Introducing: BLKKATHY
BLKKATHY’s sound is trendy - think pulse-driven dance tracks, reverb, and distant sounding women singing about just how much they don’t care. It’s a trend for a reason, but without going into the semantics as to why, allow me to introduce you a band that can take these elements and do them all well.
Kate Faust, a.k.a. BLKKATHY, has all the lyrical defiance and self-evisceration that will be familiar to any fans of jj, but matches it with a total dedication to New York’s disco electronica influence. Aloof, perhaps even lazy, vocals set against an increasingly forceful clap-driven pulse makes BLKKATHY’s esteem issues on “Dem Bones” chic - maybe even scathingly ironic. While on “Done Shit”, deep house rhythms are complimented by slo-mo ballad vocals on the exchange of audacity and regret that only really augment the dance track’s memorability. I’m not sure some people would be receptive to singing her “fuck my life” hook in public, but who knows.
BLKKATHY’s removed tone allows for very simple songs of universal topics such as envy and bad decision making to work, but it’s really the simplicity of these topics that pushes forward her detached charm - she can relate. Good for dancing, listening, or to play in the background of an art show opening, “Dem Bones” offers consonant flexibility. Probably not so good as the background music for pass the parcel at a kid’s birthday party, but hey. You can stream it below.
Connect with BLKKATHY: Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp | Website
Listen/Download: jj - High Summer EP
Sporadic is one word you could use to describe the release patterns of Swedish indie-pop duo jj, dropping whatever they want to whenever they want to drop it, whether it’s an album, a new song, a video, or a free EP as is the case here.
Back in April they dropped their latest single “Beautiful Life” and its b-side “Burn”, and now they’re giving away a new four-song, 15-minute-long EP for free via their label Sincerely Yours, which can be listened to and downloaded below.
Connect with jj: Facebook | Last.fm | Website
jj - “High Summer”
jj - “10”
jj - “My Name”
jj - “Big Hearts, Big Dreams”
jj - “Times”
Listen: jj - “Burn”
Listen to jj’s new song “Burn” below, taken from their latest single “Beautiful Life”.
At the start of April, Swedish Electronic-Pop duo jj dropped a new track called “Beautiful Life”, the title track from their new single featuring “Burn” as the b-side, and was released on iTunes May 8th.
Much like “Beautiful Life” with its atmospheric ethereal Indie-Pop brilliance, “Burn” follows in the same vein but tones it down a notch, sounding as though it was recorded inside an empty church at the bottom of a cave. If you have Spotify you can give it a listen below. If you don’t have Spotify you can listen to it on Hypem.
[Video] - jj - “Beautiful Life”
Watch the video for “Beautiful Life”, the A-side to jj’s new single “jj nº4”.
A couple of weeks ago we gave you a listen to jj’s newest song, “Beautiful Life”, which had all the great ethereal qualities we’ve come to expect from the elusive Swedish duo.
Now the song has a video, directed by Patricia Paulsson, which features some clips of very summery images that match the title and feel of the song really nicely. Watch it below.
[Listen/Download] - jj - “Beautiful Life”
Listen to and download jj’s new song “Beautiful Life” below.
Swedish label Sincerely Yours (along with Secretly Canadian) will release a new jj single on May 8th called “jj nº4” and featuring this brand new track along with another newbie “Burn”. It’s the first new music from them since they dropped “We Can’t Stop”, their track with Ne-Yo last summer.
Lead track “Beautiful Life” has the signature laid back, ethereal, grandiose jj sound that’s difficult to ignore, and will likely feature on “Burn” too. Check it out below and go grab the pre-order before they sell out.
