French Cassettes, an indie band based in San Francisco, has released their new single “When You Know, You Know” and it’s every bit as dreamy as a song can get! The song is featured on their new album, Benzene, set to come out on June 7th.
When asked about how the song came about, songwriter Lorenzo Scott Huerta muses, “I was listening to a lot of Bread and Barry White at the time, and this one just came out of that very quickly. I’d never paid more attention to what kind of pick I was using on my guitar; I just wanted it to have that feathery strum sound.”
The band consists of Huerta, guitarist Mackenzie Bunch and drummer Rob Mills, with the song itself mixed by Nick Krill. A fun fact is that “When You Know, You Know” was created at Bunch’s record studio in Oakland, CA.
The music is similar to that of a lullaby, with a slow melody and clear guitar acoustics strumming the song forward. The lyrics are like a diary-entry, describing a dream one had the night before. In the chorus:
Baby don’t wake me every time, no You don’t have to wake me every time, no Maybe I seem lucid in your eyes I don’t wanna see that go
It’s apparent that they are reminiscing about a time with a loved one; they see it as a dream-like experience and express how they don’t want to wake up from it.
The song is accompanied with an official music video; the visuals add to the haziness of the song, and makes one lose themselves in a nostalgic memory.
French Cassettes are currently touring around the US, with the exception of Vancouver in late July of this year. In addition to YouTube, you can also stream “If You Know, You Know” on all streaming platforms.
Part of the fun of writing about an artist like Le Destroy (aka Kristina Olson) is that using words like sleazy, grimy, and harsh are encouraging rather than not. Her politically charged songs mix the aggressiveness of punk and industrial with the loose, unchained spontaneity of dance music. Le Destroy’s work sounds like a late-night rave in a soul-crushing dystopia and that’s exactly the appeal.
This style carries over to her recently released album, Trashumanism, which was accompanied by a graphic novel that visualizes each song by chapter, taking the dystopian themes of the album into a fully cyberpunk environment. Olson is no stranger to cyberpunk, figuratively and literally, with her contributing songs to the hit video game Cyberpunk 2077. However, the graphic novel allows her music to become more atmospheric, set against a grubby high-tech science fiction landscape that the audience was clearly meant to visualize her work in from the start.
The music video for the song “Autonomy” was also recently released, and features anime-inspired animation courtesy of studio Ferr. It features the main character of the graphic novel, the Artist, dancing, flipping the bird, and lip-syncing to the song against a neon-lit future noir backdrop. The video is well-animated and visually striking and complements the song perfectly.
As for the actual song itself, it’s really exhilarating and seems inspired by hardcore punk with even some elements of thrash metal (I was reminded a bit of Bad Brains while listening to it) with distorted guitars and Olson screaming out her lyrics. However, Le Destroy builds on these genres by incorporating pulsing synthesizers and industrialism, showing the influence of co-producer Danny Lohner of Nine Inch Nails fame. It can still function in a dance setting like some of Le Destroy’s other songs, though it would fit more in a mosh pit at a punk club rather than something more EDM-focused.
The song is not only punk musically, but also politically. It’s deeply anti-capitalist with a focus on personal (ahem) autonomy in the face of political unrest, accentuated by its chorus of “fuck your system, let autonomy reign!” Even without the cyberpunk stylings of Le Destroy’s music, “Autonomy” and Trashumanism in general speaks deeply to modern social and political issues that can resonate with a disenfranchised younger audience, as well as being consistently enjoyable.
Direction / VFX and Compositing: Marx Ferreira – insta @ferranimation Character Design: Luiz Felipe Martins – twitter @lulohre Background Design: Bruno Tabor – insta @tabor.bruno Rough Animation / Tiedown: Maíra Colares – insta @colaresmaira.art, Gustavo Mochiuti – insta @ghakusho, Bruno Jordani – insta @jojordani, Giordana Medaglia – twitter @gimedaglia12, Ari Negreiros – twitter @ari_tooniverse, Daniel Santana – insta @danielsantana.ds, Ambrósio Pentú – insta @ambrosio_pentu Cleanup Animation: Guilherme Manzano – insta @manzart__, Gabriel Alves – insta @gabr1el_alv3s
SONG CREDITS Produced by: Danny Lohner, Le DestroyMixed by: Danny Lohner Mastered by: Howie Weinberg Written by: Kristina Olson
It’s the start of pride month, and there’s only one form of music most synonymous with the queer experience: disco! The genre’s resurgence in popularity has only been growing in recent years, likely helped by pride’s more mainstream acceptance (well, by form of rainbow capitalism or not) and the fact that so many of those original disco hits are just that good.
When making dance music inspired by the golden ages of disco and house music, it’s important to acknowledge the genre’s origins to show you’re respectful of its history and creators. This is something Amber Riley and Micah McLaurin hit the mark perfectly on in their new cover of “MacArthur Park”, originally by disco goddess Donna Summer in 1978.
…well, okay, technically not originally. It was first performed in a more baroque style by Richard Harris and written by Jimmy Webb in 1968, then covered by Summer ten years later on her Live and More album.
Their version is obviously indebted to Summer’s cover by its disco flavorings, but it also captures the melodrama of Harris’ original by way of the theatricality of Riley’s voice. If you don’t know, Amber Riley (of Glee and several screen/stage musical productions, including Dreamgirls) is a monstrously talented performer, and I went into the single expecting a quality performance. Yet she goes full broadway on the track and sings her heart out, creating a dramatic buildup to when the song transitions from a modest but soulful rendition of heartbreak into a breathtaking blast of disco excess.
If the opening captures the icy cabaret of Harris’ original, the rest of the song recreates the loose and free-spirited energy that the best of Donna Summer’s singles had. Micah McLaurin’s mixture of dance-pop and orchestral music (by way of members of The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) is the perfect complement to Riley’s vocals. McLaurin provides a dreamy piano solo in the second half, and the other musicians provide a sweeping string and horn section and a thumping four-on-the-floor disco beat that never lets up.
It works really well as a great way to kick off pride month, successfully honoring queer history by way of a killer dance party. Amber Riley and Micah McLaurin’s cover is available now, in both a 3-minute radio edit and a 6-minute full version.
Plastic: The Album by author/musician Scott Guild is hard to approach. It’s a companion piece to Guild’s debut novel of the same name that came out in February and recounts the book’s story. I haven’t read the book, and I’m not one of those nerds that read books for fun (though I am, admittedly, still a huge nerd), so I’m judging the album entirely on its own merits.
While it seemed difficult initially to come at the album with solid reference points as a way of comparison, this sort of lore and mythology filled album isn’t entirely uncommon. Famous experimental pop icons like Kate Bush and Ethel Cain have made albums composed of songs made up of recurring characters, storylines, and extensive backstories that invite more analysis into the lyrics than a usual album. Even more mainstream musicians have done this, such as Taylor Swift on Folklore and Evermore, two of her most acclaimed albums. An album like Plastic can absolutely succeed without prior knowledge of the novel’s storyline and can work simply on the music itself.
For the most part, I’d say it’s an interesting and captivating, albeit not super accessible, listen. Guild is backed by more experimental musicians for support, like Cindertalk (a collaborator of Son Lux and My Brightest Diamond) and Stranger Cat (a collaborator of Sufjan Stevens, another good example of successful concept albums). With a murderers’ row of artsy musicians behind the album, it makes sense the genre is a touch hard to figure out too. Calling it just “art-pop” is simple, but a little too easy. I’d say it’s more of a mix of orchestral chamber music and downtempo electronica, with more focus on vocal performances and wispy atmosphere than rhythm.
When I say Plastic isn’t super accessible, I don’t mean this as a bad thing (I literally listen to Björk in my free time! Did I mention I’m a huge nerd?). I mean that in a sense that it’s better to approach the album not in a traditional sense, but more in the way of theater, opera, or something that demands your fullest attention when experiencing it. Guild mentioned he didn’t set out to make something contemporary and intended something more cinematic, which I think the album succeeds on.
Okay, now the actual music, which is mainly composed of strongly performed and composed ballads. Stranger Cat’s vocals (as the lead character of the novel) really elevate the material, creating a strong emotional quality that’s consistently captivating and brings out the theatricality that the material is going for. Songs like “Boytoy” and “Fiona” excel on the quality of her voice alone, and she provides enough depth to keep you invested in her performance even if you may not understand what’s going on in the story.
The production, as I said, is an interesting mix of electronica and orchestra. Plastic’s atmosphere is built largely around airy electronics that add to the dystopian future setting of the story. It has a dreamlike quality that can occasionally turn eerie, such as the echoey drum machines on “The Absence” that add to the tone and mood. The orchestrations are also sharp, adding to the dramatic elements of songs like “A Doll’s House” and “Worth the Loss”. There’s some interesting textures added in the instrumentation too, such as the glassy percussion on “Lightning” and the driving acoustic guitar on “Until They’re Home”.
As I said, Plastic can be difficult to grasp for a casual music listener, but that’s the intent behind it. It’s a rewarding experience when given serious intent and your best attention when listening to it, and works as a fascinating listen even without knowing the source material.
Check out the playback from Friday’s album release here.
It’s already June, and if no one tells you how they can barely believe it in the next few days, then you got away with murder, essentially.
That said, it is June. And with June comes PRIDE. Big Hassle – one of our favorite companies in the otherwise questionable and interestingly chaotic music industry – has curated a playlist featuring some of their most prominent talents. We got our hands on it so that you can get to know the Big Hassle roster… and party down all month long.
imperfect Fifth really is committed to celebrating LGBTQ+ joy and rights every month of the year, and will do what we can to uplift marginalized voices where we can. Please email meredith@imperfectfifth.com if you have any brands or talent you’d like us to highlight, projects to talk about, or something else that can help us support and uplift our community!
In March, indie darling duo Byland – comprised of husband/wife talents Alie and Jake Byland – released their entrancing, 10-track full-length Heavy For A While. One of our favorites was a very emotional track for Alie, titled “Two Circles.” The music video was released today, and we are massive fans of the use of color to tell a story with the artful visuals.
Alie wanted to explore the idea of post-death limbo with this music video, which explains the stark contrast and richness in the colors chosen. “Chris Cunningham did a phenomenal job of imagining a weird, compelling visual concept and putting together an amazing team to bring it to life,” Alie says.
“As the protagonist (Alie) explores her home, she starts breaking through into this larger space that’s a little bit unfamiliar, but still populated with memories and objects from her past,” explains Cunningham. “She finds herself naturally searching for an exit, no longer content with just existing alone in her old familiar environment (perhaps unconsciously preparing to move on). Eventually, she finds an exit door that leads… well, somewhere else. Where the hell that is, I have no idea. Absolute death? A DMT fever dream in the final firework show of neurons in the brain? An afterlife? Who knows.”
The video has a haunting feeling to it, much like the song it was created to accompany. Check it out in full below.
VIDEO CREDITS: Music video for the Byland song, “Two Circles” off of the record “Heavy for a While.” Director: Dark Details Director of Photography: Dylan Priest Producer: Paul Breslin Gaffer: Matt Lindberg Photographer: Nick Ward Production Assistants: Ayla Cole, Brantley Duke, Marcus Chavez Special thanks to Kate Becker and Harbor Island Studios, as well as Chris Mosson and Retro Camera.
