The Entertainment Experts: German metallers Electric Callboy cement their meteoric rise with emphatic album ‘TEKKNO’

Rishi Shah on 20 September 2022

When Electric Callboy introduced their new singer Nico Sallach to the world in the depths of the pandemic via ‘Hypa Hypa’, the domino effect of fame and laughter that would ensue could not have even been anticipated by the band themselves. Two years on – with a rebranded name and a momentous live set to match – the band have pioneered their way to the forefront of a genre that is capturing thousands of hearts and minds all across the globe. Their latest album TEKKNO proves just why this ambitious blend of cheesy choruses and monstrous metal has lifted them to arenas – and beyond.

Despite the unprecedented reaction to ‘Hypa Hypa’, it takes a seriously talented and innovative artist to follow it up with five new singles that are currently trending higher on streaming platforms. Indeed, the likes of lead singles ‘Spaceman,’ ‘Pump It’ and ‘We Got The Moves’ exemplify Callboy in their full strength, mixing spectacular hooks with throbbing verses before descending into anarchy via the notorious crushing breakdowns associated with their roots.

You know what you’re getting with Electric Callboy. They’ve managed to carve out a new identity through the lens of costume-laden, hilarious music videos featuring wigs, workouts and all things weird and wonderful. This identity centres around collaboration and community, with the captivating vocals of Conquer Divide soaring through ‘Fuckboi’ being just one example among rappers, YouTubers and other personalities.

The harsh synths of ‘Mindreader’ prelude arguably the album’s most explosive, old-school riff, providing a more minor, darker twist in the heart of the album – Callboy can still do the basics just as well as any other band. The form mirrors the content in ‘Tekkno Train’, transporting us straight back to the party we all signed up for – with the accompanying palpitating rhythms, of course.

‘Arrow of Love’ and ‘Neon’ are two standout tracks on the record, where Sallach flexes his vocal cords with impeccable highs to equilibrate the bellowing lows of Kevin Ratajczak that have added this newfounded dynamism to Callboy. A stadium-like closing number, the reflective nostalgia of the repeated lyric ‘We were ready to fly / we were nothing but close to the sky’ is an emotional end to an album filled with flair and entertainment.

London’s cavernous Brixton Academy will play host to the show of a generation next April, when Callboy play their largest ever UK headline show following a string of more intimate dates later this month. A deserving stage, for a band who has crafted a unique character and mastered that craft, with unparalleled dare and ambition.

‘TEKKNO’ is out now, and you can find an interview with Electric Callboy from Slam Dunk Festival, Leeds in June 2022 here.

‘As I Was’ shows this is Harry Styles’ world and we are living in it

Elsie Oulton on 21 April 2022

A moment of silence for the ‘Fine Line’ era please. Harry Styles’ sophomore album, released just months before the pandemic, has flourished and thrived over the last two and a half years – sustaining us fans sufficiently, whilst garnering an even bigger audience for the star (a seemingly impossible feat). There were Grammys, feather boas, music videos of him… running?, along with many other glorious moments, however it’s time to bid farewell to this iconic album’s life, as Styles releases ‘As It Was’: the lead single from his upcoming album, ‘Harry’s House’.

At only 2 minutes 46 seconds, ‘As It Was’ is a shimmering ode to 80s pop, with wistful melancholic vocals dancing over a glistening synth. Styles contemplates, mourns and comes to terms with various forms of change, repeatedly declaring in the pre-chorus that ‘in this world, it’s just us, you know it’s not the same as it was’, through luscious vocal layering. Lyrically, it’s dark, and hyper-personal: the second verse alludes to a concerned phone call to Styles, asking ‘why are you sitting alone on the floor?’, and ‘what kind of pills are you on?’. 

The accompanying music video is unsurprisingly, wonderful: clad in a sparkly, red two-piece, Harry prances and leaps around The Barbican in London (as a fan on twitter neatly summed it up: ‘If The Joker was yassified’). Despite some aesthetic incoherence, it serves as an effective visualisation of the song, with the images and production aligning gloriously after the bridge, as church bells elevate the final chorus and Harry’s dancing intensifies in a satisfying conclusion to the track.

The song is a subtle introduction to the star’s third album; not the boldest lead single, in comparison to 2017’s ‘Sign of the Times’, (when he kick-started his solo career with a lengthy piano ballad), or 2019’s ‘Lights Up’. It could perhaps be more suited to being an album track, considering its length and minimalism, however, it does serve as an indication of what’s to come from ‘Harry’s House’ in May, giving us a taste of the nature of the record.

Having broken multiple streaming records on Spotify and Apple Music, it is set to be the singer’s second UK number one this week on The Official Charts. Styles will debut ‘As it was’ live at Coachella in the upcoming weeks, where he is headlining the festival, and will kick off the second leg of ‘Love on Tour’ in June in Glasgow, which includes two sold out nights at Wembley Stadium. Additionally, Styles has two films set to be released this autumn: Olivia Wilde’s ‘Don’t Worry Darling’, and Michael Grandage’s ‘My Policeman’. To put it simply: in 2022, it’s Harry’s world, and we’re just living in it.

Cover image: BBC

Nigo makes grand return to music with star-studded sophomore album ‘I Know NIGO!’

Charlie Lake on 21 April 2022

‘I Know NIGO’…Fashion designer and Teriyaki Boyz DJ Nigo’s new collaborative album is relaying a statement beneath the crisp production and sampling by Pharrell and a bevy of others. Following his debut KENZO collection, as well as varied projects with Human Made, the fashion and music mogul’s sophomore album ‘I Know NIGO!’ dropped last week, stacked with features benefitting its communal title. Releasing under Steven Victor’s Universal-owned record label Victor Victor, it stands as his second musical output after his first album ‘Ape Sounds’ came out over two decades ago, which differs entirely in sound and scale.

With lead singles featuring A$AP Rocky, Kid Cudi, Pusha T, Lil Uzi Vert and even Japanese hip-hop group Teriyaki Boyz, it was clear that the 25th March would bring an eclectic album like no other, infusing various eras of hip-hop, R&B, drill, and pop elements, fine-tuned to Nigo’s specific taste. Other snippets of songs starring the late Pop Smoke, Pharrell, A$AP Ferg and Tyler the Creator, were previewed during his F/W ’22 KENZO show at Paris Fashion Week in January, giving us a glimpse of just how extensive the feature list would be.

‘Lost & Found’ by WANG$AP starts things off with A$AP Rocky on top of a sampled beat from ‘Three Kings’ by Slim Thug, prior to switching up into a sample of ‘Like a Boss’ for Tyler, The Creator to spit some signature braggadocio over. Track three, ‘Punch Bowl’, sees the return of legendary 90’s hip-hop duo Clipse, who folded just prior to member Pusha T’s solo career took off in 2010. Here, they reflect on their careers and touch on life as parents, “It’s baby seats back of the Cullinans”. The song ‘Remember’ by Pop Smoke has a clever sample flip of ‘Sound of a Woman’ by Kiesza, serving as the foundation for late New York rapper’s vocals. This is arguably one of his best posthumously released songs to date. Other standouts are Tyler, the Creator’s ‘Come On, Let’s Go’, which would fit perfectly on his recent rap-heavy album Call Me If You Get Lost, Pusha-T’s ‘Hear Me Clearly’ produced by Ye and ‘Arya’ by A$AP Rocky.

The eleven-track record isn’t without its faults, however. ‘Functional Addict’ by Pharrell, featuring Gunna is simultaneously strange and boring, and the guest feature brings absolutely nothing to the table. The Kid Cudi and Teriyaki Boyz songs aren’t bad, but they stick out like sore thumbs in the track list, sounding like extras they had left lying in vaults rather than tracks that were actually conceived in the framework of a collaborative project. ‘Paper Planes’, whilst having a punchy 808 melody and catchy hook from Pharrell is let down hugely by three lacklustre verses from A$AP Ferg, with weird one-liners like “God, I’m sicker than syphilis” scattered throughout.

Interestingly, the CD release of ‘I Know NIGO!’ has been promoted massively by Victor Victor, with the CD pre-order bundles selling out in their thousands on his site. This is possibly a nod to Nigo’s home country Japan, whose people consume 70% of their music via CDs, with streaming services only accounting for 20% of music sales, much opposed to Western countries who over time have gradually abandoned the physical disc for streaming services like Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer etc.

Overall, I Know NIGO! is a fun mixtape-Esque DJ compilation album that isn’t much more than that. “Fun” normally isn’t the best way to describe an album but that is all this really is and that’s fine for what this album is trying to be. ‘I Know NIGO’ is a collection of tracks that express Nigo’s prominence in Hip-Hop culture as he curates a soundtrack that delivers on the message: “I Know Nigo,” even when some songs don’t land.

Cover image via Sneaker Spirit

Leeds alumni Alt-J change up their eclectic sound on new album ‘The Dream’

George Bolger on 28 February 2022

From Crypto to COVID, our own University of Leeds alumni Alt-j released their latest album ‘The Dream’ last week with yet another changeup to their eclectic sound.

With a divergence from the more uncouth and messy sound of 2017’s ‘Relaxer’, The opening track ‘Bane’ sets a great tone for the themes of vice and memory found within the album with its dark, ominous instrumentation alongside Newman’s thundering choral vocals describing a boy’s strange fixation for drinking cola. Also including a lovely flute sample towards the end of the song from their track ‘3WW’ found on their third album. Following this comes the pre-released single ‘U&ME’ which features the familiar bluesy verses found on their older works which could be argued to sound monotonous after a while however this is contrasted with a catchy chorus that would make it very difficult to forget the name of the song but avoids the same monotony one might expect. Following on with the moody tone of the album created by ‘Bane’, ‘U&ME’ continues this rhetoric whilst juxtaposing its sound with Newman’s lyrics about a fun summer holiday which works well for the overall theme of the album.

Other standout tracks include the aptly named ‘Hard Drive Gold’ detailing how a teenager is able to become a crypto millionaire in the 21st century we live in. Including adlibs from both Joe and Gus’ mums. The rise of the chorus and use of the school choir blends very well with the melodic drive found in the verses. The tracks ‘Happier When You’re Gone’ and ‘Get Better’ return to the morbid focus on death and loss with the former offering a serious, intimate look at struggle in the times of a pandemic with lyrics such as ‘I still pretend you’re only out of sight in another room’ and ‘staff smuggled in the card I meant’ gives listeners a vulnerable insight into how the pandemic affected many of us with an acoustic sound.

The second half of the album offers more interesting moments including the quirky Barbershop quarter intro on the song ‘Walk a Mile’ leading into a drawn-out bluesy record along with the dreary guitar in the latter half of ‘Losing My Mind which take the song to an abrupt but ominous ending.

Finally, the album ends with a more uplifting note in the song ‘Powders’ which offers a dreamy, laid back take on teenage romance within Newman’s vocals and a mid song talking script recorded by Thom and his partner. Overall, The Dream’’s strengths lie packing not just alt-J’s typical futuristic, eclectic edge , but a darker side remeniscing of nostalgia too which as a combo comes across fantasically and avoids the pomp and pretentiousness found in other artists work nowadays.

You can catch alt-J on the May tour of the UK and Ireland, they visit the O2 Academy in Leeds on the 9th May.