minus32heartbeat wears his heart on his sleeve with his debut albumDHRICMV. The album was released on September 6th, via Big Leather Jacket Music.
Produced, written and recorded by Matt Friedlander (minus32heartbeat), the album has eight magical tracks that capture the bustling chaos of New York (where he lives), while offering a magnificent exploration of love and life. With a fresh blend of indie rock, electronic music and alt-pop, this album is a valiant and genuine reflection of minus32heartbeat’s artistic vision. Before going solo, he was a member of the band The GoSation, which garnered attention from notable outlets like NME and Spin in the mid-2000s.
Creating DHRICMV was profoundly personal for Matt, as he drew inspiration from his own lived experiences with love and the complexities of relationships. The journey began in 2023 during a challenging financial period. However, he was fuelled by the passion to create music, and took the leap to invest in equipment and follow his artistic instincts. Inspired by legends like The Velvet Underground and Oasis, he has crafted a distinctive soundscape marked by poignant songwriting and sublime compositions.
French singer-songwriter Caloé has returned with a brand new enigmatic album Le Voyageur released on 13 September 2024. Le Voyageur follows her stand out debut album Saisonswhich was released in 2020.
Caloé crafts music that’s a stunning blend of jazz, classical and folk, swaddled by her serene vocals. This album showcases her growth and evolution as an artist, as she continues to challenge norms and take risks with her career. Her background in classical music as well as jazz has shaped her trademark sound, which is reflected in her music resonating with listeners all over the globe.
In Le Voyageur she sings in French, English and Spanish, while her incredibly talented trio Clément Simon (piano), Arthur Henn (double bass) and Philippe Maniez (drums), create a dynamic and exciting experience from beginning to end. Each song tells an enticing story of her imaginative world, which includes her imaginary protagonist ‘The Traveler’.
Caloé reveals, “I envisioned a character moving through a world that is at times welcoming and at others tumultuous, experiencing solitudes and loves that inspired the music’s creation.”
I’MMORTAL, an avant-pop artist straddling New York and London, unveiled a mesmerising music video for her third single, ‘KILLED U IN A DREAM’, on 7 June under her label, Immortality. Initially from California, I’MMORTAL honed her musical talents in orchestras and high school productions. Praised by Metal Magazine, this release comes after her debut tech-house track, ‘Versace Spaceship’, and the electropop hit ‘Supervillain’, which received accolades from CLASH Magazine and Earmilk. Despite being a newcomer, her first two singles have amassed 50,000 streams, with an ever-increasing audience and playlist features. I’MMORTAL‘s EDM-driven sound is enhanced by her audio-visual synesthesia, blending imaginative beats with vibrant visuals that delve into themes of mortality, rebirth, and her AAPI heritage.
The music video for ‘KILLED U IN A DREAM’ unfolds as a mesmerising fever dream, where I’MMORTAL embodies a dark, almost divine presence. Directed by the acclaimed PXKRW, known for their expertise in creating hypnotic, hyper-realistic dreamscapes and alternate realities, the video is a hauntingly surreal experience. It immerses viewers in a mystical realm where themes of destruction, death, and renewal are vividly explored. The visuals, bathed in dim light and punctuated by fleeting flashes, evoke a disorienting yet compelling atmosphere. I’MMORTAL captivates with her entrancing movements and evocative gestures, drawing audiences deeper into her enigmatic and fantastical world. The video masterfully blends dark aesthetics with immersive storytelling, showcasing I’MMORTAL‘s distinctive artistic vision and leaving a profound impact on viewers.
I’MMORTAL shared: “This music video is a reflection of the concept metamorphosis. I had the wonderful chance to collaborate with the directing duo PXKRW over the span of a couple months. Since the song is about rebirth, PXKRW fleshed out the concept to encapsulate this supernatural being undergoing a very raw transformation. PXKRW wanted to create a performance-based video with stunning styling and makeup to compliment their signature VFX. The styling and makeup was very intentional to the metamorphosis theme, as we wanted there to be a stark difference between the initial white dress look and the final black dress look. My personal favorite was the second neo-baby bump look, which combined with PXKRW’s VFX genius ultimately became a representation of the chrysalis stage of metamorphosis. This was also the first time I did a movement-based project, and I spent a lot of time working with the movement director (Donna Kim) to put intention behind the movement. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone in a good way, and I feel inspired to learn more about movement for future projects!”
Maribou State — the duo formed of Chris Davids and Liam Ivory — mark their highly anticipated return with brand new single “Blackoak”, their first new music in over three years, released today on Ninja Tune.
“Blackoak” is a classic slice of signature Maribou State sound, blending intricate electronics with organic live instrumentation and vocals, built around the kind of enticing hooks that have earned them such a huge and dedicated fan base over the years. It acts not just as a reintroduction of Maribou State to the world but as a marker for where they are at both sonically and creatively, a statement of intent on what is surely to follow.
“Over the past few years we’d both begun to struggle with our sense of selves and how connected we felt to our roots in Britain,” they explain. “The world being in a state of flux seemed to amplify this feeling of disillusion but it led us to explore all the things we loved about where we’re from; the musicians, from artists like David Bowie and The Beatles, through to The Prodigy and Chemical Brothers, and also the likes of Burial, Aphex Twin and Sault; all the electronic genres born here, from Jungle to UK Garage and IDM; and Festivals, namely Glastonbury, the countryside & English summers.”
The release comes after an intense period of song-writing that saw them embark on several makeshift writing retreats, building their own DIY studios at various secluded locations throughout the UK, and inviting a cast of friends and collaborators along to help. “Blackoak” ended up being written almost entirely in one day during one of the early writing sessions, and was completed on a later trip with the help of their own amateur choir.
“We invited all our friends down and got them to sing the main hook, “do that for you”, in the stairwell of the house. The whole thing was fairly chaotic and turned into more of a party than anything productive whilst they were there, but all that energy ended up feeding back into the song and the vocals we recorded really made the ending come to life.”
The Blackoak in question actually refers to the area where the bulk of the track was written over the winter of 2021, surrounded by snow covered woodland — something which is close to the Hertfordshire-born pair’s hearts. As part of the physical release, the band have made a donation to the Woodland Trust, equivalent to £1 of every vinyl sold. “Having both been fortunate enough to grow up in an area surrounded by woodland, we’ve always had a strong connection and affinity with forests and now more than ever we fully support the Woodland Trust in their efforts of restoration and protection for these magnificent and vital areas”
