Since the beginning of this magazine that we have been receiving great electronic tracks. For some reason, we didn’t post about those submissions because we felt they should be integrated into a specific mood. We are now building that mood with a monthly post focusing on the best of indietronica. This is Electromental – part 9.
Astrolemo – Röykshop
“A fusion of modernized Massive Attack, drug-free Flying Lotus and spicy Bonobo” it’s out Astrolemo describe their own sound in their latest “Röykshop“. For us mainly deep electronic, with beautiful waves that get more distance or more close in clever alternation as it also does feel closer to rock and more organic before it gets back to a more electro vibe. We get the comparison in the way the track flows several genres inside this scope, and we get the sonority as it feels like a track that empowers the listener and with subtle variations keeps the experience well alive for what feels to be some very short 2 minutes and 22 seconds, leaving us, as listeners, asking for more of it.
Ben Böhmer – Beyond Beliefs
Ben Böhmer whose work Billboard has described as “gorgeous” and “made for those magic moments on the dancefloor just before dawn” released his brand new single “Beyond Beliefs” at the beginning of July. The track is a perfect example of Böhmer’s stunning signature soundscape – it blends moody, atmospheric sounds with icy sine waves, creating a dreamy work and an instrumental world of its own. Hit play and let yourself go on the ride he created for us. There is nothing like it around.
Crush Club – Borderline
“Your instincts are good. Your body works. Everything has led to this moment. The crowd goes silent with anticipation. The sweat is in your eyes, fire in your chest”: this is the sentence behind Crush Club bio. As we got into “Borderline” (their latest single) we could feel each one of the words they wrote to introduce themselves. The amount of power they put into the track is so incredible that we know nobody will be indifferent to bounce around when they listened to this. Described as a “club-ready” track this massive old-school house track also incorporates modern elements sounding like a fresh hit and a novel way of hypnotizing every dance floor.
“Borderline is inspired by tracks that got us into dance music in the first place. We wanted to give you something fresh that also feels classic. The song is about searching for human connection in spaces that could seem off-limits or hard to find.”
Fete – Land
Fete new single is the entitled “Land“. An electronic track that also feels like a dreamer that feels pungent and filled with a Summer-like feeling. There is a constant pace in it, a groove that encompasses the track and that is sometimes interrupted by bits of classical melodies of euphoric strings. The bassline is the focus of the track and the element that remains the longest in our heads in what feels like a magical progression we can’t quite notice until we are actually listening to different sonorities. It’s an electronic track that also feels like a non-electronic track but a cinematic one, until it explodes to reminds us what is mainly all about.
Hot Mustard – JERKWATER STRUT
The less electronic element of this pack is also the one where the organic elements of the track get us into the same vibe as an electronic track and is, for that reason, the perfect contender as electromental track. Hot Mustard are the responsible one for that. The dynamic instrumental duo composed of Jack Powell and Nick Carusos will be releasing their debut album entitled “Mother Sauce” this year, but the opener is the marvellous “JERKWATER STRUT“. The track draws influences from the 60s and 70s on the genres of funk and soul but is also able to provide a very modern funky vibe around all of it. There are clever hooks that feel electrifying and there are catchy elements all over it especially when the electric guitar elements that are brief but spicy mix it all up. We can feel rock vibes, we can feel the groovy throw-backs, but we can mostly feel this modern ambience that makes us step up to the dancing part of the living room. Just too special!
Jigwave– Birkenglocks
Sounding, at first, outside the scope of electronic music, “Birkenglocks” is probably the most surprising electronic track you will hear today. Described as electro-funk, but mesmerizing in the way it mixes an electrifying version of what sounds like Cuban music with samples of retro-like disco, sounding like two completely distinct tracks in one. However, those two distinct tracks are succeeded one by the other like an incredible experience of two tracks of completely different genres. And if the first time we listened to it we felt a bit confused we also felt fascinated. The consequent plays felt more natural but equally fascinating. Guess this too is what novelty feels like in electronic music.
JKP – Vagator
2021 has proven to be a significant year for JKP with the London-based producer receiving support from Rufus Du Sol, Martin Garrix, Dj Sasha, and BBC Radio 1 with the incorporation of two of his recent releases. For us personally, “Vagator“, his latest track, was the one that got us. The track that completes the artist’ mini ep perfectly showcases what is all about: inspired by a trip to Goa (India) there are a lot of organic elements in what is ultimately a piece of dance music, but there are also some introspective vibes like the vocals that remind us that there is human life behind the flow, and a lot of drum-based elements that not only mark the pace but also keep it natural and engaging:
“With this track in particular I wanted to fuse hints of a familiar UK rave sound with more natural/ organic textures, as well as showing a more optimistic side to my music (as we enter into summer!)”
Koresma feat. Skysia – Beacon
Koresma (Ryan Lindberg) is an electronic producer based in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. Attention has been increasing on his capacity of making pure electronic tracks and sound escapes (we included). His chilled electro-acoustic vibes are again present in the most recent collaboration with Skysia in the track “Beacon“. It approaches electronic music with classical violins and a beautiful drum groove as both wanted to give the track a human and emotional element after composing and building the track throughout the last year. In the end, we get a beautiful and emotional track where we can feel depth and feeling throughout the electronic cadence that embodies it.
Liam Back – Play
Based in Germany, Liam Back is a motion graphic designer who started to create “pieces of sound” in 2007. In late 2011 (about ten years ago) he uploaded his first tracks which were the base for what is now a full musical career in the electronic world. “Play” is his latest, and the 1st of 4 new tracks he calls “electronic heaters”. Samples which alongside instrumentation deliver full-entitled songs. Somewhere between the lo-fi house and the electro-swing genres, the track feels spacey and wide open, with elements that feel natural but speeded up and very well treated and looped to transmit an electrifying feel that still feels relaxed. The big drops and bass elements are perhaps the highlights in a track we could easily dance to late at night in a festival.
Lucie Antunes – LNM
Fiery and bright. “LMN” the new single by the growing phenomenon Lucie Antunes summarizes the unique experience of her cinematic live performances in four electrifying minutes. After “Sergei“, her debut album released in 2019, she keeps exploring further into sound to find emotion in the depths of existence. She states LNM was born from two beings linked forever by music’s meeting. Standing for a new era where love and hope exist above everything else. There are actually few many words left we can say about the track. The listening experience is among the best experiences we had the last month. Overwhelming and engaging. Transcends electronic music, and also sounds transcendental in terms of feelings.
Pesky Kid – Cheap Topo Chico
Pesky Kid is a multi-media artist who has dabbled in a bit of everything, currently hoping to unleash “beats for self-actualization“. His latest track entitled “Cheap Topo Chico” is a gentle slide into what seems to be the 80s b-side. The tack serves itself of at least two distinct melodies – one more jazzy and other more electronic – and gently integrates them into a third one that is the product of both with layers of artificial sounding vocals that sound like coming from within. In the end, we get a nice “sliding” track that feels both atmospheric and electronic.
Sïckö – MMXVI.IX.X.
A series of 0s and 1s is all you can read about Sïckö‘s latest track entitled “MMXVI.IX.X.“. Everything about it is at first look experimental or like an automatic generation of music. When you listen to it you discover that what the act actually portrays are very danceable melodies that easily get out of ambience connotation and get well inside the electronic fields. The repetitiveness of the track traps the listener very soon in the experience and never really lets him/her go. Once it gets to the guitar-based vibes we are well into it and already moving our feet and heads effortlessly. There is like a secret genius here. And that is noticeable with the amount of following the project is gathering as more tracks are being released month after month.
Sound Of Fractures – Traces
British DJ and music producer Jamie Reddington is driven by building a listening experience that people can turn to when they want to feel something, which he describes as “emotional electronic music“, drawing heavily from real life, people, family, friends, and honest connections. “Traces” is the latest release from that set. Released on the 21st of July, the track fills in space with beautiful harmonies that feel as organic as electronic, mixing ambient with more active elements that feel like instrumental storytelling is happening. The music video is a collaboration with visual artist Jackson Ducasse (Dua Lipa, John Legend, among others), and a beautiful visual escape for the track. Very fitting as a soundtrack, there is a natural cinematic vibe around the track too. One that is even legitimate for a dance around its sonority.
“I don’t know where it will take me or what will influence me next and that’s exciting… Music as an experience should be fluid and lead you down new paths. I don’t want to fit in a box.”
Tolvy – Meaningless
Tolvy is Violette Tocqueville, and with only 19, she might very well be the new hope of electronic music in France. Taking inspiration in the sonority of acts like Petit Biscuit or Flume, this precocious and committed creative’s sonority is modern and takes in the power of house with a deep and full sound drawing the meaning behind tracks such as the new “Meaningless” without disregarding the simplicity of elements like the piano to make the build-up more organic.
VISSIA feat. Moses Belanger – My Wom
Going from an incredible and memorable vocal work, getting through a house-based sonority and finishing with a classic piano, Moses Belanger re-work on VISSIA’s “My Wom” is an electronic gem we can listen to on almost any daily setting. The Montreal-based electronic-house producer showcases VISSIA’s work like a groovy meditation where the lyrics “you know she’s fine on her own, but she knows how to hold space” re-insures us of independence and a mindset that is so necessary in today’s world. Of course, VISSIA’s voice can’t be other than the focus of the track and the one thing we grab on to mentally after the track finishes. But we think Moses Belanger knows that. And that might very well turn him into a Summer sensation all over the world.
YAMM Twenty One – Cyber Miles
Inspired by the biggest names in music with special references like Jean-Michel Jarre, Daft Punk and Chemical Brothers, YAMM Twenty One is a new electronic artist
who started making music in the late 80s with what he could find at home. As he evolved he set up a home studio and created his own electronic culture and sonority. “Cyber Miles” is a track that makes the listener embark on a short trip to cyberspace. A trip where turbulence is to be expected but where everything is under control to guarantee our safety. With a clear retro feel encapsulated with a lot of novelty effects, this is the latest track by a new take on French-based electronic music.
All these tracks (and previous tracks featured in Electromental) are also in our Spotify Playlist: