Wrought in the heart of Hamburg’s red-light district, Helax’s “Tell Me, Tell Me” is half neon and half nocturne – a melancholy club track tinged with the soft fuss of a city in the dead of night. With a vibe somewhere between cerebral and instinctual, “Tell Me, Tell Me” resonates through the highs and lows of any night.

Coming from the same mind behind dream-pop duo The Ghost Of Helags and electronic act Brynäs, Helax finds club music at its most introspective. The vocals here are almost like howls, backed by a night-sky atmosphere of the synths and drums. Just like the nocturnal, hedonistic cityscape it was made in, “Tell Me, Tell Me” is as equipped for loneliness as it is intimacy – a soundtrack for whatever the night may hold.

Helax’s debut EP, also named Tell Me, Tell Me, is out in conjunction with this lead single. So go ahead: get lost in the city, dance until you cry, run until you can’t, Helax is there for all of it.

If you want to hear more from Helax, check the 4-track EP on Soundcloud and revisit some of his works with The Ghost of Helags and Brynäs below.

Berlin-based Scandinavian duo The Ghost of Helags are back with a warmful and graceful track, just in time for holiday break and Sankta Lucia celebration. Recorded in a single take in an old music school in Uppsala, “I Carry Your Heart” sounds so pure, genuine and fragile, just like an ephemeral candle flame. In this lo-fi and intimate atmosphere, you can hear the noises and cracking sounds in the background, just like if you were there during the recording process. The track also features backing vocals from Danish singer Sidsel Marie Søholm. A luminous track that is all about respect, love and appreciation. Listen below.

“The World Outside Your Window” is the lead single off The Ghost of Helags’s upcoming EP, tentatively out this autumn. After putting out an EP last year, this Scandinavian duo has been working on new music lately, and now they’re teasing their following release with what is arguably their most impressive song to date. A synth-pop banger with an instantly killer chorus, the song is built on a repetitive and synthetic bassline, but it soon incorporates enough different elements to dispel any sign of minimalism. Instead, “The World Outside Your Window” comes off as lofty and ambitious without ever seeming phony.

The key to the song’s success is its ability to combine the best of both worlds: merging soft, delicate melodies with myriads of colourful arrangements, “The World Outside Your Window” accomplishes its goals in creating a sound that is equally intimate and grand. Just like in a Carly Rae Jepsen song, handclaps and danceable drum beats meet contrived, melancholy electronic arrangements that emphasize the song’s bittersweet undertones. The Ghost of Helags acknowledge and revere the existence of a world outside their window, but they’d rather keep watching it from their bedroom.

Some weeks ago, we were introducing you to Swedish siblings duo Brynäs with their debut track “Trigger“. The band, which is comprised of Alberta Cross‘ lead singer and The Ghost of Helags‘ producer, is back with an etheral new track “Timmermansgatan” named like a street in the city of Gävle in Sweden. This city is actually the door of the Norrland (“North Country”) and you can hear all the vastness and the wildnerness in the electronica track. Peppered with harmonica, “Timmermansgatan” almost sounds like the soundtrack of a Scandinavian spaghetti western. By the way, the title of the song is not a coincidence: it was also the name of the street where their late grandmother was used to live. Listen to their meaningful and inspired tribute track below.

Hailing from Sweden, Berlin-based duo Brynäs are comprised of members of Anglo-Swedish rock band Alberta Cross (singer-songwriter) and electronica-pop The Ghost of Helags (production). The two brothers have recently decided to join their forces to interfuse their respective music universes which you can actually hear on their undefinable debut track “Trigger”. We could debate for hours to know if we should pin it down as pop, rock, or dance music but actually, who cares? The trippy and dance-y track, which is supposed to be the sound mix of Berlin and Bristol, has a progressive and intense build-up that will propulse you high in the sky in a few minutes only. One can quickly understand why the Ericson brothers chose the cosmonaut-on-a-beach aesthetics for the artwork.

There’s apparently a whole EP on the way, which was written between Brooklyn, Berlin and Uppsala. It is the result of months of experimentation in their studio “The Catacombs” located in an old abandoned subway station in Friedrichshain, Berlin.

Brynäs are floating in the cosmos but you can can catch them on Facebook and Twitter too.

[su_spacer]

It might be cold outside, but this playlist is definitely warming us up and making us bounce!

Cold makes us stronger and with music by our side we strengthen our pop spirit with new tracks by Berlin-Swedish The Ghost of Helags and their majestic & warming sky-gazing new track “Anthem (We Came From The Stars)”. Belgian electro-pop wonder Liver dazzles us again with “Duet”, an eruption of dance-y beats all around us.

[su_spacer]

Scandinavian trio RABBII is one to be taken into account in the pop universe with their latest “Left For Dead” slow-banger. Otherworldly and mesmerizing is what pops to mind listening to MorMor and his intense “Heaven’s Only Wishful”. Young artist John Errol delivers a poignant performance in his self-produced ballad “Dead Man Walking”.

[su_spacer]

[su_spacer]

Hybris Records welcomes newcomer Sam Florian and his lo-fi indie-skate pop on “Days”. And for our weeks favorite we point unanimously to Millie Turner with her delightful and jumpy song “The Shadow”! Shiver with a smile.

[su_spacer]

If you want to drink a bit more until you get tipsy, you should check him on Facebook and Soundcloud, and follow his regular posts on our site.

Subscribe to Deer Du Bois refreshing playlist on Spotify now!

[su_spacer]

The Ghost of Helags, is a singer-songwriter and producer duo hailing from Sweden but relocated in Berlin. According to Electric North, the members of the band are unmasked: John Alexander Ericson (production) and Teresa Woischiski (vocals-lyrics).

Some weeks ago, their previous single “Wildest Dreams” was honouring their home country. This brand new one seems to be dedicated to Berlin and it can actually be heard… On the trance-infused, post-club dreamy single “Anthem (We Came From The Stars)”, The Ghost of Helags implicitly sing about a city which was marked by history. Nowadays, Berlin has become a sanctuary for a lot of artists: it’s a source of inspiration but also an affordable dynamic city where a lot of young people live and try to make their dreams come true. As written in the press release, their previous single showed you how to find your “Wildest Dreams” and “Anthem” will guide you to bring them to life. The captivating and intense track is constantly building up until a climax which actually doesn’t end up like what you could have imagined. A beautiful metaphor for life.

The Ghost of Helags just got a distribution deal with AWAL and will be playing some gigs in Brussels and Berlin in February. If you want to know more about it, connect with them over Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

With this cold and rainy weather, there is nothing better than music to warm us up! Hopefully, Deer Du Bois’ new playlist is here!

Written during a vacation under the L.A. sun, the new Benji Lewis song is a duo love-ballad on unreachable love in “Never Mine”. London-based artist Arlo deals with people breaking their promises in “Safe”.

[su_spacer]

On “Forget Forgive”, we feel the nightly vibes of Someone, while she wrote this very personal song during one night in Amsterdam. Like a moonlit chant, deep in the woods, NY band Loma brings us the hypnotizing “Black Willow”.

[su_spacer]

With young and emerging alt-pop star Noah De Leon, we discover the difficulties of connecting to the people closest to you, when you are struggling with your own identity on “Big Blue Eyes”. Berlin-based artist Fil Bo Riva is a bold artist with playful songwriting in his new single “Head Sonata (Love Control)”.

[su_spacer]

London-over-Gothenburg singer Francis Novotny amazes us with his newest track “Broken Arrow”, an empowering song mixing his angelic voice with warm Eastern rhythms. On “New Supplier”, Airplane Man are looking for a remedy to cure their heartbreak and finally find the light.

[su_spacer]

And with the Chicago songstress and mistress of pop Fee Lion, we go up into electric air on her buzzing and haunting track “On Me”!

If you want to drink a bit more until you get tipsy, you should check him on Facebook and Soundcloud, and follow his regular posts on our site.

Subscribe to Deer Du Bois refreshing playlist on Spotify now!

[su_spacer]