Once More And Never Again

Hello. After numerous stop-start attempts at reviving Spherical Notions, we have decided to start afresh at a new home. Tune in to Bratfaced for regular posts, or follow us on Twitter here.

Forced To Have You In Rewind

It feels a bit as though I'm living on a musical diet of R'n'B 'slow jams' at the moment. Maybe I'm in heat? Or maybe I'm just tired of being clobbered about the head by the chart pop and dance music 'du jour'?

Anyway, 'Careless Over You' is the latest track from Sasha Keable, a vocalist you might recognise from the Disclosure album, or maybe even this Zinc track. It's a sultry track with Keable's silky vocals soldered on to a backdrop of keys and electronic beats, with more than enough quirkly production flourishes to keep things interesting.

It reminds me of some of fellow-Disclosure collaborator Jessie Ware's material and definitely bodes well for her forthcoming 'Black Book' EP.



She's also recently uploaded a series of acoustic versions of the EP tracks that reveal the true power of her voice:

Let's Die For A Few Hours

Earlier today, Solange announced plans for the first release on her Saint Records imprint. Saint Heron is a compilation of new tracks from artists like Kelela, Kingdom, Cassie and Solange herself.

Another inclusion on the compilation is an artist I've admire for a while: Brussels-born and Cape Town-reared musician Yannick Ilunga, aka Petite Noir. Ilunga, previously played as part of South African electropop outfit Popskaar, but his work as Petite Noir is darker, permeated by a brooding intensity that's mirrored in the videos for his songs.

He himself describes the music as “noir wave” or “new wave with an African aesthetic”. His native influences are certainly present and a number of his tracks are anchored by spectres of African shuffles. Other elements, meanwhile, hark back to the gloomy sounds of New Order, Depeche Mode or Joy Division, with a smattering of Foals and Bloc Party thrown in for good measure.

I'm looking forward to hearing what he's come up with for Miss Knowles's collection, but my favourite of his tracks to date is probably 'Noirse'.