Yet another male/female pairing for you here; The Brooklyn duo of Matt and Kim have been around since 2004, were signed to the popular Fader Record Label back in 2010 and have since then developed a rather loyal fanbase. Their sound is delightfully playful, bringing pop music back with a sense of credibility and logic by whipping together intricate electro segments into an alternative mix that is perfectly commercial yet wanders the right distance away from mainstream mediocrity. "Let's Go" is a bashful collective of chanting lyrics, stargazed vocal murmurs and a continuous jaunt of simmering keys which underpin the song in it's full form. Full of juvenile gusto the chorus is punchy, infectious and fun to listen to maintaining a steady tempo throughout.
WILDCAT! WILDCAT! - "THE CHIEF"
Take three bearded young men from Los Angeles, brandish them with enriched falsetto charms, drowsy tribal beats and tropical whimsy, then you have the dynamic and resplendent Wildcat! Wildcat!. Fostering a sound similar and altogether very reminiscent of Metronomy, St Lucia or NZ/CA Lines should appeal to UK listeners who have a tendency to swoon whenever a gentile electro display meets a flotilla of soaring pop characteristics. "The Chief" possesses a sunny vibrancy; charmingly brassy New Orleans-style beats lackadaisically parade along to mellow keys and hazy electro bleats, which gives the song an undulating fluidity and sense of relaxation. The unified vocal backdrop during each chorus generates the perfect balance of human and instrumental elements, offering a song that shimmers, saunters and reveres in it's own intricate musical layering.
FOXES - "WARRIOR"
Neon Gold's latest pedigree offering is the articulate vixen (see what we did there, foxes, vixens...oh forget it) Louisa Rose Allen who was born in Southampton and scuttled off to London when she turned eighteen in order to hone her entrepreneurial music skills and start her own creative journey. Having already set the blogosphere alright with the incredibly forward thinking "Youth", this instalment muzzles towards docile pop intricacies where an adamant drum beat gradually stomps forth and encourages lighter synth musings to jostle and collide all whilst Allen's gilded vocals smoke over heavy lyrics. "Warrior" sounds rather like Niki And The Dove meets Enya where mammoth choral build-ups give way to pagan originality. This is an enchanting track full of bounding sounds that sinuously interact and showcase how contemporary pop can and should be constructed.
ICONA POP - "I LOVE IT"
Somehow we at Owl By Night have only just realised that we forgot to blog about our darling duo from Sweden Icona Pop's amazingly infectious pop ditty "I Love It". Stockholm's finest are having quite a year; tours, appearances, sell-out gigs and greater interest from new-found followers in Europe and further afield. Their latest morsel is a rebellious calamity of thunderous beats, angst driven lyrics and grinding bass scratches that make Icona Pop's latest release instantly loveable and club friendly. Their nineties audio direction characterises the song perfectly as aggressive vocal chants throw away concordant musical landscapes in favour of youth splattered bravado and energy. Caroline and Aino once again package another explosive mix of sounds into something fun and ideal for jumping around and showing the world who is boss.
PINE MARTEN - "I CAN SEE"
The moniker of Pine Marten casts nothing but absolute mystery over the true guise of the person behind the music. All that is seemingly known about this digital sound wizard is that they reside in Derbyshire and laboriously churn out dazzling electro synth-pop with production line consistency. Pine Marten's most recent Soundcloud addition is the sublime "I Can See", which meticulously threads harmonic tinkers over stellar eighties beats and widely recognised arpeggio chords. Painting each musical element with glittery synth constellations evokes nothing but sheer decadence and musical charm, something rarely ever woven into contemporary electro-pop. Having such smooth rhythmic patterns enables the chorus to become a crescendo of vocal glamour and seamless production cuts. Spatially efficient, mesmeric and understated, "I Can See" exemplifies how slow-tempo synth-pop should sound in the modern era.
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