Browsing Tag

Alt Electro Pop

Maxell’s Psychedelic Indietronica Debut ‘Hide and Seek’ Taps Into the Ether

Posted on 27 November 2024
https://www.youtube.com/@wearemaxell

Maxell, a London-based trio, might be a fledgling force, but with a synth-driven sound more psychedelically potent than anything you can buy in a back alley in Camden and the wealth of experience they bring from other bands, they’re proving to be unreckonable.

Following an intro which hits with the pulse of She Wants Revenge, their memento-musing debut single, ‘Hide and Seek’ soon twists into a stylistically embellished installation of Avant-Garde indietronica.

The synths distort into kaleidoscopic oscillations as they synergise around the shimmering organ tones and delay-saturated guitars, creating an entrancing backdrop for the ethereally crystalline vocal lines, which paradoxically carry immense weight as they embed the lyrics deep into the listener’s psyche.

If you have a lot of love for Legendary Pink Dots, you may as well hand your heart over to Maxell and their signature ‘hauntology’ sound now.

Stream the official music video for Hide and Seek on YouTube or head over to Bandcamp where you can purchase the single; all proceeds from this single will be donated to the homeless charity, Crisis UK.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alvinos Zavlis delivered sensually dark catharsis with his moody pop meets dark trip-hop mash-up, I Shouldn’t

Posted on 19 February 2024

The Cyprian Bristol-based artist and producer, Alvinos Zavlis, is in his experimental element in his fourth alt-electronica LP, After Sex All Animals Are Sad. With an album title that compels you to sonically explore the contents through eccentrically offbeat name alone, the bar is already set high. But evidently, Zavlis knows exactly how to transcend expectation and temporal boundaries with his dark syntheses of trip-hop, alt-pop, and artfully manifested electronica.

Sitting on the leftfield of Pop, one of the standout singles, I Shouldn’t, featuring Sae, is an ethereally hypnotic extension of the contemporary moody pop trends fused with 90s trip-hop that glitches and oscillates in the same vein of Massive Attack and Portishead.

The alchemic blend carries just as much cultivation and evidence of evocative rhythmic control as the latest releases from Chelsea Wolfe, but the way Zavlis locked into the collaborative chemistry between him and Sae allowed the release to resound beyond compare. The sensually dark catharsis is superlative evidence of how honed his sound has become after he took a hiatus and returned with fresh fervour.

In his own words:

“The main idea of the album is how the chase for perfection in your artistic craft can hinder personal relationships, health, and financial stability.”

For the full Alvinos Zavlis experience, stream After Sex All Animals Are Sad in full by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lana Oniel reached the pinnacle of cerebral electro-pop with her darkly ensnaring sophomore single, hypothalamus

Posted on 14 November 2023

After finding her fire in the City of Angels, Lana Oniel put the devil on her shoulder to release her darkly ensnaring sophomore single, hypothalamus, which reaches the pinnacle of cerebral electro-pop.

The moodily spectral release seductively defies the pop mould with a vocal delivery which finds a way to stylise histrionic eccentricity and a beat that consistently switches, never allowing you to feel complacent in the aesthetic. hypothalamus wasn’t orchestrated to entice you into comfort; Oniel efficaciously used her early years in musical theatre to confront her rapidly growing audience with an earworm which makes no bones about using its claws to sink into your synapses.

If you can imagine meeting Lady Gaga in a dark and nefarious dream soundtracked by Melleefresh and Chelsea Wolfe, you’ll get an idea of what awaits when you delve into this perfect follow-up to Oniel’s debut, Hard Just to Be.

Hypothalamus was officially released on November 2nd. Stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Ecuadorian Pop Priestess NÍNIVE alchemised explosively ethereal ingenuity in ‘Solo En Ti’

Posted on 16 September 2023
https://soundcloud.com/zilla_records/ninive-solo-en-ti/s-NvjBBrEEo4M?si=cfbe8d80b83a4eeba7f40e99755bf7bc&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Following the spiritually beguiling prelude of ethereal vocals and minimalist electronic melodicism, the transition into the high-octane installation of fierce feminine energy with body-slamming beats to boot you into rhythmic arrest is a broadsiding testament to the boundless ingenuity of the one and only NÍNIVE.

For her seminal single, Solo En Ti, NÍNIVE collaborated with the world-renowned music producer Enrique Gonzalez, who has worked with everyone from Metallica to Tina Turner to Nine Inch Nails; together, they sonically solidified the Ecuadorian alternative artist’s claim to the pop throne.

Put her on your radar and watch her ascend even further with her forthcoming album; the ingenuity that the LP will breathe was teased by the explosive alchemy within Solo En Ti. If Mitski swallowed an atom bomb, her avant-garde stylings still wouldn’t come close to this scintillating Tour De Force.

Clearly, her strong musical background has served her well. NÍNIVE began her musical education at a young age at the National Conservatory of Quito and furthered her vocal studies at the College of Music at Universidad San Francisco de Quito (a Berklee Global Partner). She also holds a Masters of Music in Songwriting from Bath Spa University.

Solo En Ti will break ground on the airwaves on September 15; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sample Myla Vie’s dark electro-pop delight, CAUTION

Posted on 7 October 2022

Through the influence of pop icons in the same contemporary vein as Dua Lipa and Lana Del Ray, Myla Vie became one in her own right with the release of her single, CAUTION, which is due for release on October 7th.

The moody alt-electro pop production complemented the up-and-coming artist’s artfully vulnerable vocal timbre as it works through the lyrics that allude to the lack of willingness to open yourself up to more torment following a heartbreak.

She has exactly what it takes to become the next UK alt-pop sensation, and we certainly aren’t the only ones under her spell; her previous releases have been in regular rotation on BBC Essex and Amazing Radio UK/USA.

You can sink into the pure soul of CAUTION by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: Wally Hoak opens up in his dark pop hit, HARD FEELINGS

Posted on 12 November 2021

Dominican Republic-born, Brooklyn-based dark pop prodigy, Wally Hoak, has been garnering plenty of hype since making his debut in 2020. His most popular track to date, Complicated, has racked up over 33k streams since the release, and based on his latest single, HARD FEELINGS, it is unlikely that his career will stop gaining traction any time soon.

In HARD FEELINGS, raw emotion is projected into dark, thorny synth lines as reverb swirls around the 808s under Hoak’s emotionally sultry vocal timbre. Lyrically, it became the ultimate ‘don’t talk to me, I’m angry track’ as it alludes to the alienating emotions that sting at the surface in the wake of toxic relationship dynamics.

Hoak went so far beyond scratching around at surface level with HARD FEELINGS; he cut right to the marrow. Naturally, we can’t wait to hear the next confessional masterpiece.

HARD FEELINGS is now available to stream on Spotify.

Connect with Wally Hoak on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dance-pop goes dark in FHUR’s single, We Just Wanna Have Fun.

Posted on 12 November 2021

London-based artist FHUR’s dark electro-pop hit, We Just Wanna Have Fun, is melancholic enough to serve as the antithesis to the fairly cringe-inducing Girls Just Want to Have Fun. Anyone whose mentality manual setting isn’t banal joy will appreciate the way that the darkwave synth-pop hit makes satisfaction seem like a celestial force in our apathy-imparting world.

Since her debut, FHUR has become an unignorable name in London’s alt-electronica scene, and it is unlikely that her notoriety will end there. Her sultry vocals have haunted venues such as Hoxton Underbelly and Amersham Arms. For any fans of this single, there’s plenty more in the pipeline as FHUR’s debut EP is due for release in early 2022.

We Just Wanna Have Fun is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Valiancy gives us our ‘Good Vibes’ fix in his latest alt-pop sonic sanctum.

Posted on 10 November 2021

With the sweet harmonic Beach Boys-style soul against the Saul Williams-Esque heavy beats, Valiancy’s latest alt-indie pop fix, Good Vibes, delivers what it says on the tin. Not through condescending euphoria peddling tropes, but through exuding nothing but transcendent soul that remains sympathetic to the reasons we need good vibes tracks in the first place.

The songwriter and producer orchestrated a soundscape unique enough to pique your interest and pull you in, yet experimentalism was notably secondary to ensuring that the infusion of harmonic pop vocals and ensnaring alt electro beats became a sure-fire hit of catharsis.

Get your Good Vibes hit by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Glitch Hop Meets Cloud Rap in Trukadi’s Latest Single, Pick and Choose

Posted on 10 September 2021

After his 2019 debut, the Californian alt-pop artist, Trukadi, hasn’t failed to make an impression with his antagonistic lyrics and experimental beats. His latest single, Pick and Choose, is a distortedly electrifying 1:43 minute hit of glitchy cloud rap with hints of Midwest Emo.

The explicit track carries the indie melodicism of a Post Malone single, but Trukadi made sure Pick and Choose hits like no other with instantly magnetic vocals and lo-fi guitars that bring plenty of warmth to the distinct production that marries glitch hop and emo. Love him or hate him, there will be no indifference when it comes to Trukadi’s sound, and there are few greater testaments of talent than that.

Pick and Choose is now available to stream via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Belly has dropped another feat of riotous dance-pop with her sophomore single ‘Taking What I Want’.

Posted on 14 May 2021
https://soundcloud.com/iambelly/taking-what-i-want

After the success of her dance-pop debut, up and coming alternative artist Belly is here with her entrancingly riotous pop hip hop anthem, ‘Taking What I Want’,

With similarities to Neuroticfish’s industrial-electronica production style mixed with nods to the fearless icon, Lauryn Hill, Taking What I Want is an act of filthy unapologetic aural rebellion. Fleeting reminiscences may be there, but everything about Belly feels authentically candid. From her constraint-less sonic style to the galvanising energy she brings vocally to the playfully antagonising vocals.

Even if Taking What I Want was a downtempo track, it would have still left me stoked for finding such a charismatic punk-pop-hip-hop pioneer. Taking What I Want is the antithesis of plastic pop.

You can check out Taking What I Want for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast