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Fave Five: The Naked and Famous

Following two members leaving the group in 2018, synthpop mavens the Naked and Famous are down to a duo for the first time ever and discuss the records they turned to help make their aptly-named fourth record, Recover.

Evan Sawdey
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Music

Jessie Ware Embraces Her Club Culture Roots on Rapturous 'What's Your Pleasure?'

British diva Jessie Ware cooks up a glittery collection of hedonistic disco tracks and delivers one of the year's best records with What's Your Pleasure.

Music

São Paulo's Céu Returns with a Fresh Perspective on 'APKÁ!'

On Céu's APKÁ!, blissful interpretations of late-night dance music styles and high-heat MPB make for a multidimensional album of soulful energy, replete with her effortless sophistication.

Music

Japan's MIREI Honors Sade With a Take on "No Ordinary Love" (premiere)

Electropop artist MIREI's rendition of Sade's R&B classic "No Ordinary Love" is a reminder of the love that exists between all of us, even in times of uncertainty and disconsolation.

Music

Pop's Alvarez Kings Find "Words I Couldn't Say" (premiere)

Yorkshire's Alvarez Kings deliver the emotionally-charged, hook-filled "Words I Couldn't Say". "It's the burden of the truth and a lie that is too heavy to carry," says vocalist Simon Thompson.

Music

Nathalie Bruno Embraces Isolation on Drift's 'Symbiosis'

Symbiosis shows Nathalie Bruno (Drift.) wiping the mascara, leaving the dance floor, and striking out for solitude, occasionally dragging a few beats with her.

Music

Brits in Hot Weather Presents: Phoebe Katis

From emotive funk and pastoral folk to bright electropop and soulful pop, Phoebe Katis skillfully balances contemplative, fragile melodies with catchy, uptempo hooks.

Music

Sweden's Freja the Dragon Creates Compelling Art Pop on 'Long Gone Girl'

Sweden's Freja the Dragon has toured with Peter Björn and John, and on Long Gone Girl, she partners Björn Yttlin to craft her exemplary debut showcasing her mesmerizing brand of art pop.

Music

Third Culture Kings Are Happy to Be in "Second Place" (premiere)

Psychedelic pop's Third Culture Kings share "Second Place", a dreamy pop tune that gets a new lease on life. Celebrating the underdog has rarely felt so good.

Music

10 Key Tracks From the British Synthpop Boom of 1980

It's 40 years since the first explosion of electronic songs revitalized the UK charts with futuristic subject matter, DIY aesthetics, and occasionally pompous lyrics. To celebrate, here's a chronological list of those Moog-infused tracks of 1980 that had the biggest impact.

Music

Electropop's Sarah Walk Celebrates Queer Identity With "What Do I Want?" (premiere)

Pop's Sarah Walk moves in an electropop direction with her latest single "What Do I Want?". It's part of a new album that tackles the difficult issues nearly all women face in patriarchal societies, especially queer women.

Music

Electronic Indie Rockers Talu Electrify with "Take You Home" (premiere)

London's Talu share their new single, "Take You Home", which bursts and fizzes with color and positive vibes. It's a vibrantly juiced track with a chorus that energizes like the first hit of strong morning coffee.

Music

Brits in Hot Weather Presents: Empathy Test

London's Empathy Test are preparing to release their stunning new album, Monsters, a richly textured, cinematic record that wraps melancholy in a darkly catchy synthpop blanket. Get to know the band in-depth in this new interview.

Music

Charli XCX Tells Us 'How I'm Feeling Now'

Charli XCX uses her isolation as inspiration for a brand new record conceived during the pandemic. How I'm Feeling Now captures the frustrations and pleasures of confinement with a feisty attitude.

Music

Lazerbeak and ICETEP Team As Night Stone for Dance Music Goodies

The new debut from producers Lazerbeak and ICETEP, Night Stone offers dance and electrosoul that harkens back to the depths of a club that, for now, is largely inaccessible.

Music

Brits in Hot Weather Presents: Søren Lorensen

On Lake Constance, composer Davide Rossi and Matt Hales (better known as the voice behind Aqualung) have pooled their respective talents to craft highly evocative, sophisticated soundscapes from swathes of cool, digital textures and towering layers of majestic strings.

Music

Half Waif's 'The Caretaker' Is a Small Art Pop Treasure

Half Waif's second album, The Caretaker, takes a microscope and a scalpel to the mysteries and wonders of the quotidian, to great effect.

Music

Chaos Chaos Get Atmospheric and Emotional on "Capital T" (premiere)

Sister duo Chaos Chaos, formerly of Smoosh, deliver their latest single, "Capital T". "Dogs hate it, but hopefully people will love it."

Music

Electrosoul's Anda Is "Blinded" By Love (premiere)

New York musical omnivore Anda spins some delicious, mellow electrosoul on "Blinded". It's also the title tune from her new EP, releasing this Friday.

Music

40 Years of Finely Tuned Nonsense: An Interview with Severed Heads

At Severed Heads' third-last show in New York, after decades of playing electronic, art-pop, Tom Ellard swung a noose around his band's head and, with an imitable grin, slowly pulled tighter. After 40 years, Severed Heads is done, and Ellard muses on his long career.

Music

Empathy Test's "Monsters" Highlights Their Haunting Electropop (premiere)

The first taste of Empathy Test's forthcoming album is both thrillingly expansive and unnervingly claustrophobic. "Monsters" sounds absolutely enormous.

Music

'WOMB' Reclaims Purity Ring's Distinctive Electropop

Although Purity Ring's WOMB never stops sounding good, the bops came easier in 2012. WOMB is an effortful return to form for the electropop duo.

Music

Electropop's CMON Feel the Noise on 'Confusing Mix of Nations'

Pop duo CMON mix and match contemporary and retro influences to craft the dark dance-pop on Confusing Mix of Nations.

Music

That Kid's 'Crush' Is a Glittering Crossroads for E-Boy Music

That Kid's Crush stands out for its immediacy as a collection of light-hearted party music, but the project struggles with facelessness.

Music

The Seshen Are "Faster Than Before" on New Single (premiere)

Electrosoul group the Seshen's "Faster Than Before" offers psychological depths over sensational electronic sonics.

Music

Electropop's Bizou Blend the Bleak and Beautiful on "Crashing Sky" (premiere)

Bizou features former and current members of Light FM, Smashing Pumpkins and Glaare. New single "Crashing Sky" reflects their penchant for pop and darkwave.

Music

Flume feat. Toro y Moi - "The Difference" (Singles Going Steady)

Flume and Toro y Moi team up for a tasty slice of electropop on "The Difference". For its brevity, this track has a lot to say.

Music

Austra – "Anywayz" (Singles Going Steady)

Austra's "Anywayz" is a musical exploration of the fear associated with leaving someone and the even more frightening realization that life continues. It's also stunningly gorgeous.

Music

Doctor Fluorescent's Debut Is a Relaxing Retro Synth Ride

Doctor Fluorescent's debut album is a chill piece of songcraft steeped in vintage synths and other retro electronic sounds.

Music

Yumi Zouma's 'Truth or Consequences' Is Social Distancing Set to Music

Yumi Zouma, a once-New Zealand-based band whose members scattered to four different cities around the world, return with a sparkling new pop album about distance, Truth or Consequences.

Music

Taylor Swift - "The Man" (Singles Going Steady)

Taylor Swift offers empowerment in "The Man" not only by simply revealing how ridiculous men can be, but how easily society allows them to be, and accepts them as such.

Music

Céu Goes Electropop on "Coreto" (premiere)

Brazil's Céu continues to bridge the gap between indie and mainstream with the soulful new electropop single "Coreto".

Music

Grimes - "Idoru" (Singles Going Steady)

Creative, existential bondage for the sleep-deprived, Grimes' "Idoru" is better than any hallucination Titanic Sinclair could dream up for Poppy this week.

Music

Cubicolor's 'Hardly a Day, Hardly a Night' Is a Richly Drawn Work of Electropop

Cubicolor's meticulously crafted soundscapes morph from plaintive electronic pieces into uplifting dance tracks in the space of a single song. Hardly a Day, Hardly a Night is a richly drawn, triumphant record.

Music

Sega Bodega's Low-Key Electropop on 'Salvador' Can't Escape Weak Lyrics

As Sega Bodega, London's Salvador Navarrete creates mostly quiet electronic pop music, with occasional forays into more uptempo material on his new album, Salvador.

Music

Dan Deacon - "Fell Into the Ocean" (Singles Going Steady)

On "Fell Into the Ocean", Baltimore electropop producer Dan Deacon teaches us that you can make anything a fortune cookie if you try hard enough.

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