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The Partae

Music News

NEIL JAM3S and Jaxxee ‘How It Goes’ Premiere

by the partae
written by the partae

Today marks the debut of “How It Goes,” the latest funky single from Jaxxee, celebrated for her sultry, soulful vocals. Teaming up with acclaimed producer Neil James Cooke-Dallin, this collaboration promises an electrifying fusion of indie dance and dirty disco, igniting a sonic journey for listeners worldwide.

Neil’s illustrious career, spanning over three decades from the analog tape era to the digital age, has earned him accolades such as the Western Canadian Music Awards’ Instrumental Artist of the Year for his work on Astrocolor’s “Paradise.” His versatility shines through collaborations with Grammy winners like Steve Christensen and Grammy-nominated Count, showcasing his prowess as both artist and producer.

Jaxxee’s mesmerizing voice has captivated audiences locally and beyond, earning her acclaim for her genre-blending prowess. Since her debut single “GONE,” a poignant exploration of healing, she has graced esteemed platforms like CBC’s Marvin’s Room and Sirius XM’s Canada Talks – That Eric Alper Show, solidifying her status as one of the top emerging artists of 2023.

Together, as NEIL JAM3S and Jaxxee, they deliver a seductive sonic experience with “How It Goes,” just the beginning of what promises to be a prolific collaboration from this dynamic duo. As the owner of Burning Rainbow, Victoria’s premier recording studio, Neil hints at more exciting projects to come from this talented writing team.

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J3M 'GYST' Premiere
Music News

J3M ‘GYST’ Premiere

by the partae
written by the partae

J3M has just dropped his latest single, “GYST,” a fusion of pop, disco, soul, and R&B that promises to linger in your mind long after the music stops. With a knack for painting vivid pictures, spinning compelling narratives, and crafting unforgettable melodies, he’s poised to captivate audiences everywhere.

His journey began with the debut of “AFRONAUT,” his first EP, on CBC Q in 2022, propelling him into the spotlight as a top contender in the CBC Searchlight Contest in 2023. This award-winning singer, songwriter, and pianist has lent his talents to support renowned artists like Tanika Charles, TiKA, Zaki Ibrahim, Amaal, The OBGMs, James Baley, and more, both locally and globally.

From sharing stages with icons such as Kehlani, Weezer, Brandy, July Talk, and the Arkells to gracing festivals like POP Montreal, Toronto Pride, Afropunk Paris, Osheaga, and SXSW, J3M has left his mark on audiences far and wide. Though rooted in Toronto and hailing from Ottawa with Guyanese heritage, J3M’s musical journey knows no bounds. With a lifetime of playing and singing under his belt, he’s primed to make his mark, whether through his razor-sharp songwriting, masterful production, and arranging skills, or his electrifying live performances. As a queer artist with a fire in his heart, J3M is set to conquer the world, one stage at a time.

SOCIALS
www.j3msings.com

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Music News

FiNE and Lizwi’s ‘Nomathemba’ arrives on Sippy Time / #Afrohouse

by the partae
written by the partae

Following the success of  “Kidonda” with Idd Aziz and Enoo Napa on their new record label, Sippy Time, FiNE unveils an Afro House anthem “Nomathemba” with Lizwi from South Africa. “Nomathemba” has been FiNE’s most requested ID over the last 2 years due to its extraordinary energy that has captivated audiences worldwide.

With early support from Caiiro, Enoo Napa, Pippi Ciez and others, “Nomathemba” immediately takes you back to the early days of Afro House. Demonstrating spectacular power from the low end, authentic Afro House groove, and Lizwi’s breathtaking vocals, you are left with chills as traditional ululation transports you to a world where nothing but the music seems to exist. In signature FiNE style, lush synth work is combined with elegant piano playing to create an incredibly timeless, and emotive work of art.

Buy/Stream: https://lnk.to/nomathemba
https://soundcloud.com/sweetmusicofc/premiere-fine-x-lizwi-nomathemba-extended-mix

SOCIALS

FiNE: https://www.instagram.com/followthefine

 

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Australian singer songwriter Emily Barker returns home and turns her lyrical gaze inwards on filmic new album
Festival NewsMusic News

Australian singer songwriter Emily Barker returns home and turns her lyrical gaze inwards on filmic new album

by the partae
written by the partae

‘Fragile as Humans’

“Fragile as humans and made of who we love…”

LISTEN TO

FRAGILE AS HUMANS ALBUM

“Barker’s writing has never been so pin sharp”  —MOJO ★★★★

The first song Emily Barker recorded for her latest record, Fragile as Humans, was its title track. To capture the “hyper-real recording” he desired, producer Luke Potashnick surrounded Barker with microphones at The Wool Hall, an impressive sixteenth century stone building converted into a studio by Tears For Fears in the early ’80s. She accompanied herself on Potashnick’s 1938 Gibson L37 archtop guitar. They recorded six takes, but the first was the best.

Written and recorded as her time living in the UK was coming to a close, Fragile as Humans sees Barker turn her lyrical gaze inwards. The expansive themes of her previous album, A Dark Murmuration of Words (released 2020), are replaced by an empathetic concern for matters more personal, familial, closer to home.

Feathered Thing was written while she navigated cumulative grief following a miscarriage. “It’s basically about grieving an idea or imagined future,” she clarifies of the song, the central image inspired by Emily Dickinson’s poem ‘“Hope” is the thing with feathers’. Commencing gently, with oscillating piano and distant drums, the arrangement gradually transforms into an instrumental dervish of vibrant strings and cymbal crashes. Throughout, Barker’s vocals float and hover like a slipstreaming feather.

“I had this idea of putting Emily out front, diving further into what her voice could do and exploring much quieter parts of her voice,” Potashnick explains. “Every single line had to be faultless, otherwise the illusion and the contract between her and the listener would collapse.”

Barker’s introduction to Potashnick had come via their mutual friend, producer and engineer Dom Monks (Big Thief, Nick Cave, Laura Marling). Barker shared some demos she’d been working on and fondly recalls, “Luke noted my harmonic choices and lyrics – two aspects I’d worked particularly hard at – and asked what sort of album I’d like to make.”

Potashnick set about placing each song under the microscope, line by line. “I’d never spent so long working on the songs with a producer before and really trusted Luke with his background in songwriting,” Barker reflects. “The songs were made stronger through him pushing me to dig deeper, to tweak a part, to substantiate a choice.”

Barker worked on editing the songs while touring the States with Mary Chapin Carpenter, performing and refining them on the road. On her return she was ready to begin recording.

The album’s calling card, the filmic single Wild to be Sharing This Moment, introduced the production ideas: “We wanted to push the dynamics, so it could be intimate in parts and cinematic in others,” Barker reveals, “whilst also exercising restraint; creating tension.”

Ahead of the Fragile as Humans songwriting sessions, Barker wrote the word ‘EXPERIMENT!’ on a postcard and pinned it to a cork board in her writing room alongside family photos, postcards of Aretha Franklin and Red-tailed black cockatoos, and “a strip of paper from my niece wishing me a happy day”. This word, in all caps, served as a reminder for Barker to challenge herself creatively and actively pursue the unknown: “I wanted to favour the odd and less obvious lyric, chord progression, melody.”

The closing track, Acisoma, began as an imagined question to Sir David Attenborough about life and death, but soon metamorphosed into something completely different. “I sat at the piano and moved my fingers around trying not to think about it too much,” she recounts. “Some chords fell into a loose order, I set my voice free to roam and hit record on my iPhone. Listening back to my sketch, it didn’t sound like anything I’d written before – my word [EXPERIMENT!] had infiltrated my process.”

When it came to recording Acisoma, Potashnick revealed—just before hitting RECORD—that the microphone he’d set up was the one Dom Monks had used on Nick Cave’s vocals at Alexandra Palace. “I loved the sound of Idiot Prayer – using that very same mic lent me an appropriate mood for capturing the song.”

Potashnick’s vision is present throughout the album: the meditative, introverted Loneliness was a song Barker had envisioned with full-band production, but Potashnicks’s instinct was to keep it minimal: a felted piano, a dulcimer and a trio of strings to add haunting textures. Barker acknowledges, “Luke got it right…it’s lonelier this way.”

Half of the album’s tracks are solo, Barker accompanying herself either on guitar or piano. These songs were recorded first and then she was joined by the session players – Tim Harries (electric and double bass/piano/string arrangements), Tom Visser (drums) and Richard Causon (keys) – at The Wool Hall, tracking the remaining songs in a matter of days.

Album opener With Small We Start showcases the band, the song’s warm acoustic aesthetic drawing the listener into Barker’s discourse on the benefits of concentrating on the simple things in life.

Call it a Day chronicles Emily’s positive experiences – friendships, music connections – from two-plus decades spent living in the UK.

“Making this record was a beautiful way to wrap up my 21 years of living in the UK before heading home to WA,” she points out.

As a teenager, Barker left Western Australia, with an acoustic guitar and a backpack, first arriving in England in the summer of 2000. She has previously written entire albums about longing for home, but Fragile as Humans was inspired and written in both hemispheres: during a writing residency in Stroud, while people-watching at London’s Kings Cross station and upon returning to WA following the state’s strict, pandemic-related border closures.

The ten songs on Fragile as Humans take us on a deep dive into the human condition, an unflinching self-examination of grief, pain, loneliness and loss, at the same time sparkling with hope, optimism and connection.

“If I could choose one word for people to hold in their minds as they listen to this album,” Emily muses, “that word would be: compassion.”  

 

Fragile as Humans is scheduled for release on 3 May through Everyone Sang / Kartel Music Group.

EMILY BARKER LIVE SHOWS

Sat 15th  June 4:30pm Junction Records, Fremantle

Sat 15th June 7pm Vinyl Cafe, Leederville

Sat 29th  June – Bridgetown-Pottery Restaurant

Sun 30th  June – The Marritree presents @ Live in the Chapel, Witchcliffe

Sun 7th  July – Lyric’s Underground, Maylands (Perth)

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AIRBEAT ONE Festival 2024 drops the complete explosive lineup for this year’s incredible electronic music festival extravaganza
Festival NewsMusic News

AIRBEAT ONE Festival 2024 drops the complete explosive lineup for this year’s incredible electronic music festival extravaganza

by the partae
written by the partae

60,000 tickets for this year’s “France Edition” have already been snapped up by eager AIRBEAT ONE fans, and now organizers are excited to release the full lineup for this year’s festival.

An incredible 228 artists are on the festival lineup including DJ MAG TOP 100 headline acts such as Afrojack, Alok, Angerfist, Techno Queen Charlotte de Witte, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Oliver Heldens, R3HAB, Tiesto, Timmy Trumpet, Vini Vici and W&W among hundreds of other DJ superstars.

This year’s exciting theme is “Vive La France”, and from 10th to 14th July 2024, AIRBEAT ONE will be transporting the aura of France to the Neustadt-Glewe airfield. The electronic music world will join together to celebrate the 21st edition of one of Europe’s largest and most eagerly anticipated festivals. With more than 70,000 music fans per day, and over 225,000 fans across the five-day event, the festival city being built in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, will for five days become the fourth largest city across the region.

More than 60,000 tickets have already been sold for a festival that’s still months away, and to add excitement to anticipation, and reward fans, organizers now release the full 228-artist lineup.

For countless years, the AIRBEAT ONE Main Stage with its unforgettably monstrous dimensions, 180 meters wide and 50 meters tall, has been an eye-catching mesmerizing sight, with festival fans often visibly stunned by its sheer size. Along with its incredible scale, the Main Stage every year welcomes the world’s biggest DJs and acts onto the stage to perform for the sell-out crowd. This year is no different, of the 25 artists due to play over three days on the Main Stage, 15 of them place highly on industry-renowned DJ MAG TOP 100 ranking: Music icons such as Afrojack, ALOK, Armin van Buuren, Boris Brejcha, Charlotte de Witte, Deborah de Luca, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Kölsch, Martin Horger, Oliver Heldens, R3HAB, Tiësto, Timmy Trumpet, Vini Vici and W&W will all be performing on the Main Stage this year. Along with these international stars, as one of Germany’s most influential electronic music festivals, homegrown superstar heroes such as Kevin de Vries, Neelix, Paul Kalkbrenner, and Scooter, will also be joining the main stage lineup. Two Ukrainian superstars Artbat and Korolova will be making their AIRBEAT ONE debut this year. Whilst Argy, Mau P, SKIY, and Will Sparks complete the unmissable Main Stage lineup.

For the previous two years, techno has boasted of having its own stage, and this year is no different, the 2024 ARENA techno headliners are 999999999, Alfred Heinrichs, Ann Clu, BIIA, Danny Avila, HI-LO, I hate models, Indira Paganotto, Joyhauser, LEVT, Lilly Palmer, Nusha, Paula Temple, Sara Landry, Shlomo and Umek b2b Heerhorst. Anfisa Leytago, Basswell, Cera Khin, Charly Sparks, Clara Cuve, Fatima Hajji, and Parfait and Space92 complete the lineup.

Like a Paris fashion show by way of superstar hardstyle, a parade of harder music stars is set to appear on our hardstyle stage. This year’s incredible lineup features Angerfist, Brennen Heart, Coone, Da Tweekaz, D-Block & S-te-Fan, Deadly Guns, Dr. Peacock live, D-Sturb, Miss K8 b2b Anime, Paul Elstak, Ran-D, SEFA, Sickmode, Sub Zero Project, Warface and Zatox icons of the harder sound, and all are performing at Neustadt-Glewe. Other iconic acts such as 3 Blokes, Ace of Rage, Aftershock b2b Wildstylez, Atmozfears b2b Adrenalize, B-Frontliner, Creek, Dimitri K, GPF, Jebroer, Lil Texas, Mandy, Rebelion and Rooler are on the stellar lineup. For fans of a harder style of music, ARENA is a stage not to be missed.

In celebration of our 21st year, we’re introducing a brand new AIRBEAT ONE festival stage, and it’s one that fans have requested for years, the CLASSICS ARENA. Fans have asked for electronic music icons of the last few decades, as well as their unforgettable anthems, to be given a stage, and we’re happy to provide it. Some of the most influential electronic music stars from across the decades, across three full days, are set to play on this year’s inaugural Classics Arena.

DJ Sammy is celebrating his comeback after more than a decade away from the German festival scene. With two previous consecutive appearances in the DJ MAG TOP 100 in 2012 and 2013, the No1 hitmaker is also responsible for all-time classics such as “Heaven” and “Boys of Summer”, as well as producing pop star Loona’s smash hits “Bailando” and “Hijo de la Luna”, DJ SAMMY will be bringing the Latin Queen herself to perform on the Classics Stage. Other headliners for the exciting new stage addition include Brooklyn Bounce DJ, Charly Lownoise, CJ Stone, Da Hool, DJ Dean, DJ Dune, DJ Quicksilver, Ian van Dahl, Jay Frog, Mellow-D, Kai Tracid, Krid P, Niels van Gogh, Rocco b2b Pulsedriver, Special D, Starsplash, Talla 2XLC, The Hitmen, Woody van Eyden, Ziggy X – in what is sure to be an unforgettable atmosphere, filled with three days of unmissable classic tracks.

The Second Stage is sponsored and presented by the Indian Spirit Festival delivers, once again, the biggest artists from the world of Goa, Psy-Trance and Trance: The amazing lineup includes music legends headliners such as Alchimyst, Astrix, Atype, Berg, Blazy, Captain Hook, Claudinho Brasil, Cloud 7, Durs, Fabio Fusco, Ghost Rider, Hatikwa, Morten Granau, Omiki, Phaxe, Querox, Ranji, Rising Dust, Sajanka, Pacemaker, Vegas, Zyrus 7, plus many more stars still to be confirmed.

Last but in no way least, The Terminal Stage, which for many has been an unofficial second main stage for the last few years, on account of the quality of headliners, this year’s lineup includes; Bassjackers, Blasterjaxx, Fedde Le Grand, Le Shuuk, Maddix, Mariana BO, MATTN, Sam Feldt and VIZE, regularly feature highly on the annual DJ Mag top 100 list. Established and highly respected German headliners on the Terminal Stage lineup include Anstandslos & durchgeschnellt, AXMO, Die Gebrüder Brett, Gerostert aber GeiL, HBz, Housekasper, Jerome, Komacasper, Ostblockschlampen, Pretty Pink, twocolors and YouNotUs. However, the undeniable local hero of AIRBEAT ONE Festival is Schwerin’s KXXMA, who has been carving an impressive path through the hard techno scene for the past two years.

Another 41 acts will be appearing exclusively on the decks in the VIP floors, including No.Mads, Daniel Ledwa, Jaques Raupe and Pair Glasses.

Tickets for AIRBEAT ONE Festival 2024 are available at www.tickets.airbeat-one.de. Standard advanced sale 3 Day tickets cost €179.99 plus fees.

AIRBEAT ONE 2024 Full Line Up

MAINSTAGE:

Afrojack

Alok

Argy

Armin van Buuren

ARTBAT

Boris Brejcha

Charlotte de Witte

Deborah de Luca

Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike

Kevin de Vries

Kölsch

Korolova

Marten Horger
Mau P

Neelix

Oliver Heldens

Paul Kalkbrenner

R3HAB

Scooter

SKIY

Tiësto

Timmy Trumpet

Vini Vici

W&W

Will Sparks

ARENA STAGE:

999999999

Alfred Heinrichs

Anfisa Letyago

Ann Clue 

Basswell

BIIA

Cera Khin

Charlie Sparks

Clara Cuve

Danny Avila

Fatima Hajji

HI-LO

I hate models

Indira Paganotto

Joyhauser

LEVT

Lilly Palmer

Nusha

Parfait

Paula Temple

Sara Landry

Shlomo

Space92

Umut b2b Herrhorst

TERMINAL STAGE:

Anstandslos & Durchgeknallt

AXMO

Blasterjaxx

Blvck Crowz & Rewi

Christian Lidsba

Die Gebrüder Brett

Fedde Le Grand

Gestört aber GeiL

HBz

Housekasper

Jerome

Justin Pollnik

Junstin Price

Komacasper

KXXXMA

Le Shuuk

Madixx

Marianna BO

MATTN

Nicolas Binder

Ostblockschlampen

Öwnboss

Pretty Pink

Sam Feldt

The Disco Boys

Thomas Lizzara

Twocolors

Uwe Worlitzer

VIZE
YouNotUs

ZEUZ

HARDSTYLE:

3 Blokes

Ace of Rage

Aftershock b2b Wildstylez

Angerfist

Atmozfears b2b Adrenalize

Audiotricz

B-Frontliner

Brennan Heart

Clockartz

Coone

Creek

Da Tweekaz

D-Block & S-te-Fan

Deadly Guns

Dimitri K

Dr. Peacock live

D-Sturb

GPF

Hard Driver

Jebroer

Lil Texas

Mandy

Mish

Miss K8 b2b Anime

Noisecontrollers

Paul Elstak

Ran-D

Rebelion

Rooler
SEFA

Sickmode

Sub Zero Project b2b Phuture Noize

Thyton b2b Mutilaor

Vertile

Villain DJ Set

Warface

Zatox

CLASSIC AREA:

Bamba
Brooklyn Bounce DJ

Charly Lownoise

Chris Nitro

CJ Stone

Creek b2b Mira

Da Hool 

DJ Bomba

DJ Dean

DJ Dune

DJ Falk

DJ Gollum

DJ Lee

DJ Quicksilver 

DJ Sammy 

DJ Yanny

Eric SSL

Franky B

Ian van Dahl

Jay Frog

Kai Tracid

Krid P

Martink
Mellow-D
Money-G

Niels van Gogh

Revil O

Rocco b2b Pulsedriver

Sideout b2b Pacemaker

Special D.

Starsplash

Talla 2XLC

The Hitmen

Woody van Eyden

Ziggy X

SECOND STAGE:

Ace Ventura

Alchimyst

Astrix

Atype

Babalos

Berg

Blastoyz
Blazy 

Captain Hook

Claudinho Brasil

Cloud 7

Durs

Fabio Fusco

Ghost Rider

Hatikwa

Incognito

LsDirty

Morten Granau

Omiki

Phaxe

Plus One

Querox

Ranji

Rising Dust

Sajanka

Schrittmacher

Vegas

Zyrus 7

Links:

www.airbeat-one.de

facebook.com/airbeatone

youtube.com/airbeatone00

instagram.com/airbeatone

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Festival NewsMusic News

Miss Monique, Markus Klee, Phillipp Straub Join the BEONIX Lineup for 2024 Edition

by the partae
written by the partae
Tickets | Location: Limassol, Cyprus | Date: 20th – 22nd September 2024

BEONIX, the annual electronic music festival, is pleased to announce its forthcoming edition, set to take place at ETKO, Limassol, Cyprus, from September 20th to 22nd. This event, renowned for its dynamic range of performances and immersive experiences, features three distinctive stages: the Main Stage, Hangar Stage, and Garden Stage, each designed to offer a unique auditory and visual experience to attendees.

In addition to an already impressive lineup, BEONIX is delighted to reveal the inclusion of new artists to this year’s festival roster. Esteemed performers such as Miss Monique, Markus Klee, Philipp Straub and Ross Quinn (in a special live performance), alongside Shall Ocin and The Advocate, are set to grace the festival, joining forces with previously announced acts. These acts include Ae:ther, DJ Jordan, Highjacks, Kadosh, Klangphonics (live), Claptone, Estella Boersma, GHEIST (live), Teenage Mutants, Undercatt, Axel Haube, Bondi (live), Glowal, HOSH, SHDW and Spartaque.

BEONIX is honored to host TALE OF US, ARTBAT and FATBOY SLIM as the headlining acts for this year’s edition. Their participation underscores BEONIX’s reputation as a seminal event in the electronic music landscape, offering attendees performances from some of the most influential figures in the genre.

To accommodate its international audience, BEONIX introduces an exclusive travel service, enabling guests to book their festival experience with the option to pay later. This service includes discounts of up to 40% on hotels, villas, and apartments, ensuring that attendees can enjoy their stay in Limassol with peace of mind and financial flexibility.
The 2024 edition of BEONIX will see a significant redesign of the Main Stage, with the aim of providing a renewed visual experience that matches the auditory excellence of the festival. This initiative represents BEONIX’s commitment to creating an environment that stimulates all senses, enhancing the overall experience for every festival-goer.
BEONIX extends an invitation to electronic music enthusiasts from around the world to join in this celebration of music, creativity, and community. The festival not only promises an array of exceptional musical performances but also a chance to connect with like-minded individuals in the picturesque setting of Limassol, Cyprus.
For further details on the festival lineup, travel services, and ticketing, please visit: https://beonix.art/
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Metronomy shares new single "With Balance (feat. Naima Bock & Joshua Idehen)"
Music News

Metronomy shares new single “With Balance (feat. Naima Bock & Joshua Idehen)”

by the partae
written by the partae
Photo credit: Lewis Khan

Metronomy – esteemed purveyors of some of the world’s best-loved and eclectic indie-electronic pop music – have opened a new chapter of their long and colourful musical life. Naturally, it’s a collaborative and generous one on forthcoming Posse EP Volume 2, out July 12 on new label home Ninja Tune. Across its five tracks band founder and central figure Joe Mount shifts into the role of producer, creating musical worlds where new singers and artists can add their voice to Mount’s celebratory instrumentals.

Alongside the announcement Mount shares ‘With Balance (feat. Naima Bock and Joshua Idehen)‘ – an understated ballad spun with pastel-plucked guitars and hazy, interwoven vocal lines until the mighty Joshua Idehen lands, dispensing deep grounded power and wordplay. In Metronomy’s hands, unique voices can come together, in harmony. The single arrives shortly after the release of ‘Nice Town‘ – a collaboration with New York by way of Houston artist Pan Amsterdam – and is released alongside a striking official video directed and produced by global creative agencies Wieden+Kennedy, Immigrant Studio and Wake The Town.

“This video is the perfect visual extension of the Posse E.P ethos” Mount comments. “It’s another step in the collaborative process of making the song and I love how it highlights new artists and ideas. I also love it when I’m not in a video because I can enjoy it the same way that everyone else does.”

Elsewhere on Posse EP Volume 2 we see Mount collaborate with Miki, Faux Real, Nourished by Time, Lynks, SPIDER, Master Peace and TaliaBle. The era of the Posse EPs first reached fans in September 2021, when Mount released Volume 1, a five track collaboration with a bubbling selection of new friends including Peckham’s Pinty and Biig Piig. The following year he released the most recent Metronomy album, Small World, which continued the party by inviting artists from Nadeem Din-Gabisi to Katy J Pearson onto a special remix edition.

Metronomy’s Posse EPs represent a way of continuing to connect to new music whilst embracing their own long view and decades in the dance. “It’s realising you have a value within the music industry” Mount comments, “for newer artists you can do something. You have a reach they don’t and they’re excited by it. It’s a great way of feeling connected to a wave like the one I was part of”. It’s revivifying and energising, for the artist as much as for us the listeners. “The more I do stuff with other people the more excited I get about doing my own music again… For me it’s a way of separating myself from the last 20 years of what I’ve done. You want to be proud of it – and then move on.”

For more information on Metronomy, follow them below.
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Enigmatic future-pop artist JOEY SACHI returns with single 'REVERIE'
Music News

Enigmatic future-pop artist JOEY SACHI returns with single ‘REVERIE’

by the partae
written by the partae

Photo Credit: Yuto Kudo

After making an impressive debut in 2023 with her track ‘Fractured’, Tokyo-based Australian artist and songwriter Joey Sachi returns with another slice of dynamic music in her new single, ‘Reverie’.

A fitting step forward for the musician, ‘Reverie’ sees Sachi flourish as a natural collaborator, teaming up with UK producer Affelaye, to bring ‘Reverie’ together. Recorded between Tokyo and Sydney and produced in the UK, ‘Reverie’ has the same essence of vulnerability and insight that ‘Fractured’ had, but the maturity behind the arrangement coupled with Affelaye’s striking execution has aided Sachi’s continued growth as a musician and storyteller.

The song, the first collaboration between Sachi and Affelaye, was a bucket list opportunity for Sachi. As she describes, ‘Reverie’ has added significance because of the creative dynamic it birthed between the duo. 

“Collaborating with Affelaye was a real ‘pinch me’ moment as an artist. I have been a longtime admirer of his music -he was one of the first artists who sparked my deep love of electronic music. His attention to detail and the way he has carved out a distinct sound for himself is nothing short of impressive. He is immensely talented. Reverie came together quite quickly! The process was seamless, we immediately aligned creatively. I’m so proud of what we have created together. Affelaye was a dream to work with. “

JOEY SACHI

Developing her love for music and creativity off a base of musical influences that is far ranging, Sachi’s music vision comes from a background in classical music, and a love for artists including Jamie xx, Daniel Caesar and Sabrina Claudio. As such, Sachi’s original material is textured and diverse in its sonic influences; ‘Reverie’ is another beautiful example of the direction she is continuing to head in.

PRAISE

“Captivating hearts from the very beginning, Sydney-born artist Joey Sachi, now based in Tokyo, unveiled a mesmerizing new track titled Fractured…a captivating prologue to her musical identity. Fractured delves into the realm of electronic-infused pop, allowing Sachi’s impeccable vocals to command the spotlight.”

AAA Backstage

“‘Fractured’ is a delicate and ethereal track that seems to float in the skies, hovering high and fragile with a glowing, radiant beauty. Sachi’s glorious vocals are to the fore, making their way above a wash of ambulant liquid electronica: her ringing bell-like tones almost Arctic cold, observant and studied and yet infused with a melancholia and tristesse that is moving.”

Backseat Mafia

PLAY/LISTEN

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Festival NewsMusic News

Ocean Alley premiere ‘Yellow Mellow’ 10 year anniversary live session

by the partae
written by the partae
Photo credit: The Sauce

Australian rockers Ocean Alley today mark the 10-year anniversary of their beloved debut EP Yellow Mellow, with a live re-recording of its six tracks now premiering via YouTube.

A collection of hazy and funky sounds, Yellow Mellow is stamped with early hallmarks of Ocean Alley’s now distinct sound – infused with psychedelic instrumentation, dub and plenty of groove, not to mention the essence of DIY and the garage they rehearsed in. The live video session sees the six-piece finesse the EP with their matured style, not so much reinventing as reinvigorating the record that set them onto their otherworldly trajectory.

For those who weren’t lucky enough to catch Ocean Alley gigging in pubs and bars on the Northern Beaches in those early days, Yellow Mellow was a gateway. Its title track was a firm fan favourite with its playful lyrics and sound, and over the last decade has become a standout for listeners and particularly live audiences – amassing over 70 million streams to date. A vinyl re-press of the EP saw the record reach #2 on the ARIA Top 20 Australian Albums and #41 on the ARIA Top 50 Albums overall in February this year.

Backing up a momentous 2023, Ocean Alley kicked off the first quarter of this year with vigor – hitting the road for a seven-date Australian Coast Tour that wrapped up last weekend after selling 35,000 tickets across Hobart, Torquay, Wollongong, Adelaide, Bribie Island and Margaret River. It follows their hugely successful run of nine shows last year, selling out huge local venues such as Melbourne’s John Cain Arena, Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion, Brisbane’s Riverstage and Perth’s Red Hill Auditorium, adding extra dates nationally plus a show at Auckland’s Spark Arena for a total of 47,000 tickets sold.

Most of this year will be spent touring internationally, firstly heading to North America with The Grogans for 17 shows in June. The band have already sold out dates in New York, LA, San Francisco and Philadelphia, plus surpassed ticket sales of 20,000. In August, they make their way to the UK and Europe for 15 shows supported by Hockey Dad; Roundhouse in London has sold out with an extra date added, and O2 Victoria Warehouse in Manchester was upgraded and sold out.

These huge international showruns follow the revival of Ocean Alley’s 6x Platinum single ‘Confidence’, which re-entered the ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart in December last year after going viral on TikTok globally, and eventually climbed to #19. Internationally, the track cracked the US Billboard Hot Alternative Songs (#13), Hot Rock Songs (#21), Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (#26), UK’s Independent Singles Chart (#6), New Zealand’s Top 40 Singles Chart (#3) and Ireland’s Single Chart (#29).

Over the last 12 months, Ocean Alley proved themselves to be one of Australia’s most exciting musical exports, taking the world by storm with their dynamic live performances, infectious melodies and faultless musicianship. Their catalogue is approaching a billion streams, with nine singles accredited in Australia and New Zealand with sales certified Gold or higher. Continuing to grow their devoted following both at home and abroad, the six-piece are solidifying their place as one of Australia’s most beloved and influential bands, and are poised to make an indelible mark on the global music scene for years to come.

OCEAN ALLEY – Yellow Mellow [EP]
STREAM: SPOTIFY | APPLE | YOUTUBE
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BAE BARACUS Release 'People'
Music News

BAE BARACUS Release ‘People’

by the partae
written by the partae

Available on all streaming platforms, April 19 2024, via Boomsmack Records DK UPC: 198471127880 

ISRC: CAGH82400008 

West Coast, Canada-based post-punk sparkle-disco trio Bae Baracus are back with a new  electronic dance single ‘People’ 

‘People’ is a dreamy soulful earworm, thanks to its simple refrain with a simple  message: If one thing unites us, it’s that we’re all blindly moving in lockstep into  the future, all headed for the same final destination.

 

Play Listen

 

Credits  

Dolly De Guerre: Lead Vocals 

Clef Seeley: Beats, Keys 

Lin Gardiner: Beats, Keys 

Written by Bent, Seeley, Gardiner 

Produced & Mixed by Lin Gardiner @ The Sound Garden Retreat Studios 

Mastered by Ohan Vandermeer @ Dialled In Audio 

Cover Photo: Mealnes Laberge 

Cover Design: Wai-Yung Akdoğu 

© Boomsmack Records, 2024 

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NOFX RELEASE NEW EP "HALF ALBUM" VIA FAT WRECK CHORDS
Music News

NOFX RELEASE NEW EP “HALF ALBUM” VIA FAT WRECK CHORDS

by the partae
written by the partae

HALF ALBUM NOW STREAMING
ON ALL PLATFORMS

Legendary punk outfit NOFX is gearing up for their final tour by releasing a five-track EP titled HalfAlbum. These tracks stem from the same recording sessions that produced the band’s critically acclaimed releases, Single Album (2021) and Double Album (2022). “These songs were always there,” says NOFX frontman Fat Mike. “It just took me a little longer to polish them up.”

Leading the charge is “I’m A Rat,” a pure shot of NOFX’s signature skate punk energy. Initially performed by Japan’s Hi-Standard, the song gets the full NOFX treatment here, complete with a riotous puppet-themed music video. There’s a fresh take on The Smiths’ classic “The Queen Is Dead,” previously explored in a stripped-down rendition of Fat Mike’s 2019 solo album Cokie The Clown. The EP closes with “The Last Drag,” a powerful companion piece to “The Big Drag” from Single Album.

While more projects are on the horizon, Half Album doesn’t mark NOFX’s final release. Yet, it does signify the start of a new era, hinting at the transformation of NOFX as we’ve come to recognise them.

LISTEN TO HALF ALBUM

Fat Mike has never done things by halves until now. As NOFX wind up their time on this planet after 40 years, the seminal punk band—completed by Eric Melvin, Erik ‘Smelly’ Sandin, and Aaron’ El Hefe’ Abeyta—have decided the time is right to do exactly that. Well, kind of. After 2021’s Single Album and 2022’s Double Album, NOFX’s latest release is called Half Album. Because that’s precisely what it is.  The fifth side of their epic Double Album. “These songs were all recorded at the same time,” the frontman explains. “It just takes me a while to finish shit. So, this is me tying up loose ends, which is very good for the soul.”

If the phrase “tying up loose ends” sounds somewhat like Mike doesn’t care, he does. A lot because these aren’t just leftover songs or an afterthought. Put those two records and this EP—sorry, this half album—together, and you get what Mike considers an actual double album. And a good one at that. “I don’t think there are any good double albums,” he says. “The White Album is a great album, but it’s not a great double album. There are a lot of shit songs on there. I don’t think there’s any shit songs on this—I wrote it to make a great double album.”

He put a lot of thought and effort into it, too. For example, the last song on Half Album is called “The Last Drag.” A counterpart to Single Album’s opener “The Big Drag,” it took Mike five years to finish, and not only brings the whole 25-song double album full circle (“They’re great bookends,” he proclaims) but also reveals the profound depth of his songwriting—something that people often overlook. “The Last Drag” song not only sees Mike sing from the point of view of one of his exes, but it incorporates a simultaneously humorous and depressing homage to Lesley Gore’s classic 1963 hit “It’s My Party.” It might not sound like it would work on paper, but it really does, mixing humour and pathos to devastating effect.

“My ex went to Vegas to detox while we were doing [Mike’s musical] Home Street Home,” he explains. “It was supposed to be for 10 days, and it was during the [adult video industry’s] AVN Awards, and she just had a two-and-a-half-week party with all her friends without her fiancé. So, if you read the lyrics, there are a lot of harsh words in there, but it really wasn’t easy to write from her point of view. That’s why it took me five years. And the fucked thing is, no-one’s going to understand what I’m singing about. They’ll think it’s me. Only she and I will know, and it’s going to bum her out. “He knows this because it already bums him out.  “The worst thing is it didn’t even help,” he continues. “It’s just reliving bad memories. Thinking about it, writing lyrics about it, and going over it over and over—that’s not healthy. Not healthy.”

If that’s the depressing note on which Half Album ends, what precedes it is a little less bleak. Opener “Fake-A-Wish Foundation” is the second NOFX song after the Single Album “My Bro Cancervive Cancer,” about a guy called Brett who pretended to have brain cancer to hang with bands and get free merch. It’s a gorgeous, lilting ballad that might sound sad but contains some truly comedic and biting lyrics. Then there’s “I’m A Rat”—written by Mike but first recorded by Japanese punk band Hi-Standard,” and included on last year’s Fat Mike Gets Strung Out.

It’s one of 14 NOFX songs so far, only recorded by other bands worldwide and not NOFX themselves. It is also remarkable that it contains 54 chords that aren’t repeated in a row. All three versions demonstrate what the world knows deep down but probably needs to be told again, which Mike is doing by including it in this release. “I want to be recognized as a great songwriter,” he admits, “which I’m not. But I will be within a couple of years. Punk rock songwriters are not known as songwriters. Take Brett Gurewitz from Bad Religion—unless you’re a punk rocker, he gets no credit. Tim Armstrong gets some because he writes for so many people, like Pink! And some movie soundtracks, but he’s still not known for songwriting. My thing is thinking of things that haven’t been done. Thinking of things, the world’s missing, and why, and will it work?”

If anyone can change that attitude about punk rock musicians, it’s Fat Mike. This is precisely why he wrote “The Humblest Man In The World.” After all, who else would or could write a balls-out punk rock song that aims directly at himself for not just wanting to be so recognized but knowing that he should and will be? “I’m calling myself out,” he admits, “because I’m not the humblest man in the world. And even saying that is the most arrogant thing you can say. I think I could be a better me with some humility. One of my big personality flaws is my arrogance. I see it and everyone else sees it, so I thought I’d just put it on the table with this song.”

That track follows—”The Queen Is Dead.” Eagle-eared listeners will recognize it as a song that first appeared on, You’re Welcome, the Cokie The Clown full-length from 2019. This is a reworked, punked-up version of that original, but it’s no less powerful or poignant a tribute to its subject. As to why it’s included here again—well, it’s another way to prove the versatility of his songwriting. Which ultimately, it all comes down to that wish to be regarded as a great songwriter.  “I like playing songs in different genres,” he says, “and a great song can be played in any genre. I just like to showcase that.”

Though he has plenty more in the pipeline, Half Album isn’t the last record that NOFX will release. It is, however, the beginning of the end (or the end of the beginning of the future) of NOFX as we know them. It’s also proof, despite its title, that Fat Mike doesn’t do things by halves. This might be called Half Album, but it’s part of a much bigger legacy and an even greater whole.

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Announcing Northeast Party House 'Enhancer' Tour
Festival NewsMusic News

Announcing Northeast Party House ‘Enhancer’ Tour

by the partae
written by the partae

‘Wish We Could’, the 2nd single from the upcoming ‘Enhancer’ album, explores the feelings of longing that arise within a new relationship. The moody vocals and mellow choruses are met with a triumphant chorus and drum and base loop, giving us an exciting taste of what’s to come in the next chapter of Northeast Party House‘s sound.
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Multi-Platinum Artists R3HAB and Jason Derulo Join Forces For One of The Most Exciting Collaborations of 2024, Dance-Pop Crossover Track "Animal"
Music News

Multi-Platinum Artists R3HAB and Jason Derulo Join Forces For One of The Most Exciting Collaborations of 2024, Dance-Pop Crossover Track “Animal”

by the partae
written by the partae

Artists: R3HAB, Jason Derulo
Title: Animal
Label: Warner Music, Atlantic Records, Spinnin’ Records

Download / Stream

Two musical superstars collide on R3HAB and Jason Derulo‘s new collaboration “Animal,” a dance-pop crossover that will have clubs heating up even if Summer hasn’t really yet arrived. The track is an exemplary fusion of R3HAB‘s high-energy, dynamic electronic vibe, while Derulo brings his signature sexy pop style. Opening with soulful vocals and a groovy house beat, “Animal” immediately sets the tone for a sultry good time with someone special. R3HAB layers in sparkling progressive melodies and an energetic buildup, making for a fun track suitable for singing to on the radio or dancing the night away. R3HAB and Jason Derulo formerly collaborated on R3HAB‘s official remixes of Jason Derulo‘s “Goodbye” with David Guetta, Nicki Minaj and Willy William in 2018, “Take You Dancing” in 2020, as well as “Spicy Margarita” with Michael Bublé just last month.

“Jason and I have been tossing ideas back and forth for a few years in search of a perfect match. Then he sent me ‘Animal’ and everything quickly fell into place. This record is a perfect bridge between my dance vision and Jason’s uplifting pop touch. Jason is one of the defining artists of our generation. He’s passionate about his work and has a clear artistic vision, which makes the creative process flow. It’s been great working together, and we hope you love “Animal” as much as we do.” – R3HAB

“R3HAB and I have had a few great remixes and it felt like the natural next step to make a whole record together. We tossed ideas back and forth for a while before landing on ‘Animal.’ After that, everything came together easily and we’re happy to finally share it with the world.” – Jason Derulo

R3HAB

Multi-Platinum DJ and producer Fadil El Ghoul, better known as R3HAB, has been trailblazing his way through dance music for the past fifteen years. From his breakthrough remixes for Rihanna, Drake, Taylor Swift, Calvin Harris, Sia, Jason Derulo, Ed Sheeran, Tyga, Ellie Goulding, The Chainsmokers, P!nk, to name only a few, to anthems such as Multi-platinum-certified “All Around The World (La La La),” “Lullaby” with Mike Williams, “Flames” with ZAYN and Jungleboi, or “Creep” with Gattüso, to his collaborations with the likes of Ava Max, Luis Fonsi, Sean Paul, Afrojack, Armin van Buuren, Lukas Graham, Icona Pop, and more, R3HAB has proven to be one of the most forward-thinking artists in the game. His work has collected over 10 billion streams to date, including over 1 billion in 2023 alone. He is Spotify‘s Most Discovered Artist, one of Spotify‘s top 300 most streamed artists, ranked #14 on the prestigious DJ Mag‘s Top 100 DJs chart, and has earned over 80 Gold and Platinum certificates. On top of that, he performed at the world’s top festivals, such as EDC, Ultra Music Festival, Tomorrowland, Balaton Sound, Coachella, Summer Sonic Festival, DWP Jakarta, and more. With his combination of innate artistry and innovative attitude, R3HAB has earned his place as a household name in dance music.

Jason Derulo

Forward-thinking, genre-defying, and massively creative, Derulo has staked his claim as one of the most dynamic forces on the global pop landscape. Since breaking through with his 5 x RIAA platinum-certified single, “Whatcha Say,” the award-winning singer-songwriter has sold more than 250M singles worldwide and achieved 15 platinum singles, including “Wiggle,” “Talk Dirty,” “Want to Want Me,” “Trumpets,” “It Girl,” “In My Head,” “Ridin’ Solo,” “Don’t Wanna Go Home,” “Marry Me,” “The Other Side,” “Get Ugly,” “Swalla,” “Savage Love” and “Take You Dancing.” Since the start of his solo recording career in 2009, he has earned over 18B worldwide streams and built an unstoppable social media following of over 117M followers across all platforms. Now at work on his highly anticipated fifth album – and full-length debut for Atlantic Records – Derulo has delivered an ongoing series of smash singles that have drawn a stunning 500M+ views, including the irresistibly buoyant “Acapulco,” the RIAA platinum-certified “Take You Dancing,” and Jawsh 685 x Jason Derulo‘s 3 x platinum-certified chart-topper, “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat).” The latter track – and its official BTS remix – proved an unstoppable international sensation upon its 2020 arrival, peaking at #1 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 as well as atop charts in 16 additional countries around the world. A truly multi-dimensional creator, Derulo has also established himself as an actor and businessman. With his TikTok regularly amassing over 10M views per post, Derulo notes that the platform has drastically reshaped his relationship with his fans. Derulo is now amongst TikTok’s biggest superstars, currently, the 4th most followed male on the video-sharing platform with the 11th biggest account overall. He continues to see his already astronomical TikTok presence growing daily, now boasting more than 56M followers worldwide and over 1B likes. Reclaiming his title as the TikTok king, in 2022 he released the summer smash single “Slidin’” with a fan-challenged TikTok video to his own rendition of the electric slide.

More info on R3HAB / INNA / Sash! / Spinnin’ Records:

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DENMARK'S MOST CELEBRATED LGBT+ ARTIST ASBJØRN RELEASES ’HE'S DANCING SO WELL (I'M BETTER)’
Music InterviewsMusic News

Interview – Navigating Friction: A Deep Dive into the Creative Journey of Asbjørn from DIY Labels to Genre-Bending Sounds

by the partae
written by the partae

Can you share a bit about your journey in the music industry so far, from starting your own label at a young age to where you are now with your fourth studio album?

This is gonna be a deep dive, huh? Let’s do it. Basically, I started my own label at 19 to have complete creative control and freedom. Despite all the attention I was receiving, every label I talked to wanted to change something about me, whether it was my sequined wardrobe, my weirdo dancing or the sound of my sampled breathe-snares. Luckily, I am stubborn as fuck and following a mere possibility of quick success has never really been an option in my head.

Establishing my own record label enabled me to “license” my music to other international labels, while still being in creative control. I did that on Pseudo Visions, Boyology and also had my very brief major-label-crash-and-burn-moment with ‘Nothing 2 Lose’ and ‘We & I’ in 2018. I worked with brilliant people along the way and appreciate their hard work – but with this forthcoming album, I needed a reset, to explore pop music completely freely again, without my own or anybody else’s commercial awareness = your boy is completely independent, yet again.

‘He’s Dancing So Well (I’m Better)’ is a captivating track with a unique blend of sounds. Could you tell us more about the inspiration behind the song and its production process?

I am obsessed with juxtapositions, how lyrical and musical elements can create confusion to a point where you have to stop trying to “figure it out” but just go with your body and your immediate emotional response. I love to write on the guitar because I suck at it and that pushes me to be less analytical and more intuitive. For some reason, I also hate my own voice on top of a guitar, so after writing ‘He’s Dancing So Well (I’m Better)’, I immediately made the string arrangement. I’ve always dreamt of doing a string-based dance song, like ‘Cloudbusting’ (Kate Bush), ‘Be Mine’ (Robyn), ‘Viva La Vida’ (Coldplay) or ‘Hyperballad’ (Björk) and this song seemed like the right fit. I took the song and string-arrangement to Steffen Lundtoft, he accidentally pushed a shuffle button on his drum machine and suddenly the loneliness and melancholy of the lyric and strings had a freaky, out-of-control and uplifting counterpart. It suddenly provided a possibility to dance with the sadness of losing him.

Your upcoming fourth studio album is highly anticipated. What can listeners expect from this new project, especially in terms of its sound and themes?

This album is a body! A body that dances, protects itself, goes WILD, rests, moves forward, injures and gets back up again. First and foremost, I’ve always strived for a kind of bodily presence in my music but this time I made it my whole approach; instead of producing the songs so I could dance to them, I danced my way to the productions, translating the movements my body made into sounds.

Thematically, I guess there’s a lot of liminality, which in many ways has been a constant in my life. Being an artist and being gay is a pretty intense combo and though I’ve accepted long ago that I can’t follow many pre-paved paths, I think I’ve dared to look into my doubts about belonging, both to places, people and in the world on this album.

Collaborating with Steffen Lundtoft from Lowly for your new album sounds intriguing. How did this collaboration come about, and how has it influenced the direction of your music?

MASSIVELY, oh my god. On Boyology I challenged myself to give in to the sonics of mainstream pop music that I grew up with, while juxtaposing it with almost unpleasantly direct and diary-like lyrics. I worked on that album for 5 years and I had a hard time coming out of the more structured and controlled approach to production that I’d practiced on that album. Steffen, on the other hand… he’s a firework of freedom, playfulness and never really knows what he wants to create, before it’s suddenly there. I was deeply provoked by that in the beginning of our collaboration but I knew that he was what I needed; a friend who could bring me out of control in a way that felt safe (Steffen has been my drummer for 12 years, since I started my career).

You’ve been announced as a performer at Roskilde Festival, which is a significant milestone. How does it feel to be part of such a renowned event, and what are you looking forward to the most about the experience?

Yeah, it’s a bucket list moment, for sure. Somehow I am really happy that it took 12 years to get that slot, cos I got to find myself as performer before standing that test. I can’t wait to give back to the audience what I, myself, have received from my heroes on that festival.

Your music has been described as genre-busting and unconventional. What drives you to push the boundaries of pop music, and how do you balance experimentation with accessibility in your sound?

I’ve thought about whether there could be an anthropological explanation, having to do with queerness and the whole ‘belonging’ theme… The genre-thing and unconventionality are not things I strive to do, I simply just can’t conform. And just as that can be frustrating on a personal level, so has it in my career, you know… sometimes wishing to be more “normal”, whatever that means. Ultimately it comes down to self acceptance and music has been THE place I could find that, always.

“Friction is freedom” is a powerful statement you’ve made about your music. Could you elaborate on what this means to you personally and how it manifests in your creative process?

On Boyology I had to repeat this sentence over and over again. In continuation of your last question, that album was at times pretty uncomfortable to make, cos I chose to explore conformity in the sound as an artistic approach. The only way I could do it was to create a friction, a counterpart in the lyrical approach. In other words, knowing that friction is always where I’m heading, I can “forgive myself” for going 100% Backstreet Boys in one part of the process, cos I know I’m gonna create other nuances at a later point.

As someone who interacts with teenagers through your high school concerts, why is it important for you to discuss topics like sexuality and identity freedom with young audiences?

Well, I’m just trying to make things a little bit better than when I was a teen, so I’ve played around 200 concerts and high schools the past years. The teens often start out pointing at me, laughing and whispering to each other, some yell “gayyyy” and try to bully me off stage. I am confronting my own school-trauma and overcoming it every time, though it can be intense. By the end of the show it has opened up a dialogue, some of them become huge fans and others have just met a different type of man (me) and they experience that I’m not dangerous. My hope is just that it creates a fundament of understanding and acceptance between them.

Your music videos have garnered millions of views and have been praised for their visionary quality. How do you approach the visual aspect of your music, and how does it tie into the overall storytelling of your work?

I mean, you can’t take the MTV out of a 90s kid! Every time I visited my grand parents, who had the channel, I’d stay up all night watching videos. Madonna, Michael Jackson, Britney, Destiny’s Child, George Michael, David Bowie and the list goes on. I didn’t even understand English but I understood what they wanted to express through those videos. The music video can be such a powerful tool to expand the universe of an album, which is what I’ve attempted to do on all my albums. The current consumer-climate has put the format in a difficult spot though and I’ve heard many business peeps claim that the THE MUSICVIDEO IS DEAD. I don’t believe that but I do believe we all, as consumers, need to choose patience, focus and poetry very actively, cos we’re so affected by the high pace of things online.

With your diverse musical influences ranging from classical to pop, how do you incorporate these varied elements into your songs while maintaining your own unique style?

Friction is freedom, baby! Music is just a playground, a laboratory, a bathtub full of plastic stuff to shove up your butt and try how it feels; it most likely won’t hurt you but sometimes it just doesn’t work and that’s cool. Then you try a different combination and suddenly it feels like you opened a new door in yourself.

Collaborating with artists like Tessa and Danny L Harle in the past, how do these collaborations shape your approach to music-making, and are there any dream collaborations you’d like to pursue in the future?

I find myself in a really interesting position career wise. The fact that I’m hard to place for people mixed with my curiosity for music experiments, enables me to navigate pretty freely and collaborate with both mainstream superstars like Tessa, left-pop-pioneers like Danny and Planningtorock and of course making the album with Steffen, two old friends in a dark studio in my hometown. They all inspire me so much. And when it comes to dream collaborations… well, let’s just say you won’t have to wait long.

Looking back on your previous album, Boyology, and considering your evolution as an artist, how do you feel you’ve grown creatively since then, and what lessons have you learned along the way?

I learned to measure success in new ways. Boyology was a commercial FLOP, none of the songs or videos gained the numbers I’d been so lucky to experience from the beginning of my career – and honestly, that was a tough blow – but an important one too. That’s when I checked my “popstar values” and realized that I needed to create healthier and more sustainable criteria of success for myself. I initiated the school concerts to try and make a direct difference, that I could see in a room, instead of looking at streaming counts. I began working mainly with close friends again to make sure every aspect of my career creates long-lasting memories and relations, that makes me happy when I listen to the music, watch the videos or play shows. In that way, the music can flop all it wants but it will still be meaningful.

https://www.instagram.com/asbjornmusic

                        

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Music News

earth2zoe ‘Typical’ Premiere

by the partae
written by the partae

After navigating the unpredictable tides of the music industry, earth2zoe re-emerges with renewed vigor and artistic vision, this time with her latest single, “Typical.” Collaborating with her trusted co-writer Sarah Boulton and  producer Mike Schlosser. earth2zoe unveils a compelling anthem that explores the themes of  societal conformity, personal liberation, and the quest for authenticity. 

This journey began five years ago in 2019 when earth2zoe was working closely with Warner  Music Canada. “Typical” was one of her very first sessions, initiated during her collaboration with  the label. Although the track was started, it remained unfinished for years. However, the  essence of the song’s theme continued to resonate with earth2zoe as she navigated through  her personal and professional growth. 

The topic of the song, dealing with the pressures of societal expectations and the desire for  individuality, became increasingly relevant to earth2zoe as she matured. In 2023, she and her  team reconvened to breathe new life into the track, infusing it with the depth and maturity that  comes with years of experience and self-discovery. 

Reflecting on the collaborative process, earth2zoe recalls the journey of “Typical,” which began  five years ago during a time of uncertainty and exploration. “It’s surreal to think about how this  song started half a decade ago,” she muses. “Back then, we were delving into a topic that  seemed distant, yet somehow inevitable—a theme that continued to echo in my life over the  years. Revisiting the initial demo compared to what we’ve created now is like witnessing a  transformation from night to day. It’s a testament to evolution not only of the song but of  myself as an artist and individual.”

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