Ultravillain - I N V U

There is something exceptionally special about the debut LP  from Vancouver's Future Pop duo, Ultravillain.  The overall production of the album has a dark and edgy quality that's created from the breathiness of  Chris' vocal delivery against the primal breakdown of the beats and bass line created by Tobias.  Each track is crafted in such a manner that everything that Chris does, vocally, is fully supported and never trampled on.  I've said it in other reviews of their previous works that these two gentlemen know how to create music that is going to stimulate every part of you.  They know exactly what buttons to push and how to bend those rules to the point of breaking without ever doing too much.  It's a very fine line they walk because male driven electronic music generally doesn't have as large of a following as say a female fronted group would but these guys know exactly how to pull it off.

I think the work that an electro rock or synth driven producer puts into the creation of a song tends to be much more intensive than just laying down a guitar or a piano because the melody has to be crafted from scratch with electronics.  Each part of the track has to be looped and created utilizing an exceptionally creative hand that has a depth of understanding in how all of the pieces are going to come together as a melody.  It's building a machine.  It's making sure that each and every piece adds up to the whole as a unified sum total of the parts.  Tobias has a deft hand at making sure that there isn't anything out of place and that it all works.  Without the creation of the rhythm and structure of the track, the song doesn't work and there isn't anything for Chris' vocals to ride on.  And ride they do.  They are fluid and they are precise.  Each and every syllable is given the utmost care as he puts them out into the universe for consumption.  Without harping on the idea that there is an inherent overall sex appeal to this album, the guys have again created something that's primal and visceral that just settles into you that feels so good.  I think a lot of it has to do with the slow, methodical, purpose driven beats that never seem rushed or overdone.

So let's talk about the album.  Mostly importantly, it's not left repeat for about a week.  If I'm in my car, it's playing.  I've dug into these tracks and I honestly say, I N V U is the coolest electro album I've listened to in a very long time.  First and foremost, the tracks are gigantic.  With an average running time of about 4.07 minutes, these 13 tracks are pretty beefy.  You are absolutely getting every ounce of their talent and desire to make the best possible music they can.  Each song fits so perfectly with the entire album that you don't even realize you're over halfway through the album by the time you reach, "Human".  I can't decide which song is my favorite because they are all so good.  Whether it's what's being said as a social statement in, "Believer" or the super sexy lyrical delivery from "Garden"; each song could easily stand on it's own as a single and there aren't any that I want to skip over when it comes to them in the line up.  Leading off with "Talk About" was a fantastic choice because it sets the tone of the album.  You quickly get an idea of what's to come and the bar is set pretty high and I don't feel as if they ever let you down.  "Get Invisible" is this crazy atmospheric track that just fills you up when you close your eyes and let the song just kind of wash over you. "666" has this funky retro vibe to it but the story it tells is this cautionary tale of not getting involved when you know you want to but it's the worst idea ever because you know how bad it's going to turn out in the end.  If something a little more aggressive is your speed, "All We Get" fills that nicely.  It's on the primal end of the spectrum with a more raw and edgy beat.

If you can't tell by now, I am an unapologetic fan of this group and I want to see them do amazing things.  I want huge collaborations. I want their music to be featured in television shows and on soundtracks. I want a lot for them because more than anything they create amazing music and they are genuinely nice guys.  I don't think this album will go too far from my heavy rotation playlist.  I really hope they are able to get what they need from the public from this album because it's a solid album and I am seriously in awe of the talent that went into making it.

UltraVillain on the Web

http://www.ultravillain.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UltraVillainMusic
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/UltraVillainMusic
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ultra-villain

Meet KIT

Talk about sleeping on an artist.  I've had a bit of a rocky time with my blog lately and there was a period of time I was away from my music and my music social media.  I had to spend time working on me and determining where I stand and where I need to stand in the industry and I've come back to writing and tonight I logged into SoundCloud and much to my surprise I found that at some point in time, I started following Kit Walters and I'll be damned if I'm not extremely happy that I did.  I started listening to the tracks on SoundCloud and then moved to YouTube to watch the videos and have even purchased the EP from Amazon.  What amazes me, in the most "I can't believe they aren't megastars" way possible, is that they only have less than 2000 likes on Facebook.  This group should be huge.  I mean, OneRepublic, Maroon 5, Shiny Toy Guns huge.  They should be burning up mainstream pop radio.  Their tracks should be being played on The Vampire Diaries and Teen Wolf and every other CW style show.

The combination of pop, rock, EDM, and a smattering of dubstep heralded by Kit Walters' vocals make for a dynamic combination that is nothing but stellar.  Kit has this edge to his voice that elevates the tracks to something hovering between rock and pop and it's that rawness that will make you continue to the next track.  And then the next after that.  What really stood out to me was the cover they released on their Soundcloud of "I'm on Fire" by Bruce Springsteen (which is by far one of my favorite songs ever) and the treatment they've given it takes it and cranks up the heartache by about a million percent.  They've created something that encapsulates so much longing and regret that physically hurts.  I've felt this in the pit of my stomach before.  This feeling so strong that you just don't know how to deal with it.  I can't speak highly enough about this cover.  It's what hooked me and will probably be the "gateway drug" I use to hook other people.

But moving beyond the cover, you start unraveling the layers that are KIT.  The next track I listened to was "Your Ghost", another track plagued with heartache and longing.   The track reminded me of an Australian band, Appeasing Lindsey and I am enamored with them so I was primed and ready to go when the song started.  What I wasn't expecting was the hardness to the vocal on the chorus but that's what sealed the deal.  It's what makes this more than a mere pop song.  It's the elevating point that makes it more than the sum of it's parts.

They are a relatively new band, formed in 2012 but they already have a sound that's mature and fully thought out.  It's not an easy task for a new group to find their footing so quickly.  And it gives the illusion that they've been doing this for a long time.  That's important because it gives them room to grow into the industry without spending time trying to find out who their listener is.  I think right now, their listener is someone that has some life experiences under their belt and knows that life isn't all sunshine and rainbows but isn't willing to give up yet.

Go out and spend the $5 on the EP and support them on all the social media you can.

KIT on the Web

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/kitwaltersmusic

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KITwaltersmusic

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/through-the-fire-ep/id917829693

Instagram: http://instagram.com/kitwaltersmusic

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC061fdoKSqKcnXJx_9YtcdA

Rosie and the Velvet Bullet - Beautiful Everything

Future Noir Soul...  Taking everything that is beautiful about the 50s and adding a pop sensibility mixed in with R&B and EDM production, Rosie & the Velvet Bullet are serving up a fresh style that will turn heads.  "Beautiful Everything" is made exquisitely possible thanks to Bridget Barkan's gorgeous voice.  The track is fantastic and exceptionally well put together but if it wasn't her sultry swagger and soulful style, the two pieces would be discordant and wouldn't work right.  It's not just an homage to artists from the past, it's new and it's fresh.  It's exciting to hear two young people making music that is this innovative.  She has a bit of Rosin Murphy in her voice that makes me flash back to Moloko.  That's a good thing too.

This duo is going to be massive.  I can't wait to see where they go next.

Charli XCX - What I Like

Here's whats amazing about this video. While it looks overtly sexualized, there is a power and a defiance to what Charli's doing.  She's no fool and as you look at this video thinking she's being objectified; it's holding a mirror up to society.  Someone on Youtube said this video was "Big Girls pretending to be Little Girls pretending to be Big Girls" and I think there is something completely meta about that in it's simplicity.  People compare Charli to Sky Ferreira and there are comparisons that can be made but she has her own thing that is new and forward thinking.  I think Charli is one of the best new artists simply because she is innovative.  Her mixtapes are brilliant and she thumbs her nose at the establishment.  I can't wait for her debut release.

Ultravillain - Lost in You EP

If you're into music that challenges you, not only intellectually but emotionally as well, Ultravillain will satiate your desires.  They have released their debut EP on their website as a free download and it's an album that I actually wish I would have been able to buy because I would love to support them in a financial manner.  The album is far more mature than a debut and has a quality that most artists take years to develop.  The lyrics are well crafted and never compete with the synth and vice versa.  Both Chris and Tobias work in tandem to create something special.  If these four songs are a representation of what they are capable of doing on their first shot out of the gate, I can't wait to hear what they have in store for us.

Much like their first single, "Break Out", this EP is full of dark sex appeal that never crosses the boundary into smutty or too much.  I think that's a helluva thing to do because it is very easy to quickly become a parody of yourself without trying but they have straddled the line and do so without trying, it would appear.  I think the driving bass lines and the slow tempo of the backing tracks against Chris' voice just build this perfect scenario that just create steam.  I am amazed at the range that Chris has.  He has one of the most interesting voices I think I've heard in a long time.  I would totally be ok with him singing the phone book to me.  The themes of the songs aren't as overtly sexual as "Break Out" but maybe there's some residual sexiness carrying over from that song that just amps up the appeal of these tracks.

Each of the four tracks has it's on personality and it's own ability to stand on it's own.  I've listened to several full length albums of late from artists that have been in the game a long time and I have been sorely disappointed because all 10 or 12 songs are just one note.  They're flat and there's not enough variation to distinguish one from another.  I would throw one of those albums on as background noise at a party just to fill up the silence.  I can't say that for this EP.  People would stop to listen to every track and hang on every lyric because there's interest there.  It's made up of four individual parts that make this incredibly fascinating machine and it commands your attention and deserves to be heard.  These guys have an intention and they have a destination in mind where they want to you get to and when you get there, the headspace is filled with this melancholic bliss that leaves you wanting more.

The track order on an album always amazes me because it can either fuck up the vibe or it can keep you spinning.  The way the tracks are laid out on this EP are genius.  Putting "Death Rattle" third is like the greatest car chase in the best action movie ever.  It's the beginning of the third act and it just takes you and sends you to the stratosphere.  It's deliberate in it's execution and it wouldn't have the impact it does if it was anywhere else in the line up.  Then to follow it with "Sensitive Mind" helps you come down.  It's the breather you need after your mind has been blown, the cigarette after, as it were.  Starting with "Lost In You" sets the tone of where this trip is taking us.  It's the foreplay of the album.  It's easy and slow but the lyrics are seductive and you don't realize how wrapped up you get until you are hooked.  You then take "Crosses" and it creates this bridge between the songs that begins the uphill ascent needed to get you into position for lift off.  It's sleek and mercurial and just slides between your fingers.  It also is a bit of a deceiver.  When you first listen to it, you just want a slow groove to sink into but when you pay attention to the lyrics, it's got this power to it that just makes you say, "Damn".

It's an amazing EP and I think it helps to set the stage for Ultravillain to become one of the premier ElectroRock groups.  They have been gaining momentum with the release of the video for "Break Out" and this EP is only going to propel them to new heights.  You can download both this EP and "Break Out" for free on their website

UltraVillain on the Web

http://www.ultravillain.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UltraVillainMusic
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/UltraVillainMusic
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ultra-villain