New Music: Oscar Scheller - Interstellar Disco (featuring Pawws)

Imagine a decadent and seedy basement bar where the champagne and illegal drugs flow freely whilst half naked Swedish men pole dance for free for the baying clientele's pleasure. This is the club that I imagine that pop musicians nip off to when they disappear off our radar, never to be heard of again. 

Look around and there in one velvet draped corner you might find Duffy, doing vodka shots whilst regaling anyone who will listen about how she won 3 Brit awards in 2009 before metaphorically falling off a cliff. Somewhere else on the dancefloor, shaking her thing vigorously on her own you’ll see Tiffany – yes her from the 80s. Coming down in the elevator right now is Yazz; when she gets back in it after the club is over it will be her turn to sing THAT song one more time.

For a while I thought Pawws might also be in that club. You might remember her back from 2012-2014 when I featured her on the blog with a series of top-notch electronic booty wiggling jams. But after that it could have been easily assumed that she was hanging out with Duffy.

Except she wasn’t. Pawws has in fact been busy. Remember Dua Lipa’s Be The One? Pawws (real name Lucy Taylor) was one of the writers of that. Pawws knows how to do pop for sure.

And now here she is again alongside Oscar Scheller with a premier league tune called Interstellar Disco taken from Oscar’s forthcoming album HTTP404. And rather like my imagined club for retired / semi-retired pop stars, Interstellar Disco is about a fantasy club; a place where you can go and let loose with that friend who knows that sometimes sitting around talking about how life has thrown you one too many custard pies isn’t what you need. Sometimes, when everything seems to have gone wrong you just need to dance dance dance. This is truth. 

Grab your favourite friend and get moving to this - a prime piece of electronic pop.

Oscar Scheller - Interstellar Disco (featuring Pawws)

Pawws - Turnaround

Lucy Taylor aka Pawws may sing with a pretty and demure voice, but there’s something quite cutting underneath. Take new song Turnaround which is featured on the Kitsuné New Faces II LP. “I really hated you for a while,” she starts off, but then later comes the killer blow: “Met a boy, he’s pretty cute, takes my mind off all the shit you put me through, sort of looks a bit like you.” That’s how to make someone feel a bit mixed up about things.

No mixed feelings about the musical delivery here though, which is all soft focus throbbing synths and gentle washes of 80’s style electronics – reminding us a lot of much loved pop trio Saint Etienne. So whilst Lucy puts together the pieces of her broken heart, enjoy her misery, because she has turned it into a sweetly affecting pop song.

Pawws - Turnaround

The Great Escape Festival 2014 - Review (Part 1)

Whereas other festival promoters claim that their events are not just about the music, Brighton’s Great Escape USP is that it’s all about that and nothing else - and its lifeblood is the new and upcoming. There’s no literature or cinema tent here. There are no lifestyle workshops. There are certainly no fire breathers, circus acts, jugglers or comedians. There’s just musicians, a hell of lot of them, so many in fact that the choices can become almost overwhelming, unless you’ve done your homework.

This is how Great Escape has changed over the 9 years of its existence. In the past the festival may have been about discovery, taking a punt on a couple of bands you’ve heard name checked and rocking up to watch them. Now with the availability of streaming, multiple playlists, You Tube, well designed advance timetables and the festival’s own app, it’s possible to arrive in Brighton fully clued up; the only discovery being can the artists you’ve planned to see cut it live compared to the recordings you’ve listened to at home, discovering that they’ve cancelled last minute due to illness and discovering if you have the stamina to endure 3 days of non-stop live music (and possibly a beer or two).

So with a military like plan and spreadsheet in hand Breaking More Waves was leading the charge to see as many bands as humanly possible. Over the next three days we’ll be filing our report on what we learnt at this year’s event, starting right now. 

10 Things We Learnt At The Great Escape Festival, Brighton 2014 (Part 1 – Wednesday /Thursday)

1. It’s not just about the evening shows.

When we first started attending Great Escape in its second year there were hardly any daytime shows available and what there were consisted of relatively low quality gigs that were given very little attention or promotion. In 2014, even on the comparatively quiet first day, there was a total of 19 participating venues (including the Alt Escape shows, an official series of showcases that take place alongside the core festival programme) giving a choice of over 80 acts to go and see and the quality was high. By mid-afternoon we’d witnessed near Beyoncé like booty shaking and indie power pop from Ballet School, the slick synth-pop of Claire, and the soothing melancholy rock-pop with a hint of Fleetwood Mac from The Night VI – all highly agreeable.

2. Scandinavia is winning.

Of course we already knew this, but Great Escape just confirmed it. 

Swedish singer Tove Lo provided one of the euphoric highlights of the day with pop that was a little bit sharp and bad girl but still highly accessible – falling somewhere in between Mo / Charli XCX sharpness and the more mainstream of the likes of Katy Perry. It was pop done as pop should be done. Add to that Norway’s Emilie Nicolas, who played her first UK show; a pop star in the shadows that was so tiny that her song Grown Up took on all sorts of new connotations once you’ve seen her live. And finally another Swede, Alice Boman, a singer who created audience silencing, spine-tingling, fragile emotional songs of beauty at the Dome Studio stage. They’ll probably go and be victorious at Eurovision again this weekend just to confirm their prowess at all things music.

3. Some musicians could do with being paid a bit more so that they can buy some new clothes (1).

Wide-eyed and breezy synth pop and flute playing lass Pawws played in what look like a second hand Yes tour t-shirt. 

4. Some musicians could do with being paid a bit more so that they can buy some new clothes (2)

Tove Lo performed in badly ripped tights and very ‘worn in’ looking DM boots.

5. Some musicians could do with being paid a bit more so that they can buy some new clothes (3)

The lead singer of Ballet School wore a grey sweatshirt, yes a grey sweatshirt. We can’t imagine Lady Gaga doing that. But then maybe that’s the point. It's a music festival not a fashion shoot. But still, music lovers, please give these people your money and let them get some nice new shiny clobber. 

Mind you, all credit to Rosie Lowe for appearing in what looked like a white PVC skirt and Laurel for serenading the audience with her dramatic Lana Del Rey like cello backed pop in what we can only describe as a black goth tennis dress.

6. When going to Great Escape take a handkerchief.

We forgot and on two occasions were moved close to (or indeed actually moved to) tears. Our first moment was by the way of Eva Stone who despite suffering from tonsillitis sang songs that sounded so poignant, so powerfully bare, with a versatility that was breath-taking that she left us feeling on the edge of something infinitely sad but beautiful at the same time. Then Alice Boman finished us off later, and we left her show with a feeling of stillness and calm as if every ounce of emotion had been drained from us. It showed how bloody powerful music can be at its best.

7. The early bird gets the Cornish pasty.

Although the Great Escape doesn’t start properly until Thursday a number of low key shows are arranged for Wednesday evening to get early arrivals and locals warmed up. Our first port of call was to the SEXSW gig, which is nothing to do with sex, nor is to do with Austin’s SXSW festival (although apparently SXSW festival lawyers had been in touch with the promoters) but all to do with bands from Brighton (South East) and Cornwall (South West). There we caught the vocal harmonising rock-pop five piece Garden Heart, but more importantly, the first fifty people through the door got a free Cornish Pasty, showing that there really are a multitude of advantages (OK, at least 1) for turning up early at a gig.

8. Tove Lo’s drummer was on fire.

He really was. We saw smoke coming out of his head. We were concerned for his health and safety – was he going to spontaneously combust with the hot pop brilliance? Or maybe it was just a smoke machine playing tricks on us.

9. Being a festival that is ‘just about the music’ means a very low level of twats in the audience.

The way festivals are now sold to the public means that unfortunately, particularly at the larger events, there tends to be a reasonably high percentage of audience members whose main objectives are to have an ‘experience’ and get off their faces, appearing to not give a shit about the music or the people around them – it’s just a soundtrack to getting fucked. Thankfully the audiences we experienced at Great Escape really seemed to care and appreciate it. For example Alice Bowman’s show was a late night one, there had almost inevitably been a lot of alcohol consumed, yet the audience gave Alice the attention the music deserved, standing in silence to listen. 

10. If you drop a cigarette butt in Leeds, expect a £50 fine.

OK, we know the Great Escape is in Brighton, but we learnt this fact during Rosie Lowe’s smooth, chilled, late night soulful performance. Not from her songs but her in between banter. Possibly the most important fact we learnt during the day?

Bands seen on Wednesday / Thursday: Garden Heart, Jeremy Neal, Ballet School, Vimes, Claire, The Night VI, Sam Fender, Eva Stone, Laurel, Emilie Nicolas, Tove Lo, Pawws, Rosie Lowe, Alice Boman

Number Of Artists Full Performances Seen In Total: 14

Number Of Hours Sleep: 5 hours

Fatigue Factor: Still wide awake

Other music bloggers bumped into at random: 4

Hugs from bands / artists: 2

We’ll be back tomorrow with 10 more things we learnt from Friday’s Great Escape. Here’s one of our highlights of yesterday.

Alice Boman - Over

Pawws - Give You Love

You know all those ‘sounds a bit like early Madonna meets Kylie’ comparisons that Pawws has been getting? Or those ‘it’s Robyn popping it up with Grimes’ ones? (We may have made some of these ourselves in the past.) Well they’re right.

Which means that Pawws is bloody marvellous.

Let’s look at that list again: Early Madonna. Kylie. Robyn. Grimes.

Bloody hell.

OK we may have mentioned OMD and Kraftwerk last time we posted about Pawws as well. Which frankly makes things even better.

Give You Love is the second track to be aired from the forthcoming Pawws EP Sugar. It needs to be listened to with a glass of Babycham in hand, on a flashing neon lit dance floor whilst dancing round your handbag as Pawws sings of being “the girl that you want me to be, I’ll be your friend or lover, you’ll never be alone.” Don’t press pause, play Pawws.

As we said – bloody marvellous.

Pawws - Give You Love

Pawws - Sugar

It’s funny how we’re told that technology speeds everything up and yet the music industry seems to operate at a speed that is slower than ever. Gone are the days when bands like The Beatles bashed out an album annually plus a bunch of singles that didn’t even feature on the LP and still managed to play a whole bundle of shows as well. These days patience is one of the must have characteristics of a music fan - the gaps between releases become increasingly longer.

Case in point is Pawws (real name Lucy Taylor) who we first wrote about when she put some demos online back in 2012, which we duly posted. She then released a couple of those songs in upgraded form last year as a single. In the meantime we’ve been twiddling our thumbs waiting for something truly new and fresh. Yesterday it finally arrived in the form of Sugar, the lead track of her forthcoming EP which will be released by Best Fit recordings on June 16th.

Sugar sounds like a long lost collage of sounds created by Kraftwerk or OMD, with twinkling pitter-patter crystalline droplets of synth, but rather than robots taking control the song is centred around something far softer, namely Lucy’s candy coated vocals. “Just pretend there is nothing wrong,” she sings. No need for us to pretend in the case of this tune. Our patience has been rewarded.

Pawws plays a poptastic showcase for Line of Best Fit next month at the Great Escape Festival in Brighton on a line up that also includes Breaking More Waves favourites Laurel and Emilie Nicolas as well as the rather good Tove Lo. Expect to find us there, if you're going we'll see you down the front.

Pawws - Sugar

Pawws - Outside

What were you doing on Valentine’s day? Can you remember? We can. We were listening to the sad confessions of a girl called Lucy. “I guessed it just didn’t work out.” We remember the words pouring from her mouth.

Now it's September the 24th and we’re doing the same again, her voice once again filling our head.

Because Lucy Taylor aka Pawws is back with Outside, the song we first streamed in demo form on the day of love and described as “a track that pulses and throbs as if it has been transported in time from 1980’s synth Britannia days, harnessing a calmly cool version of Madonna singing over the top.” Outside still sounds like this but it’s more fully packed and brighter than its previous outing, which really is what should happen when you go from a demo to a fully realised version of a song, isn’t it?

Pawws is out on tour this autumn. We’ll be there. Will you? Dates are here.

Pawws - Outside

Pawws - Time To Say Goodbye

“Pretty much our idea of a musical wet dream, sounding like OMD circa Maid of Orleans with Robyn on vocals.” Those were our rather excited words last October about Pawws (real name Lucy Taylor, once again confirming our love of all things female and all things beginning with L as explained yesterday) when we posted two demos Time To Say Goodbye and Do What We Want. Since then there’s been a slow drip feed of love for Pawws online, with the Madonna meets Chvrches in a neon discothèque groover Slow Love making hips wiggle and ears prick up all over the world.

Now the great news is that Pawws pretty pop perfection is becoming a physical reality, with a debut single through ASL records (who have previously released rising stars Josef Salvat and Sivu) on July 8 both digitally and on vinyl. Slow Love is of course making the cut, together with a new shiny version of Time To Say Goodbye, which if you don’t like the OMD / Robyn coupling could be replaced with Depeche Mode and Kylie perhaps? The point here is that these songs are sparkling synth pop gems but with enough depth, quality and memorable melodies to ensure that they’re not just throwaway.

Take a listen to the all new Time To Say Goodbye below and then  get your dancing shoes on and click the link for Slow Love.

Pawws - Time To Say Goodbye

Pawws - Slow Love

Despite being huge fans of electronic music we’ve yet to hear a truly great new album from the synth brigade in 2013. In fact all our favourite records (which include the likes of Daughter, Caitlin Rose and Foals) are based in classic indie / rock / country or folk. However there’s still plenty of time, with what looks like being a very strong debut from Chvrches in autumn and a re-focussed Little Boots (hopefully) delivering the goods in May.

However in the arena of singles the computer kids are ruling with a mighty sceptre. One of the potential electronic dance floor queens in waiting in this respect is Pawws, who has already made a couple of appearances on Breaking More Waves with some demos. Now we get Lucy Taylor’s honey coated vocals and glossy disco synths on Slow Love. It’s a song for those who haven’t grasped that real love can be for eternity, so there’s never a need to rush, no how dizzily romantic the idea may seem at the time. “If there’s a chance that we’re going to last, we’ve got to slow it down,” Lucy advises. 

Pawws - Slow Love

Pawws - Outside

Ah, it’s Valentine’s Day. Romance is in the air. Our suggestion?  If you’re not doing anything tonight, nip down to your nearest restaurant, look through the window and shout “amateurs” very loudly at all the couples sat in rows at tables. Because we all know that as far as relationships go Feb 14th is for novices, right?

It’s once you get into the nitty gritty of being an item that you really find out if you’re made for each other or not.

We’re not at that really getting to know you stage yet musically with Pawws. That takes at least an album. In fact today is only our second date after having first introduced Lucy Taylor last October. So we have no idea how things are going to pan out yet, but for now it’s going well, particularly with new demo Outside. This is a track that pulses and throbs as if it has been transported in time from 1980’s synth Britannia days, harnessing a calmly cool version of Madonna singing over the top.

So we’re a little bit in love with Pawws (or maybe as it’s the second date we should call it the chemical rush of musical infatuation) but we’re fully aware it could all go wrong. That’s sometimes how pop music works.

And sometimes it’s how relationships work as well. Most of those couples in that restaurant will probably be thinking that everything is glowing and perfect, but the reality is that candle lit dinners are just superficial. When it comes to the day to day workings of love, sometimes things don’t pan out. Just listen to the lyrics of this song. “You only see what you want to see.” “You said you will never let me down. “ “I guess it just didn’t work out.” Happy Valentine’s Day from Breaking More Waves.

If music be the food of love, play on.

Pawws - Outside (Demo)

Pawws - New Waves

The unsearchable artist is a new concept that this golden age of Google has delivered. The solution often seems to be unspeakably bad spelling; Chvrches, Curxes and Splashh are all recent culprits that have been featured on Breaking More Waves. Yet if we look back through the learned tomes of rock history, the likes of Def Leppard, Megadeth and The Byrds show that radical spelling has always existed in pop and rock circles, giving two fingers to the grammar police. Yet these days the ability to locate the artist on the internet is becoming ever more important.

Today’s new songstress adopts poorly spelt wordage, although probably for more valid reasons than others. Because Lucy Taylor aka Pawws is otherwise going to be hard to differentiate from raucous lo-fi noisesmiths Paws without risking tinnitus. The only problem with the moniker of Pawws is that we suspect come that Google search a lot of people are going to end up at some sort of dog walking service website.

But seek out Pawws you should, because pretty much overnight this London lass has become our new blog-crush favourite, which is ironic considering that one her songs is called Slow Love and pleads not to rush things. She’s still very new (her first Facebook entry was the word 'Shhh'… on August 8th of this year) but already her nursery rhyme-like electronic jams have us down on our knees, worshiping at her altar. The hooky electronic skips and booty wiggling velvety soft simplicity of Do What We Want is a little like a UK version of Grimes, whereas the lullaby I Can Make You Better is as delicately intimate as they come in both in its lyrical content “I’ll sweep your hair from your eyes and wipe that tear off your cheek,” and its sound; all minimalist clicks and quiet miniature notes.

We’re starting you off with Do What We Want and the synth pulses of Time to Say Goodbye which is pretty much our idea of a musical wet dream, sounding like OMD circa Maid of Orleans with Robyn on vocals. We're feeling like the cat with the cream with Pawws. Maybe you will as well.

Footnote: If the sound of Pawws seems familiar, maybe it's because of this?  We haven't had this confirmed, but certainly they share the same name, very similar voices and look the same.

Pawws - Do What We Want

Pawws - Time to Say Goodbye