News
Los Angeles duo Peel have shared “OMG,” the latest preview off their debut album Acid Star, out March 29th via Innovative Leisure. A rich sonic tapestry that shows off the duo’s songwriting chops and wide ranging influences, the band’s Isom Innis shares that the song is “about a psychedelic experience I had with my wife where I could see all these beautiful geometric shapes shooting from her forehead. Looking back, I think we tapped into a nostalgic space where a lot of musical ideas flowed in a very short amount of time.”
The creative partnership of Sean Cimino and Isom Innis, their bond was initially formed as touring members of Foster The People (now both official members live & on record). The two developed a musical language all their own over the years, ideas coalescing organically until the eventual birth of Peel. Inspired in part by genre-bending Creation Records bands like Primal Scream and Madchester groups like Happy Mondays, Acid Star expands on the industrial edge of early Peel, adding layers of psychedelia, electronica, and even reverb soaked freak folk, as seen on the title track.
“OMG” is preceded by singles “Y2J,” a psychedelic dance tune with dream pop elements, “Acid Star,” a hallucinatory comedown of washed out acoustic guitars, and “Climax,” which Paste Magazine praised as a “unique convergence of post-punk, electronica and psychedelia.”
Second-generation Jamaican, Floridian rapper Wahid shares his new single “SOLSTICE” from his new EP ‘feast, by ravens’, out 22nd March.
“SOLSTICE” unleashes a pure controlled rage through a rapid-fire barrage of words. It embodies the blurred vision and high speed of a life spiraling out of control. There are dead friends and wounded egos, empty bottles and sonic booms. There is the burning desire to wake up from the nightmare, but the nagging fear that you might be permanently stuck. “This record to me is the sibling of Mezcal, but a lot darker.” explains Wahid. “It’s more aggressive in its expression of these thoughts and actions I feel or have felt while binging on my said vice. If Mezcal is the high, SOLSTICE is the crash and burn.” It follows his vibes-heavy party track “Mezcal” - a song tied together by personal anecdotes of a love-hate relationship with liquor.
Last year’s two-track EP “WILT/CORNERSTONE” was his debut, which landed him in Complex-Pigeons and Planes’ highly respected Best New Artists feature for their October edition.
Through Wahid’s sonic storytelling he refuses to submit to negativity and fatalism. His hip-hop collective had just wrapped their first national tour. Their DMs were flooded with A&Rs offering deals and producers looking to collaborate. Then the group split up. It was over before it even began. The ensuing depression was all-consuming. There were days where Wahid didn’t budge from bed, drawing the blinds closed, and numbing the wounds with bottle after bottle of liquor. Despite his best efforts to salvage the wreckage, none of his attempts yielded anything positive. But through the duress, he discovered his inner resilience and perseverance. The results are manifest on his debut EP, feast, by ravens – an artful refusal to submit, and a testimonial to the indomitability of the human spirit. The title of the project comes from the parable of Elijah in the Book of Kings.
Rising electronic luminary Maria Chiara Argirò has announced her highly-anticipated album Closer – a testament to Maria’s journey of self-exploration, and a manifestation of her profound connection with music. Rooted in an indescribable feeling that compelled her to create, the album transcends boundaries and traverses the spectrum of electronic music with unparalleled depth and clarity.
On the album, Maria says: “It is about a feeling, a dreamlike feeling in motion, a feeling that we cannot describe, a dream I’m sort of walking through. Emotions/dreams/feelings that sometimes you can just imagine, a dreamlike world where we walk through to get to the core of ourselves a bit more, even if things are completely undefined and blurry. While working on the music there was this strong feeling - at times blurry and at times more defined - of getting, with every single note, closer and closer to the person I want to be. Free. Curious and consequently Aware, Connected and Closer to the people I love. There is so much noise in this world, I think being direct, gentle, light, open and connected is the key.”
The titular single “Closer” is out today, a hypnotic embrace crafted with expert production, undulating synth and exuding an understated lo-fi charm. Maria tells, “This song explores the dream of navigating life, finding where you truly belong and discovering freedom within this feeling. It’s a journey centered on connecting with oneself and getting closer in a dreamlike world.”
The accompanying dance-based music video depicts a very personal story. The visual storytelling and cinematography are both honest and raw, with a constant forward momentum provided by dancer Klaudia Wittmann as she moves gracefully through different settings. Director Raoul Paulet tells, “A woman relives her journey on this planet in the pursuit of belonging. Only through the acceptance of the world around her, she can find our true self. Or, is it the other way round?”
Argirò has been a central figure in the UK jazz, classical and electronic worlds since she moved to London from Rome over a decade ago. A skilled pianist since childhood, she’s collaborated with everyone from These New Puritans to Jono McCleery to Jamie Leeming alongside output with Moonfish. Her previous solo album, the stunning electronic jazz-fusion record Forest City, received widespread critical acclaim from the likes of The Guardian, The Fader, Vogue, Rolling Stone and Pitchfork who described Maria's sound: "Hazy, downtrodden vocal harmonies blend with aquatic synth arpeggios that mirror the tide, like Azure Ray singing over Thom Yorke compositions." Her music has featured in the Netflix series, Elite, and she can count the likes of Four Tet and Gilles Peterson as fans, with the latter describing her music as “absolutely crazy good”.
The result of this journey, both sonic and personal, can be keenly felt on Closer. While it is definitely not a concept album, the record does mirror the path of inner self-exploration that Argirò has been on. Albeit moving in unpredictable ways, as it traverses the spectrum of electronic music spanning ambient to dance music, while also retaining light touches of jazz with a leaning towards experimental pop via Argirò’s more central and up-front vocals.
Los Angeles duo Peel have shared “Climax,” the latest preview off their debut album Acid Star, out March 29th. Inspired by the 2018 Gaspar Noé movie of the same name, the song is an urgent blend of jagged guitar stabs and disco-inspired drumming. The accompanying video see’s the band performing the song, captured on grainy VHS against the concrete backdrop of their downtown Los Angeles loft. Paste Magazine described the track as a “unique convergence of post-punk, electronica and psychedelia.”
The creative partnership of Sean Cimino and Isom Innis, their bond was initially formed as touring members of Foster The People (now both official members live & on record). The two developed a musical language all their own over the years, ideas coalescing organically until the eventual birth of Peel. Inspired in part by genre-bending Creation Records bands like Primal Scream and Madchester groups like Happy Mondays, Acid Star expands on the industrial edge of early Peel, adding layers of psychedelia, electronica, and even reverb soaked freak folk, as seen on the title track.
"The sonic landscape of Climax nods to our post-punk roots, while the spirit and rhythm propel us forward into the realm of club and dance music” shares Cimino. “The lyrics are inspired by the Gaspar Noe movie ‘Climax’ and a bizarre rave I went to in Mexico City,” explains Innis. “The movie is about a dance party gone wrong because someone spikes the punch with acid and everyone freaks out, but our song flips the perspective - a psychedelic dance party gone right where everyone has fun. At the rave I was navigating this really dark dilapidated industrial building trying to find the basement where the dance floor was. It was like a crowded maze with all these hazardous drop offs and dead ends. That tone came out in Climax, the alarming but exciting feeling of dancing into the unknown.”
Second-generation Jamaican, Floridian rapper Wahid shares details on his new EP ‘feast, by ravens’, out 22nd March. The title of the project comes from the parable of Elijah in the Book of Kings. Alongside the announcement, he releases his single/video “Mezcal” - a vibes-heavy party tune tied together by personal anecdotes of a love-hate relationship: “‘Mezcal’ is the expression of love towards a vice of mine liquor, and the vibes it puts me in. I tend to cope by turning to drugs, alcohol, in hopes that it can become our savior or at least a mask. It’s hell on earth.”
Last year’s two-track EP “WILT/CORNERSTONE” was his debut for the LA label, which landed him in Complex-Pigeons and Planes’ highly respected Best New Artists feature for their October edition.
Through Wahid’s sonic storytelling he refuses to submit to negativity and fatalism. His hip-hop collective had just wrapped their first national tour. Their DMs were flooded with A&Rs offering deals and producers looking to collaborate. Then the group split up. It was over before it even began. The ensuing depression was all-consuming. There were days where Wahid didn’t budge from bed, drawing the blinds closed, and numbing the wounds with bottle after bottle of liquor. Despite his best efforts to salvage the wreckage, none of his attempts yielded anything positive. But through the duress, he discovered his inner resilience and perseverance. The results are manifest on his debut Innovative Leisure EP, feast, by ravens – an artful refusal to submit to negativity and fatalism, and a testimonial to the indomitability of the human spirit.