Fenix & SM1LO drop collaborative Single

Electronic dance music, more colloquially known as EDM, is an acquired taste. For the genre’s most elite players, taking the right blend of emotionality and physicality into the studio comes as second nature, and in Where We Begin, the new record from the buzzworthy Fenix & SM1LO, listeners are offered the rare chance to see this effortless expression of talent in action. Where We Begin introduces us to what profoundly gifted musicianship looks like in an electronic setting, and over the course of its fourteen mixes of the same song, a new generation of EDM fans can perhaps better understand the intricacies that come with making a genre of music as rooted in experimentalism, Dada, existential thinking and animalistic emotion as this one undeniably is.

Fenix & SM1LO, who are joined by Llexa in eight of these fourteen tracks, employs classical Europop aesthetics in the design of the choruses we hear in the house and club mixes, but the standard version of “Where We Begin” feels more American to me (undoubtedly due to SM1LO’s influence here). The tonality of the synths isn’t quite there, but their bonding with the beat is seductive in all the right ways. Longtime fans will be able to spot which parts are Fenix’s work and which are those of SM1LO, but regardless of who is responsible for what in Where We Begin, the chemistry is as cool as it gets for modern collaborative efforts.

BEATPORT: https://www.beatport.com/track/where-we-begin-feat-llexa-original-mix/12046088

There’s no showboating, but instead a lot of drawing the most provocative elements out of each other’s instinctive abilities, resulting in stimulating content everywhere we look in this record.

Llexa almost sounds too soft in her approach to the lyrics in the “Club Remix” of “Where We Begin,” which is a lot different from her dynamic attack in the Kali and SM1LO remixes, which wrap-up the tracklist with some sensational pop grooving. I can only imagine how difficult these sessions must have been – deciding where to put this bassline, how to adjust that synth’s melody to be a little more assaultive – but I definitely think that Fenix & SM1LO did a good job of making every one of these tracks sound really unique and originally styled. They were smart to pick a strong vocalist in Llexa, who I had never heard before this record (but intend to hear more of in the future just the same).

Where We Begin could be a one night only-style event for EDM fans just as easily as it could be the start of a beautiful relationship between these individual artists, each of whom earn a lot of additional street cred and points with indie critics through their work on this LP. Personally, I hope that it’s only the first of many hit collaborations that we’re going to see between Llexa, Fenix, SM1LO and Kali, whose remix of “Where We Begin” concludes the album better than anything else could have, because there really isn’t anyone making the kind of thunderous beat magic that they are in Europe, the United States or anywhere else at the moment. At its most simple and straightforward, this is an outstanding record that goes against the grain in a time of unparalleled, unilateral conformity.

Joshua Beach

Integriti Reeves’ brooding new single “Eu Vim Da Bahia”

URL: https://www.integritireevesmusic.com/

Harmonies soar as high as the emotional thrust of the percussive beats do in Integriti Reeves’ brooding new single “Eu Vim Da Bahia,” which is out now and stirring up a lot of attention in the Latin jazz underground this summer, to say the least. The eroticized rhythm of the drums is only one of the many evocative elements to behold in this three minute exercise in sonic sophistication, and while it’s not the only superb jazz song to see release in 2019, there’s no debating that it is definitely among the most sublime in texture and tonality.

Reeves’ vocal has an interesting relationship with the strings in this track, and I think that it adds to the mood of the lyrics significantly. Her voice is sewn into the fabric of the instrumental melody quite seamlessly, but there’s enough definition in the mix for us to be able to differentiate where one strand of vibrato ends and the other begins. They duel for our hearts as we drift deeper and deeper into the guts of the song, but by the time we reach the finish line, their agile interplay yields an almost singular force of emotionality that transcends the limitations of most studio-recorded material altogether.

The master mix is squeaky clean, to such an extent where it sparkles more than the typical indie jazz track would, but it isn’t overproduced or processed in tone. From the strings to the muted bassline and the percussion that shadows its swaggering movements, every component gets the VIP treatment in the grander scheme of things, yet nothing ever comes close to equaling the presence of Reeves’ singing, which doesn’t need a lot of extra help from the EQ in sounding anthemic, and at times, larger than life itself.

There’s a lot of different layers to “Eu Vim Da Bahia,” and though the stylization is versatile and even a bit experimental, I don’t think that I would categorize this single as being so far away from the mainstream model that it wouldn’t appeal to casual fans as well as serious audiophiles. It will probably take a full-length album to garner the attention of non-jazz fiends, but among the right circles, the Stairway to the Stars EP has the potential to be one of the hottest records of the summer season. Its leadoff single has already brought the buzz to her camp, and I have a feeling that I’m not the only critic raving over its edgy cosmetics and outside the box construction.

I wasn’t aware of Integriti Reeves before, but I’m very interested in what she’s produced in “Eu Vim Da Bahia.” It’s not a powerhouse stadium-rocker, but it’s got a chill factor that I don’t recall encountering in any other Latin jazz material that I’ve heard this month. This is a song that was designed around its signature voice, and something tells me that this won’t be the only time that this voice makes headlines with its white-hot harmonies and endlessly endearing lyricism. Summer is upon us, and I can’t think of a much better addition to its fabled soundtrack than “Eu Vim Da Bahia.”

I-TUNES: https://music.apple.com/us/album/stairway-to-the-stars-ep/844820526

Joshua Beach

Dane Maxwell - “Where I’m Seen”

In Dane Maxwell’s “Where I’m Seen,” the up and coming pop singer/songwriter addresses the ills of abuse and bullying with a soft-spoken poetic drawl, but the lyrical content his smooth vocal emits is beyond cutting in tone. Maxwell comes in with a fragile style of attack that slowly grows more aggressive as he makes his way through the verses, and though he doesn’t show the slightest hint of reticence in his execution, there’s a shy sensibility to his serenade that adds to the narrative of the song substantially. “Where I’m Seen” is a beautiful ballad with a powerful message, and it’s giving critics more than one reason to take notice of its composer this season.

The string parts are remarkably organic, which hasn’t been the case with the majority of the pop singles that I’ve reviewed in the last year. They’re woven into the percussive throttling seamlessly, and leave a reverberating trail of melodies in their wake. Nothing ever steals our attention away from Maxwell’s handiwork with the microphone, but there’s plenty of texture in the instrumentation here to keep serious audiophiles more than satisfied with the sublimely textured harmonies that ebb and flow in the background.

This bassline is a little quieter in the mix than the other components in the track are, but it’s an evocative role player nonetheless. It’s not super-physical, nor is it saturated in overdrive, but despite its relatively muted disposition, it sustains the swing of the drumming really well, and furthermore, creates a fine cushioning for Maxwell’s dexterous lyrical lashings. So many of his contemporaries are adopting more atmospheric tones in their bass parts, but “Where I’m Seen” does just the opposite; it retains an acerbic, focused rhythm, and ends up sounding a lot more sophisticated than its counterparts in the mainstream as a result.

URL: https://danemaxwell.com/

Lyrically, Dane Maxwell dives into the subject at hand with a furious passion that has been, thus far, unrivaled amongst his underground peers in 2019. “Where I’m Seen” contains none of the pointless platitudes, unoriginal metaphors and endlessly enigmatic verses that have often plagued tracks geared towards this particular theme; in their place, there is only Maxwell’s heartfelt poetry and a constant urgency in his voice that reminds us of the severity of what he’s describing so vividly to us. In this respect, it might be a tough song for some to swallow, but it’s an important release that should be heard just the same.

For survivors and their supporters alike, Dane Maxwell’s “Where I’m Seen” is a must-listen empowerment track that couldn’t have arrived at a better time. In the last six months alone, there have been countless singles to top the charts on the strength of a catchy hook alone, but few have embodied the unfiltered emotion and motivational prose that this song does, and though its singer is an unknown at the moment, its release could go a long way towards changing that. Hopefully this won’t be the only bit of change that it inspires, as the world sure could certainly use a touch more love these days.

Joshua Beach

The music of DANE MAXWELL has been heard all over the world due to the promotional services offered by Danie Cortese Entertainment & Publicity. Learn more here - http://www.daniecorteseent.com/

The Respectables release The Power of Rock ‘N’ Roll (LP)

OFFICIAL VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCcty_OEC0k

The Respectables really weren’t doing themselves any favors in their last record Sibley Gardens, but in The Power of Rock ‘N’ Roll, their latest full-length album, they wisely play to the handful of strengths that have gotten them this far in the industry with moderately positive results. While there’s a bit of excess where I was least expecting to find it here – the acoustic wailer “Limousine,” the haggard hybrid “Mardi Gras” and Steppenwolf-style “Give Some” – there are also moments of genuine originality, such as in the pop-rocking “That Girl” and jittery “The Shotgun Seat.” The Power of Rock ‘N’ Roll doesn’t live up to its name by any stretch of imagination, but it’s got enough zeal to qualify it as an accessible offering from a band that seems to be headed (mostly) in the right direction.

Though slightly overproduced, “Oasis,” “As Good as Love Gets” and the countrified “18 Wheeler” (which sports a really sweet swing in its rhythm) are a lot more streamlined and concise than anything we’ve heard from The Respectables before. “Wheel in My Hand” drags on longer than it needs to because of its cringe-worthy abuse of a blues riff, but disappointing tracks like this one are balanced out by more acerbic material like “Highway 20.” The title track has got the bones of a classic rock song, and even though I would have made the drums a little less prominent in the master mix, the hook that serves as the song’s bread and butter gives it a texture that I really wish I could have heard more of across the tracklist.

It’s not an album that would recommend to anyone other than diehard supporters of the band, but The Power of Rock ‘N’ Roll is nevertheless a big upgrade for The Respectables’ nonsensical Sibley Gardens, which contained only shades of the focused style of attack that this record’s most sterling songs employ liberally. The gap in time between the two LPs gave the group some time to hone their craft a little more and get into a more relevant mode as songwriters, and possibly in this second phase of their career, they’ll at last find the perfect counterbalance between alternative rock and traditional pop that has evaded them so torturously for the last thirteen years.

PURCHASE LINK: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Rock-N-Roll/dp/B07HHDKQGT

Joshua Beach

Victor PEDRO releases “Call Me, I Miss Ya!”

Like sparkling city lights, sparse synthesized notes flicker and dance in surreal slow-motion in the intro to “Call Me, I Miss Ya!,” Victor PEDRO’s brand new single. Somewhere in the background, a vocal harmony is growing out of the silence and cutting into our hearts from afar. The melody is warm, but the tone of the instruments is cold, removed from this world and unlike the vivacious vocal that will come soaring into the sky only moments away from now. Victor PEDRO is engaging all of our senses in “Call Me, I Miss Ya!,” and if you thought that he couldn’t top some of his previously released material, you’d better brace yourself for the most dynamically stylish single released thus far in his career.

PEDRO repeats himself more than once in the lyrics to this song, but it isn’t because he’s aimlessly looking for words to fill up the space in the track; in fact, quite the contrary indeed. To emphasize his point, he will reiterate a statement once, twice, even three times if he deems it necessary, and rather than elaborating on his point by getting descriptive in his adjacent verses, he keeps his commentary as sharp and uncompromising as he can. PEDRO doesn’t want to bore us with a lot of patronizing placations or, for that matter, a stale beat that’s been reheated after a decade in the freezer (see the new Logic collaboration for such trite dribble). Instead, this Nigerian singer and songwriter is pushing his sound into the experimental, and coming up with some wildly imaginative results.

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/album/0EUA3W7l0xiCBMw7aBnntj

The theme of the song comes full circle in the chorus, which marries the question with the self-explaining answer through little more than a simplistic prose and a poetic disposition that makes the track so much more relatable than the plastically-stylized pop fodder of PEDRO’s contemporaries to the west of his home country. Lyrics are supposed to be the centerpiece of hip-hop, and PEDRO never tries to skew them with a lot of uselessly indulgent instrumentation here. He might not be the most famous rapper in the world, or even in Africa, but he’s got one thing that countless others who came before him never did – self-awareness. His music isn’t plagued with the same problems that we hear in mainstream rap, because both he and his aesthetic are lacking in egotism on (basically) every front.

“Call Me, I Miss Ya!” wraps up in a gentle thrust that leaves anyone with a taste for hard-hitting R&B and affectionate hip-hop ready to take on the night and whatever heartbreak it might have in store for us, and in terms of promoting its star composer and performer, it does more for Victor PEDRO’s moniker than any of his other work ever has. PEDRO has a very special talent that he’s putting to good use in this song, and if we’re lucky, it won’t be the last time that he puts all of himself into a wicked experimentation. I’ll be following his progress in either case, and I would tell anyone who loves real, urbane rap to do the same.

Joshua Beach

Makes My Blood Dance release LP

URL: http://makesmyblooddance.com/

Makes My Blood Dance are living up their promising handle and executing one of the sickest, slickest and most stylish metal tracks that you’re going to hear this quarter in their official debut single “Beaming Right Up.” Using a sonic vortex that originates from a sizzling bassline, “Beaming Right Up” sees its creators using every weapon in their war chest to overwhelm us with their staggering musicality, unrelenting rhythm and symphonically synchronized swagger. 

The drums are fiery and fierce, blanketing us in a discomforting rigidity that is only broken up by the feverish riffs adorning every verse. Lyrically, Makes My Blood Dance pull out all the stops to deliver unto us something that doesn’t draw too heavily from the well of their predecessors but nevertheless flanks its modern construction with a vintage familiarity tethering it to the metal gods of yore. “Beaming Right Up” is only their first single, but it boasts so many impressive facets that it would be hard for anyone to make the argument that these guys aren’t going to win over some hearts in this interesting period in rock n’ roll history. The production quality here is top of the line from every angle, highlighting all of the unconventional nuances in their depth of songcraft without focusing too much on one aspect of the band’s sound over another. There’s a lot to Makes My Blood Dance; their beats have a very club-oriented feel to them, the mix is varnished in an equalization that is more common in pop music, and their method of attack (when it comes to structuring a melodic vocal inside of a hurricane of vicious harmonies) is unlike anything that I’ve heard in the glam revival movement that has been concentrated around the Northeastern United States. Their hooks remind me a little of Diamond Nights, but their violent churn is straight out of the Queensrÿche playbook. 

The progressive undertones here are something that could definitely be exploited in an album setting, but I think that it’s still too early to tell what Makes My Blood Dance are going to do with this template as the future unfolds. They’ve certainly got no shortage of options with a versatile sound like this, and that alone makes their brand a more than worthy follow for heavy metal disciples everywhere. If this is but a sampling of what we can expect out of Makes My Blood Dance in future recordings, then it’s safe to say that you can sign me up for more. 

There’s a moodiness in “Beaming Right Up” that just isn’t there in the bulk of material that I’ve heard out of their closest rivals in 2019, and to call it a fascinatingly experimental way to start off their career just wouldn’t be doing this work justice. I’m excited to see what my peers in journalism think about this band, but for my money, there simply isn’t another group making the magic in the studio that Makes My Blood Dance are, and that’s no small statement to make when considering how inspired the scene that spawned them has been lately. 

YOU TUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz1gu9oJ3

Joshua Beach

Francine Honey To Be Continued (LP)

Francine Honey’s To Be Continued… will likely be considered a breakthrough moment in the Ontario singer/songwriter’s career. Her previous two albums are fine enough, even exceptional, but this third collection goes even further towards establishing Honey as a songwriter possessing an uniquely personal vision. “Snowflakes on My Eyelashes” serves as an excellent introduction to how she’s elevated her game; the lean poetics of the lyrical material is unquestionable. The song’s lead musical instrument is guitar, but it never takes a spotlit role – Honey, instead, opts to use the instrument in an ornamental way and the color it brings fills in the spaces left by the song’s percussion. Few songs are as patient as this; it never gets in any hurry and evolves at a luxurious pace, but it pays off in an impressive way.

URL: https://francinehoney.com/

“To Be Continued”, the album’s title song, might remind some of the first track in the way it develops. The same patient approach to arranging is presented, but the spartan array of instruments on this cut is centered on the melodic piano runs Honey drops into the song along the way. It’s a fascinating song in a lot of ways, but one that leapt out to me is how much detail is laden into a comparatively short tune without ever seeming too much. “Honey” is very different fare. Honey’s focus turns towards a more blues-oriented sound with this song, though there are strong country influences working here as well, and the slide guitar near the song’s end highlights the former’s contributions. Honey’s having a great deal of fun with this one and it’s an infectious experience for listeners.

The video released along with the single “Shacked-Up Sweetie” makes for an entertaining one two punch sure to garner To Be Continued… some much deserved attention. Her video for the song reminds me of the prime years for music videos; it plays up the song’s comedic potential without ever reducing the song to a novelty number, obviously benefits from being helmed by top notch video professionals, and presents Honey in the best possible light. The song, on its own, is fine as well – a familiarly rough and tumble country/blues rock number that doesn’t aim for the lowest common denominator but makes great hay from pouring old wine into new bottles. It’s obvious why Honey selected this song for such an important spot.

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/francinehoneysongs/

There’s a virtual duet fueling the track “Space” – Honey’s voice and the accompanying violin pair for a deeply moving exchange culminating with a chorus you won’t soon forget. Coming where it does, after “Shacked-Up Sweetie”, the song might be a sleeper gem on this release, but it easily ranks with the album’s best songs. “Open Road” is another more overtly commercial track, retro sounding all the same, but the personal touch it derives from the lyrics helps make it stand apart from songs cast in a similar mold. Acoustic guitar forms a lot of the bedrock sustaining “I Wish”, but the country sound of the song is inescapable and the piano lines running through the track provide a lightly played melodic lift.

Francine Honey’s To Be Continued… is an appropriate title. The latest chapter in Honey’s musical development has her reaching heights previously unavailable and signals she’s in this for the long haul; there isn’t a single hole marring this release, no filler at all, and the apparent care she took making sure each song strikes the right chord for listeners results in one of the most unified efforts in recent memory.

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2CdnJgAGtOZFxJWg1q6npz

Joshua Beach