Halfway through November, a few weeks to Chrimbo, therefore it must be time for another singles round up! Our 17th of 2020. This one features five great tracks, which were all launched into our locked down shaken up world in recent weeks. These tracks are by acts from Toronto, Los Angeles and three from the UK. Three of these acts, King Nun, Lucid Phase and AXLS, have featured on With Just A Hint Of Mayhem before. I am extremely confident that all of those and the newly featured artists will appear again sometime in the future. Get these songs in your lugholes immediately!
“Helpless” – Rhye
A beautifully crafted slice of modern R & B intertwined with chilled electronica and sprinkled with some magical jazz dust. Rhye is the alter ego of Canadian singer and musician Michael Milosh. He has a new album, ‘Home’, due out early next year and if “Helpless” is a good indicator it will be pretty damned good!
“Discotek” – AXLS
AXLS and their singer Victoria O have featured on these pages a few times and their new single is well worthy of another mention for them. It has a doomy dark Depeche Mode and yet happy synth bass riff with electronic keyboard shapes and washes worthy of Giorgio Moroder. Victoria is on top form vocally and she drives the tune with a swirling, cinematic performance. Kylie’s new album “Disco” is not very disco at all, this floor filling banger is possibly the best disco track I have heard in a while and I was a mobile DJ for more than 30 years!
“Dance” – Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres
This is taken from Alexandra’s album “2 Years A Stranger” and it is simply gorgeous. I love the way she uses the space between notes and it is no surprise to me that she has composed film soundtracks. It feels like she can turn a simple, yet beautiful, melody something epic. I am no modern classical aficionado, but I know good music when I hear it. Alexandra will be sound tracking my working day tomorrow!
“Human Fly” – King Nun
I was lucky enough to review King Nun’s album, ‘Mass’ last year and was intrigued to hear their take on the Cramps classic “Human Fly”. It was put out just in time for Halloween, so humble apologies for my tardiness. There is a slight hook from the Addams Family theme at the start and two of the band dressed as Addams Family characters for the occasion; Wednesday Adams and Uncle Fester if you wondered. The monochrome video is ace and shows a band that looks like they are really enjoying themselves. My view on cover versions is make it different and make it good. Well King Nun have made it slightly different from the wonderful original version, but most importantly they have made a fucking great version of it!
“Ghost Orchids” – Lucid Phase Featuring the Late Ones
A sublime summery anthem from the uber-chilled Lucid Phase gang. Reggae and dub vibes which cannot fail to make you feel good. I have reviewed a previous Lucid Phase release and I would be more than happy to do more. This is a great band with yet another stand-out song! Check them out, that’s an order. A small request from me, how about a latin version of the song, entitled “Dendrophylax_lindenii”? If you can make a chorus and hook from that I will always be your number one fan!
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