Pokazywanie postów oznaczonych etykietą electronic pop. Pokaż wszystkie posty
Pokazywanie postów oznaczonych etykietą electronic pop. Pokaż wszystkie posty

piątek, 13 lutego 2026

Theory of Ghosts - The Sulphur and the Grey (2026)


For many reasons, Closure by Piano Magic was an album as important as it was devastating to listen to for me. It also crowned the band's discography in near perfect way, but still meant that there was a musical presence I would sorely miss. Fortunately, on Piano Magic's ashes, Theory of Ghosts rose and it shares a lot of common things with its predecessor. And the artists behind it have just released their debut album!

Theory of Ghosts is Glen Johnson and Franck Alba (of Piano Magic) who, together with Robert Hervais-Adelman, create something I would call minimal ghost rock. All the PM fans out there will quickly recognize the vocals (obviously) but also the lyrical flavour that, to me, a person from Central Europe, is so strikingly British. I love it and I love when they sing about UK and London (places I've never been to, let alone have any relationship with) but also about more universal aspects of life. "When nobody knows who you are, you can do whatever you want" being probably the sentence I will take with me from this one.

Music-wise, it's a minimal (but still very artistic) electronica that has a hint of this autumnal sadness I associate these vocals with. Especially when it's joined by subtle guitar sounds and strings. Sometimes the electronic part is even more... beepy. I know it's not a word, but listening to Blame makes me think of this word. Theory of Ghosts is a great name as it's like listening to a ghost of something that used to be, but also to something that is completely new in form. 

The Sulphur and the Grey costs 9 EUR (7.99 GBP).

Check: When Nobody Knows Who You Are
Country: UK
Genre: minimal ghost rock
Label: Second Language Music




czwartek, 11 maja 2023

Elita - Dysania (2023)


Elita is a project led by Emma Harvey (also known as Elita Harkov) that combines modern, attractive electronica with heavy dream pop influences. The first album under this moniker, Dysania, was released back in March via Opposition.

The album is called after a condition that is defined as "a state of finding it hard to get out of bed in the morning" but unlike people who deal with it, the music here is fairly energetic. Elita joins the club of cute and creepy young artists who are painfully honest in what they do and who create music that is as atmospheric as it is catchy. But while some of them are all about glitchy experiments (like Yeule), here the music is pretty traditional: it's all about catchy melodies with synthy backgrounds and occasional sample that makes it even tastier. The level of catchiness in Elita's compositions is truly remarkable. Even ballads (like Summer Song) stay in your hand for a long time. Oh, right, and it's exceptionally steamy, from the beginning to the end.

Dysania costs 7 USD.

Check: Mentally Not Here
Country: Canada
Genre: dreamy electronic pop
Label: Opposition



poniedziałek, 6 lutego 2023

Fågelle - Den svenske vreden (2023)


It seems like Scandinavian countries are a limitless source of (usually female) artists who create music that is both exceptionally artsy and utterly atmospheric. Let's not waste space here on enlisting them, it's enough to say that Klara Andersson aka Fågelle is another one who is already well-known on the European music scene. This year she came back with her sophomore album called Den svenske vreden.

Although the title translates to "the Swedish anger", anger is not something the music itself conveys here. From the music perspective, it's more a melancholic, slightly dark kind of high-brow pop music that looks for new means of expression rather than choosing the easy ways to grab the attention of the audience. So it's less about the melodic music, it's more about employing such music items as "twisted field recordings, mobile memories, digital trash, dark electronics, and howling choirs while moving between harmony and noise" to create something memorable.

And this comes with Andersson's vocals that feel so very close to the audience, never hidden behind the music background, bringing tons of emotions to the table, although it doesn't feel like an over-the-top performance. They are quite surprisingly balanced at one point by the particularly male-deep vocals by Joakim Thåström  in Kroppen, but otherwise it really feels like it's a party of one artist with all the attention drawn to her.

Den sveske vreden costs 7 EUR.

Check: Ingenting
Country: Sweden
Genre: dark electronic pop
Label: Medication Time Records



piątek, 29 października 2021

The Dreamless Sleep - A Breath of Colour | 2016​-​2020 (2021)


I know Matthew Chastney's project from the absolutely outstanding single Until the Sea, one I posted about almost exactly a year ago. Since then, the British artist gathered a good amount of material from the last four years and produced an album/collection called A Breath of Colour.

I knew what to expect and I am not disappointed at all. The artist's music makes a dense and dark take on electronic pop music with very noticeable traces of trip-hop. The compositions leave impressions of warmth and cosiness; they are all about feelings with the quiet love and painful melancholia seemingly accentuated the most. Until the Sea definitely remains my favourite one here, it's just too good, too dreamy and moody to say otherwise - this song slowly disappears in the sea of noisy electronica and this parallel with the lyrics is precious. 

In his work, Chastney is helped by a multitude of talented artists. The lyrics are sung by such people as October's Child's Britt Warner, “Songland" (NBC’s talent reality show) contender Axel Mansoor or singer and actress Faye Nightingale while other guest artists add the neoclassical vibes to Chastney's compositions with violin, cellos and trumpets all present in the atmospheric backgrounds. This makes the album rich and complex in a very artistic way.

A Breath of Colour | 2016​-​2020 costs 6 USD.

Check: Until the Sea 
Country: UK
Genre: dark electronic pop
Label: Through the Static Records



środa, 14 lipca 2021

Tanner Merritt - CYRUS I: WEIGHT OF REFLECTION (2021)


Tanner Merritt is an artist probably best known for being the vocalist in the post-hardcore band O'Brother. However, back in 2013 he released a solo album and now it's time for the follow-up in CYRUS I: WEIGHT OF REFLECTION.

The music here is very far from what the artist does with his band. The album shows a unique blend of various offstream genres including industrial electronica and goth rock with IAMX's vibes, all set within an ethereal atmosphere. The latter is provided mostly by the subtle vocals, never too loud and too expressive as the emotional part is conveyed by lyrics that talk about grief, anger and all the emotions that are human but also difficult to comprehend. They fit so well with the eclectic, very modern-sounding backgrounds. There's so much going on there with guitars, piano keys and a lot of electronic sounds, but they are still very able to sound very coherent and never over the top. This helps in achieving probably the mot important goal here: being catchy and moody and intimate at the same time.

And moody it is for sure. The quiet experimental chaos in the backgrounds is put into the form by the ethereal vibes and poignant lyrics. There are so many track here, like EXIT SIGN or GLEAM IN THE GREY, that are simply overflowed with dense airy atmosphere. The levels of echoes and backing vocals in some places put this, after all, modern and eclectic electronic pop album, within the dominium of airy dream pop at the same time.

CYRUS I: WEIGHT OF REFLECTION costs 7 USD.

Check: EXIT SIGN
Country: Georgia, US
Genre: dreamy modern pop



poniedziałek, 12 lipca 2021

Nordsun - Tales of a Beautiful Life (2021)


Nordsun, previously known as Splitter, is an artist from Germany, who decided to change the moniker he makes his music under to convey the otherworldly sounds he creates, ones so well audible on the second debut album Tales of  a Beautiful Life.

The artist explains his music as a "wild mix between ambient, alternative rock, electronic music…" and here the list of genres goes on and on but the main characteristic of the tracks here is that they "discover the surrealistic dreamworld of Nordsun" that is filled with "escapism and surrealistic mind spheres". All of this takes the form of super ethereal ambient pop in which the ambient soundscapes are dominant and imagination-fueling while the vocals very, very distant while still emotional. This makes up the album's core foundation: the spacious and delicately psychedelic blend of electronica, guitar and piano sounds with particularly melodic vocals.

The artist sees the dissonance in that he released an album about "beautiful life" in the middle of a world crisis but there's an answer to that: the album is more about the unreal and the ideal, as he states: "my dream world was more exciting than the real world" and this borderline escapist approach is well-felt all around the release.

Tales of a Beautiful Life costs 4 EUR.

Check: Pier to Cosmos
Country: Germany
Genre: ambient dream pop



środa, 24 marca 2021

Grive - Grive (2021)


Paul Régimbeau has just appeared on the blog with his band FOUDRE! who released a brilliant, industrial, ambient-infused album Future Sabbath. And he's back already due to him being the half of the new duo called Grive who just showed their first EP.

The other half is the French singer-songwriter Agnès Gayraud, also known as La Féline, and it's her who plays the major role at the beginning of the album. The electronically-biased backgrounds are subtle here and exist to underline Gayraud's catchy and at the same time airy voice. Still, the music here has clear dark vibes: when it's pop, it's dark pop, when the electronics take over, it's dark trip-hop with industrial hints all over the place. And this happens fast, Kingdom  consists entirely of a one-liner chorus drowned in murky waters of electronica and guitar sounds while Burger Shack, still very much an electronic track, gives more space for Gayraud again. Still, my favourite one here is the finisher in Coal Mine - a track that combines all of the above with heavy post-rock vibes in the final part. Great debut!

Grive costs 4 EUR.


Check: Coal Mine
Country: France
Genre: dark electronic pop
Label: Schubert Music Publishing



poniedziałek, 1 lutego 2021

The Welton Shipwreck - A Fire in a Field of Snow (2021)


Two artists from UK, Stu Head a.k.a. Stooj and John Culkin a.k.a. jculkin, make up The Welton Shipwreck, a lo-fi, electronically-infused project that strikes with awe with their ability to create catchy tunes like those on the debut album called A Fire in a Field of Snow.

They call themselves the "purveyors of fine psychedelic folk-rock" and indeed, the amount of psychedelia in their music is what strikes most. It's clear that the project does not aim for perfect quality of the sound but it's very much not important (also, it may be because the album was recorded online between Scotland and Yorkshire). This music is all about melodies and catchiness without being pop-like lazy. They are curious and not afraid to explore, the choruses they create consist of many layers of sounds and vocals and they are made so it works together as a whole.

Already Unspent High, the album's first track after intro, shows that. The chorus here is simple and short but it's looped in such a mesmerizing way that it just stays in the head. Even in the calmer ballads, there's constant buzz in the backgrounds that makes the compositions full of life and energy. That's some psychedelic vibes I like.

A Fire in a Field of Snow costs 7 GBP.

Check: Unspent High
Country: UK
Genre: psychedelic indie rock



środa, 2 grudnia 2020

Jesu - Terminus (2020) EN


After two albums of teaming up with Mark Kozelek and his Sun Kil Moon, Jesu comes back to the solo work. And apparently quite literally as Justin Broadrick hardly got any help from Ted Parsons this time and it seems it went really well for him to be on his own. This is what I gather from listening to Terminus.

It's filled with melancholic but catchy tracks built from very atmospheric elements. Broadrick's vocals are made of pure nostalgia, the Englishman rather speaks out phrases then actually sing but those phrases are so heavily processed in such a way that they emanate ethereality and as the whole thing could be called a heavily electronic post-rock, it reminds me of Immanu El's works. Just like in the albums best songs When I Was Small and Sleeping In.

It's a similar case with the music itself, with the single guitar adding up to pugnacity and huge doses of synths and electronics making it multidimensional. Especially that Broadrick's tracks can be really long and while they are not about building up tension towards ecstatic finishes, the oceans of dense melancholy inspire awe instead, oceans that make the audience slowly go through it while absorbing the atmosphere from every second

Terminus costs 8 USD.

Check: When I Was Small
Country: UK
Genre: electronic slowcore
Label: Avalanche Recordings



Jesu - Terminus (2020) PL


Po dwóch albumach w teamie z Markiem Kozelkiem i jego Sun Kil Moon, Jesu powraca do solowej pracy. I chyba dokładnie solowej bo Justin Broadrick otrzymał jedynie śladową pomoc od Teda Parsonsa i wygląda na to, że dobrze mu idzie bycie sobie sterem, żaglem i morzem. Tak wynika z przesłuchania Terminusa.

Wypełniają je melodyjne i chwytliwe utwory, które zbudowane są jednak z niezwykle klimatycznych elementów. Wokal Broadricka to nostalgia do kwadratu, Anglik bardziej wypowiada frazy niż śpiewa ale są one przetworzone w taki sposób, że emanują eterycznością, jako że całość można nazwać silnie przetworzonym elektronicznie post-rockiem, przypomina mi to muzykę Immanu El. Tak jest w najlepszych na płycie When I Was Small czy Sleeping In.

Podobne jest też instrumentarium z samotną gitarą dodającą nieco zadziorności i dużą dawką synthów i elektroniki nadających całości wielowymiarowości. Zwłaszcza, że kawałki Broadricka bywają naprawdę długie - nie ma w nich stopniowania napięcia i mozolnego budowania efektownego finału, bardziej jest to wymyślone jako ocean gęstej melancholii, przez który powoli się słuchacz prześlizguje chłonąc atmosferę z każdej chwili.

Terminus kosztuje 30 złotych (8 USD).

Sprawdź: When I Was Small
Kraj: UK
Szufladka: electronic slowcore
Label: Avalanche Recordings



sobota, 7 listopada 2020

SRSQ - “Unreality” Live Sessions (2020) EN


Lately I'm more keen on live albums, up til now they were very rare on this blog and now are more and more frequent. Perhaps it's simply the question of missing concerts. Or certainly it is. This time, I'd like to recommend a live album from the American artist Kennedy Ashlyn (once half of the Them Are Us Too duo).

Short album is a recording of a session on which the Texas-based artist performed tracks from ther debut album Unreality from two years ago. It's filled with intriguing merging of solo and minimal electronics with extremely unique vocals. They can easily be mighty as well as melancholic, with super broad spectre of sound and in every second beautifully airy which means that we deal here with music that is both synth-minimal and emotionally rich and hot at the same time.

If someone hadn't had an occasion to get to know SRSQ's music, this album is a great reason to catch up with her still fresh debut release. And for anyone, to put Ashlyn on their concert bucket list.

“Unreality” Live Sessions costs 5 USD.

Check: Only One
Country: Texas, US
Genre: electronic dream pop



SRSQ - “Unreality” Live Sessions (2020) PL


Ostatnimi czasy łaskawszym okiem patrzę na albumy koncertowe, dotąd rzadko można je było spotkać na tym blogu, a teraz pojawiają się raz za razem. Może to kwestia braku wrażeń związanych z występami na żywo. Nawet na pewno. Tym razem chciałbym zaproponować koncertową płytę amerykańskiej artystki Kennedy Ashlyn (kiedyś połówka duetu Them Are Us Too).

Niedługi album to zapis sesji, na której Teksanka wykonywała utwory z jej debiutu Unreality sprzed dwóch lat. Znajduje się na nim intrygujące połączenie solowej, minimalistycznej elektroniki z niebywale unikalnym wokalem artystki. Ten bywa potężny jak i melancholijny, o megaszerokim spektrum a w każdej sekundzie trwania niezwykle eteryczny, a to sprawia, że mamy do czynienia z muzyką jednocześnie syhtowo-minimalistyczną jak i emocjonalnie bogatą, zimną i gorącą naraz.

Jeśli ktoś wcześniej nie spotkał się z muzyką SRSQ to ta płyta jest idealną wymówką żeby sięgnąć po jej wciąż jeszcze całkiem świeży debiut. A dla każdego żeby Ashlyn wpisać na swoją koncertową bucket listę.

“Unreality” Live Sessions kosztuje 20 złotych (5 USD).

Sprawdź: Only One
Kraj: Teksas, US
Szufladka: electronic dream pop



wtorek, 29 września 2020

Sleepwalkers Baseball Club - How the World Ends (2020) EN


I wrote about Sleepwalkers Baseball Club already in January 2019 when a super intriguing single Grow Wings was released, then there was an EP called Six Steps Back. And now, finally, a long play How the World Ends that's a "culmination of three years, three jobs, three laptops, countless hours, and zero instruments".

Despite the fact that the artist swears he didn't mean to release an album about the end of the world during what seems to be one, it's inevitable that it is very on time. He knows it as he adds: "if nothing else, maybe it will serve as a good soundtrack for the insanity that is 2020". The theme is clear from the first song and its electronically infused post-punk. The vocals, lyrics and distinctive bass line fit this genre while there is also the richness of electronic sounds (that sound so good for example in Beware).

You can easily notice that while the theme is dark and fatalistic, SBC doesn't get rid of the synth melodic compositions and this contrast is bound to make the album such a good listen. And I can't not mention the wonderful cover art, so well designed and fitting my personal taste. Good job.

How the World Ends costs 7 USD.

Check: Beware
Country: Washington, US
Genre: electronic post-punk



Sleepwalkers Baseball Club - How the World Ends (2020) PL


O Sleepwalkers Baseball Club pisałem już w styczniu 2019, kiedy to ukazał się szalenie intrygujący singiel Grow Wings, później była EP-ka Six Steps Back. Teraz w końcu ukazał się debiutancki long play How the World Ends będący "kulminacją trzech lat, trzech miejsc pracy, trzech laptopów, niezliczonych godzin i zera instrumentów".

Chociaż artysta zarzeka się, że nie było jego celem wydanie albumu o końcu świata w czasie, który faktycznie ten przypomina to nie ulega wątpliwości, że jest on bardzo aktualny. Zresztą muzyk dodaje: "jeśli nic więcej, to może album posłuży jako odpowiednia ścieżka dźwiękowa do wariactwa, jakim jest rok 2020". Temat pobrzmiewa od pierwszego kawałka i jego przesyconego elektroniką post-punku. Wokal, teksty i wyraźny bas bardzo do tego gatunku pasują. Z drugiej strony mamy bogactwo elektronicznych dźwięków (które świetnie grają np. w Beware).

Rzuca się w uszy, że mimo mrocznego, fatalistycznego tematu, SBC nie zrezygnował z synthowych, melodyjnych kompozycji i pewnie ten kontrast sprawia, że tak dobrze słucha się tego wydawnictwa. Nie można zapominać też o znakomitym cover arcie w moim ulubionym stylu. Klasa.

How the World Ends kosztuje 28 złotych (7 USD).

Sprawdź: Beware
Kraj: Waszyngton, US
Szufladka: electronic post-punk



wtorek, 21 lipca 2020

Ben Shemie - A Single Point of Light (2020) EN


Ben Shemie is the vocalist and guitars of the fantastic Suuns. But it turns out that he makes music also solo and this year released the second album under his own surname. So it's time to catch up and have a look at A Single Point of Light.

The album "focuses on the perception of light, both figuratively and literally (...), how we can all see the same thing but perceive it differently". Every fan of Suuns should instantly recognize the band's unique style in Shemie's works: similar electronic effects, minimalism of form that bring maximum artistic value, dark vibe. The album was "recorded in one day, all live off the floor, with no overdubs" which only makes the feeling of minimalism and lo-fi magic deeper. The examples here are numerous: based on the nervous beeping Ties That Bind, very much Suuns-like vibrating backgrounds in Change or the album's finish in the electronically massacred ballad The River.

Great idea was to interlace more traditional, if you could even call them that, songs with tracks that create electronic bridges between them. In this way the melodic compositions seem to be lost within this electronic hotchpotch so the listener has to dig for them which makes a really satisfying job.

A Single Point of Light costs 7 EUR.

Sprawdź: The River
Kraj: Kanada
Szufladka: electronic minimalwave
Label: Hands in the Dark



Bem Shemie - A Single Point of Light (2020) PL


Ben Shemie to oczywiście wokalista i gitarzysta fantastycznych Suuns. Okazuje się jednak, że tworzy również solowo, a w tym roku wydał już drugą płytę pod swoim nazwiskiem. Czas więc nadrobić zaległości i przyjrzeć się A Single Point of Light.

Płyta "skupia się na odbiorze światła, zarówno dosłownie jak i w przenośni (...), w jaki sposób wszyscy widzimy tę samą rzecz lecz odbieramy ją inaczej". Każdy fan Suuns od razu rozpozna w pracach Shemiego niepowtarzalny styl zespołu, podobne elektroniczne efekty, minimalizm formy przynoszący maksymalne wrażenia artystyczne, mroczny vibe. Artysta płytę "nagrał jednego dnia, na żywo, bez żadnych dogrywek", co pogłębia wrażenie minimalizmu i lo-fi'owej magii. Przykłady można mnożyć: oparte na nerwowym pikaniu Ties That Bind, bardzo suunsowe wibrujące tło w Change, czy zamykająca album zmasakrowana elektroniką ballada The River.

Znakomity efekt daje przeplatanie bardziej tradycyjnych, jeśli można o tym w ogóle pisać, piosenek kawałkami tworzącymi między nimi elektroniczne pomosty. Daje to efekt zagubienia melodyjnych kompozycji wśród eksperymentalnego misz-maszu, przez co każdy musi się do nich dokopać, a jest to nadzwyczaj satysfakcjonujące zadanie.

A Single Point of Light kosztuje 32 złote (7 EUR).

Sprawdź: The River
Kraj: Kanada
Szufladka: electronic minimalwave
Label: Hands in the Dark



czwartek, 11 czerwca 2020

Sugar High - Love Addict (2020) EN


This kind of music rarely makes it to my blog. But "dark r'n'b" from the American Sugar High gets to me quite well. So Love Addict, the artists' debut under this moniker, had to be posted about here.

The duo consists of Kris Esfandiari and Darcy Baylis, not anonymous people for the NY scene. Together they make music that besides the very clear and attention-worthy electronic beat, undoubtedly charms with the atmosphere. Although there are guitars in the background from time to time, there's no doubt this is electronic music made for slow-dancing on the dance floor. Dream pop vocals and somewhat slow pace made me listen to this short after all EP breathlessly.

Love Addict costs 10 USD.

Check: Flowers and Pollution
Country: New York, US
Genre: dark r'n'b



Sugar High - Love Addict (2020) PL


Nieczęsto na mojego bloga trafia taka muzyka. Tymczasem "mroczne r'n'b" amerykańskiego Sugar High trafia do mnie niezwykle silne. Także Love Addict, debiut artystów pod tym szyldem, musiał się tu znaleźć.

Duet tworzą Kris Esfandiari i Darcy Baylis, postaci nieanonimowe na nowojorskiej scenie. Wspólnie grają muzykę, która mimo bardzo wyrazistego elektronicznego bitu niezaprzeczalnie czaruje mroczną atmosferą. W tłach pojawiają się co prawda gitary, jednak nie ma wątpliwości, że to muzyka elektroniczna przeznaczona do powolnego pląsania na parkiecie. Dreampopowe wokale i nieprzesadnie szybkie tempo dają jej eterycznej mgły, a interesujące kompozycje sprawiają, że niedługiej przecież EP-ki słucha się z zapartym tchem.

Love Addict kosztuje 40 złotych (10 USD).

Sprawdź: Flowers and Pollution
Kraj: Nowy Jork, US
Szufladka: dark r'n'b



poniedziałek, 8 czerwca 2020

Lontalius & Singular Balance - Alive (2020) PL


Współpraca Eddie Johnstona i Justina Tate'a Ueyama-Burke'a czyli Lontaliusa i Singular Balance zaowocowała niedługą EP-ką Alive, która jednak zatrzymuje słuchacza przy sobie na dłużej.

Do Nowozelandczyka czuję niewątpliwą sympatię - pisze on piosenki o miłości, które nie są przy tym banalne, a wykonuje je swoi ekspresywnym, pełnym emocji głosem. W dodatku o przykucie uwagi dbają w jego muzyce elektroniczne wstawki i chórki. Nic dziwnego, że All I Wanna Say to jeden z moich ulubionych kawałków jeśli chodzi o elektroniczny indie pop. Na tej płycie blisko niego podchodzi szlagierowy The Ocean. Szacunek za umiejętność pisania balladowych bangierów.

A pomocą w tym Johnstonowi służył tym razem amerykański artysta elektroniczny Singular Balance, a to tylko spowodowało, że elektroniczne podkłady stały się jeszcze ciekawsze.

Alive kosztuje 15 złotych (3 GBP).

Sprawdź: The Ocean
Kraj: Nowa Zelandia/Nowy Jork, US
Szufladka: ballad electropop



Lontalius & Singular Balance - Alive (2020) EN


The cooperation between Eddie Johnston and Justin Tate Ueyama-Burke known also as Lontalius and Singular Balance resulted in this not too long EP entitled Alive that still draws attention of the audience for a longer time.

Undoubtedly, I really like the New Zealander - he manages to write love songs that are not too obvious and performs those with his expressive, emotion-filled voice. What's more, what catches attention of the listeners are the electronic parts and backing vocals. No wonder that All I Wanna Say is one of my favourite songs if it comes to the electronic indie pop. On this album, the closest to to it, is the catchy The Ocean. The artist has my respect for being able to write such ballad-bangers.

And here, Johnston is aided by the American electronic artist Singular Balance which only made the electronic backgrounds more interesting.

Alive costs 3 GBP.

Check: The Ocean
Country: New Zealand/New York, US
Szufladka: ballad electropop