Phoenix – J-Boy

As Phoenix grew more popular, their music felt more populated, frantic and frenzied, like a time-lapse video of a busy downtown intersection. You could feel their blood pressure increase on the singles they released over the years—the causal Strokes-y strut of 2006’s “Consolation Prizes” gave way to the clock-ticking synth-pop of 2009’s “1901,” which begat the white-light synapse overload of 2013’s “Entertainment.” Indeed, the entirety of their last albumBankrupt! felt like the band was hitting a breaking point where exhilaration turned to agitation. So it’s nice to hear that, on the first single from the upcoming, Ti Amo, Phoenix have given themselves—and us—a much-deserved chance to exhale.

At first, you could be forgiven for thinking Phoenix had swung too far in the opposite direction—“J-Boy” begins as a sputtering electro dirge that sounds like it’s running out of batteries. But that’s merely the dingy, back-alley entrance to a dazzling, neon-lit discotheque whose doors swing open and whisk you in at the 10-second mark. The radiant synth sheen of the band’s recent records remains, but here it’s slathered onto a steady bass bounce that more readily recalls the soft-focus fantasias of M83 than anything in their own catalog.

Read the rest of this article at Pitchfork

After the promotion of their recent album We only part to meet again, launched last year, the guys of dutch band Mister and Mississippi are back with another powerful jam called “HAL 9000“.

The group formed by Maxime Barlag along Samgar Jacobs, Danny van Tiggele and Tom Broshuis, have delivered a deep new anthem with some influences from indie rock and alternative music.

“HAL 9000” is a first taste of the band’s upcoming full length third studio album, which is expected to be released sometime next year via V2 Records .

Read the rest of this article at Teez

Saib. – Brazil

Gotta love saib. The Morocco-based producer has been working really hard this past year and I’m so happy to see his efforts paying out. We premiered his beautiful exotic beat “Acapulco” earlier this month and the track got quite the traction. One would think he would take a breath of fresh air after releasing his flawless Buena Vista EP, but that wasn’t the case.

Here’s a beautiful Bossa nova-inspired beat titled “Brazil”. If you have followed my featured, you know I’m a sucker for such vibes, so was pretty easy to pick the song. The absolute chills.

Read the rest of this article at Stereofox

‘Love Is A Bitch’ & ‘Had Some Drinks’ are the latest singles from New York City artist Two Feet, which are just as bluesy, bold and troubled as the material on his 2016 ‘First Steps EP’, and are also just the first taste of his upcoming ‘Momentum EP’.

I have a grave affinity for the blues and I find it quite refreshing to listen to it in a contemporary form that feels more natural than forced but still finds its own identity with the help of modern percussive sounds and elusive song-writing. The stripped down sounds throughout the two releases reveal as much as its lyrics do; “I promise myself not to slip back on old habit/Cause’ heartbreak is savvy and love is a bitch” from “Love Is A Bitch”. Guitars weep at a slow, tantalizing pace over electronic percussions; the whole stir feels honest and simple with the entrusted emotion feeling troubled and haunted.

Two Feet’s new singles are an ode to love-desperate love but a ‘cool’ love-that refuses to seize. A relentless inner pursuit of the person in question. You hear it in the guitars that sing a yearning melody in the chorus. You feel it in his quiet, yet very present vocal tones that simultaneously weave a sense of desire and apathy. Two Feet is not hopeful about his feelings in these tracks, nor is it pessimistic, he’s not intent on any resolve, he is simply content in acknowledging his demons and taking us along for the ride.

Read the rest of this article at Acid Stag

Read the rest of this article at The 405