Progressive Synthpop

Today’s Track: Robin Kester – “Sweat and Fright”

December 9, 2020 — Leave a comment

That title is reflective of my two reactions for an exam deadline date. New post time!

  • Pictured: Robin Kester in a publicity shot to promote “Sweat and Fright” (2020) (Photo via Podcart.co)

Good Afternoon to you – I am Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time for me to deliver yet another daily post on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! This single – “Sweat and Fright” – is a track that I set up for a review earlier, but I sadly never quite got around to covering it yet. I look forward to jogging my memory about it, since it sadly fell down the wayside of my mind a little bit ever since. Nevertheless, it comes from Robin Kester, who is an Experimental Electronic Folk singer, songwriter and producer, who is from Utrecht in The Netherlands. “Sweat and Fright” was the final single from her “This Is Not A Democracy” EP, which she released in September on the AT EASE indie label. Having previously recorded some work in a vacant psychiatric institution with retro guitars and vintage synthesizers to draw on 70’s pop and Shoegaze-influenced compositions, Kester decided to explore a dark variation of dream-filled tones for the EP, which she calls her “ode to Nightmares”. Let’s try not to fall asleep to “Sweat and Fright” below.

Kester’s “This Is Not A Democracy” EP was co-recorded and co-produced with Marien Dorlejn in his studio and it plays on the abstract themes of nightmares and shifting mental states – along with a glimmer of hope in it’s explorations of escapism and free voice. It’s an intriguing new direction for the up-and-coming Netherlander, who has previously toured with the likes of Villagers, Aleila Diane and Laura Gibson. Evoking a hint of Weyes Blood-like folk idioms, Kester cries out: “Woke up/Sweat and Fright/Dreams more violent with each night” as a textured synth line slowly flickers in-and-out of the centre. It becomes surprisingly Blues-inspired, with a line of steady bass guitar riffs and an up-tempo Drum signature gently pushing a melodic undercurrent to the forefront of the hypnotic, slow-building atmosphere. As if the track were a dream, these elements feel surreal, but structured enough to convey some semblance of a narrative and theme on needing self-empowerment in a waking life, as Kester calls out: “All my days, start with the same idea” and “Poisoned with an appetite/Carry on so carelessly/Singing haunted melodies” as if she is a dreamer within the lyrical framework. Her vocals are slightly distorted and never feel quite so clear, but the laidback instrumental beats and the accompanied sonic loops feel dramatic and theatrical to a point, enough to display the dream-laden thematically of the track. It feels psychedelic to a certain extent, but internalized due to the miniature synth beats that imply closed space and intimacy. Overall, it’s great to hear these moods coming across so vividly. Though it may be an over-used word in music press – it feels very ethereal. An interesting narrative and detailed production contribute to it.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “This Is Not A Democracy” (Released on September 11th, 2020) (via AT EASE)

Thank you very much for reading my new post – I’m sure you might agree that this was a great winter track to listen to. We’ll be getting back in the Christmas spirit tomorrow, for an in-depth look at a slightly more widely appealing indie pop/rock track that references the old 80’s Nostalgia of the season, coming from a British band who were formed in Sunderland. Their band name derives from the title of The Flaming Lips’ “Hit To Death In The Future Head” album, that was released back in 1992. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Sufjan Stevens – “Christmas Unicorn”

December 5, 2020 — Leave a comment

In our latest episode of random christmas songs that really exist! Time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Silver & Gold” (Released on November 13th, 2012) (via Asthmatic Kitty Records)

Season’s Greetings! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get writing up about your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to type up right here a different piece of music every day! Sufjan Stevens is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer from Detroit, Michigan – and a very prolific one. There’s plenty of albums, mixtapes, EP’s and more for you to stick your teeth into, and he’s never the type of artist who really sticks to one genre. There’s the downtempo, symphonic instrumentation of 2005’s “Illinois”, the lo-fi and minimalist Acoustic Folk style of 2004’s “Seven Swans”, and the swooping electronic textures of 2001’s Zodiac-inspired “Enjoy Your Rabbit”. It also seems to be, however, that he loves Christmas. “Songs For Christmas” was a box set of five seperate EP’s worth of Festive-themed music recorded between 2001 and 2006 that he released in 2006, and if that wasn’t enough, six years later, he released “Silver & Gold”, another box set of five EP’s worth of Christmas-related songs and carols, all of which were recorded between 2006 and 2012, and it was the spiritual successor to the previous Seasonal themed release. “Christmas Unicorn” seems to be one of the most beloved tracks from the release, and it’s 12 minutes long. Make a cuppa and take a listen to it, with me, below.

Stevens’ latest regular release was “The Ascension”, which he released in September this year, a high-concept Electronica album which looked at the human nature of finding active purpose and escaping emotional crisis in a technologically dominated world. A fun fact about Stevens is that his name “Sufjan” is a Persian one, and it most famously belonged to Abu Sufyan, a figure who predates early Islamic history, and the name was given to him by an inter-faith spiritual community which his parents belonged to when he was born – So he happens to really know about these things. “Christmas Unicorn” is admittedly not one of his most accessible tracks, due to the sheer length of the product, but it is widely loved by the critics and his fans alike. I would argue that it has a three-act structure though. Sufjan immediately cries out: “I’m a Christmas unicorn/In a uniform of gold” and compares the majestic, enigmatic character of a Unicorn to a metaphor of religious holiday and festive consumerism, over the top of a harmonious backing vocal and an Acoustic guitar rhythm that evokes the 70’s Art-Pop Psychedelia of David Bowie. A long vocal note leads into an off-kilter, electronic transition into Sleigh Bell percussion as the second third of the track morphs into a leftfield call-and-response ballad of Dream-Pop melodies and experimental synth textures, as Sufjan chants: “You are the Christmas Unicorn, too/It’s alright/I love you” to a more immediate and quirky Synth pattern. The closing act of the segmented track is an inviting cover of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, where the 80’s New-Wave Synthpop classic is given a lease of new life through the intersection of Sufjan’s consistenly repeated hook, mixed in with jingle bells and a slowly depleting suite of electronic beats as we finally move through the gradual fade out at the end. There is a lot of depth, and it’s very long indeed. However, it’s the Electronic synth instrumentation and the track’s ability of gradually adding new elements that keeps it from lacking in cohesion and getting too tiresome. All-around, it does strike me as a track that probably should not really “work”, but it does. While I can’t see it being added to every single Christmas-related playlist on every music streaming service due to it’s alternative style and it’s sheer length, it manages to balance a comical quality with a more emotional feeling pretty nicely, and the “Christmas Unicorn” title of the track and it’s lyrical hook is an implication of multiple aspects of Christmas – like the consumerism, the religion and the celebration which goes with it – being rolled into one manifestation or being. Santa is on his way, but it could also be the ‘Christmas Unicorn’ that’s destined to pay your ears a visit this year!

  • Pictured: Sufjan Stevens playing “Christmas Unicorn” at Granada Theater, TX (in 2012) (via MTC MAG)

Thank you for checking out my latest blog post! Normal service resumes tomorrow, and it’s our final regular entry in the Scuzz Sundays series before we take a look at some more Seasonal-themed tracks that also fit the brief of the year-running feature. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Sweet and Lonely – “Daybreak”

December 3, 2020 — Leave a comment

I reckon that I could keep writing these posts until the break of dawn! New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Daybreak” (Single) (Released on October 26th, 2020) (via Self-Released)

Good Evening to you – It’s all been a busy one for me today, but I’ve finally made it onto the blog to get writing up about your 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! “Daybreak” is one of my latest deep dives for the blog – this is a new Lo-Fi pop tune that comes from Sweet and Lonely – who is a local artist of Minnesota in the States. It is just the second single release of the new project from Nick Elstad, a songwriter and producer, who likes to make minimalist, Dream Pop and Indie music from his own house, and he’s also released music under the alias of Sleeping Jesus. I first heard the tune from The Current, a community radio station in Minnesota, who publishes a “Song Of The Day” podcast series that allows you to download a free new track every day, and it really caught my attention there. There isn’t much more on the internet that I could find out about Elstad or Sweet and Lonely – but I think that sense of mystery allows us to appreciate the textures of the sound a little more, but there is a music video available on his YouTube channel. Let’s take a listen to “Daybreak” below.

The new track, “Daybreak”, was self-released to Elstad’s Bandcamp page on October 26th, of this year, and he described the lyrics and production of the new single as “Daybreak is the mix between the crisp air of fall and the last breath of summer”, adding, “Short and Sweet, drenched in nostalgia and new found hope”, according to the notes that he has published alongside the new track on his Bandcamp page. It’s a very Seasonal sound that jumps out at me – With a mild Falsetto effect that mixes with the rolling Synth lines to create an effective and poignant picture of the changing of the guard, both emotionally and in acceptance with a changing period of time. The vocals are strikingly retrospective, as Elstad sings: “All day staring at the ceiling, wonder how your best years slowly gone away”, over the top of a mid-tempo Synth rhythm in the opening verse. Tonally, these washing patterns morph into a gently psychedelic and romantic setting, as Elstad asks: “Are we already there? When did everything change?”, before delivering the emotive line of “You are everything I’ve ever wanted” as a simple vocal harmony takes hold of the chorus, and a slow-burning set of synth lines take a noticeably more upbeat and soaring quality. It’s quite gentle for somebody who looks up to Aphex Twin and Bjork so very much, but it’s melodic enough. The chorus has a quite uplifting mood and the synth-based instrumentation creates a nice atmosphere of comforting electronic melodies – and I think it’s the contemplative vocals that carries the light, but personal to a subtle extent, motifs of the electronic beats forward to a tranquil and pastoral texture. This guy is really good!

  • Pictured: Nick Elstad (aka Sweet and Lonely) in the “Best Years” music video (2020) (via Leah Elstad)

Thank you for checking out today’s track recommendation! I’ve got more festive music to share with you on Saturday, but that isn’t stopping New Release Friday from happening tomorrow. Check back in with me then – to take an in-depth look at a recent track of a heavier variety. It comes from one of the UK’s biggest names in Drum and Bass – a Welsh EDM pioneer who is a Grammy nominee, a remix artist for the likes of Adele, Kanye West and The White Stripes, and he even curated some music for the 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in London. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: PVA – “Talks”

November 21, 2020 — Leave a comment

Been non-stop listening to a new EP by a band named after Glue… I can’t put it down!

  • Pictured: Josh Baxter, Ella Harris & Louis Satchell in a recent press shot (2020) (Photo via DIYMag.com)

The very history of Glue is a sticky one…Good Lord! Good Morning to you, I am Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s finally my turn again to get writing up about your daily track on the blog, since it is always my day-to-day pleasure to do so! I’m not actually certain if this new South London-based trio have named themselves after a type of Glue we all used in primary schools, but they are still turning heads nevertheless. Comprised of Josh Baxter, Ella Harris and Louis Satchell, PVA are a new genre-pushing Synth-Punk trio who originally established themselves as an enigmatic force when they started out in 2019. At the time, PVA decided to release just a half-length snippet of one of their tracks onto the wide internet – instead deciding to win over their fans based on the euphoric feel of their live gigs alone. It is an interesting management practice to say the least, especially these days. Yesterday, they released their debut EP, “Toner”, on Big Dada, an imprint of the larger Ninja Tune label, although I originally discovered the lead single, “Talks”, about six weeks ago. Dominic Haley wrote, in an interview feature for the Loud and Quiet website, “Their music mutates around an array of genres”, later adding, “They’re both brutal, and dripping in underground cool, but accessible and totally danceable”. Let’s have a listen to the new single, “Talks”, below.

Filled with 80’s New Wave guitar sweeps which evoke Prefab Sprout and New Order, Balaeric synth work that evokes LCD Soundsystem and Battles, and even a Big Beat-inspired EDM interlude, that evokes Propellerheads and Basement Jaxx, “Talks” is a solid track to get your foot in the door of the diverse music industry with. It feels hard to pinpoint down into a specific term of genre – and I like how it feels quite unconventional and obscure in doing so. The band said, in a press release, that lyrically “Talks is about how we invent games in order to avoid expressing our true feelings or take the risk of being hurt”, explaining, “The song also takes inspiration from real relationships and the fictional relationship between John and Abigail Marston (who are the main characters of video game, Red Dead Redemption). I’m afraid that latter reference hits a blank with me – but I can certainly see some expressive emotions coming through the vocals. Baxter sings, “Even in the furthest reaches, I’ve searched for forgiveness” above the euphoric synth line, which evokes a choppy 80’s rock sound. Baxter croons: “Bound to the heart you gave me” and “Confess about what I thought” in the second verse, duelling over some neat backing vocals from Harris, with an intriguing lyrical wordplay, layered above the New Wave guitar sensibility, which reminds me of Baxter Dury. The hook-led chorus carries along a slick hi-hat rhythm, where off-key Organ patterns evoke Nu-Jazz, and they meet with syncopated drum machine beats reminiscent of Nu-Disco, which even cross paths with warm Post-Punk backing vocals that have an anxious tonal delivery. You end up with a sound that feels quite immediate, and the intricate Funk patterns really end up creating a rather confident formula as the 80’s-leaning Pop sound struts along with the Disco-esque song structure. The vocal delivery feels deadpan too, and this elicits a small touch of humour and Motorik sounds, so I could see some more mainstream eyes looking at this 3-piece for their eclectic style. It all “Sticks” together!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Toner” (EP) (Available to buy from November 20th, 2020) (via Big Dada)

Thank you very much for tuning into the blog for today’s post! Don’t forget that tomorrow, we will be taking an in-depth look at an ancient classic from Pop-Punk past and Emo-Rock history – as part of our new entry in the Scuzz Sundays series – where we will be looking at a popular band led by a female singer-songwriter who has led a famous solo career in recent years, having since collaborated with B.O.B. and CHVRCHES for a few more mainstream radio hits! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Phoenix – “Identical”

October 24, 2020 — Leave a comment

Twinned together like Abingdon-on-Thames and Schongau, Germany. New post time!

  • Pictured: Thomas Mars (Lead Vocals), Deck “The Halls” D’Arcy (Bass Guitar, Keyboard), Laurent Brancowitz (Lead Guitar) and Christian Mazzalai (Rhythm Guitar/Percussion) (in 2019) (via press shot)

It’s the weekend! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, as per usual, I’m here to get typing up your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music each day! Best known for the singles “1901”, “Lisztomania”, “Chloroform” and “If I Ever Feel Better”, Phoenix are an established Alternative/Indie Pop-Rock band from Versailles, France. They have six evolutionary albums under their name, and they are a band who I have followed for a large number of years, much like my post about The Mountain Goats yesterday. “Identical” is their new single release, and it marks their first new material since 2018’s one-off single “Monologue”, and it also follows their excellent Latino-leaning 2017 album record, “Ti Amo”. It was also dedicated by the band to the memory of the longtime collaborator Phillipe Zdar, who sadly passed away last year at the age of 50. The track is also the soundtrack for the brand new film “On The Rocks”, which stars Bill Murray, Rashida Jones and Marlon Wayans, and it was directed by Sofia Coppola, of whom the band’s frontman Thomas Mars is married to. The film was released earlier in the month in selected cinemas and on the Apple TV+ subscription streaming service. The online music video for the track features Roman Coppola-directed imagery spliced together by the movie producer, Masa Tsuyuki. Let’s take a listen to “Identical” below.

Phoenix have also compiled the score for the new film, which tells the story of “Faced with sudden doubts about her marriage, a young New York mother (Jones) teams up with her larger-than-life playboy father (Murray) to tail her husband (Wayans) in this bittersweet comedy.”, according to the film’s press release. “Identical” opens it’s path to uplifting pop anthem with a more reserved, fractured stop-and-start synth beat as Mars layers: “I don’t just know you/I’ve grown like that too” and the drum section becomes more prevalent in the pre-bridge, where Mars layers: “In the same room, on the same night/I found you caught in the headlines” as the synth riffs gradually increase in their acidic qualities and the tempo steadily increases. Mars has begun to chronicle the band’s relationship with Phillipe Zdar, with lines like “Gazing ’round the corner of the university/Can’t call it out, but keep calling you out loud” and “I’m no prophet/I’m your friend/Take my advice, make your mistakes” sticking out lyrically, over the top of a propulsive keyboard sequence and a snappy, percussive rhythm guitar distortion which gives the chorus it’s slightly abrasive edge. The synth beats maintain a melodic flow, however, and never skitter too heavily towards a harsh and raw sound. The mood feels rhythmic and uplifting, instead, as well as lyrics that feel rather self-reflective, as Mars riffs on about getting to know the specific traits of a person and how to try and wash away their more negative characteristics. It results in an overall sound that feels less catchy and punchy than most of Phoenix’s older work, and it has a much more introspective tone to it instead. This also ensures that there is a decent balance of familiarity with the electronic direction we’re used to hearing from them, whilst also offering a different mood to represent something a little bit fresh, and I feel it works out pretty well. It’s perhaps going to be forgotten quite easily, but it sees the band delivering well on their noticeably more intelligent pop template.

  • Pictured: Official Movie poster for “On The Rocks” (Dir. Sofia Coppola) (in 2020) (via PR/Apple TV +)

I spotted some mince pies and stollen cakes in my trip to Aldi yesterday, so if you’re feeling in the mood for some early festive spirit today, you can still check out my post about Phoenix’s seasonal yule rock single, “Alone On Christmas Day”, here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/12/12/todays-track-phoenix-feat-bill-murray-alone-on-christmas-day/

  • Pictured: Phoenix in a still from the official music video for “Ti Amo” (2017) (Photo via YouTube.com)

Thank you for reading this post! Don’t forget to join me again tomorrow, where I’ll be delivering on a new entry in our weekly Scuzz Sundays series, where we dig out a relic from the Pop-Punk and Emo-Rock genres, from the late-1990’s until the mid-2000’s, to see if it can hold up in the present day! If If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Sneaks – “Do You Want To Go Out Tonight?”

October 13, 2020 — Leave a comment

I’m glad that I have finally found the time to Sneak this one in. It’s time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Sneaks (Eva Moolchan) in a promotional photoshoot (in 2020) (via Sneaks’ official website)

Good Afternoon to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, as per usual, I’m here to get typing up about your daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! “Happy Birthday” is a recent album release that has been gaining popularity on the underground Electronic music scene. The record comes from Sneaks, the alias of Eva Moolchan, who is an emerging Post-Punk and Spoken-Word musician based in Washington, DC. The album was dropped on August 21st, and it marks Moolchan’s third full-length album release for Merge Records. It also follows “Highway Hypnosis”, which only came out a year ago, and so this does mark a quick turn-around period coming from the back of her previous LP effort, although she has previously released her early output via Danger Records, including her 2015 debut LP, “Gymnastics”. To spice proceedings up for her latest album release, she has confidently turned to Carlos Hernandez as her mixing engineer. She’s also been in the studio with the Grammy-winning producer Jacknife Lee (Taylor Swift, REM, U2, Editors). Let’s sample “Do You Want To Go Tonight” below.

Jordan Bassett, a journalist for NME, praised Woolchan: “She favours short, sharp, effortlessly cool compositions that worm their way into your conciousness without breaking a sweat”, and there’s an incredible sense of bold ambition that comes with Woolchan’s work on the syncopated staccato beats and her ambiguous songwriting style on “Do You Want To Go Out Tonight?”, the opening track of the new album. Sneaks’ lyrics are noticeably minimal, apart from the use of the track’s oft-repeated title line of “Do You Want To Go Out Tonight/”, which she delivers with a smoky and direct mode of delivery. After a few repeats of the line, the jittering electronic bassline is juxtaposed by a rolling set of percussive Drum Machine sequences, which begin to favour rolling Bell melodies and No-Wave elements of light riffs. It forms a textual outlier for an incredibly 80’s-influenced sound, with a few comparisons to Liquid Liquid and Shirley Manson coming to my mind. The track poses the risk of the continuous chorus line getting stale by the end of the track with it’s repeated nature… but, for me, it really doesn’t. This seems to be because the variation of the electronic sounds are diversified enough to incorporate light elements of Post-Punk and Math-Rock to the palette at a consistent pace, and the track unexpectedly closes off to the swelling sound of an Orchestral pattern of laidback Violin sounds and intense Cello strings, which also manage to give off a rather cinematic and soundtrack feel to the light grooves of the glitched Synthpop sounds and the clear 80’s influences, all delivered within the setting of an IDM-like production method. Overall, the large emphasis on the towering Synthesizer instrumentation, building to an escalating set of String parts, manages to keep the only line of lyrics interesting enough to suffice the, rather short, however, length of the track, and I think that’s a feat certainly above the average level of musicians who create their music under this 80’s-reminiscent Synthpunk banner. After all of that – I think I would fancy a night out.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Happy Birthday” (Released on August 21st, 2020) (via Merge Records)

Thank you very much for reading my new blog post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as per usual, with an in-depth look at another recent album release, and we are deviating in style as we look towards the Hip-Hop genre. The single will come from a pioneering American rapper and singer-songwriter who was certainly a part of “The Golden Age” of Hip-Hop between the 1970’s and 90’s and he’s released twelve full-length albums, seven of which were certified Platinum and Multi-Platinum in the US. He is the co-founder of Mass Appeal Records, just to give you another clue. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Working Men’s Club – “Valleys”

October 5, 2020 — Leave a comment

I don’t think it’s really about the Welsh-Folk who live in the Valleys. It’s new post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Valleys” (Single) (Released on August 12th, 2020) (via Heavenly Recordings)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, as always, it’s now time for me to write up about your daily track on the blog again, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Previously, I covered “White Rooms and People” by Working Men’s Club, all the way back in April, and I was left very satisfied. A 4-piece New-Wave indie rock group formed in Yorkshire, Working Men’s Club actually managed to play a gig at The Sugar Mill in my current city of Stoke-On-Trent “pre-Covid” at the time where I sadly hadn’t heard of them before, and I perhaps regret not taking the opportunity to go and see them perform now. Nonetheless, six months later, the debut album by the group has arrived over the weekend on Heavenly Recordings, a prestigious Indie label which is also home to artists like The Orielles, Baxter Dury and Cherry Ghost. Their debut album is a self-titled LP, and it features all the previously released singles, alongside several brand new tracks. I feel as though their first LP effort would sit right at home in the era of Soft Cell and Depeche Mode, and I’m really impressed by how mature their sound is considering each of the band’s line-up are aged just before their 20’s. There’s a clear mixtape feel to each of the tracks, and the band’s frontman Sydney Minsky-Sargeant reflected on his outspoken style of lyricism across his influences in a recent interview with DIYMag.com: “I feel there’s been a lack of decent music in general for a long time. “I don’t think I could name 10 bands in the past decade that have made me really go, ‘F***ing hell’. I think it’s all really safe.” As a real lover of anything musically that goes under-exposed in the press, I can certainly relate to his opinions, and I strongly think there’s a general truth in the large media corporations over-exposing the generically produced music to our society. Let’s have a listen to the recent single “Valleys” below.

On the album’s opening track, “Valleys”, specifically, Syd explained via press release: “‘Valleys’ is probably the most honest song on the record and I guess sets a premise for the rest of the album, growing up in a small town and trying to escape,”, later concluding: “Having been in lockdown since the end of Winter in Todmorden it seems like there couldn’t be a more appropriate time to release this song”, upon explaining how the track sets the table, sonically, for the rest of the record to bounce off. A percussive set of LCD Soundsystem-like Synth-Funk rhythms and 80’s New Order-like 5,8,6 beats lead into post-punk backed vocals from Minsky-Sargeant, who croons: “Trapped inside a town, Inside my mind/Stuck with no ideas, I’m running out of time” over the top of Euphoric, old-school Synth-Pop sequences and a more contemporary lick of paint comes from the ominously upbeat guitar riffs. The NYC Synth-like vocals are dowsed in reverberation and pulsating echo effects, while the delayed pedal effects of the guitar-led sequences add a layered production that gets the lyrical mood of isolation and small-town mentality across with a more light, textural atmosphere. The towering, soft-centered, electronically glitched dance breaks seem to represent the explosions in our protagonists’ creative influx of a mind, and powerful hooks like “The fusion is right as the sense” and rhetorical questions like “Is this enough?” lean to a more virtuosic place to signal this. The patterns of the overall rhythms are noticeably far less guitar-driven than the sound of the band’s earlier singles “White Rooms and People” and “A.A.A.A.”, but a knowing nod to the musical influences that aided Minsky-Sargeant to escape the deep feelings that the track “Valleys” was conceived from is a blueprint which connects the subtle dots together to prevent the change in sound from feeling too jarring, even if an old-fashioned New-Wave sensibility is being replaced by the blips and glitches of a new Drum Machine. Above all, “Valleys” is a track that lyrically discusses a joyous search for life, and these themes are delivered with an urgency and an 80’s-influenced drive that adds a neo-psychedelic poise to a more cerebral guitar instrumental, and this succeeds very well.

  • Pictured: Sydney Minsky-Sargeant (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar/Drum Machine), Liam Ogburn (Bass Guitar), Rob Graham (Lead Guitar/Synths) & Mairead O’Conner (Keyboard) (2020) (Photo by Jenn Five)

As I’ve just mentioned before, I have also taken an in-depth look at the track “White Rooms and People”, an earlier single release by the band, ultimately produced as a track that also appears on the same album. You can peruse the link to that post here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/01/todays-track-working-mens-club-white-rooms-and-people-explicit/

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Working Men’s Club (Released on October 2nd, 2020) (via Heavenly Recordings)

Thank you very much for reading my latest daily blog post! I’ll be doing it all again tomorrow, just like always, as we take an in-depth look at the new collaborative single produced by a British producer currently based in Los Angeles who has attained a large cult following over the years, and another British-born electronic dance music producer who is one of my personal favourites, best known for releasing a UK Top 40-charting album in 2012. Coincidentally, he appeared on the blog just recently for his Lockdown EP. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Today’s Track: Groove Armada – “Lover4Now”

October 1, 2020 — Leave a comment

The Electronic Dance duo back to prove the old ways are the best! It’s new post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Edge On The Horizon” (Available on October 2nd, 2020) (via BMG Rights)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, as usual, I’m back on the daily blogging round again today, because it’s still always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! This Friday, tomorrow even, sees the release of “Edge Of The Horizon”, the first new album from Groove Armada, the London-based 1990’s Electronic “Big Beat” duo of Tom Findlay and Andy Cato, to come from the classic duo in exactly ten years. “At The River”, “I See You Baby” and “Superstylin'” are just three of the ten UK Top 40-charting singles to come from the duo’s output over their established 30-year career. They have also released eight studio albums, four of which have charted within the Top 50 of the UK Albums Chart. Prolific as the duo’s decent chart success would suggest, the two producers have crossed over in genres and styles, since meeting in the mid-1990’s, where the duo began the project by setting up their own series of club nights in London (Remember those?) named “Captain Sensual at the Helm of the Groove Armada”, and it was inspired by 1970’s discotheque, which impressed local pioneer “Tummy Touch” to help them get their break, and kick-start their crossover appeal to the mainstream. “Edge Of The Horizon” was very much inspired by the classic 80’s Synth-Funk sounds which Cato and Findlay grew up listening to, and the current Covid-19 restrictions seemed like the right moment for this, as Cato said, in a press release, “During those studio days, the rest of the world shuts down. There’s an intensity, anyone looking in might say madness, that kicks in when we’re totally lost amongst the instruments, synths and records day and night.”, adding, “But that shared, unspoken feeling that comes when we both know we’ve got it right cuts through as clear as ever”. “Edge Of The Horizon” features collaborative tracks with Nick Littlemore (of Empire Of The Sun and Pnau band fame) and the Chicago House producer, Paris Brightledge. The lead single, “Lover4Now”, features guest vocals from Todd Edwards. Let’s listen to it below.

“Lover4Now” feels very much like Cato and Findlay’s ode to 80’s Italo disco, and it, of course, comes accompanied by that cutesy animated music video which sees Mio (the Dog) and Cosmos (the Cat) on their adorable search for love following an online dating session. The rhythms and 1970’s-driven lead vocals immediately call back to Rick James’ “Super Freak” from 1981 to me, as vocalist Tom Edwards delivers his lyrics playing on deceitful romance and alluring lust with a vintage, somewhat fearful, yet still with a playful and upbeat touch, with a mid-1970’s Funk croon. The whirling synthesizers beats in between the vocal sections, where Edwards recites, “Her words are like a song on the radio, Stuck in your head with nothing meaningful” seem bright and intelligent, with catchy pop hooks which feel like a love letter to the vintage style of pop and R&B that seem to have inspired the new track greatly. It has a very “old-fashioned” and “European” disco sound/feel to it, with a light-hearted element of production and subtle elements of early Garage and Detroit House creeping in from the visuals of Ibiza sunsets and cheeky, short-lived Summer romances. The up-tempo backing vocals and the stop-and-start nature of the keyboard synths in the bridge, as Edwards recites: “You need a little sympathy, you’ve had enough wasting your time”, over the top of a brisk ambience. Lines in the chorus feel more rhythmic, as Edwards sings the likes of “There you go looking for her again, and how many before you have there been?” and “She’ll only say what she thinks you wanna hear/You think that she will notice, but she won’t” to put across the ideas of the initial physical thrill of passionate romance, and the mental dangers to come from this. There is never really a “drop” here in terms of the synths raising their intensity up to another level, but the beat feels punchy enough and it’s kept at a relaxed pace to catch your ears nicely. Overall, it skews a bit more poppy than what I would normally choose to listen to, but I feel it’s still a cool record. It has a hugely “old” feel to it, yet I find it to be refreshing in today’s era of very auto-tuned hip-hop/pop-hybrids and business-driven releases aimed at the Teenage girl market. Overall, I really like this. Much better than expected.

  • Pictured: Groove Armada (Andy Cato & Tom Findlay) in a press shoot (2020) (Photo via BMG Rights UK)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! As per usual, I will be back tomorrow for an in-depth listen to a recent single from another one of the week’s new album releases. I am very fond of this artist, so I have covered her work on the blog once or twice before. This comes from a contemporary Disco-Pop female artist who was once a member of Moloko, a duo with her partner Mark Brydon, who had a few mainstream chart hits in the 80’s with tracks like “Sing It Back” and “The Time Is Now”. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Yukon Blonde – “You Were Mine”

September 17, 2020 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Jeff Innes (Lead Vocals/Writer), Brandon Scott (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), James Younger (Bass Guitar), Rebecca Gray (Keyboard/Synths) & Graham Jones (Drums) (2020) (Photo via Dine Alone)

Good Morning! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, just like always, I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A Canadian 5-piece Indie Rock group from Kelowna, British Columbia who are now based in Vancouver, Yukon Blonde have been touring the globe for almost 15 years, and have played numerous live sets at highly established music festivals such as South by Southwest, along with breaking out from winning the Juno Award for Breakthrough Group Of The Year in 2013. “You Were Mine” is the latest single taken off their upcoming fifth studio album, “Vindicator”. which is the first album to be written, produced and recorded entirely by the band in their own studio. You can buy their new album from 13th November, via Dine Alone Records. It comes highly anticipated, and it’s title is a nod to how the band felt upon it’s post-production completion. On “You Were Mine”, the group’s front-man, Jeff Innes, told Kill Beat Music in a press statement: “James brought the initial idea to the table, and after several hours of jamming, eating Scooby-snacks and drinking Churchill martinis, it started to fall apart in the most perfect way imaginable,” he stated. “I feel like this song somehow epitomizes the spirit of a successful collaboration in our band. Words like ‘compromise’ had no place in that session; everyone sings leads at some point, everyone plays everything. It’s certainly among our favourites from the record.” Let’s see how it all came together on the single below.

A Synth-Punk band known for previously embracing more minimalist and keyboard-oriented rock groove music, “You Were Mine” also marks a stark departure in sound to the NYC-Punk sound of their previous album and that comes along with their new single also being the first entirely self-produced single to come from the Innes’ home studio… and kitchen. “You Were Mine” has a fairly minimalist opening, as Innes contemplates: “I keep pretending that you were mine, When I’m all alone” over the top of a moderate piano riff and a light, Synth-driven R&B hook. The second verse’s repeat of “I keep pretending that…” causes the danceable elements to shift dramatically to a more neo-psychedelic, Acid-Pop altered state. Innes’ spins a mellow Spoken Word rap, reciting: “Summer came in the blink of an eye/Nothing remains, but the sheltering sky/Cast under cancer” over a slowed, more Dream-Pop geared soundscape that keeps the R&B-inflictions audible, but the stuttering Drums provide more of a morphing ambience than before. A calm interlude persists at a breezy, if jaunty, fashion. Shortly after this, Innes’ drowns his vocals in a heavy Auto-Tune effect to halve the tempo, and bring the sense of wonky production to the forefront a little more aggressively than before, with a quickly revolving Piano section and a tonally fluctuating Groove line bring the track to a danceable and hopeful, although not necessarily fast-paced, close. It’s quite hard for me to figure out if I really like the new track or not, and that’s just because it feels very different to the style of output that Yukon Blonde have delivered in the past. That’s a very good thing, as it means we’re not getting a retread of what’s come before again. However, on the negative end, I’m not sure if it really does enough to stand out from the likes of (You saw it coming…) Tame Impala and MGMT. The atmosphere is very reminiscent of Tame Impala’s “Let It Happen”, and the pop-friendly hooks also highly remind me of Foster The People, a band who I often find to be overlooked. The concern is that, here at least, it feels a little bit un-even and it doesn’t quite mish-mash R&B and more LCD Soundsystem-influenced NYC-Punk fully cohesively, with a middle section that drags a little and the self-reflective lyricism not quite managing to touch me where it hurts. On the other hand, I am looking forward to seeing what the band do with their new direction and the creative freedom of the individual production methods. I have a feeling this track will probably grow on me over time. But, as for now, I’m sadly left a bit apprehensive.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Vindicator” (Available from November 13th, 2020) (via Dine Alone Records)

Thank you for reading this post! Tomorrow, I’m making the long travel back to my university in Staffordshire to restart actually having a life again, so the daily post will have to be pre-written in advance! We’re going to take an in-depth look at an easy classic from 1998 with a band name that reflects the opposite of what the quality of their music has proven to live up to be! The band formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1993 and – unusually – they have managed to keep their original band line-up intact over the decades since. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Severed Heads – “All Saints Day (2015 USA Tour)”

August 29, 2020 — Leave a comment

Basement Jazz would ask: Where’s Your (Severed) Head At? It’s time for a new post…

  • Pictured: Tom Ellard (Lead Vocals/Bass Guitar/Electronic Percussion) and Stewart Lawler (Synths/Keyboard/Engineer) (Current band lineup) at Unsound Festival 2016 (Photo Credit: Paulius Illius/www.SecretThirteen.org)

Good Morning, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I am writing about your daily track on the blog because, as like always, it is my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! “All Saints Day” has always gone down as a cult classic, from what I gather. It’s probably because of my age, but I just saw this track listed on the KEXP schedule, and I thought the artwork looked really amusing, but I’ve never actually listened to this record. So, it’s going to be as much as a new experience for you as it will be for me, for today. According to my research, this is one of the most popular tracks to ever be performed by Severed Heads, a cult favourite Australian Experimental Electronic Prog-House group, which has seen several line-up changes throughout the years. This track was taken from their eighth LP record, “Rotund For Success”, released in 1989. As with the bulk of the group’s discography, the album has been reissued several times over the years by different labels, in different formats and versions. This late-80’s iteration of the duo saw Tom Ellard work with Stephen Jones on Synths and Production, but the current line-up sees Jones getting replaced by Stewart Lawler on Engineering and Percussion. In any case, Severed Heads has become known for their off-kilter style of production, experimental pop-driven hooks, and twisted splicing effects. Let’s listen to their 2015 USA Tour dub of the track below.

With the history of Severed Heads in their career seeming almost as strange as the highly experimental, IDM-driven style of their music, “All Saints Day” incorporates a House-laden melodicism into a harsh, although not abrasive, electronic synth bassline and a groovy, but slightly distorted, snare effect. It often feels like some kind of “Wrong” or “Broken” auto-tune machine, with Cymbal samples being looped backwards and delayed pedal effects making the club-rolling dancefloor House beats sounding a little bit sideways. There is enough of a melodic Synthpop element to the track though, with a trendy late-80’s synth-oriented club sound and spoken word vocals that often feel comparable to Pet Shop Boys or Bernard Summer. The smooth synth-rock development replaces a grating percussion sample, sounding like a door loudly creaking, from the opening. The vocals flutter above a Disco-Rock layering, going: “For I am willing to believe/Wishing to be strong, Fighting on your side”, over the top of curiously appealing, monstrous vocal samples and the brassy, prominent Synth-Strobe stabs. An unintelligible female vocal loop, a manipulated jumble of celestial Drum blips, and an ethnological, almost tribal, backing vocal loop compete against each other in the bizzare cloud of experimentation. It’s very off-kilter, but it’s well-paced throughout and feels fairly cohesive, but it’s wonky enough to add a touch of charm and warmth. It somewhat feels like a product of it’s time, with innovative 80’s synth stabs and hefty use of the Analogue synth hardware that was new and exciting in it’s heyday, but it also feels very intentionally off-kilter and appealingly unstable enough to have a timeless effect. If it came out tomorrow, I don’t think that anybody would question it much, but you could point directly to its influence. To conclude, it does have “me” written all over it judging by my own personal tastes, and I think this is a really cool tune. I would love to see a revival of this niche dance scene.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Rotund For Success” (Released on 31st October, 1989) (via Volition Records/Nettwerk)

Thank you very much for reading my daily music blog post! As per usual, I will be back tomorrow with your new weekly edition of Scuzz Sundays, the feature where I pick an Emo-Rock or a Pop-Punk relic from between the late-90’s and the mid-00’s to see if it can hold a candle to modern standards! If you are a fan of Burnout Paradise, the classic racer video game from 2008, you’ll be in for a blast from the past tomorrow, so make sure you don’t miss out on it! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/