News

Rhye, the JUNO Award-winning project of Los Angeles-based, Toronto-born musician, Michael Milosh, releases a new single/video, Come In Closer, from his forthcoming album, Home, out January 22 on Last Gang Records. As presented on previous singles, Black Rain, Beautiful, and Helpless, every element of Home is intentional and meant to reverberate on a higher extra-sensory plane. This sense of purpose is just as clear on Come In Closer, which unfurls with ambient sounds from a rainstorm that descended upon his home studio in Topanga during tracking. Watch Come In Closer here. 

Click to save/stream “Come In Closer” + pre-order Home

Thematically, Come In Closer presents how “as relationships deepen and you invite someone into your world, your life, your home, layers of appreciation, vulnerability, and patience reveal themselves,” whether it be a romantic relationship as in the song or a relationship between siblings as in the video. Directed by Milosh and Genevieve Medow-Jenkins and filmed in Big Sur, the video presents siblings “living without fear or inhibition, wild with the joy of simply being.” 

Since the release of Rhye’s 2013 debut Woman, Milosh mostly lived on the road, playing up to 100 shows a year and decamping in Toronto, Montreal, Thailand, the Netherlands, Germany and Los Angeles. On the heels of some major life changes, including a new relationship with Medow-Jenkins, he yearned for a more permanent space, a balm for the restless spirit and a place to simply be. Home, the follow-up to 2018’s JUNO Award-winning Blood, is centered around the idea of home as the core of creativity and community. It’s familiar in its synthesis of propulsive beats, orchestral flourishes, piano ruminations and sultry, gender-nonconforming vocals, but never have they sounded more cohesive or alive. 

Written throughout 2019 and early 2020, Home was recorded at United Recording Studios, Revival at The Complex (Earth, Wind, & Fire), as well as Milosh’s home studio, and mixed by Alan Moulder (Nine Inch Nails, Interpol, My Bloody Valentine). The album features the Danish National Girls’ Choir, who Rhye performed with at a landmark concert in Denmark in 2017. 

Today, Funklordz duo Chromeo have released a new co-produced EP with fellow Montreal producer/artist, Anomalie, titled Bend The Rules. Dropping via Chromeo’s new imprint, Juliet Records – in partnership with their longtime label, Last Gang Records – the three-track EP showcases Anomalie’s signature beats-heavy jazz throughout, dressed in the analog synth textures that the Funklordz are known for.

Listen to Bend The Rules here and watch/share the visualizer for On My Mind here. 

“Working on Bend The Rules with Chromeo made me feel like I was finally reunited with my long lost cousins from Montreal,” says Anomalie. “The blend of Dave and Pee’s funkiness, stellar vocals and talkbox chops with my keyboard layers and arrangement approach is something I’m so happy and proud of. To release this feels not only exciting, but like it was meant to happen!” 

Anomalie is in a singular position: his fanbase is a combination of the new jazz muso scene (Snarky Puppy, Thundercat, Louis Cole), the soulful beats scene (FKJ, Masego, Tom Misch) and the post dubstep electronic scene (Griz, Odesza, Opiuo). He’s at once a piano virtuoso, a keyboard whiz and a skilled producer and songwriter that has toured worldwide and performed at the likes of Red Rocks and Electric Forest Festival. 

“We’ve been following Anomalie’s career for years and to us, he’s in the lineage of the great 80s Montreal jazz fusion bands we used to listen to growing up, like UZEB: unapologetically technical, but funky as hell,” reflects Chromeo. “We love the way he built his career and cultivated his fanbase organically, without any help or hype. So we hit him up to come to Burbank, let him freak all our synths, followed his lead…and the Bend The Rules EP was born. We’re thrilled to release a project with an artist from our hometown on our very own label, Juliet.”

Artwork c/o Mat Maitland

Following the release of “Look Up Through The Trees,” Vancouver-based artist Noble Oak has unveiled a new dreamy single – titled “Out Of The Window”.

Both tracks preface the release of his upcoming Stories EP, a collection of piano-inspired instrumentals due for release in 2021.

**Click to save/stream “Out Of The Window”

Speaking on his new work Noble Oak’s Patrick Fiore says, “These 5 pieces are a return to the beginnings of my musical world. Since about as far back as I can remember, I have sat at the piano and played whatever came into my mind. Occasionally I would record what I played, and these pieces are 5 of those such recordings.

Inspired by moments and visions of the world, they are the most pure offerings I can create at a given time, played upon my most fluent instrument. There are moments where words fail and music speaks; my chosen language has always been the piano. My hope is that these sounds will be a place for your mind to explore, and find solace, in the same way I have been able to for so long.”

Stories follows Noble Oak’s LP Horizon, released earlier this summer. Lauded for breathing “fresh air into the electronic dream pop world” (Exclaim), Horizon marked Noble Oak’s debut for Last Gang Records andis an enchanting collection of post-chillwave pop, a sumptuous suite of sativa songs for hazy, lazy days.

Watch the music video for “Escape” on YouTube.

Save/stream “Escape” here.

Today, Low Hum shares the brand new single “Escape” via the music video directed by Bianca Poletti. “Escape” is the first new music from the Hawaiian-born, Los Angeles-based musician Collin Desha since the release of 2019’s debut album Room To Breathe. Aside from garnering recognition from NPR Music, KCRW, Relix and Clash Magazine among others, Room To Breathe engendered comparisons to the stylings of Tame Impala and beloved UK group The Beta Band. The songs on the album have found a global audience on YouTube and Spotify, with 10s of millions of organic streams among music fanatics on message boards and social media. A phenomenon that caught Desha off guard as his YouTube subscribers and streams increased exponentially in the months that followed Room To Breathe’s release.

“I first started to see videos that transcribed a few of my songs in Spanish and I was humbled by it,” says Desha. “Eventually it started to reach India, South Korea, Australia, Brazil… I was so impressed by the positivity in the comment section between everyone I became ecstatic my music was the thing bringing this little online community together.” 

“Escape” is the first glimpse of Low Hum’s forthcoming new album Nonfiction, recorded and co-produced with Jon Joseph, and due out in 2021. Nonfiction expands upon Desha’s kaleidoscopic Lo-fi meets Hi-fi futurism: a mixture of oceanic tranquility, dreampop-like sensibilities, heavy fuzzed-out riffs juxtaposed alongside melodious synth and vocals with refreshing punch. “Escape” is also the first official co-write Desha did as Low Hum, working with his old friend Andrew Herringer (Milo Greene). As the title might suggest, the lyrics touch upon their shared desire to explore life outside the confines of Los Angeles. An impulse that many city dwellers can relate to, which has only been amplified by COVID 19’s restrictions on the vibrant communal experiences that would usually provide the payoff for putting up with the cramped living spaces and sensory overload that can sometimes stifle creativity or put a stress on mental health.

The video for “Escape” is less about Desha’s personal experience, and rather about “exploring the many different motivations and needs people have for escaping,” he explains. “People escape from bad memories, problems, complicated relationships and so on. The video started as an idea to interpret that from different points of view.” Through mutual friends Desha tapped director Bianca Poletti who brought the vision to life. “I’ve always been intrigued by stories about runaways and really enjoy playing with the line between reality and imagination,” explains Poletti. “‘Escape’ inspired me to explore shedding layers of your past self with the intention of rebuilding, and the dream of a new beginning.” In the video Poletti incorporates dance and movement to portray emotional context for the accompanying music to great effect.

Low Hum, Desha says “was always meant to be my creative refuge, a place for me to escape my own reality and give me a sense of freedom” and is happy it has motivated those who listen “to feel a sense of community and that we are all in this together.” Stay tuned for further news and music from the forthcoming album Nonfiction in the coming months.

Announces Curbside Tour & collaboration with Austin Public Library.

Save / stream “James Crow” here.

Genre-bending musician and multimedia artist Mobley is known for creating catchy hooks and melodic pop songs that never leave your head. With his newest single, “James Crow,” he’s created a shout-along ‘60s rock band sound (assisted by Spoon’s Jim Eno on the mix) with thought-provoking lyrics that may take a second to sink in. Mobley wrote the song in 2018 when he was away in Thailand, where the distance from the US opened up themes of belonging, alienation and speaking truth to power. Allusions to segregation and the minstrel song “Jump Jim Crow” set up a takedown of the unjust systems and revanchist politics of current times. 

“I want to draw people in with that serotonin hit you get from a catchy, well-crafted song,” explains Mobley. “But once they’re in, I want to implicate them in all of the grim, unsightly realities of what’s going on in our country. As they’re singing along, it’s like ‘What did he say? What am I chanting right now?’” 

To celebrate the song’s release, Mobley will embark on a “Curbside Tour” to perform “James Crow” from the streets outside the houses of fans. Each performance will be intimate (one family per yard) and from a safe social distance of a dozen or more feet. He will also give out handmade, bootleg cassettes of the single. For out-of-town fans, Mobley will offer one-on-one livestream performances. In addition, Mobley is curating a reading list of books that explore themes in the song for the Austin Public Library.

Earlier this year, the Austin local released his first single and video “Nobody’s Favourite” from his upcoming EP Young & Dying in the Occident Supreme. Today, he shares his second single and video “James Crow.” The story picks up where the video for “Nobody’s Favourite” leaves off, with Mobley and his heroine escaping the surreal prison of a creepy, secret society mansion. Both videos are a part of a larger film directed by Mobley, spanning every track on his upcoming EP. 

Rhye — the project of Canadian-born JUNO Award-winner, Michael Milosh — releases a new slinky, R&B number, Helpless, with an accompanying video directed by his partner, Genevieve Medow-Jenkins.

Following the recently released Beautiful, which “starts with a throb of strings before cohering around a sharp beat and muscular bass line, distantly echoing solo Bryan Ferry tracks from the early Eighties” (Rolling Stone),  Helpless focuses on love in its most intimate and romantic form. With his distinct countertenor, Milosh chronicles the desire to “write a million love songs,” not as a grand gesture but an everyday promise. His voice glides over an euphonious blend of percussion, string arrangements, and a flurry of synths and keys. 

**Click to save/stream “Helpless”

Shot around their hometown of Los Angeles, the Helpless video champions the creative connection between Milosh and Medow-Jenkins. It features actress Conor Leslie, dancer, director and choreographer Fatima Robinson, and Fatima’s son Xuly Williams. “The video for ‘Helpless’ evokes our earliest memories of being young and dreaming up what love and joy could look like,” says Milosh. Medow-Jenkins adds: “Creating art like this video, made with our closest friends, has been the greatest joy of our quarantine. We hope it can inspire you to dream  what love and joy can look for your life now: through friendship, family, or a perfect stranger.”

Recently, Milosh and Diplo collaborated on XII, a track off of Diplo’s first ever ambient album, MMXX. Originally only available via the Calm app, the album is out everywhere now.  Additionally, Milosh has been performing livestreams as part of the LA-based creative community, Secular Sabbath, including Corona Sabbath with Diplo, as well as morning ambient performances and a sunrise serenade with Joseph August. Secular Sabbath initially focused on live ambient music events, but has expanded with a range of offerings.

Noble Oak’s shimmery track “Morning” has received the famed KONGOS remix treatment.

While the album version of “Morning” evokes a War On Drugs meets Washed Out sonic journey, KONGOS have elevated the track in showcasing an arena-worthy track full of kaleidoscopic beats and flourishing synths.

**Click to save/stream “Morning (KONGOS Remix)

The original version of “Morning” is featured on the Vancouver electro dream-pop artist’s album Horizon, released earlier this summer. Lauded for breathing “fresh air into the electronic dream pop world” (Exclaim), Horizon marked Noble Oak’s debut for Last Gang Records and is an enchanting collection of post-chillwave pop, a sumptuous suite of sativa songs for hazy, lazy days. Patrick has also been completing work on an exciting new project set for release this Fall.

“My intent from day one was literally to make the most beautiful songs that I possibly can,” says Fiore. “And to hope that the world can understand that and see it.” For Fiore, the concept of the horizon has spiritual overtones—which is why his third full-length is titled Horizon. As someone born and raised beside the Pacific Ocean in Vancouver, B.C., the horizon represents a calming, stabilizing presence in a hostile world. During a brief two-year stint in Toronto recently, Fiore felt adrift, in part because he had to climb to the roof of his house to get any sense of expanse. Now back on the West Coast, he has an apartment where the ocean is within sight. The horizon is always visible, beckoning. For Fiore, it represents “possibility, a centre, the edge of the earth, unimaginable infinity.”

Today Louis Prince (aka Jake McMullen) shares the audiovisual zine “Friends”, a collection of 120 sounds and 100 images from 80 different contributors. Driven by McMullen’s desire to connect with friends during social distancing, the zine serves as a collective digital time capsule of life during the COVID era. The goal, explains McMullen in further detail below, was “to illustrate how sound ties us all together.” Louis Prince’s debut album Thirteen, which saw its release on Friday, March 13th just as the world began to shutter itself, is out now on Last Gang Records. Among other praise, Exclaim! lauded the album for “a feel for space and texture that leads to some impressively lush arrangements.”

**Watch/Listen to the “Friends” Zine on YouTube.

***Purchase “Friends” on Bandcamp. All proceeds donated to the NAACP.

Louis Prince on “Friends”…

In the midst of quarantine, social reform and several other personal things, I felt the need to do something to make sense of the world the only way I know how, of course, through music. But I wanted to be outside of myself–not make my own music. I was inspired by seeing some other artists doing similar projects like this, and seeing as everyone’s world is different and no two people are going to do the same thing, I set out to create my own. 

So, a few months back I started messaging everyone I could think of who is near and dear to me asking for any sounds and visuals they felt like sharing. No rules. Just had to be from them. I didn’t play anything on this, merely pieced it all together. The goal was to illustrate how sound ties us all together. My friend and wonderfully talented collaborator, Kevin Clark, then helped me sort through the visual piece that accompanies it. 

My desire was to have this all to act as a time capsule of sorts; to find the joy in the midst of so much confusion and pain, or at least try to scrape at its surface.  I hope it meets you and finds you wherever you are and in what you need. Thanks.