Browsing Tag

euro pop

Paloma Amaya became the ultimate advocate of embolened independence in her world music single, Mejor

The sensually superlative singer-songwriter, Paloma Amaya, blended her dualistic Mexican and Austrian heritage in her latest monocultural mould-smashing single, Mejor.

If rhythm is a dancer, it would want to move to the beat of Amaya’s fiery hit, which blends classic Latin pop with a pinch of reggaeton flavour and other elements of world music to effortlessly transcend genre and geographical boundaries. Just try telling us this isn’t the most vibrant single of the summer.

If you needed any proof that music is a universal language, slip right into the empowering hit, which celebrates freedom away from the toxicity of a relationship better left in the rear-view mirror. Amaya became the ultimate advocate of emboldened independence in Mejor. Stepping into your power never sounded sweeter thanks to the arrestive nature of Amaya’s pitch-perfect harmonies.

Mejor hit the airwaves on June 23; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Maella brings the house down in her sultry alt-pop earworm, Tudu Tudu Tu

Prague-born, London-based Alt-Pop artist and producer, Maella brought a smorgasbord of Eastern European flavour to her latest single, Tudu Tudu Tu, which merges juxtaposing nostalgic sonic textures to allow a new wave of retro to crash across the 90s dance percussion and seductive bass.

It is as cinematic as any Tarantino cult hit, and a poignant exposition on a chapter of her life that closed the book on difficult breakups, unfulfilling romances, and the claustrophobia of lockdowns. If Shiny Toy Guns wrote Seven Nation Army, the earworm wouldn’t be a million miles away from the electrically serpentine rhythms that will leave you dying to come back for more. Empowerment never sounded sweeter.

Tudu Tudu Tu, which is part of the Slow Burn EP, is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Prepare to be torn from passive slumber with Cielo Pordomingo’s orchestral alt-electro feat of world music, Wake Up

Here to tear us from our jaded slumber with her spiritual synthetics is the alt-electro trailblazer, Cielo Pordomingo, with her latest single, Wake Up.

‘Enlivening’ scarcely cuts into the alchemy that the composer, singer, and producer used to reflect her soul in the orchestrally heightened single. It’s Europop meets Depeche Mode via Bond soundtrack with a classical chamber outro; need we say anymore? If we want to do Cielo Pordomingo justice as a lyricist, definitely.

Wake Up is far more than your average cry to people letting their lives pass them by. Pordomingo practically takes you by the hand to guide you through your awakening while addressing the problem of our tendency to waste existence by branding it as just another day. At this point, if she started a cult, I’d jump right into it.

Wake Up is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Pop Noir Chanteuse Annabel Hailey Has Released Her Soulfully Organic Single, Rhythm of Life

Annabel Hailey

Finland-born, Amsterdam-based singer-songwriter, Annabel Hailey, has released her latest jazzy single, Rhythm of Life; you’d be hard-pressed to find a more mesmerising pop-noir chanteuse.

Any fans of Tori Amos, The Anchoress, Fiona Apple and Kate Bush will quickly feel their senses surrender to the rich and exotic 50s flamenco vibes and organic Nordic pop elements in the soundscape that oozes as much class as the Upper East Side. With over 500k Spotify streams under her belt to date, Hailey has exactly what it takes to be the next big name in folk-inclined alt-pop. We can’t wait to watch her ascent to the top of the charts. She is a rare visionary in a world so swathed in monotony.

Rhythm of Life was released on October 1st; check it out for yourselves on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Niels Bacher tells a very 2021 love story through his latest single, Too Sick to Love

Too Sick to Love is the latest single to be released by the alt-pop artist Niels Bacher whose lyrical candour knows very few bounds; in the best possible way. The single starts with muttered lyrics atop of lo-fi trappy beats and faint piano melody; as the momentum picks up, the dissonance starts to slip away until you’re in the midst of a raw whirlwind of emotion that carries reminiscence to The King Blues and Linkin Park.

With lyrics such as “I’ve never been this close to the edge before” “I’m scared I can’t do anything right anymore”, Bacher acted as a confidant to everyone who knows the scars that come through a mental health battle. Especially for anyone who knows how it feels to be romantically ostracised by your own mind.

Too Sick to Love is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Strange Melody put an experimental spin on Eurodance with ‘Don’t Go’

‘Don’t Go’ is the latest single released by Poland-born, Belgium-based DJ and producer Strange Melody. If any Eurodance track is going to make you nostalgic for t.A.T.u., it is this experimentally progressive single.

Don’t Go switches between direct deliverances of spoken word to hyper pop vocals that add to the sense of arresting anticipation as you’re left to wonder what aural curveballs will follow the preceding ones.

It’s a stunning release that stands as a testament to Strange Melody’s refreshingly diverse sound; expect atmospheric breakbeats, ominous symphonic tones and infectious future bass-style choruses that make an earworm of Don’t Go.

Stream Don’t Go via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alen Chicco takes us to ‘Our Lithuania’ with ‘Mūsų Lietuva’

Alen Chicco is already a household name (with a certain degree of notoriety) for being the first drag artist to walk onto the stage in his native Lithuania’s version of the X Factor TV show. Mūsų Lietuva – (‘Our Lithuania’) – is bold, theatrical, full of passion and dynamic, sounding at times more like a modern opera song or a piece from a film score as much as a pop single. Written and performed in his mother tongue (although the accompanying video does come with helpful English subtitles), Chicco’s voice is impressive, blending and mixing with the powerful musical composition tightly, his vocal performance well outstripping the usual ‘singer-songwriter’ and more akin to musical theatre or classical ballad.

The track builds slowly, gently adding strength and power, an ode to ‘home’ and to belonging, Chicco’s voice easily able to cope with the rise and fall of the track, potent and emotive. Sure, it’s easy to draw a ‘Eurovision entry’ comparison in terms of the feel and the language, but ‘Our Lithuania’ is more than that; there’s elements of performers like Callas or Caruso in the way Chicco’s vocal – which feels effortless at the same time as it’s full of strength and emotion – is delivered, maybe even Freddie Mercury’s surprise performance of ‘Tavaszi szél’ in Budapest, and – coupled with the narrative video translating the lyrics – ‘Mūsų Lietuva’ is an epic, honest, and authentic neo-operatic piece that makes a compelling and commanding change from meaningless bubblegum pop; for that, all power to it.

You can watch the (subtitled) lyric video on YouTube; check out Alen Chicco on Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

 

Michael Antony – No Relax: Theatric Funk-Fuelled Euro Pop

London-based orchestrator of unforgettable dance pop hits, Michael Antony, has released their latest single ‘No Relax’, with a euro pop style cooler than Berghain and distinctively theatricals vocals, No Relax is almost enlivening to kickstart a zombie apocalypse. Failing that, the funk-filled feat of entrancing future pop which boasts a few retro tendencies will definitely get dance floors moving when they’re safe to grace once more.

It may not be your average perennial pop earworm, but the melodies in No Relax will bed down intently all the same.

No Relax officially released on February 19th, you can check it out for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ooberfuse show us just how sweet liberation can sound with ‘Set Me Free’

While the UK collectively clawed at the walls in confined frustration, London-based electro-pop duo, Ooberfuse, were gearing up to drop their latest single ‘Set Me Free’. If you’re in the mood for some aurally-inspired liberation, feel your shackles lose their grip to the danceable drop.

With a touch of Tori Amos to Cherrie Anderson’s vocals, beats which will allow you to imagine what it would sound like if you fed a Portishead record ecstasy and a production which drips with electro-pop modernity, if Set Me Free was any more on-trend it would be writing the future. The track perfectly captures the emotions which come to fruition when you finally remove yourself from someone else’s control and it feels like nothing is out of reach. Liberation has never sounded sweeter.

The official music video was released on January 4th, you can check it out for yourselves via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast