the point of irresistance from the listener. Lyrics like “Down in London to Africa” and “From Surulere to Isale Eko” revolve around the point of how music connects us regardless of location as a result of a simple hook or a tasty instrumental. These name drops are here for a reason too because Surulere, Isale Eko, Ikoyi and Yaba are areas of Nigeria, thus symbolizing the childhood of Williams again as the band have done so articulately across four albums now. Overall, this is a highly enjoyable new release that truly kicks off the marketing machine for the new LP in fine, fiery style by connecting the dots between the band’s diverse music influences and by symbolizing how musical movements unite people across the world and deliver a fundamental connection between these parties with no concern about where they may be. All of the above and a catchy chorus helps too.

Pictured: Official UK tour poster of Ibibio Sound Machine’s ‘Pull The Rope ’24’ Tour (2024) (via Merge Records)

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Today’s Track: Superorganism (feat. CHAI & Pi Ja Ma) – ‘Teenager’

April 16, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘World Wide Pop’ (LP) (Available on July 15th, 2022) (via Domino Recordings)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time to bring the sunshine to your weekend with yet another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It’s really nice to hear that Superorganism are back for more, because their original album was so fun, visually creative and musically compelling. If you somehow missed out on all of their rage a decent number of years ago, Superorganism are a London-based collective of musicians who are spread out across the globe, so half of them met online while the other four members previously played as The Eversons together. Currently signed to Domino Recordings, they released their self-titled debut LP in 2018 and scooped up a place in the top 25 of the UK Albums Chart, alongside nominations at the MTV Europe Music Awards and the Sweden GAFFA Awards. A year later, they also contributed a track to the soundtrack of ‘The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part’ entitled ‘Hello Me & You’ to widen their mainstream exposure. Their second album – ‘World Wide Pop’ – is set for release on July 15th and they have revealed that Ruby, Emily and Robert Strange have left the band. However, they have pulled in an international range of collaborators including Stephen Malkumus, Boa Constrictors, Dylan Cartlidge and Japanese actor Gen Hoshino to contribute to the full-length recording. Pi Ja Ma joins them for ‘Teenager’ – the lead single – which also involves CHAI, who supported Superorganism for their UK and Ireland tour in 2018. It was produced by Stuart Price too, who has previously worked with Madonna and Pet Shop Boys. As you would expect from Superorganism, the music video is a goofy and imaginative affair about refusing to grow up. It stars Will and Grace’s Brian Jordan Alvarez. Check it out below.

Teasing a bit more information about the album without giving too much away, the product description for their new album explains, “World Wide Pop is a showcase for Superorganism’s newly deepened understanding of each other’s interests and impulses, the kind of creative convergence you’d expect when online friends start spending time together IRL”, on Rough Trade’s website. Their previous album was recorded remotely, and so the new outing promises to put them in the same room together. A ‘Jam Band’ tune of a result, ‘Teenager’ continues their uniquely brash and multi-cultural aesthetic with a very bright and processed assortment of sounds that captures the widescreen and virtual vibe which they have always sought so far in their careers, forming a collage of loud samples and crunching Drums that dip their toes into Hyper-Pop, Hypnagogic Pop and Noise Pop that feels comfortable for existing fans. I certainly hear more of a Post-Punk influence that was not particularly prominent before, however, because the overall production feels quite raw and DIY in texture. Distorted guitars and inconsistent Bass sounds add up the finishing touches, completing the vibe with a youthful and unstable quality that suits the key theme of the track. The lyrics are a commentary on how we never really completely change our character beyond our younger years, but the direct hook of “I’m gonna grow up and be a teenager” communicates the message in a quirky and free-wheeling way. Lyrics like “Had enough of growing up, keep making your mistakes and misbehave” find the band clinging to the ‘lost’ feelings of their titular developmental period in life, while lyrics like “Got no time for class/today we learn about the past, and the present, and the future fading so damn fast” suggest that we never move beyond such a pivotal state. It feels almost like a late-00’s children’s theme to an extent, with cartoons like ‘The Amazing World Of Gumball’ and ‘Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil’ coming to my mind, due to the colourful soundscapes and the filtered effects in play. A solid return which manages to capture the wit and engagement of their signature material.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Superorganism’ (Self-Titled LP) (Released on March 2nd, 2018) (via Domino Recordings)

Thank you for checking out my latest post on the blog, and I’ll be back tomorrow for ‘Scuzz Sundays’ as we rekindle the chatter about a not currently active but quite well-remembered 00’s indie rock band formed in Staines-Upon-Thames known for hits like ‘Cash Machine’, ‘Satellites’ and ‘Living For The Weekend’ that have all performed well commercially. They’ve just teased a 15th anniversary show for their ‘Stars Of CCTV’ LP.

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Way Back Wednesdays: Hamid Al Shaeri – ‘Ayonha’

April 13, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Hamid Al-Shaeri in a recent photoshoot to promote the ‘SLAM Years’ LP (2022) (Photo via KCRW.com)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has come for us to go retro for another new weekly entry of ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ for yet another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Egypt’s leading representative of Arabic Pop (A genre that sounds like westernized synthesizer pop music) is Hamid Al-Shaeri, a key artist for the SLAM! label throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s. Often considered to be the key pioneer of Al Jeel music, this Libyan-Egyptian singer, songwriter and producer is acclaimed by critics for providing a homegrown alternative to foreign Pop artists, both as a solo musician and for his production and writing work for other artists. His impact also extends to the wider popular culture of his native country, following his recent appearance as a guest judge on an Egyptian alternative to the ‘Got Talent’ franchise of TV talent shows. In 2011, he also condemned the actions of Muammar Gadaffi – his native country’s then-ruler – against the Libyan people and he issued a call for Egypt to support them. On 25th February, ‘Habibi Funk 018: The SLAM! Years (1983 – 1988)’, was released. His first single – ‘Ayonha’ – roughly translates to the title of ‘Her Eyes’ in English and it still holds a special heart of the Habibi Funk label’s team. They say, “If you were to ask us for a defining Habibi Funk track, there are a few that come to mind. However, none are as widely connected with us at this point as Hamid El Shaeri’s ‘Ayonha”, in a press release. Although it was not as commercially successful as the popularity of his later work that ran into the 00’s, Egyptian music journalist Malak Makar considers the era as a precursor to El Shaeri’s Al Jeel style than representative of genre. In 2017, Pitchfork’s Andy Beta also described his London-produced cut ‘Ayonha’ as “the most arresting track” on Habibi Funk’s seventh release.

The recent compilation is dedicated to Hamid El Shaeri’s work for the SLAM! label throughout the times, and the idea for the project came about when Habibi Funk met Hamid El Shaeri through singer Youssra El Hawary in 2016 at his office and rehearsal space in the outskirts of Cairo. They insisted on collaborating with him after hearing his songs from the early 1980’s, composed at a time where he had just left Libya to pursue his career in Egypt via a detour in London, where he also recorded his first album. The label recalls, “He liked the idea of an effort to amplify his early works again, which, when originally released, were far from an economic success. While he was down to assist with an interview and his blessing for the project he also told us that for any license we needed to speak with the original label SLAM! who released these songs, still held the rights and also remained in business over the decades though they didn’t actively release any new music”, in a press statement. ‘Ayonha’ is an upbeat and whimsical offering that wouldn’t sound out of place on morning AM radio in California, as the cheerful melodies and the easy-going vibe, combined with the abundance of glistening Synths and the airy harmonies which convey a radiant mood, captures a burgeoning interest in wistful production and exuberant, glitzy Pop sounds for El Shaeri. The lyrics are just as generally glowing in atmosphere, as they roughly translate to lines like “Take me in your hands/Take me to a moon in the clouds” and “Give the life which has gone and which I lost back to me, let me forget the sadness and the wounds, and years of loss and suffering” in English, according to the lyricstranslate.com website. The sound is not excessively Pop-based, but there’s a generally upbeat feel evoked by the opening 60’s-leaning Strings and the percussive acoustic lead guitar melody. Ultimately, this is a crucial encapsulation of the career of a top European star. While he may be relatively unknown to music lovers in the West and there was an initially underwhelming reaction to his early work at first, it hasn’t aged terribly at all and it can lift your spirits on a day where your mind is somewhere else. Buoyant spectacle that became popular across generations in his native market.

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘The SLAM! Years: 1983 – 1988 (Habibi Funk 018)’ (Compilation LP/Album) (Released on February 25th, 2022) (via Habibi Funk Records)

That brings me to the end of yet another daily track on the blog. Thank you for checking out my latest post and showing me your support today, and I hope that you found it interesting. As my duty demands, I will be back tomorrow to highlight some refreshing new music by an emerging experimental electronic music artist who utilizes 90’s Acid House sounds and UKG influences to the best of her abilities, and she has a Malaysian and Irish heritage. Her debut EP, ‘Bluff’, is out now via PLATOON.

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Today’s Track: Lucius – ‘Next To Normal’

March 31, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Second Nature’ (LP/Album) (Available from April 8th, 2022) (via Mom + Pop Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for a fairly occasional slice of Pop Pleasure for yet another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A track that can appeal equally to a mature audience and the typical Eurovision enthusiast, ‘Next To Normal’ is a retro-futurist Dance-Pop track that celebrates eccentricity and quirks, and it comes to you from the Nashville-based project of Lucius, whose line-up appears to include only Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig this time around, although the line-up has included Coco’s Dan Molad and lead guitarist Peter Lalish, alongside the touring musicians Casey Foubert (Guitar) and Josh Dion (Drums) in the past. Lucius have received acclaim from publications such as The New York Times, Paste, Rolling Stone, NPR and The Village Voice over the years. They have contributed to the work of numerous other artists including Harry Styles, The War On Drugs, John Legend, Mavis Staples, Sheryl Crow and several others. The duo’s previous album, ‘Good Grief’, was released some time ago, in 2016, but that track record is set to shift with the release of their fourth studio album – ‘Second Nature’ – and that takes place in just a handful of days away, releasing on the Mom + Pop label on April 8th. The album was recorded in Nashville’s RCA Studio A with Brandi Carlile and Dave Cobb. Check out the lead single.

“It is a record that begs you not to sit in the difficult moments, but to dance through them”, Lucius say about their upcoming album collectively, explaining, “It touches upon all these stages of grief – and some of that is breakthrough, by the way. Being able to have the full spectrum of the experience that we have had, or that I’ve had in my divorce, or that we had in lockdown, having our careers come to a halt, so to speak. I think you can really hear and feel the spectrum of emotion and hopefully find the joy in the darkness”, in a press release. ‘Next To Normal’ starts off with a disco-esque exchange between the lead and bass guitar, before steady drums and a psychedelic, Funk-driven bass guitar line escalate the ethereal quality of the electronic soundscape, before the two Berklee College Of Music graduates begin crooning with a confident yet laidback tone. Their lyrics speak about having the power to stand out instead of just fitting in, losing friendships as a consequence of bad mental health, and finding someone who could love your vulnerabilities, with lyrics like “Laughing at the wrong times/Saying things too straight” and “All of this translation/I was over-compensating” that feel defiant and headstrong in texture, but they are still acknowledging the grief that a difficult emotional time can bring to your life in a straightforward way. It continues to evolve in terms of instrumentation, with scattered breakbeats and sharp guitar accents that are held together by a consistent drum groove. The chorus feels more celebratory and anthemic than the punchy verses, with declarative Pop hooks like “When I’m close to you, I’m next to normal” and “I feel immortal/I’m high without the paranoia” that perfectly suit the Disco theme of the rhythm while suiting the more confessional lyricism and slightly slower beats of the verses. Overall, ‘Next To Normal’ works well because the hooks and rhythms are eminently listenable and their catchy melodies grow on you in many listens, yet there’s a subtle hint of a darker theme lurking in the background that gives it larger depth. As a wise follower of the BBC Radio 6 Music community group on Facebook noted a few days ago, if you don’t like just a little bit of Pop, you are a snob.

Pictured: Jess Wolfe (Co-Vocals/Bass Synth) & Holly Laessig (Co-Vocals/Keyboard) (2022) (Photo via TheBoot.com)

That brings us to the bottom of the page for another day! Thank you for supporting the site for the first time or the hundredth time, as it really means a lot to share this music with the world using the platform. I will be back tomorrow for ‘New Album Release Fridays’ as we take a glimpse into the new LP record by a charming London-based Post-Punk group currently signed to Bella Union with an uncharacteristically German name. Their previous LP – 2019’s ‘Tainted Lunch’ – got a 9/10 from The Line Of Best Fit and they have always been supported kindly by BBC Radio 6 Music. They also released the three-track ‘European Cowboy’ remix EP for Record Store Day, 2020.

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Today’s Track: Flume (feat. MAY-A) – ‘Say Nothing’

March 19, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Palaces’ (LP) (Available from May 20th, 2022) (via Future Classic Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has come for me to contribute to what is hopefully shaping up to be a good weekend for you with Saturday’s track on the blog, given how it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! An Australian pioneer of the Future Bass genre during the 2010’s, Flume is the DJ/Producer of Harley Edward Streten who has topped the ARIA Albums Chart a few times over and he has reached Double Platinum sales in his home turf. He also won Best Dance/Electronic Album at the Grammy Awards in 2017 for his second studio album ‘Skin’. Those who are a little less familiar with the name of Flume may have heard remixes he has created for the likes of Lorde, Arcade Fire and Disclosure in the past. He has also worked with a whole host of Australian and international artists like Anna Lunoe, Chet Faker, Slowthai, JPEG Mafia, SOPHIE, Vince Staples and others on extensive collaborations throughout the years. Following up his well-received ‘Hi, This Is Flume’ mixtape that he released in 2019, as well as his Toro Y Moi collaboration hit ‘The Difference’ from 2020, ‘Palaces’ is his third canonical studio album that is set to arrive on May 20th via Future Classic Records. It has been in the works since Streten relocated to a coastal town in the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales, where he says he “found inspiration from the flora and fauna surrounding him” there, and so he has been experimenting with field recordings of nature sounds and birdsong while producing his new full-length recording. The lead single ‘Say Nothing’ features vocals by the rising star MAY-A. Let’s give it a spin below.

The AIR-Award winning musician’s new album enlists guests like Damon Albarn, Caroline Polachek, Emma Louise, Laurel, Quiet Bison, Virgen Maria, Oklou and Kučka for collaborations this time around, and, speaking on the new Alt-Pop cut, Streten explains, “This song is about feelings of post-relationship clarity”, adding, “We wrote the song midway through 2020 while the pandemic was still pretty new. I was really excited about the initial idea, but it was only once I got back to Australia in early 2021 and linked up in the studio with MAY-A that the song really came to life”, in his press statement. Starting off with a blurring effect on the Synths that shortly expands with euphoric Bass and fractured Snares, MAY-A sets up the tone of the vocals with her lovesick croon of “As far as summer goes I’m not even close/To wearing you like clothes when nobody’s home” that feels a little nervous and unsettling, as the Drum and Bass sequences gains traction and sits at the rear view mirror when the pre-chorus comes in. The chorus itself has brooding and pulsating elements that doesn’t quite allow the Bass and the Drums to fully unleash just yet, with a lean structure held together by the polished Pop sound and the viscerality of the dark Synths. It materialises with MAY-A’s declarative croon of “Say nothing, If you don’t wanna say goodbye” that feels a little poignant, and it feels emotional, especially for what predominantly remains a Dance-Pop track. ‘Say Nothing’ shifts away from Straten’s Future Bass origins to acquire a bolder Drum ‘N’ Bass feel, especially in the concluding moments where it feels more aggressively percussive. Behind the decks, he plays with duality in the track by blending dissonant drums with slower chords and elegant vocals in the backdrop, a combination that shouldn’t naturally go together on paper, but it feels pretty cohesive enough due to the Pop feel that lies underneath the leaner, experimental structure. There’s a lot of intricate details in the melting pot of sounds, but it could also fit right in with pop heavyweight DJ’s like Calvin Harris or David Guetta as it feels Pop-oriented and very polished. For me, the ‘Pop Polish’ does feel a little by-the-numbers at times as the chorus doesn’t feel particularly psychedelic or ethereal, however, I feel the production flair would be appealing to many listeners of a more casual variety, although I personally felt it didn’t connect as well as the prior section. That nitpick aside, Straten shows that he’s an excellent producer again by mixing a wide variety of tones together in a way that works to create the overall texture and the songwriting feels more interesting than it may appear on the surface due to the fractured effects on the vocals and the twists on duality as a theme. Appealing to a mainstream audience while experimenting with the tropes of modern Pop, albeit to slightly mixed results on the latter in my opinion, there is laughably an awful lot you could say about the summer-ready ‘Say Nothing’.

Pictured: Flume with Toro Y Moi in the music video shoot for ‘The Difference’ (2020) (Photo Credit: Joyce Kim)

If you want to hear ‘The Difference’ that Toro Y Moi made to Flume’s sound, click here:

Flume & Toro Y Moi – ‘The Difference’ (2020) – https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/06/06/todays-track-flume-feat-toro-y-moi-the-difference/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘The Difference’ (Single) (Released on April 30th, 2020) (via Future Classic Records)

That brings us to the bottom of the page for another 24-hour period! Thank you for your continued support for the site, and please make sure that you join me again for ‘Scuzz Sundays’ tomorrow as we take a listen to something British from the 2000’s that was probably heavy enough to be played on the channel. It comes from an Alternative Rock band from Newcastle who were pretty beloved on the blog when they released their most recent LP ‘Nature Always Wins’ last winter. This time, we’re going to look at the retro incarnation of the band who are led by Paul Smith and their first studio album – ‘A Certain Trigger’ – was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2005.

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Today’s Track: Mitski – ‘Love Me More’

February 28, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Laurel Hell’ (LP) (Released on February 4th, 2022) (via Dead Oceans)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get down to business as we leave the shortest month of the winter for a warmer March as we head into Spring by covering one of the most crucial releases of February for yet another daily track on the blog, given how it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Dubbed as the “best young songwriter” of the US by The Guardian earlier in the past month, the Japanese-American singer-songwriter and producer Mitski has been raging up a storm domestically and internationally with her sixth studio album – ‘Laurel Hell’ – which she released to a healthy buzz and a positive reception on February 4th via the Dead Oceans label. Taking its title from a Folk term for being trapped in thickets of Laurel, an English name for common trees and plants of the Laurel family, that grow in the Southern Appalachian Mountains region of North-Eastern America. Her new album peaked in the top ten of the albums charts in the UK, Australia and Ireland, and it was the best-selling album in the US during its first week on sale, meaning that a wide variety of listeners heard Mitski’s dynamic take on nostalgic Disco, Synth-Pop, Indie Pop and Electronic Rock styles. I read a fascinating story that Mitski had to quit music to love it, as the record was originally reportedly going to be a stinker on deliberate purpose so that Mitski could finalise her current record contract and leave music peacefully, but that thankfully, didn’t turn out to be the case, and her vulnerable songwriting regarding topics like insomnia and mental weight went through many iterations over the last three years, with the record originally designed to be some form of an Avant-Garde Industrial Punk album, later becoming a softer Country album, before Mitski experimented with electronic production and the record was conceived in the final form that you can hear now. The final pre-release single was ‘Love Me More’ that you can preview below.

“Love Me More went through the most iterations out of all the songs on the album. It’s been too fast, too slow, and at some point, it was even an old style Country song”, Mitski said of the single, which has been accompanied by an official music video that was directed by Christopher Good, re-uniting Mitski with the creative behind her ‘Nobody’ video from three years ago, and she concludes, “Finally, I think because we had watched The Exorcist, we thought of Mike Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells’ and experimented with floating an ostinato over the chorus. As we steadily evolved the ostinato to fit over the chord progressions, we began to hear how the track was meant to sound”, in her press statement. Starting off with “If I keep myself at home, I won’t make the same mistake/That I made for 15 years” in the opening verse, Mitski begins to croon about her own experiences with finding a fulfilling relationship while embracing a bright stadium-friendly Synth-Pop sound that feels so futuristic yet nostalgic in its tone and delivery, and so a similar collaboration with The Weeknd or La Roux wouldn’t feel out of place for her at some point in the future. A glistening sequence of piercing, self-reflective lyrics like “I wish this would go away/But when I’m done singing this song/I will have to find something else, to do to keep me here” complements a scattered soundscape of early 80’s New Wave synths and skittering up-tempo drum machine melodies that fit the musical ballad style of the lyrics that find Mitski crooning dramatic lyrics like “I could be a new girl/I will be a new girl” and “Here’s my hand, There’s the itch/But I’m not supposed to scratch” as the harshness of the impending Synths see a melodic increase, while never quite exploding into a full-blown club anthem, and so I thought that Mitski paced her instrumentation nicely here. The chorus has a more commanding presence, as she frantically pleads lyrics like “Drown it out/Drown me out” with a demanding atmosphere as the gauzy Synths soundtrack her way to finding nourishment. The end product feels a little scattered to me, but the production is attentively polished for what counts as a fully independent release and she does a great job of valuing her personality above a strive to ‘just have’ a commercial hit, with thoughtful lyrics that maintain the 80’s Pop influences of the track while avoiding the more recycled tropes of the genre. ‘Laurel Heaven’ more like.

Pictured: Mitski Miyawaka in promotional artwork for ‘Laurel Hell’ (2022) (Photo by Ebru Yildiz/Yahoo.com)

That’s all for now! Thank you for tuning into One Track At A Time today, because your support is always very highly appreciated, and I’ll be back tomorrow to guide you through a refreshing single by a group of San Francisco-based shoe-gazers who will release their first new album in a long break of 10 years in March via Fire Talk Records.

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Today’s Track: Nia Archives – ’18 & Over’

January 17, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Artwork for ’18 & Over’ (Single) (Released on November 25th, 2021) (via HIJINXX)

Good Morning to you! You’re tuned into the text of Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for us to dive headfirst into a new week of January with yet another daily track on the blog, given that it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A 21-year-old musician who was born in Leeds and raised in Manchester, Nia Archives is a London-based singer-songwriter, producer and visual artist who you may remember from the ‘Headz Gone West’ EP that she released last April that we discussed a few times on the blog. Nia Archives is an exciting new artist who fuses a range of Hip-Hop, Neo-Soul, Dubstep, Drum and Bass, Drill and Techno, House and Jungle elements into her melting pot of sounds. She is also the founder of the ‘HIJINX’ label, which is also the name of her visual archive of short DIY-style film documentaries which was a side project that she started before producing any music. Her influences includes names like Burial, J Dilla and Roots Manuva. She has recently released the follow-up track to her ‘Forbidden Feelingz’ single that she released last October with a heavier-than-usual dance recording that she implores us, lyrically, was designed for ’18 and Over’. She digs into her Carribean heritage for her new single that samples one of her favourite classic Reggae cuts – ‘Young Lover’ by Cocoa Tea from 1987. The Taliable-directed music video pays homage to London’s sound-system culture and references ‘Yardie’ films like ‘The Harder They Come’ and ‘Babylon’ from the 60’s and 70’s. She comments, “For the ’18 and Over’ video, I knew that the visuals had to be iconic as the song is an absolute banger. Working with Taliable who was the director and editor was super fun, I feel we creatively gelled really well to create this vibrant piece”, in her press statement. Let’s check it out if you are ’18 and Over’ below.

Nia continues, “The actual video was shot in my warehouse yard, I thought it would be sick to use that space as no one has ever shot a music video there – meaning it is unique to me. We kept things even more local by asking Hackney native Mark Solution if he could set up his wicked ‘Solution Soundsystem’ – it was an honour to feature it in my video”, adding, “There are also some references to the original record that I sampled for viewers to spot”, in her press notes. Starting off with chirping bird sounds that remind me of the sweetness of Aphex Twin’s ‘Syro’ from 2014 in the classic Jungle template, paired up to a steady breakbeat instrumental, Nia develops the soundscape further with a driving bass line and some twinkling Synths as she layers her vocals above the main hook of the focused sample of “Now, this one was designed for 18 and over” with a psychedelic Neo-Soul backing as the breakbeats get continually more fragmented throughout the progress of adding her own lyrics. The glistening synths soon augment into a booming bass beat that feels like a nuanced representation of Dub-rooted texture that she playfully gives a UK drum & bass twist as the ethereal mix warps into a Jungle aesthetic, eventually leaving behind a central emphasis on the early 90’s rave melodies that give us a spellbinding symphony of breakbeats, as the lyrics promise to give us. While the ‘Headz Gone West’ EP leaned into her anxieties on entering a relationship and overthinking her intimate emotions, ’18 & Over’ is a purer exploration of the Post-Garage and Jungle-driven feel that has always existed within her sound. It all feels very exciting and gripping as a result, creating very surprising shifts in production and fusing her early sound with a flipside of some traditional Reggae to pay homage to her Jamaican heritage and the country’s creative output. A heavy and engrossing evolution of her artistry that is unique to her.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Headz Gone West’ (EP) (Released on April 29th, 2021) (via HIJINXX)

If you also think that Nia Archives is one of the most engaging new artists to follow in 2022, check out my previous post about ‘Headz Gone West’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/05/03/todays-track-nia-archives-headz-gone-west/

Pictured: Nia Archives in a still from the ‘Headz Gone West’ music video (2021) (Photo by Delphino Productions)

That brings us to a pretty thrilling end to today’s track on the blog. Many blessings for showing your support and I’ll be back tomorrow as we continue to hear some of the most important voices in the industry with the next post that arrives tomorrow. It will come your way by a Harlem-based poet, teacher and founding member of the Spoken Word band The Last Poets, who were widely considered to be the first Hip-Hop group.

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Today’s Track: The Halluci Nation (feat. Chippewa Travellers) – ‘It’s Over’

January 6, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Tim Hill (Producer/Engineering) and Ehren Thomas (Mixing/Percussion) (2020) (Photo via PR)

Good Morning to you! You are tuned into the text of Jacob Braybrooke, as we ready ourselves for yet another daily track on the blog, since it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Music you may have missed from last year headlines the page today, and it comes your way from an Ottawa-based Canadian experimental electronic dance music duo known for blending Ethnotronica, Moombahton, Reggae and the ‘Brostep’ term of post 2000’s Dubstep with elements of First Nations music, particularly known for their vocal chanting and high-speed drumming – and their name is The Halluci Nation. It wasn’t always that way, however, as the band used to be titled A Tribe Called RED, a homage to the legendary Hip-Hop group A Tribe Called Quest. Last year, however, they decided to scrap their old alias in light of “as we move into this next phase of our evolution, we also find it necessary to remember our past”, in their own words. Now a duo comprised of Tim Hill and Ethren Thomas, their name is a phrase borrowed from activist/artist John Trundell to “describe the vast global community of people who remember at their core what it means to be human”, in Trundell’s quote. The group describe their own style of music as a “Stadium Pow-Wow” sound, which is a style of contemporary club music for urban First Nations (A society of Canadian indigenous people who are classified distinctly from the Metis and Inuit groups). My first experience with The Halluci Nation was hearing their stellar third album, ‘We Are The Halluci Nation’, released in 2016. The follow-up, ‘One More Saturday Night’, was self-released last July, which finds the duo collaborating with the likes of Black Bear, The Beat and Northern Voice – some of which they have frequently recorded material with before. The band’s latest album pays tribute to the Electric Pow-Wow gatherings at Ontario’s Babylon nightclub the group ran between 2007 and 2017. Hear more about their change of identity below and skip to 1:05 to hear the new track ‘It’s Over’ below.

“We wanted to pay homage to the Electric Pow Wow and wrap that whole decade of the experience up and close the cycle, and in doing so give direct co-ordinates of where the future was headed. In a nutshell, that’s what this album is about”, says co-founder Ehren “Bear Witness” Thomas in a press release, explaining, “We just wanted to make a party record, as well, one that people could dance to while still having the strong message we are known for”, about the planning and recording behind the record. Going for a more psychedelic take on their older material, Hill and Thomas combine stretched samples of vocal chants performed by Chippewa Travellers with EDM-inflicted Dubstep to explore the memories of the club nights that brought their Canadian community of indigenous people together back in the 2000’s, but the ferocious pace of the brisk Drums also imply a regret concerning the abrupt disbandment of the Babylon nightclub’s scenes. Some fragmented Synth effects are sprinkled throughout the song that evokes the vibrant nostalgia and anti-colonialism surrounding the club nights. Meanwhile, the driving melodies of the instrumentation are there to remind you that it is a positive dance record, as their signature style of moulding Septia-toned vocals from Chippewa Travellers together with visceral drum and bass melodies that set things into motion with a commanding Bassline, while the trickling Trap snares and the some declarative EDM drums that gradually incorporate reverb-drenched Dub and righteous vocal chants into the equation. ‘It’s Over’ suffers from repetition a little, but it does a fantastic job of spreading the message that forms the emotive core of the album that breathes new life into a memory or dream that settler colonialism and its extractive violence have attempted to erase, and ‘It’s Over’ provides a club-heavy but contemplative moment that gives the affirmations and goals of The Halluci Nation a reasonable amount of space to take root, as the band continue to cement themselves as one that needs to exist to serve the social purpose.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘One More Saturday Night’ (Released on July 30th, 2021) (via Self-Released)

I have previously shined a small spotlight on The Halluci Nation before their rebranding, with a detailed post about another track that aims to get more indigenous people represented in the media. Find out more about ‘The OG’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/01/13/todays-track-a-tribe-called-red-feat-black-bear-the-og/

Pictured: The Halluci Nation performing at the Lost Lake Festival (2017) (Photo Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

That’s everything I’ve got lined up for you today! I’m still working on my year-end Albums list of 2021 and it is coming soon. In the meantime, thanks for checking out my latest post, and I’ll be back tomorrow to get you re-acquainted with a Grammy-nominated Texas-born Jazz artist and a Houston trio who host the ‘AirKhruang’ radio show on Facebook Live and NTS Radio. They will be releasing a direct sequel to their earlier collaborative EP ‘Texas Sun’ on 18th February through the Dead Oceans label.

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Today’s Track: Hard Feelings – ‘Sister Infinity’

December 27, 2021 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Hard Feelings’ (Self-Titled LP) (Released on November 5, 2021) (via Domino Recordings)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke and, it’s just about time to go back to normal after Bank Holiday Monday after another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! For my new year’s week coverage this year, we’re going to be looking at some of the off-the-radar music that you may have missed in a year that was otherwise full of new Adele, ABBA, Ed Sheeran, Sam Fender, The Lathums and Billie Eilish album releases that were all very successful. My year-end list counting down my top 25 favourite albums of the year (Split into a few different parts to keep it more short and sweet than last year) will also be coming up your way as soon as possible. The first of my underappreciated suspects is the new collaborative duo of Joe Goddard and New York-based crooner Amy Douglas, who record music together under the project of HARD Feelings. You may know Goddard as a veteran of Hot Chip fame and as one of the busiest guys in the business, having produced new singles for Ibibio Sound Machine and collaborated with Hayden Thorpe in recent months, and he used to be one half of The 2 Bears alongside Raf Rundell. Meanwhile, Amy Douglas is a prominent name in the New York Post-Disco scene having worked with artists like Treasure Fingers, Horse Meat Disco, Luke Solomon and Juan MacLean. Douglas also wrote the single ‘Something More’ for Roisin Murphy’s latest album – ‘Roisin Machine’ – that was released last autumn. Together, Hard Feelings supported Goddard’s bandmates for their first live show on November 9th. They also released their first full-length album – which was self-titled – on November 7th via Domino Recordings. Described by Goddard and Douglas as “an opera of sad bangers”, the pair say the LP is loosely conceptual and, song by song, it focuses on the unraveling of relationships and their nuanced mystery. On the album’s second single and closing track – ‘Sister Infinity’ – the funky dance duo bring up a Sci-Fi twist to Synth Pop. Let’s give it a spin.

The music video for ‘Sister Infinity’, which features the narrative of Joe Goddard communicating with a quirky AI programme to help him conceive the song itself in a dystopian future, was directed by Tim Wagner and inspired by ‘Weird Science’, and the duo say that it “matches the song itself, a Discotastic pulse racing, HI NRG rollercoaster and HARD FEELINGS at our most futuristic and perhaps insidious version of the mad scientist and his creation scenario” in their press release. Flavours in the mix of ‘Sister Infinity’ include the likes of Kraftwerk, Stereolab, CeCe Peniston, Candi Staton and Kylie Minogue to my ears, and their own cited influences of Chaka Khan and Loose Ends feel particularly present on the retro ballad ‘Sister Infinity’, which brings some propulsive Disco tones and a slightly dark variation of moods to the dancefloor. Douglas murkily sings lyrics like “Write my name up in the sky, Seeing that with my third eye, I know you’re always here with me” and “Break my heart either way/I will bend time, where I want it to go” as she contemplates her own ability to be loved and how that stretches her comfort zone beyond a confident point. Meanwhile, the 70’s-leaning Disco synths provide a nostalgic electro-disco beat that bobs between a heartfelt and a heartbroken emotion, while the powerhouse Pipes and the twinkling Drum Machine loops provide some rhythmic, evocative undertones and some latex-polished production for Douglas’ performance to cohere with. It is a little low budget, but it still manages to feel cinematic and broad with it’s sweeping, euphoric Synth melodies. The sound is a little dated, but it certainly has a slick niche and the early New York Synth-Punk sound that Hard Feelings tap into are relatively unexplored in the modern ages, and so it manages to feel refreshing enough while nodding towards ABBA, Diana Ross and Depeche Mode throughout. The production is also very polished, with seamless segues between the different elements at play, giving ‘Sister Infinity’ an immersive and connected feel with its fusion of many Synth-related sub-genre qualities. Overall, I enjoyed how mature that ‘Sister Infinity’ feels overall, and it’s great that Hard Feelings are gaining some popularity from stations like KEXP and BBC Radio 6 Music as we await new releases in the new year because they feel diverse enough to stand out and they have their USP, for a lack of a better term. A distinctive pair who want to create an experience – as opposed to just music.

Pictured: Amy Douglas (Lead Vocals/Guitar/Keyboard) & Joe Goddard (Synths/Producer) (2021) (Photo via PR)

That’s all for now – so I’ll leave you to simply dance the bank holiday away – or just do whatever else that you choose to do as a past time. I’ll see you tomorrow for more musical action as we highlight another very distinctive Alternative Rock trio from Manchester who have supported Razorlight on tour. Earlier this year, they released a new concept album that was accompanied by a 45 minute animation movie that was created by the punk band’s frontwoman, Jess Allanic, using Blender and After Effects.

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Today’s Track: Flight Facilities (feat. Channel Tres) – ‘Lights Up’

December 22, 2021 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Hugo Gruzman (DJ/Producer) and James Lyell (DJ/Producer) (2021) (Photo via James Gourley/Getty)

Good Morning to you! I am Jacob Braybrooke, of course, and it’s time for me to help you fill up the funky playlist for the disco at your Office Christmas Party at the end of this working week, since it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Flight Facilities are the Australian Electronic Dance duo of Hugo Gruzman and James Lyell who were formed in Sydney in 2009 and also perform under the name of Hugo & Jimmy. On previous recordings, they have worked with prominent names in the industry including the ‘Princess of Pop’ Kylie Minogue herself – as well as Bishop Nehru, Reggie Watts, Stee Downes and Owl Eyes. Although the seven year gap has not been a complete drought of material for the die-hard Flight Facilities fans out there – it is still testament to the streaming-dominated state of the modern music industry that their second LP record ‘FOREVER’ – released on November 12th via Future Classic – was their first true album release since 2014. It has reached #6 on the Australian Albums chart and it features another array of guest vocalists including Emma Louise, BRUX, BROODS, Jody Felix, Your Smith and DRAMA. In a statement, the AIR Award-winning duo said, “The best way to describe this album is a combination of where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going. As true as it was from our first release, the foundations and glue for all our work has consistently been ‘collaboration’. While our musical journey has always been an intentional exploration of multiple genres, our hearts and roots lie on the dance floor. We applied that same explorative ethos to this record, taking a concerted dive delve into the previously untouched niches and era’s of dance. It’s been a long time coming, and only the same time will tell if it was worth the wait “, in a press release. The new album will also be supported by the ‘FOREVER’ tour that will commence in Perth during March 2022. The lead single, ‘Lights Up’, features the high in demand Compton producer and vocalist Channel Tres. Buckle your seat belt up and mount into it below.

With his low-pitched and sensual vocal delivery, Channel Tres has been a lyricist that everybody in the dance industry has been itching to include on their tracks. In the last few years, Tres has worked with a gigantic list of electronic dance producers including Disclosure, SG Lewis, Tokimonsta, Polo & Pan, Emotional Oranges and many more – so he has been everywhere as if he is the Jimmy Carr, Rosie Jones or Rob Beckett of dance music. ‘Lights Up’ features noticeable influences of Future Garage and Detroit Techno – and Flight Facilities note, “We’ve always loved the sound of the early Detroit House scene that crossed over with the Paradise Garage era. Combined with our love for Channel’s voice, it seemed like a perfect fit”, in their press release. ‘Lights Up’ almost sounds like a track that was being recorded whilst at a secluded street party with industry friends in Chicago, with Tres opening the scene with “Y’all should’ve called me to work on the album earlier/We could have been making something great” over a muffled vocal delivery following a lengthy fade-in to the track. The rest of the vocals mix an informal delivery with a quickly paced Spoken Word spin on gentle Hip-Hop, with Tres splurting out lyrics like “Trying to catch a Bass, and I’ll slide on you” and “I’m a MC, BYOB, bring your own bottles” that he recites with the silky and mildly sexual low-pitched croon that we’ve heard him use to similar effect on Disclosure and T’Challa King feature spots before. It definitely feels like his trademark and although it does not feel unexpected, it works smoothly here and plays to familiar strengths as usual. It establishes a tone of confidence for the rest of the track, which jolts along at an uptempo but not overly heightened pace. An influence of Detroit Techno – from the likes of Joe Smooth – drips from every note of Hugo and James’ production, with some velvet-smooth Synths that reassure us that this flight is going to be a smooth and relaxed ride. The personality of the track is charismatic enough, however, and one particular highlight of the track for me is towards the end where Tres repeats the refrain of “Got the whole city going up” while Horns continually whirr in the backbeat, giving off an impression that Horns are lighting things up in the background, as this section gives the Synths some added momentum to increase the aggression of the instrumentation slightly and drive the melodies forwards. Meanwhile, the two-step drum beats and the fluctuating Bass patterns blend together with Tres’ accentuated vocals nicely during the main bulk of the track. Overall, this was a strong effort from all involved that does ‘Dance Music’ in a modern enough way, while also respecting some of the relatively forgotten sub-genres of House and Techno from the past, giving it a retro-futurist feel. The track originally dates back to April so, although it fits more of a summer vibe than a cold December one, remember that it is summer in Australia.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘FOREVER’ (LP) (Released on November 12th, 2021) (via Future Classic)

That’s all for now! Thank you for your smooth sailing with me today, and I’ll be back tomorrow to ‘Light Up’ the eve of Christmas Eve with an affectionate lump of seasonal Silton coming from a Rochford-born Jazz singer and BBC Radio 2 presenter who has famously covered Radiohead’s ‘High and Dry’ to mainstream success in the UK charts.

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