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Femmepop – Underground E.P

Rhys Pearce — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 17:08:12 +0000

January 30th sees the release of Femmepop’s brand new E.P, entitled ‘Underground’. Piloted by Irish songstress, Margaret O’Sullivan, this release follows the widely regarded and musical highlight of 2014, ‘From a girl who never sleeps’. I’ve admired Femmepop’s music for a number of years now, so to be offered an exclusive peek at her new material was a total no brainer.

The record opens with title track, ‘Underground’ and a steady drum beat leads us into the first song. Quickly we are refamilairised with Femmepop’s no nonense approach for writing catchy pop melodies, along with a perfectly uncomplicated view of song structure. The music is uplifting and it burns warmly below the surface like a bed of hot coals. The smooth sound of ‘There is a place’ compliments her voice perfectly and the vocals really soar on this track. I love the way the music meanders its way deep into your brain and the ease in which you find yourself lost within the dreaminess it projects. Third track, ‘The Game’ is a personal favourite of mine and it embeds itself within you from the first listen. Although its sound conjures images of blue skies and cruising along sunny highways, O’Sullivans words appear to dig a little deeper, exploring her own thoughts of individuality. The last but one track ‘Celestial’ again takes us on another trip into the skies and it further reaffirms that her voice could easily make the sound of a metal bar hitting a trash dumpster sound interesting. We finish as strongly as we began, with ‘Games & Toys’, a predominately intrumental track that is a vast and unfeigned piece of music. You could say its the perfect ending to a throughly enjoyable record, a record that sadly draws to a close far too quickly.

There’s one thing that you can always rely on from Femmepop and that’s O’Sullivan’s incredible prowess for song writing. Her passion is always present and when she sings, its hard to imagine it coming from anywhere but the heart. To be this early into the year and be gifted with such a great sounding E.P is an absolute treat and ‘Underground’ has certainly set a high bar for anyone releasing new material in 2016! For further updates on Femmepop’s new E.P, drop by and give her page the thumbs up www.facebook.com/Femmepop

Underground (EP) by femmepop

By Rhys Pearce

Rhys Pearce is a Musician and Writer from the United Kingdom, with a number of years experience writing for a host of Websites and Zines, as well as recording and touring in bands himself.

Email: rh*********@**********ve.com

THE STATE OF THE RETRO SCENE

NewRetroWave — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 20:41:00 +0000

The retro scene has been on an incredible rise in recent
years!! In fact, in just a span of 3
years since NRW formed, the retrowave scene has completely evolved into
something special that no one could have fathomed. Our scene is a completely unique online culture
waiting to take over the world!

The main focus now is not only where our scene is heading to,
but what our scene will be in a few years. With this thought, comes a MAJOR
predicament.

Do we remain underground/ behind the scenes and take over
the movie/ video game soundtrack? Or do we give it our all and get the
retrowave sound into the mainstream charts?

Online buzz vs Physical Buzz

Let’s face it. Most of the retro artists that have emerged
from the scene have mostly been in soundtrack outlets. Notable retro artists to
make it into a MAJOR movie soundtrack include Electric Youth (Drive/ Taken 2)
and College (Drive) as well as Power Glove (Hobo with a Shotgun). These guys
achieved this on an independent level. No majors!!! After this exposure all of
these artists have attained a fair amount of fans and exposure setting up what
seems to be a promising future.

There are many more artists who are soon to be on this road
including LazerHawk, Miami Nights 1984 and Perturbator. Soundtrack exposure
seems to be a certainty when you make music in the retrowave scene. But is this
all we were set out to conquer?!

There is no doubt in our minds that mainstream charts and
full exposure is what the retrowave scene deserves, but most do not think that
is what the retrowave scene needs. Remaining
underground ensures that the scene will not become overrun/ watered down and potentially
destroyed.

However, for this scene to grow, we need our artists to be
able to confidently put out their music and to also go on stage and rock out
the retro synths. The word of mouth from performances is extremely viral and
can set alight in these days. This will only come with mainstream exposure. No
true musician wants to have their music reach a limited crowd. They want the
WORLD to hear their music and spread it around like butter on bread!

A prime example being Com Truise. He is the guiding light
for us in this scene right now. Not only reaching billboard uncharted status,
Com Truise is looking like the closest out of the retro scene to get into the
billboard top 100 and thus worldwide radio. Unlike most artists in this scene,
Com Truises’ primarily focus was on getting his music to a MAJOR level. Most of Com’s buzz was built up independently
via touring and live performances as well as internet buzz.

Right now our scene is in GREAT form and is looking better
that ever. What we want is for emerging artists to actually have a chance to
reach EPIC levels through retrowave. We must expand our culture into other
outlets, if we truly want growth. If not, we can remain a soundtrack community.

Not a bad thing, but we should strive for more.

What are your thoughts?

–
NRW

THE RETRO SCENE – WHERE IT STANDS.

NewRetroWave — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 00:26:00 +0000

A LOT HAS CHANGED IN THIS SCENE SINCE 2011. IT HAS RAPIDLY GROWN IN BOTH ARTISTS AND LISTENERS ALIKE. NRW PREDICTS THAT IN 2-3 YEARS TIME, WE WILL BE SEEING/ HEARING OF RETRO ARTISTS SIGNING TO MAJOR LABELS AND SETTING THE SCENE FOR MAINSTREAM EXPOSURE.

BUT THE MAIN QUESTION IS……IS THAT WHAT THE SCENE NEEDS?

WILL EXPOSURE TO THE MAINSTREAM MAKE OR CRIPPLE THE RETRO-REVIVAL?

WE WOULD LOVE FOR POP MUSIC IN 2015 TO BE NOTHING BUT RETRO BLISS ON ALL THE MAJOR RADIOS.

ARE WE DREAMING TOO MUCH?

THOUGHTS?

IS THERE SUCH A THING AS OVER-PRODUCING IN THE RETRO SCENE?

NewRetroWave — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:29:00 +0000

OK, OK, OK

BASICALLY……..WE HAVE NOTICED THAT MANY OF THE LOYAL RETRO FANS OF THIS UNDERGROUND 80S REVIVAL SCENE FEEL THAT SOME REVIVAL ARTISTS MAKE TOO MANY SONGS AND ALBUMS……. AND RELEASE THEM TO CLOSE TOGETHER!

THIS COULD BE DAMAGING TO THE SCENE IF QUALITY CONTROL IS NOT ENFORCED!!! OVERPRODUCTION WILL HURT THIS SCENE PEEPS!

EXAMPLE

IGNORE THE SILLY GIRL ON THE LEFT FOLKS……..FOCUS …….ALTHOUGH THE HIGHLIGHTED GUY ON THE LOWER RIGHT IS BEING DISRESPECTFUL TO THE ARTIST, WHICH NRW DOES NOT STAND FOR, REALIZE THAT WHAT THIS DUDE IS SAYING IS A SEMI VALID POINT. WE LOVE SELLOREKT AND THIS IS NO STAB AT HIS MUSIC OR WORK ETHIC. HE IS A MASTER OF HIS CRAFT! BUT IS IT NECESSARY TO RELEASE AN ALBUM SO OFTEN???……..EVERY MONTH?? THIS GOES FOR ANY ARTIST IN THIS FIELD.

(WE ARE NOT PICKING ON SELLOREKT, JUST AN EXAMPLE)

IT SURELY IS QUALITY OVER QUANTITY…..RIGHT?

WHAT CAN AN ARTISTS GAIN FROM RELEASING ALBUMS IN SHORT TIME SPANS?! A QUICK BUCK…OR A CHANCE TO GROW A REAL LOYAL FANBASE?

FOR THIS SCENE TO LAST AND PROSPER, ALBUMS NEED TO BE SEEN AS GOLDEN TICKETS!!! GEMS IF YOU LIKE. THE MORE OF A WAIT A FAN CAN GET UNTIL THE NEXT ALBUM …….. THE GREATER THE SALES WILL BE FOR THE NEXT ALBUM.

AN ALBUM A YEAR IS JUST FINE MY PEOPLE!!!! LOL

AN ALBUM EVERY MONTH/ 2 MONTHS/ 3 MONTHS IS STRAIGHT OVER KILL!!!! THERE IS NO NEED FOR THIS.

(NOT COUNTING EP’S, MIXTAPES, COMPILATIONS…ETC)

EVEN ARCADE HIGH AGREES MANY ARTISTS ARE DOING THIS

WE KNOW THAT ONCE A PRODUCER IS IN THE ZONE, HE/ SHE WANTS TO PUT OUT HIS WORK AND SHARE THEM. BUT THIS SCENE ISN’T A PRODUCER FOR THE PRODUCER SCENE. KEEP THAT BEHIND THE SCENES.

SHARING SONGS WITH FANS WORLDWIDE AND GETTING RECOGNITION IS THE MAIN GOAL HERE……RIGHT?!

REAL LISTENING FANS WHO WANT TO HEAR QUALITY TRACKS MATTER SOOOOO MUCH! THEY GET YOUR SOUND ABOUT VIA WORD OF MOUTH! HOW CAN YOU NEGLECT THEM?!

FOCUS ON QUALITY…..

AND DJ’S WHO WANT TO SPIN TRACKS TO INCREASE RETRO BUZZ SHOULD NEVER BE IGNORED.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS PEOPLE?