By Martin Sharman on Thursday, 17th May 2012 at 12:00 pm
Emmy The Great’s album ‘Virtue’ has been out for nearly a year now; she’s decided not enough people have heard it, so a deluxe version is on its way in order to tempt those who haven’t yet made a purchase. With the usual ‘deluxe’ trimmings, and more rare tracks and remixes, this is a release both for the Emmy completist, and for those who are just falling under the spell of the jewel-voiced Ms Moss for the first time.
To announce the new release, ‘God Of Loneliness’ is being released as a single. Given that the album documents a particularly sudden breakup, this song fits right in, documenting as it does a one-sided conversation between Emmy and her projected demons. Or in this case the demons are reimagined as a god, although a bittersweet one that appears on the death of a relationship, rather than an omnipotent being who looks after you in times of need. The instrumentation is gentle, and features sufficient melodic undulations and harp sweeps to make it quite a summery background ditty, if we ever get a summer in this glum, rainy country. As inoffensive as a chilled glass of sparkling rosé wine on a grassy slope, and possibly more of a ladies’ favourite; men might like something a bit chewier to go with their post-breakup blues.
B-side ‘Fade Into You’ is a cover of Mazzy Star’s most famous song, and adds just a bit more vim to the original. Whether or not the song needed more vim, or struck just the right languorous tone the first time around is not clear. What is clear is that the song is a lovely, dreamy waltz with distant guitars and deserves another hearing. Just the soundtrack if you’re sharing that glass of sparkling rosé with a special someone.
Intriguingly, the single is accompanied by a ‘horror rom-com’ short film set in Emmy’s favourite brutalist tower block, Erno Goldfinger’s Trellick Tower, which inspired a track on ‘Virtue’. As a connoisseur of brutalism, it’s great news every time an example pops up in pop culture. This particular building has led a charmed, media friendly existence, having appeared in several music videos including Blur’s ‘For Tomorrow’, and benefits from residing in the well-off Kensington and Chelsea borough of London. Certainly modernist, but due to the softening of its concrete expanses with numerous windows and walkways, maybe less brutal than impolite. Due to its location, fame, and listed status, Trellick Tower is to be spared the ignominy of demolition which is befalling so many of its contemporary brethren. The song gets an extra point for bringing up the topic of brutalism.
7/10
The deluxe version of ‘Virtue’ is out now. ‘God of Loneliness’ was released as a single last week (the 7th of May) on Close Harbour. Grab the Dems remix of the song on this previous MP3 of the Day post.
Summer has pretty much had its foot completely in the door where I am, and it seems the perfect time to blast up some low-fi guitar tunes on a beach under the scorching sun. Here, exlovers’ new single, ‘This Love Will Lead You On’, combines low-fi guitar strumming with blush-inducing boy-girl harmonies.
The track starts very directly with no delay and dives straight into the core. The whole song evolves in a natural way as the lyrics’ narrative does the same, too. Its chorus is haunting and it floats around my brain for days, it also has a melody great for humming. Other than that, the uplifting line that is both the track’s title and chorus “this love will lead you on” just discharges the negativity in me completely.
It’s a pleasant track and also extremely radio-friendly. I believe given certain spins from various stations, this single shall be quite successful. With such a strong lead single, exlovers’ upcoming debut album is surely something to look out for.
‘This Love Will Lead You On’, the first single from exlovers’ debut album ‘Moth’, is available now.
I Dream in Colour are back with their single ‘London,’ with vocals that manage to pierce your heart effortlessly and with the kind of riffs which wouldn’t sound unfamiliar on ‘The Joshua Tree’.
They’ve done it again, producing music that is just so uplifting in nature that it can never fail to put a smile on your face, whether it’s the subtle drips of piano underlying the track or just the fact that through being quite minimalist it manages to just sound gorgeous. Now anyone who knows me will know I love a good belting chorus, screamed at the top of your voice ala Foo Fighters. But I Dream in Colour have won me over with pure catchiness and a simplicity. It’s easy to make your way as middle of the road indie band these days, but this band, while not being particularly out there and groundbreaking, have the ability to portray serious emotion, in a catchy and generally uplifting way.
While the airwaves are crammed full of Cheryl Coles and other generically rubbish acts, I Dream in Colour again with ‘London’ have produced something refreshingly real, showing real craft and vision and exceptional thought.
It’s a real treat to listen to, I recommend you do.
8/10
I Dream in Colour’s next single ‘London’ will be released on the 21st of May. The band will appear at the Alternative Escape in Brighton this Friday (11 May) at 14.00 at LIFE, then at Liverpool Sound City on Thursday (17 May) at Zanzibar Club at 21.00. They are also on tour this month starting next Monday at Sheffield Soyo; all the details are here.
It’s not everyday that you create a record that’s instantly accessible to pretty much any music fan, whether you’re a hardcore dance/dub fan, an indie kid, a rocker or anything else. It was impossible to ignore Hot Chip’s ‘Ready for the Floor. But since then, they have struggled to create anything with the level of appeal that monster hit had. ‘Over and Over’ was close, while ‘One Life Stand’ just couldn’t stand up against it on its own.
Now we have ‘Night And Day,’ a new Hot Chip track that will again have to go in the pile of songs labelled as…not ‘Ready for the Floor.’ Again. It’s a solid effort of synth-infused pop, and it does grow on you every listen. Lead vocalist Alexis Taylor still has that charming ‘I’m pretty much talking but not actually singing thing’ he does. He manages to do it with immensely more charm than artists like Lily Allen.
The chorus is catchy and there lies any Hot Chip song’s charm: its ability to get itself stuck into that back bit of your brain that makes you remember stuff. I have no complaints here; I can’t expect everything they make to be superb. To some ‘Night and Day’ may be ever too repetitive, but in my opinion that’s the appeal. It’s kept simple.
And I like simple. 7/10
Hot Chip’s single ‘Night and Day’ will be out on the 4th of June on Domino and is the first taster to the band’s ‘In Our Heads’ album out later this year. The single will be available on 12″ and via digital download and will come with a remix from Joe Goddard’s side project the 2 Bears featuring Trim, as well as an exclusive b-side track entitled ‘Jelly Babies’.
By Luke Morton on Tuesday, 24th April 2012 at 1:00 pm
Ambient Swedish electronic two-piece jj have been on a steady rise to fame since their debut album release in 2009. Best known for remixing and collaborating with some of the biggest names in r&b – including Akon and Ne-Yo, the dream pop duo are releasing their first new material in two years.
Originally titled ‘Beautiful Life’, it has since been dubbed ‘jj n° 4′ to match the style of their other record releases. From the off it’s instantly recognisable as the enigmatic Swedes creating the most beautiful, yet haunting lullaby. The swooshing synthesised sounds are complemented by the plinky-plonky keys and tribal percussion that elevates jj’s music far beyond their electronica peers.
Elin Kastlander’s whimsical voice echoes softly over the serenity of the music. The inherent innocence and purity is confirmed by the lyrics “it’s a beautiful night to live our beautiful life”, followed by huge bassy wave crashes and wind chimes. The sheer amount of layers involved adds overwhelming depth and heart to what is already a passionate performance that hopefully paves the way for a new jj album in the near future.
7/10
‘jj n° 4′ is out on the 8th of May on Secretly Canadian.
By Mary Chang on Monday, 23rd April 2012 at 1:00 pm
Newcastle trio Mammal Club are releasing a new single next month, called ‘Painting’. I look upon most synth/guitar rock pairings with some suspicion: ever since MGMT hit the big time with ‘Kids’. it seemed like every new fledgling band I saw gig in Washington had a synthesiser in their live arsenal, not necessarily used to maximum effect. Seriously. I’ve gotten to the point where as soon as I see a Nord or Korg onstage for an opening band I think, oh god, not again, really?
Thankfully, Mammal Club does not fall in that category. And furthermore, lead singer/guitarist Wilson Astley’s voice is not one you will forget, with tinges of falsetto in the chorus of ‘Painting’, “of the corridors of our school…”, managing to sound both forlorn and expansive. Take a look at the second verse:
Tie a piece of string around, An empty coat hook. Reel it to the mess you’re in, And tie a tight loop, Around a piece of furniture, Remembering to weave, Via the place you first touched a girl on her breast, Stopping by monuments of gross unhappiness…
When I thought about how I was going to write this review, I thought I better avoid all cute puns around the title of the single. But I can’t help it. What are the words doing in here? They’re ‘Painting’ a vivid picture of childhood, when things were simpler and you had different, lighter priorities. Where is your life now, when you compare it to the past? The synthesised and percussive elements fill in between the verses admirably, leading to a great and grand bridge and the repeated refrain towards a technically complicated climax. Good stuff.
8/10
‘Painting’, the new single from Mammal Club, will be released on the 21st of May on Everybody’s Stalking on extremely limited vinyl (300 copies) and via digital download. The single is accompanied with B-side ‘Toward You with Lust’, which we featured on this previous Video of the Moment. The band will be appearing at the Great Escape and Wakefield’s Long Division Festival this year.
There Goes The Fear is where we tell you about the latest tours, gigs, and music we love and think you should too.
We love music that has its heart on its sleeve, tells a story, swims around our head all day or makes us dance like idiots.
The blog is edited by Mary Chang, who is based in Washington DC. She is joined by writers in the UK and America. It was started up by Phil Singer in Bristol, UK.
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Summer has pretty much had its foot completely in the door where I am, and it seems the perfect time to blast up some low-fi guitar tunes on a beach under the scorching sun. Here, 
It’s not everyday that you create a record that’s instantly accessible to pretty much any music fan, whether you’re a hardcore dance/dub fan, an indie kid, a rocker or anything else. It was impossible to ignore Hot Chip’s ‘Ready for the Floor. But since then, they have struggled to create anything with the level of appeal that monster hit had. ‘Over and Over’ was close, while ‘One Life Stand’ just couldn’t stand up against it on its own.
