London born, France resident singer Blakk Pearl released her debut single ‘Cowboy’ at the end of last year. Sleek and commodious and driven by a subtle backbeat and a warm marimba sound, the track perfectly showcases Blakk Pearl’s haunting, mellifluent tones floating atop a lush and otherworldly dreamscape.
Blakk Pearl has now shared a video for her debut single, a video she has put together herself: “I love 1930’s era cut-out animation, and when I came across this clip of this beautiful trio of fairies trying to help a soldier, who had lost his way in the woods, I knew it was the perfect video for ‘Cowboy.’ It tells the story of ‘Cowboy’ so beautifully and delicately, and in such a feminine way”.
Blakk Pearl grew up in North London and moved to Devon when she was a young teenager, where she would watch her, by now absent, father on US TV shows and hear of his activities in LA as a manager of NWA.
She now lives in a convent just outside Toulouse in France. Having rebuilt it from a ruin, it serves as her creative hub and sanctuary. Blakk Pearl divides her time between Toulouse, London and Paris.
Blakk Pearl’s first EP is set for release via Kobalt in early 2018.
LINKS:
http://blakkpearlmusic.com
https://instagram.com/blakkpearlmusic
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Cinthya Hussey – My Heart Is A Ghost Town (Julian Shah-Tayler’s Spooky Remix)
Cinthya Hussey has just premiered her new video for her remix single titled ‘My Heart Is A Ghost Town (Julian Shah-Tayler’s Spooky Remix)’.
Cinthya, to me, screams mega talent. In more ways than one. She is an accomplished actress as well as a stellar singer. And now she gives a perfect collaborative example with the help of Julian Shah-Tayler with this new video.
Cinthya and Julian mix like oil and water, which is a good thing in this case. First off, listen to the original HERE. Are you back? Ok, good. Now watch the new video above. See what I mean? What we have here are two very compatible yet different artists coming together in a beautiful mix of talent, harmony, and sheer love of the craft.
The multiple layers of instruments and melody surround Cinthya’s subtly angelic vocal style with imagination and collective crescendo that culminates to an aural passion for the craft. This is a song that will become a soundtrack to your next memory if you let it. And combine that to that certain something that Julian possesses in his own right and you have what music should be about: That love for the commentary of life.
Check out our other features with Cinthya Hussey HERE.
ABOUT CINTHYA HUSSEY
Cinthya Hussey is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, actress & visual artist.
A few years ago Cinthya watched a TED Talk featuring Paula Fuga and her inspirational speech ‘Believe In Yourself’ on how we all need to pursue our dreams. At the end of her presentation, Paula performs one of the songs on the ukulele that had brought her international recognition. Cinthya thought, “I could learn to play that instrument”.
Not long after, Cinthya was given her own ukulele as a present and taught herself to play by learning cover versions of songs that she has loved since being a teenager. There are several videos of Cinthya on her own YouTube channel performing songs by The Pixies, The Cure, Depeche Mode, & Cigarettes After Sex as well as the ‘official’ video for Cinthya’s first single, released in July 2020, of her stunning reworking of Morrissey’s ‘Everyday Is Like Sunday’. Produced by Wayne Hussey, singer-guitarist in the British band The Mission, who has also produced Cinthya’s 2nd single, ‘My Heart Is A Ghost Town’.
‘My Heart Is A Ghost Town’ – a vision of 50s/60s pop meets the Cocteau Twins meets David Lynch – is the first song that Cinthya has written herself, originally a poem that she recently put to music, which will be included on her debut solo album planned for release in 2021.
Cinthya has also recently contributed vocals to a couple of remixes of the Beauty In Chaos anthem, ‘The Delicate Balance Of All Things’. The ‘Rapid Reiteration Mix’ is remixed by renowned producer Tim Palmer whose credits include U2, Pearl Jam, Robert Plant, & David Bowie among many others, and the ‘Equipoise Mix’ is mixed by the Beauty In Chaos head honcho Michael Ciravolo in tandem with Grammy-winning producer Michael Rozon. Cinthya’s unique paintings were also used as artwork for the albums ‘Out Of Chaos Comes’ and ‘Chaos Continues…’
This is what Tim Palmer has had to say about working with Cinthya:
‘I had the opportunity to mix ‘The Delicate Balance Of All Things’ recently for Cinthya and it was a joy. Her voice is something special.
Ever since I was a young lad, I have been attracted to the sound of foreign female voices singing in English. Astrid Gilberto, Charlotte Gainsburg, or even Abba, always exude something special by being from far off lands. Somehow the accent gives the voice an innocence, mystery, and charm. Well, Cinthya has all that and more. Her choice of notes is refreshing and unique and I am left wanting to hear more. I wish her great success.’
And Michael Ciravolo, the curator of the Beauty In Chaos collective, wrote this about Cinthya:
‘‘The Delicate Balance Of All Things’ was the first tune I wrote for ‘The Storm Before The Calm’ and still one of my favorites. When I heard Cinthya do her cover of ‘Everyday Is Like Sunday’ I really fell in love with her voice. When I initially sent this stripped-down version to her and Wayne I thought she would sing more backing vocals and harmonies to Wayne’s original lead vocal, but when we received the trackback it was like WOW! Cinthya really took the song over ad took it to a new, totally different and beautiful place and I knew it was something special.’
Wayne Hussey, who has recorded both of Cinthya’s two singles in his own Green Room Studio in the countryside outside of Sao Paulo, commented:
‘Cinthya has a unique and singular vision. It’s rare, in my experience, for new musicians to be so certain of what they want to do, how they want to sound, as Cinthya is. It’s refreshing. Both recordings were totally driven by her, my job being principal to help her realize the soundscapes she was hearing in her head. Her voice is certainly something individual and the way she phrases things is unlike anyone else I know of. There is a sensuality to her voice that is effortless which is as all real sensuality should be.’
LINKS:
https://www.cinthyahussey.com
https://www.instagram.com/cinthyahussey
https://www.facebook.com/CinthyaHusseyOfficial
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdPB8SkrT7a0tNGPHkRDllQ -
Like A Storm – Love the Way You Hate Me
New Zealand hard rock band Like A Storm was formed by brothers Chris, Matt & Kent Brooks. Connect with Like A Storm below.
iTUNES: http://bit.ly/1hbl7qS
OFFICIAL STORE: http://bit.ly/1f8Fc1w
WEBSITE: http://bit.ly/1frOAto
TWITTER: http://bit.ly/1oEkbzU
FACEBOOK: http://on.fb.me/MqzNZ3“Love The Way Hate Me”, from “Chaos Theory: Part 1”
All rights reserved FATAL RECORDS 2013 -
ELYXR – Strange Stubborn Proud (featuring Information Society’s Kurt Harland Larson)
Seattle-based artist ELYXR and Kurt Harland Larson from legendary synth band Information Society have teamed up to present their collaborative single ‘Strange Stubborn Proud’.
Formed in 1982 while in college, Larson started Information Society, which would become a decades-long involvement with music, electronic audio, and recording/programming. As a synthpop band, Information Society achieved mainstream success in the late eighties and early nineties, most widely known for their 1988 hit single ‘What’s On Your Mind? (Pure Energy)’. Larson reunited with his former bandmates in 2007, giving the band new impetus, releasing new material and touring internationally.
ELYXR is a collaborative project with a penchant for concocting modern synthpop potions, headed by Seattle-based indie-electronic artist Kasson Crooker (Symbion Project, Freezepop), who not only produces his releases but also mixes and masters them at Speed of Dark Music studios in Seattle.
Strongly influenced by the likes of Depeche Mode, New Order, Moderat, and Information Society, ELYXR merges the best of old-school 80’s synthpop with modern electropop production, similar to artists like Röyksopp, Goldfrapp, and Marsheaux. The origins of this project trace back to many years of making electropop with Freezepop, during which time Kasson met many other talented artists. ELYXR was the perfect outlet to collaborate with them, creating a fresh synthpop sound.
“I first heard Freezepop in the early ‘00’s, and immediately told my wife, who worked at a record store, about them. Shortly thereafter she got them to come out to San Francisco for an in-store appearance, which was, I think, their first San Francisco trip. I loved Kasson’s work with Freezepop over those years, and when he started Elyxr, I jumped at the chance to make music together for the first time,” explains Kurt Harland Larson.
“The lyrics for SSP were inspired by the words of a friend. I read what she wrote and spun them up into lyrics. I hope that anyone who hears the song can hear the duality in the lyrics: While clearly striking a proud and defiant tone, there is also a note of tragedy in the voice; anyone who must walk this sort of path must endure rather a lot of social suffering.”
While some of ELXYR past work has been dreamy and introspective, ‘Strange Stubborn Proud’ is more an in-your-face mix of classic synthpop and electro. This track is upbeat and energetic, featuring modern synthesizer sounds intermingled with detuned vintage synths over complex and syncopated drum machines. The unique nature of each song’s vocalist takes each composition in a different aesthetic direction.
“Information Society is one of my most influential bands and helped inspire me to begin making synthpop in the 80’s. In fact, InSoc was the very first band I ever went to see as a teenager,” says Kasson Crooker.
“I’ve known Kurt from InSoc now for many years as he and I both do music/audio production for video games. We just needed to find the right song to work on together. I gave him some song options to choose from and was psyched that he found one that channeled a bit of the early InSoc “Running” sound. I love the fact that, through the lyrics, he unapologetically states his motives and how he operates outside of society’s norms and conventions!”
Forfeiting the standard route of releasing albums and EPs, ELXYR is shaking up that model by releasing each single as it is completed. ELYXR has issued a string of six electrifying singles in the past six months, featuring Color Theory, Elissa LeCoque from enigmatic Brooklyn act Kodachrome, Katrina Kope from Seattle-band Purr Gato, Naoko Takamoto of Princess Problems, and long-time collaborator Melissa R. Kaplan from Kasson’s previous band Splashdown.
‘Strange Stubborn Proud’ released on March 9 on all notable online stores and streaming platforms, as well as on ELYXR’s Bandcamp.
“The perfect synthpop storm… one of the catchiest tracks of the year, voiced by a man who set the standard for American synthpop in InSoc’s Kurt Harland Larson”
– Echosynthetic“ELYXR have released a whole selection of electronic gems… a fascinating musical endeavour by the ever-talented Kasson Crooker”
– The Electricity Club“Kasson Crooker is a tireless musical chameleon, exploring the limits of electronic instruments and composition”
– Modern SynthpopLINKS:
http://elyxr.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/ELYXRband
http://twitter.com/symbionproject
http://www.youtube.com/user/symbionproject