Following on from my review of DEEK`s 4 Down compilation, here are a few more recent, current, and forthcoming pieces of modern pop music.
Mood Hut founder, Ian Wyatt, revives his Local Artist persona. Emerging from a long year of loss, and travel. There are four tracks on the Touch Tone E.P., but for me the title cut is the one. Pop of the electro kind, like Deewee meets Prince. Riding a white horse through Erotic City, in need of a freak, amidst dub-disco whip cracks and Sweet Exorcist bleeps.
Be With Records launch their new Be Pop imprint with a white vinyl 12 from Lou Hayter. Cherry On Top is a late summer love song, sporting a fancy swimsuit sleeve. Blue-eyed r&b that shares a strawberry Mivvi with Nite Jewel and Daniel Loptain`s Games. Filtered beats that pay tribute to “the French Touch” (Philippe Zdar RIP). Synths come in bright solar explosions. Electric keys and guitar jangle, in jazzy blooms.
On Leng Payfone sing about spending Last Night In Sant Celoni. About escaping the city and finding love in a sleepy Catalonian village. About avoiding the trappings of fame, and not being afraid to be lonely. The duet half sung, half spoken, in English and Spanish. Playing out like the romance at the heart of Black Mirrors San Junipero. Synths making with the Mediterranean holiday melodies, while electric piano and slapped bass bang out a Brazilian-styled boogie. In Flagranti`s remix is effectively a dub. Looping and filtering the drums – again a la Motorbass – while chords conjure clouds being blown across blue skies.
Sillyboy’s Ghost Relatives release their debut long-player on Leng`s parental label, Claremont 56. Updating smooth 70s soft rock in the manner of Quinn Luke, and his Incarntations project. Doing it again, like Steely Dan, with Doobies What A Fool Believes keys, and a Curtis Mayfield falsetto. Unleashing lushly produced white funk that in places recalls Lewis Taylor`s classic Lucky. Full of horns, bluesy riffs, and orchestral strings. Perhaps influenced by later Beatles records. Gospel, via The Stones. Featuring songwriting that could find confederates in Wonderfulsound artists, such as Nev Cottee, Dr Robert, and Monks Road Social. Like a more linear, less abstract Liam Hayes.
Just in case you need reminding, and because four is Japan’s unluckiest number, here’s one of the gems from DEEK`s 4 Down.
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