You know that scene in the movie where the camera pans over the wild untamed landscape from above, a single winding road cutting through the crystalline ice capped hills and dense green forests? It’s twilight and a single set of headlights light up the road. Dark clouds signify a storm is brewing. The camera begins to zoom in and we follow the car for a few more seconds, driving steadily and carefully through the scene. The windscreen wipers work against the falling sleet. The camera cuts to inside the car and it’s there we see the protoganist, staring straight ahead, their face hollow, deep in steely thought and concentration The events of the last few days have changed her as a person forever. She’s driving to the final destination. The moment of truth is about to arrive. Your pulse quickens and you realise that you are gripping the arm of your chair in tense anticipation. Then the camera fades and the climax begins. This is the soundtrack to that scene. Off course I have no idea what was in E.M.M.A’s head when she wrote Into Indigo, it may well have been fluffy bunnies, but what I do know is that it’s seven years since her acclaimed debut Blue Gardens. Now she’s back with a Indigo Dream, her forthcoming album which is released on July 29th. It includes a track called Ryan Gosling In Space and for that reason alone is worth buying. The field of electronic music is one area that is still hugely dominated by men. That is slowly (ever so slowly) changing and in that scene E.M.M.A has been quietly established herself, gaining much respect not only through her released music, but her work as a soundtracker and her behind-the-scenes work as the founder of Producergirls, the UK’s first free-to-attend beginners’ electronic music production workshops for women. Take a listen Into Indigo, a superbly crafted piece and imagine your film scene. E.M.M.A - Into Indigo
Today’s new artist is South African born, London based singer-songwriter Bella Lathum. She goes by the name of Baby Queen. She makes songs that have a big pop heart, but they’re just a little roughed up around the edges; I could imagine her listening to Dua Lipa and Taylor Swift but then putting on Avril Lavigne and Paramore loud and mixing those ideas up to serve as her own musical dish of angst. She’s already had a hand in writing for Sofi Tukker (featured many times on this blog) which is made more interesting because of the fact that they have a song called Baby I’m A Queen. Although Bella wasn't to my knowledge involved in that one. Bella has just two songs on line at the moment - although if you do your Google detective work you might find that she first released some music in 2014 when she still lived in Durban.
The debut single under her Baby Queen moniker was called Internet Religion and it explores the slightly problematic and narcissistic relationship many people have with the likes of Instagram: “Let me show you all the best parts of my life, my clothes and my phone and the gap in my thighs,” she sings of the unreal identities that some people seem desperate to forge on line. There's a certain irony that people criticise fake news yet are happy to fake it on Instagram, Snapchat etc. Maybe in years to come we'll look back and think of filtered selfies as weird freakish exhibitionism, or maybe it will seem odd to not to participate? Now it’s coupled with the newly released Buzzkill, which mixes a spoken drawl in the verse with an ultra-hooky chorus. But despite the bubbliness of the melody Buzzkill isn’t a happy tune: “When the party came to life I imagined I was dead,” she tells us as she ruminates on her unhappiness and how life is basically crap. There’s nothing crap about the tune though which makes it two out of two for Baby Queen. I’m filing her in the top drawer of my ones to watch. Baby Queen - Internet Religion
Feeling a bit shite? Is Covid-19 getting you down? Does the world seem a bit f*cked up? OK. Here’s a solution. You need a banger. A 100% epic pop banger. With recent research (here) showing that pop music is now playing at the fastest it’s been for a decade (the average tempo of the top 20 best sellers each year is up to 122 beats per minute) it seems that all we want to do in these weird times is dance dance dance. As I suggested around the time when I reactivated this blog at the start of lockdown, one of the most important jobs for musicians right now is to entertain and put some happiness in people's lives. I can’t think of a better tune to achieve that feeling and shake that booty to than Sofi Tukker’sHouse Arrest. Having already clocked up big numbers on streaming services with the track now our favourite New York based musical duo have delivered the official video which shows what they’ve been up to during lockdown. Remember when this all started and it seemed like every single act on the planet was rushing to their bedrooms to film a poor quality Instagram live stream of them strumming their acoustic guitar and wailing badly, thereby demonstrating how rubbish a lot of live music can be when cobbled together quickly and without good production, then disappeared from view? Well, not Sofi Tukker. No, our dynamic duo took the ‘it’s a marathon not a sprint’ approach and bedded down for some serious DJing. That is to say serious in commitment, but not in intent; their sets have been a riotous romp of elation and warmth. Sofi Tukker have become my best friends on the internet; producing a daily soundtrack of escapism for over 100 days now. I love the way they just naturally dance in the same rhythm, sidestepping together without even looking at each other. I love their humour and friendliness; this isn’t some faceless DJ duo going through the motions, telling you to put your hands in air whilst they dream of the cash they’re raking in. I love their colour and joy. And I love the tunes they play. Did I mention House Arrest is an absolute banger? Well sometimes things are worth repeating. Watch the video, which features some clips of their sets, fans dancing to them (including a penguin) and a lightning strike. Then realise why Sofi Tukker has owned lockdown. If you need some banger education. This is it. By the end you’ll have graduated with a first class honours degree in bangerism. Footnote: Gorgon City feature as well – but to be honest I didn't really notice. Sofi Tukker - House Arrest (Video)
“What is going on?” the people shouted in desperate voices. “It’s the 1st of July and there is no Breaking More Waves new music monthly playlist. The playlist that catalogues some of the best banging tunes from the past month. What has happened? First a global pandemic and now this!” The people shed a silent tear. They mourned. They felt sorrow in their hearts. How would they cope without their favourite playlist? What could they fill their empty lives with now? What was the point of it all? Life seemed futile and worthless. Then from somewhere a small voice whispered in nervous excitement: “It’s here.” The people looked up, their agonised faces flickering with hope. Was this true? Could it really be? It was here. Solid, real and magnificent. The Breaking More Waves monthly playlist. A few days late so that I could catch a handful of new releases out today, which considering this is meant to be a June playlist is a bit of a cheat isn't it? But I make the rules around here. Let's not let things like dates get in the way of proceedings. OK? New music from the past month up to today or discovered in the past month. Some of it was featured on the blog. Some wasn’t. A gift to the people to cheer up their small and purposeless existence. And you can find it on Spotify by clicking here. Why not follow it if you don’t already? A full list of tracks below and three of the songs from the playlist also stream via Soundcloud at the bottom of the page. Tracklist Cosmo Sheldrake – Nightjar Wake Up Call Liz Lawrence – Hope (Or Something Like It) AK / DK – Shared Particles Another Sky – Fell In Love With The City Sault – Monsters Club Intl – Crush Jorja Smith – Rose Rouge Arca featuring Rosalia - KLK Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher TWST – Are You Filming Me Rinse – Tell Me Tell Me Tell Me Elan Tamara – My Eyes Courtney Marie Andrews - How You Get Hurt Lola Scott – Crowded Conscience Ashnikko (Feat Grimes) – Cry Holly Humberstone – Overkill SKAAR - A Little Quiet Remi Wolf - Hello Hello Hello Lynks Afrikka – How To Be Succesful International Teachers of Pop - Femenenergy Fear Of Men - Into Strangeness Max Cooper - Swarm Betsy – Behind Her Smile Creep – Arlo Parks Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
