Showing posts with label Agora Sci-Fi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Agora Sci-Fi. Show all posts

Monday, 14 April 2025

Agora Sci-Fi - Nouvelle Vague ft. Hannah Hu - OK Go

Agora Sci-Fi - sloppy.

The enigmatic Agora Sci-Fi return with their fresh new hit, “sloppy” . Serving as the second single from the forthcoming EP Finding It Hard to Explain Something So Obvious, the new track is now available on all streaming platforms.

"Keep your job, but lose your mind", Agora Sci-Fi hums with sheer bliss on the new lo-fi pop tune. It’s one of the first lyrics we hear throughout “sloppy”, and although they may appeal bleak to some, they are far too relatable to those feeling stuck in a rut.
 
Crafted for a bright, dreamy day,  "sloppy" offers a relatable narrative to those feeling tangled in the death grips of capitalism. Untangling the desire to escape from the social, economic, and psychological restraints of contemporary life, "sloppy"  flirts with dynamics by gradually getting louder towards the end of the track, as Agora Sci-Fi highlights the injustice of the metaphorical shackles we are chained to.

Speaking in further detail about “sloppy” is Nathania Rubin herself: “Weaving in the fictional narrative in “sloppy” allowed me to really ramp up the stakes of the song. I was picturing a singular sane person, in a world with completely maddening and inhumane mandates. I imagined it as two separate songs in one, two personalities of the same person too, that kind of smash into each other at the end. Like many songs on the EP, it speaks to a desire to escape social confines, and the fracturing of self that happens when playing different roles in various areas of your life. The person who doesn’t conform, gets gaslit from inside and out, and labeled something like sloppy.” 

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Photo - Linda Bujoli

Nouvelle Vague - Sorry (ft. Hannah Hu).

Marc Collin has been following Terry Hall since The Specials. "Sorry" was originally a B side of Hall's project The Colourfield, released in 1984. Collin immediately fell in love with this song, revealing the beauty of Terry Hall's vocal and songwriting. When Terry passed away, he asked Hannah Hue, who had worked with Terry and whose voice he liked, if she wanted to do a cover of "Sorry" for the Nouvelle Vague album. She came to Paris to record probably the only cover existing of this beautiful song.

Hannah Hu is a singer-songwriter based in London, UK. In recent years, Hannah has collaborated with a diverse range of artists including names such as Terry Hall, The Specials, I Monster, The Moonlandingz and Primal Scream. Hannah has been described as a chanteuse of torch songs. Her voice channels the spirit of pop noir and sixties girl groups. It is a whirlwind of romance, violence and vulnerability, wrapped up in a candy shell.  

Speaking about the track, Collin said: "I’ve followed Terry Hall since The Specials, and I had the chance to work with him on the cover Nouvelle Vague has done of "Our Lips Are Sealed" in 2009. “Sorry” was released in 1984. I remember I’ve bought this maxi single at Champs Disques in the 'export' row. I immediately fell in love with this song, revealing the beauty of his vocal and his songwriting.

"When Terry passed away, I saw a message of Hannah Hue that was working with him, I liked her voice and asked her if she wanted to do a cover of Sorry for the Nouvelle Vague album. She said yes and came to Paris to record it. I think that’s the only cover existing of this beautiful song."

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OK Go - And the Adjacent Possible (Album).

OK Go returns with And the Adjacent Possible, the band’s ambitious fifth studio album and first full-length release since 2014’s Hungry Ghosts. Even for a band known for pushing boundaries, the album is wildly eclectic—postmodern and genre-dissolving, with nods to Phil Spector, Toni Visconti, and Nile Rodgers sandwiched between the fuzzy, psychedelic opener, “Impulse Purchase,” and the meditative, Zen-like closer, “Don’t Give Up Now.”  Glued together by the distinctive mixing of the band’s longtime collaborator Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, Spoon, Tame Impala, MGMT), the twelve tracks collectively paint a portrait of a band comfortable in its own chameleon skin.

The band will deliver an extra special performance of “Love,” its new single, on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, April 15. Like the album’s first track, “A Stone Only Rolls Downhill,” “Love” is written from a father’s perspective, but the weighty concerns of the first song give way to wonder and joy on this soaring new anthem.

Damian Kulash says, “You know that dream where you’re somewhere familiar, maybe your childhood home, but there’s a door, one that was never there before, leading to some impossible magical place? Having children did that to my understanding of love. Suddenly, a huge new ballroom opened up off of the little apartment I’ve inhabited so long: a whole new wing of love, grand and soaring and utterly overwhelming. It is endlessly amazing that we exist — little, conscious clusters of stardust occurring, apparently by chance, in the vast emptiness of the universe. And we get to experience love. It is unbelievable.”

And since this is OK Go, of course there is a mind-melting music video. It always seems like the band can’t possibly top themselves, but with the release of the video for “Love," they’ve done it again. The single-take video features complex choreography between the band, 29 robots, and upwards of 60 mirrors to create a dazzling — and this time deeply moving — spectacle of infinite reflections and human-scale kaleidoscopes. Shot in the faded glory of a Budapest train station, the clip was concepted in partnership with creative agency SpecialGuest, co-directed by Damian Kulash, Aaron Duffy, and Miguel Espada, and produced by 1stAveMachine, with technology integration by SpecialGuestX.


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Sunday, 2 March 2025

Lila Iké - Agora Sci-Fi - Miami Horror feat Telenova - Sofia Härdig

Lila Iké - Too Late To Lie.

Jamaican singer-songwriter Lila Iké opens up a world of vulnerability on her new single, “Too Late To Lie.” The brand new song and music video is from her forthcoming debut album via Wurl Iké Records & In.Digg.Nation Collective under exclusive license to Ineffable Records.

Lila Iké recently announced her first UK headlining shows with her full band. She and Wurl Band will hit the stage in London, Bristol and Manchester from April 8-10, 2025. Prior to that, she heads to Japan to perform a series of dates with their local Home Grown band.

“Too Late To Lie,” features production by Winta James, opening with a crescendo of live instrumentation that goes from a faint crack of snare drums to a dramatic avalanche of sounds. As Lila Ike’s melodic siren coos its way through the intro, every word thereafter is drenched in conviction.

“I know my life will never be the same,” she expresses about the heartbreak and betrayal she feels. In the video directed by Remi Laudat, Lila Ike is flanked by towers of speaker boxes, staples of the foundational sound system culture that birthed the rumble of the Jamaican dub bassline that inspires so much of this single and the many highlights in her discography. 

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Agora Sci-Fi - portals.

The Midwest’s latest lo-fi pop unit Agora Sci-Fi proudly presents their debut single, “portals”. This is the first offering from the upcoming LP Finding It Hard to Explain Something so Obvious.
 
An introspective tune about living in a different world from people you’ve parted ways with, "portals" provides a healing journey that transcends space and time. Whether through dreams or through memories, Agora Sci-Fi analyzes these various paths that connect metaphysically. Wrapped in a melancholic cadence and flowery vocal harmonies, the new track hits deep for those experiencing a fresh loss.
 
Speaking in further detail about the new track is Nathania Rubin herself: “Even if you consciously know that you will never see a person again, it’s not something you can feel in advance. I liked the idea of expressing this by saying “I knew that I’d see you again.” It’s not a thought, because that is too conscious, it’s an assumption. You walk around knowing this until one day you find yourself in a new life - a world without that person. In a way they are still in your world, but you have to pass through unclear portals to reach them.”
 
Recording for the single and upcoming album took place at Eclipse Studios in Normal, IL. Beginning in 2023 and wrapping up in the latter half of 2024, the tracks you’ll hear on the upcoming album are emotionally raw centerpieces filled with irresistible bits of ear candy.


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Miami Horror - We're All Made Of Stars (feat. Telenova).

From Miami Horror we are told “We’re All Made of Stars” is one of our favorite songs and collabs from the new album (just released last Friday), encapsulating many of the album’s core themes in a single track. It’s a song about loss — losing people we love and wondering if we’ll ever see them again.

But it also speaks to a greater idea of cosmic resolution: the notion that we never truly leave, that we are always part of the same universe and infinite cycle of life. The track carries an ethereal, almost otherworldly magic, heightened by the stunning vocals of Ange from @telenovaofficial , whose presence completes a full-circle moment for us with Josh’s new project.

The lyrics reflect on the passage of time, existence and the realization that we all return to the same source from which we came.


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Sofia Härdig - In Silence.

As the release of her 9th studio album Lighthouse Of Glass looms nearer, genre-defying Swedish songstress Sofia Härdig offers fans a final insight with 'In Silence' released via Bark At Your Owner (part of the Icons Creating Evil art family).

Opening with delicate acoustic guitar that gradually builds in intensity, 'In Silence' showcases Härdig's commanding vocals, delivered with a raw, Patti Smith-esque power that cuts through the instrumentation with visceral force. The track found new life when Härdig rediscovered it in her archives, taking on fresh dimensions through careful layering of instrumentation. A chance encounter after a gig led to the addition of Sara Edin's captivating violin work, adding a new dimension to the track. Härdig recalls: "Sara saw one of my gigs and came up and said if you need violin just call me. I love her tone and playing. It's bold and beautiful just as her."

In her poetic reflection on the piece, Härdig describes her obsession with silence as "the breaking point of reality where anything can happen," wrapping listeners in what she calls "a cloak of silence that I can wear like a shroud." Her words evoke silence not as absence, but as a living, breathing entity: "the silence I am breaking apart... where the words sleep. And in that silence we rise...". In this transformative space, silence acts as both refuge and spark - a deep darkness where change begins before bursting into sound.

Drawing from a diverse range of influences including Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, and Alan Vega, 'In Silence' emerges as the final preview of Härdig's upcoming album Lighthouse of Glass. The track represents what she describes as "the tip of the iceberg of a long cycle of lyrics, often a novel/short story that I have built in solitude." This approach extends across the album, with each song offering a carefully crafted window into deeper sonic worlds. Self-produced between her home studio and a three-week residency at Visby Center for Composers, Lighthouse of Glass defies easy categorization, moving fluidly between alternative rock, gothic rock, and post-punk. The recording process became a unique blend of creativity and community, with Härdig's kitchen and tin roof serving as unconventional meeting points for an impressive roster of collaborators, including Swedish guitar luminaries Robert Johnsson (Robert Johnson and the Punchdrunks) and long-time collaborator John Essing (Bob Hud). The final polish comes from Grammy-awarded mixer Nille Perned.

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Saint Etienne - Crossword Smiles - KRAMON - Lost Friend - Sally Crosby

Photo - Rob Baker Ashton Saint Etienne - Glad. Saint Etienne have announced details of their 13th, and final LP, International. Co-produced...