New York-based producer Lucian has revived the song that helped Nola Wren land a collaboration with David “College” Grellier.
On the appropriately named “College,” Wren captures the spirit of economic realities for many people in their 20s and 30s: They were thinking they were set on a path toward a certain life, but they ended up just trying to survive.
Lucian’s laid-back trap touch on “College” is a pretty big departure from Wren’s original synth-pop work, and certainly sounds different from her recent single, the delightfully sharp “Venom.” Even so, it’s a good song that I’ve listened to about six times just this morning.
The clean, beat-driven cut has already had more than 30,000 plays on SoundCloud since its release two days ago. I can see why: I love Lucian’s deft touch in the subtle synth gestures, the fat bottom, and the ethereal manipulations of Wren’s upper-register vocals. I saw on Facebook that she worked with him on this, so I’ll give her credit for having the open-mindedness to see her work manifest in different ways.
If you’re interested in how the original version of “College” played a role in “Save the Day,” Wren’s joint venture with College, she and I covered this territory in an interview earlier this year.
New Le Matos Song from ‘Turbo Kid’
Also this week, Montreal-based Le Matos released the gorgeous “No Tomorrow,” which features PAWWS’ gorgeously wistful vocals. The subtle, driving disco cut will be a part of Le Matos’ soundtrack for the retro film Turbo Kid.
On “Tomorrow,” Le Matos maintain their pioneering retrosynth sound, which fits comfortably beside College, FM Attack, or Electric Youth, with whom they’ve collaborated in the past.
Fans of the new Le Matos cut who want a physical version of the song are in luck. There’s a limited-edition 7-inch on blue, heavy-weight vinyl — housed inside a full-color cover — available over at Mondo Tees.
New Chromatics Song Coming Sept. 8
On the Italians Do It Better front, things should heat up soon. As I’ve written in the past, there has been a pretty decent indication that new LPs from Chromatics, Glass Candy, and Symmetry are all coming out this year.
However, I’ve also implored readers to exercise caution — after all, Chromatics’ Dear Tommy was due in February and Glass Candy’s Body Work was supposed to be released some years ago.
Well, according to Johnny Jewel manager Alexis Rivera, Chromatics will release a new Tommy song on Sept. 8 and concurrently give an update on when the record will actually be released.
“Dear Tommy has been finished for a while, but Johnny wanted to wait to release it for reasons he’ll explain,” Rivera said in his tweet.
(UPDATE, 9/08/15: The new single released is “Shadow,” which varies considerably from the demo Johnny uploaded last year to his SoundCloud page. You can hear it below. Just scroll a bit.)
