Live Review: Missed Calls: YORKE, George Michelle, Yeo & more
If you haven’t got the memo yet, we at Purple Sneakers love new music. Each week, we’re graced with a tonne of new releases, and sometimes, it’s a little hard for us to keep up. Which is why we’re answering some of our missed calls and passing the line over to you. Below is a stellar bunch of new music that you might have missed over the last week.
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Separate Ways - Separate Ways (George Michelle Remix)
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There's a duo out of Phoenix, Arizona making crystalline pop music. MacAndrew Martin and Matthew Johnson launched their SEPARATE WAYS project at the end of last year with their eponymously titled debut track. It's out on local label Burning Rose, one that Sydney's George Michelle is a founding member of. He's taken on Separate Ways' debut track and as per usual, you're going to want it to be the weekend already after hearing this one.
In classic George Michelle style, he's perfected a beautiful balance here, pairing melodic, atmospheric house with the best elements of the original. Chopped and skewed vocals dominate the peak of this one, with the choral refrain taking the lead throughout the rest of the track. It's a romantic deep house number, something Michelle is fast becoming recognisable for.
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Yeo - Restless
Melbourne multi-instrumentalist and producer YEO's sound is built on the foundations of bending the confines of RnB, electronic music and pop. He put out his debut record Desire Path in 2017, showcasing a variety of sounds with the help of pals like Asta, Kira Puru, Fractures and more. 'Restless' is his first track of the year, and it's all brass and funk, tied together with one hell of a vocal line.
Of the track, he said "Y'know when you're too shocked to reply to some asshole and then later it keeps you up at night? This song is about trying not to let that stuff get you down. Oh, and it's also a fun poke at systemic racism and white fragility, but the chorus applies to any confrontation really. It's about redemption from all that bullshit and having faith in something you may not live to see."
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Yorke - Wake The City
YORKE first blew into our consciousness last year, with the release of her debut 'First Light'. After shining bright in the retrospective, grainy clip to accompany it, she recently announced the news of her second single. 'Wake The City' came to us last week as a beautifully formed emotional pop anthem, and there's another clip that came with it too.
Directed by MeOhMy, the clip details a love unfolding and then silently folding. The weight of the words she's singing are aptly reflected in the relationship being tracked in the clip. With beautifully dark, ambient reds and yellows dominating the colouring of this track, Yorke has delivered something both intensely personal and beautifully lasting.
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DJ Chillz - Lost Myself (Feat. Sarai Young)
London producer DJ CHILLZ has always been proud of her African heritage, injecting it into her music as often as she can. She's teamed up with session singer Sarai Young to deliver a powerful new single.
'Lost Myself' kicks off with a floating, afrobeat inspired percussive pattern, immediately shining a light on her cultural influence. There's a touch of house injected into this one that adds an entirely new level of thought to this one. The introduction of Young's vocal instigates this back and forth between the instrumental and her vocal tone, creating a beautifully sensitive tension that feels as though they're dancing with one another, rather than against.
Keep an ear out for DJ Chillz's debut EP set to be out later in the year.
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Csöke - #1
There's a new producer coming out of Western Sydney by the name of Csöke (pronounced “zj-ock”, rhymes with “shock"). She dropped her debut single very aptly on Valentine's Day, and I can guarantee that this little cut will make you feel all loved up by the end of it.
She's paired a slow RnB inspired beat with some PC music inspired ditties that accent the soundscape, to create something that's both beautifully executed and sugary sweet at the same time. Her vocals croon expertly atop this beat she's created, and the result is one hell of a debut. Try and get this one out of your head, I dare you.
Photo of George Michelle by Alex Johnstone
Photo of YORKE by Jess Gleeson
Photo of Yeo by Lee Chang Ming x Nope Fun
Words by CAITLIN MEDCALF
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