[Review] Father John Misty - 'I Love You, Honeybear'

Father John Misty is in love, or out of love, or in love with love.  I Love You, Honeybear scrutinizes the roller coaster of an enigma we call love from both an observer’s and a participant’s point of view.

The ethereal Josh Tillman a.k.a. Father John Misty released his second studio album on Tuesday charmingly titled I Love You, Honey Bear. His pragmatic lyrics roll out playfully like a familiar nostalgia of a hippie’s fringe dragging across your goose bumped skin. Each song’s progressive melody takes you on a serendipitous ride. You can’t help but instinctively sway back and forth feeling your knees turn to syrup.

I sat with glorious anticipation as the opening track "I Love You, Honeybear" played. Just as I expected, I could feel the silly, sloppy look on my face better known as “the love grin” taking up residence on my lips.  Let’s just say it’s not difficult to fall in love with Josh. Songs like “When You're Smiling And Astride Me”, and “The Ideal Husband“ are where he honestly expresses the realness of loving someone despite faults, fear, and idiosyncrasies.  The old cliché “The moment you came to, I swore I would change” hits home in "Strange Encounter" with its guitar riffs and percussion making your soul a tad more aware.

A welcomed lyricist for our time, Father John Misty sings without blinders all the while with a candid accuracy. In “Bored in the USA”, Josh mellifluously serenades us (piano in stride) with the words, “Is this the part where I get all I ever wanted…Who said that? Can I get my money back?” A song wrapped in the theme of complacency, and disillusionment comes complete with audience laughter and applause.  The album’s ending track, “I Went to the Store One Day" shuffles in a light of hope for the love naysayers. This song in particular stirred part of me that secretly hides due to relationships lost, disappointments in love, and missed opportunities. Easily relating to the words, “And now in just one year’s time I've become jealous, rail thin and prone to paranoia when I'm stoned-this isn't true love someone ought to put me in a home…. Say do you wanna get married...?" was a gentle reminder of just how tumultuous and delightful love can actually be.  Perhaps I do long for someone who can make me feel the way this album makes me feel.  I Love You, Honeybear is the perfect remedy for all the cynical and disconnected hearts who long for someone to make them believe in these lyrics: “Don’t let me die in a hospital; I’ll save the big one for the last time we make love…all because I went to the store one day…”

Father John Misty is playing at Rough Trade in BK on Feb 12 and The Bowery Ballroom on Feb 14th. 

Have a listen to I Love You, Honeybear below. If you love it as much as we did, make sure to

[Download] Ain't No Love - "Cry in the Rain"

Ain't No Love source: Facebook 

Thoroughly enjoying all of this great new music coming from our norther neighbors lately! Canadian electro-hop trio Ain't No Love are the latest and greatest of the maple-leaf musicians that I have been fortunate to find gracing my eardrums this week. The trio, which is comprised of Roland ‘1990’ Broere and Elias ‘Beanz’ McBean, alongside singer Saidah Conrad, are prepping for a March release of their latest EP, Plummet. This newest track, "Cry In The Rain", is the 3rd that they've blessed the internet with so far. The track was produced by Avenue, who has been on his a-game recently with his remixes for Tobtok, Miami Horrow, Lemaitre, and Penguin Prison.  

SPOILER ALERT: I've listened to Plummet like 8 times already and I can't get enough of it, so you are going to want to keep your eyes and ears here for more info on these guys. 

In the meantime, enjoy "Cry In The Rain" below and feel free to grab it for the actual retail price of $FREE.99. 

[Listen] ANAMAI - "Lucia"

Anna Mayberry of ANAMAI (also of HSY)

After falling in love with HSY during CMJ last year I wanted to dig deep to make sure I was a well informed fan of the Canadian noisy-punk outfit. In my researching I learned that singer/guitarist Anna Mayberry is a multi-talented badass. In addition to giving the guys in her band a run for their money with the fire she throws down, she's also a dancer/choreographer who is working on/possibly may have completed her BFA in Contemporary Dance at Concordia AND has an experimental folk side project of her own called ANAMAI with fellow Canadian David Pstuka of Egyptrixx/Hiawatha fame. After a dropping a self-titled EP in 2013, the duo will be releasing their debut full length, Sallows, which is slated for a March 10th 2015 release on Buzz Records. 

The first sampling from Sallows is the delightfully dreary lead track, "Lucia". The song exudes a heaviness that forces you to stop dead in your tracks to give it your undivided attention. The music is equally simplistic as it is heavy, showcasing a dichotomy between Mayberry's elegant and borderline breathy vocals over delicately sludgy strumming. 

Have a listen to "Lucia" below. 

[Better Late Than Never] Honne - "Warm On A Cold Night"

Better late than never is a series where we openly admit that we weren't first to find it but man are we happy that we did!

Better late than never to this warm and sexy blanket of sound from Honne...

NYC winter continues to point that chilly blustery finger at us, making all New Yorkers run for their pillow forts. Tis the season of grizzly bear instincts that safely guides me back to the girl cave. After a long day at work, my soul was seeking solace from this winter of our discontent. This is where it gets good kiddies (and yes, I'm quite adorable and productive in blanket burrito position). Happily curled up on my island, aka "the sofa", goblet of wine, iPad perched; I peeped a tweet from @nowness. Featured on Nowness was a video for the tune "All in the Value", the second single from London synth duo Honne.  Beautifully directed visuals by Geej Ower seasoned with dreamy R&B vocals, relatable, catchy lyrics like "I need you to really need me too 'cause it's all in the value" left me swooning and wanting more from this duo. The video documents the journey of emotions at the end of a relationship (let's face it, who is going to look away from that topic, we've all been there).

Another sip of red, along with my swaying sofa hips, I eagerly jumped right into their first single "Warm on a Cold Night" which definitely sealed the deal. Could I have wished for a more appropriate piece of new found sound to bless my ears in this 22 degree temperature? Doubt it. 

Super excited to hear more from them and will keep you posted on this delicious duo of eargasm. In the meantime, I'm sending a personal thank you to Honne for keeping me warm on a cold NYC night.

[Night Out] VOWS at AVIV (1/24/2015)

For a better view of the gallery above, click here.

2015: The year of awesome. Sprout and I have been waiting patiently for the perfect show to kick off a year that we plan to jam full of music, laughter, hugs, friends, and adventures. This somewhat last minute show by longtime SKOA favorites VOWS (formerly WAZU) could not have been a better way to set the tone for the year ahead of us. This was our first encounter at DIY venue, AVIV, which is tucked away in an industrial part of Greenpoint, complete with absolutely no signage whatsoever and a bathroom that is working hard to be as notoriously nighmarish as the ones at CBGBs (RIP). One foot in the door and Sprout and I were in love with the place instantly. After grabbing drinks from an adorable bartender who was equally as anxious to see VOWS as we were, we proceeded to take our respective places and proceed to drink in the sounds of the evening along with our bubbles.

When last we laid eyes on the dark duo, they were out on the road with Soko. It had been even longer than that since we actually got to see them perform, so we were both pretty anxious to see if their big move out of Brooklyn to Los Angeles was worth us being short a few SKOA family members in New York. As they were setting up I was reflecting on how far their sound had already come along in just 3 years, especially since the first time I heard their debut EP as WAZU, which I had played earlier in the evening while getting ready. 

Then they started soundchecking. I only heard a few notes but I knew instantly that LA had been the right move. Like, so much so that if LA did that to them, maybe we should all consider getting Hollyweird, like, immediately. 

No. Seriously.

Songs that I was already more than familiar with had this aggressiveness and newfound energy to them that I hadn't realized was missing before. Multiple times Sprout and I exchanged awestruck glances from across the room. I could not have been a prouder rock mama than I was last night. 

I am beside myself in excitement to report that the band was in town after a day of recording in upstate New York, which means soon you'll be able to hear what I'm talking about. For now, feast your ears and eyes on "Symbol System" from their self-titled EP, which you would be foolish not to PURCHASE because it is worthy of more than streaming. 

[Night Out] Anberlin's Last Shows Ever (11/25/2014 @ The Ritz in Ybor City, FL & 11/26/2014 @ House Of Blues in Orlando, FL)

Anberlin @ House of Blues in Orlando, FL 11/26/2014

The Friday before Thanksgiving while I was getting ready for work I received a text message from a friend of mine that I had seen the week prior at an Anberlin show at Gramercy Theater. While we were hanging out at that show, I had entertained the idea of heading to Florida to witness the final Anberlin shows ever before the band officially broke up for good. Later the next day, however, I pushed it out of my mind because it wasn't a thing that I could afford and felt incredibly silly for me to go out of my way for considering how many times I had seen the band growing up. She wanted to know if I was still planning on heading home for the holiday for the final Anberlin shows.

As I fumbled to text back, "Can't do Florida. Would love to, just can't", the second I hit send my eyes began to swell with tears and lump in my throat was big that I was having a hard time swallowing. I don't get into it much on here, but a big part of the person who babbles on about music to you that you are reading today was majorly influenced by my upbringing in Orlando. As much as I sometimes wish I had been born and bred in New York, I can't imagine that I would have been the music loving human being that I am today without the experience of being so hungry for music and so eager to support local artists that I traveled all over central Florida following a handful of bands around. Unfortunately, not many of them saw the semi-mainstream success that I had cheered them on for, but to this day I couldn't be more proud of what bands like Copeland, Underoath, and Anberlin have been able to accomplish since we were all idiot teenagers.

After a bit of encouraging/convincing from my friend, I did what any actual fan would do: I did whatever it took to get my behind to Florida.

I had to get to Florida by Tuesday night because it wasn't just Anberlin performing at The Ritz in Ybor City, my longtime local favorites Copeland would be opening. Copeland had disbanded a few years back, so it was a top priority of mine to not miss this unicorn of a reunion-eque performance. I literally flew in, kissed my family, drove where we needed to so I could borrow my mom's car, and proceeded to drive in some of the worst rain I had experienced driving in for an hour to Ybor City. Every 10 miles or so I received text updates from hometown friends already there about the status of the show because I was running so late (thanks again, JetBlue!).

But I made it. Not only did I make it, but it was just in time for "Coffee", a song that I had long spent defining myself to non-Florida friends who didn't quite understand the dynamic of the central Florida music scene. For 5 minutes I would forget that I was rain soaked and stressed out of my mind. The flood of memories and emotions that came was worn basically white knuckling it the whole way to Ybor because it had been years since I had driven in the rain at night. 16-year-old me was so happy that I had gone through all the effort for one more live experience of that song. I thought of the countless times that I had hid what was left of my allowance under one of their t-shirts on their merch table because I knew they were going to be heading out on tour and I wanted to make sure they had gas/food money. I relished in the moments I had with a band that had inspired me for such a large portion of my life.

Between sets I ran into a girl who I had met at a show over a decade ago. At the time she didn't have enough money for a Copeland CD, so I bought her one. We kept in touch and I'd later introduce her to a friend of mine who would eventually become her husband. She showed me photos of their kids and we caught up a bit. That was a bit of a surreal moment for the both of us. I had forgotten about the Copeland CD bit until she posted this Instagram a couple of days later.

Mind you, this was all before I even experienced any Anberlin music within the state of Florida. A longtime friend of mine got me backstage because I was getting overwhelmed by the crowd. From the side of the stage I sat on some amp cases or something and watched another band that I have literally been experiencing for more than half of my life. I watched their fans sing along so loudly that sometimes I had trouble hearing frontman Stephen Christian. I cried at their show in New York that I attended, but this one I managed to keep it together... at least for this one anyway. After the show a lot of us old school Florida scenesters waxed poetic about days gone by. It was equally weird and amazing to be around people that have been my musical family for as long as they've been.

I had attempted to prepare myself all day for Anberlin's final show at House of Blues. I knew that if the feels had been weird in Ybor that they were DEFINITELY going to overwhelm me in Orlando. After as much facetime with my blood family as I could, I joined my other family inside House of Blues for a powerful set from the forever amazing Floridian five-piece. Throughout the majority of their set I applauded myself for keeping it together, but that was before I exchanged hugs and laudatory words with the band's manager and longtime personal hero of mine, Kyle Griner. He and I have somewhat of a history. He didn't know I existed until well after I would secretly go make extra copies of the flyers for the shows he promoted back in the day (I was painfully shy when it came to things like that for some reason). Since being made aware of this, however, it has been nothing but mutual respect and admiration. Like the bands I poured my heart and (formerly) allowance into, Kyle has been someone that has long inspired me to press on like I have in the 14 years that I have been actively trying to professionally help musicians make all of their musical dreams come true. After the year that I've had, I didn't realize I needed to hear all the nice things he said to me until after he walked away, but that sub-5 minute conversation alone was worth the airfare to Florida.

The band rang out their final note, we all hugged each other, shed a few tears, hung out for awhile, and then just like that, Anberlin had officially converted from touring rock band to fond memory.

If there's one thing that I learned from this particular experience, it's that it's important to not just remember where you came from, but to fearlessly embrace the seemingly awkward pieces of your former self that brought you to who you are today. I used to be really embarrassed about how much I supported the central Florida music scene even after I had moved away to Nashville and New York, but I would never trade the fire that these bands ignited inside of me at such a young age for all the limited edition Beck vinyl in the universe. I will forever be thankful for the contributions to the universe that were provided by both Copeland and Anberlin and never stop being inspired to pour my heart and soul into trying to make someone else feel the same way about another band.

Check out the photos from both shows in the gallery below. Pick up Anberlin's final album, Lowborn, on iTunes. You should definitely also grab Copeland's latest album, Ixora, while you're already there shopping.

[Interview] Don Diablo Talks Anarchy, Family, The First Song He Ever Made

Don Diablo @ Pier of Fear 11/1/2014. Image credit: Sprout Dr

At the end of the day the annual DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs list is just that: a list. Granted, it's a fairly good indication of the DJs and producers that are probably worthy of your eardrums as well as your dollars, but like every facet of the music business, lists like this also get muddied up with the DJs du jour that vanish from the scene maybe a year after the list is published. We’re currently in a bit of a crisis in music where the overall sentiment is that we aren’t going to have any “career musicians” to replace the ones who we will eventually lose. Who will be our next Radiohead, Beck, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Bjork, Led Zepplin, etc.? At the current rate that we’re going, it feels like we’re all going to have to accept that these flavors of the week who are fighting for their 15 minutes are as much a standard part of the new music business model as our fairly newly crowned singles dominated sales model, or the reluctant acceptance of streaming for that matter.

When it comes to Dutch producer/DJ Don Diablo, this is not the case. He’s nothing remotely close to a fad. He is an artist that has put in the time to hone his craft, extend his family to include his ever growing fanbase, and gain the respect of the music community breaking all the rules every step of the way. Amidst the never ending swarm of momentary musicians that will come and go, we’ll at the very least have one powerhouse of a DJ that we will all happily grow old with.

Don Diablo and Steve Aoki in his "Back To Life" music video. 

Of course when he’s at the age (which is 90, for you kids at home) that he portrays in his music video for, “Back To Life”, who knows what Diablo will be doing? As we chatted backstage early November at Pier of Fear in New York City moments before his set, he confessed that music wasn’t his first love, but that filmmaking was. “[It’s] weird, right?” he chuckled, “We’re here at a huge rave tonight and this wasn’t even my dream!” His musical beginnings stemmed from the need to find the perfect song for a film that he had been working on with his friends. Since his search left him empty handed, instead of settling for second best, he took matters into his own hands and made music of his own. Although the song would eventually be what got him signed and releasing records at the ripe age of 14, he'll be the first to admit that the song was far from a masterpiece. “It was horrible!” he noted, “It sounded really bad. The production was horrible. I guess there were some ideas in there. A lot of it was based on samples.”

Now at age 34, Diablo has been creating music for 20 years. Things have certainly changed in the way music, especially electronic music, was made since then. “[Back then] it was a time where you really had to invest in making music,” he noted, “You had to buy equipment, learn how to work the machines. It’s different than nowadays.” Despite overcoming the technological hurdles, being a seasoned electronic music veteran who’s not exactly an old timer can have its disadvantages. “Some people think I’m really old.” he chuckled, “They think I’m an old fat German guy because they know records from me from like 15 years ago.”

Having a professional career that began in his early teenage years has made what he considers to be the status quo is pretty mind blowing. “My reality is pretty distorted.” he explained, “I have a pretty weird life in that sense. […] I just grew up living in hotels and planes and doing whatever the hell I want. Sleeping in. Not sleeping. I don’t have a weekend. I don’t have a week. I just do what I feel and I have no boss to account to.”

“They think I’m an old fat German guy because they know records from me from like 15 years ago.”

— Don Diablo

This unruly upbringing would have a profound impact on his approach to his creative process, which he is constantly hinting at very subtly by utilizing the anarchy symbol in his logo. This intentional little detail is his statement to both his fans and musical colleagues alike. “Anarchy means no rules so you don’t have to obey existing expectations or rules,” he explained, “For me, it means that you don’t have to make music in one genre. You don’t just have to be a DJ. [...] I try to break free of the rules and just come up with a different idea and in that sense to me it’s like anarchy.”

This credo of his is seen throughout his work everywhere you look. Most DJs aren't known for directing their own music videos, contributing lyrics or vocals for their songs, genre hopping, or designing their own clothes in addition to a handful of other things. They also most likely wouldn't choose to enlist their mother and grandmother for a photoshoot to encourage fans to vote for them in the Top 100 DJs list over hiring a publicist for a huge press blitz, but again, Diablo dances to the beat of his own machinedrum and no one elses. “I’ve literally been trying to destroy my musical career for years,” he said, “But every time I get more inspired and I get more ideas.” He never allows himself to get burnt out on making music or any of his other disciplines. “[...]When I’m not inspired with making music I get into other stuff,” he elaborated, “I start editing a video or coming up with concepts with videos. [...] You can do other things that are still creative and a part of you being an artist. So that’s how I found a nice little balance for myself so I can be creative 100% of the time.”

Since he’s always working on something, when the time comes for a song to come together, it can happen faster than you'd imagine. “I think the best songs I’ve done, I’ve done in one day,” he divulged, “Like let’s say, 'Anytime'. I finished it in 3 hours. It’s just boom boom boom. Obviously I already had the idea there for a long time. I created all the separate elements and had them in a folder. [...] The actual production only took a few hours.”

“I’ve literally been trying to destroy my musical career for years, but every time I get more inspired and I get more ideas.”

— Don Diablo

However unconventional his methods seem to be, they’re most definitely working in his favor. This past October for the first time ever he made his debut entry on the Top 100 DJs list at number 82. While it comes as no surprise to longtime fans like myself, as usual artists are their biggest critics, "I’ll be very honest," he confessed, "Most of my life I’ve been feeling pretty disappointed in myself. Like, I’ve never really been proud of anything that I’ve done. I felt like my life was a big failure, you know?" Those of us on the outside looking in can see his gradual climb, but Diablo hadn't noticed until it was blatantly obvious, "Yesterday I played in a club and I played like 90% of my own records and people went APESHIT," he gushed, "They weren’t just singing along to the lyrics of my songs, they were chanting along to the melodies. Like during 'Knight Time' they were like, 'dun dun dun, dun dun dun dunn' but in a choir. It really made me feel like for the first time in the last couple of months that everything is coming together. I’m proud of what I’m achieving now."

Every artist has a tipping point in their career. Unfortunately for Diablo, it all started shortly after his father passed away after a battle with cancer 2 years ago. “When my dad passed away I let go of every inch of fear that I had in my body and I also tried not to overthink things." It reinforced his creative process. "I do everything on feeling and out of my heart [now]," he said,  "Sometimes it’s a song that’s very personal, sometimes it’s just a cool tune. I don’t like to linger around too much. I just want to release music.”

Once he freed himself from fear, songs like "Starlight" would find their way out into the world. "Once I had that record," he explained, "I just realized, 'Wow. It’s really connecting with people on a worldwide scale.' Something just snapped in my head and everything I did before in all those years I basically set aside and I started over like I was a new artist." Songs like "Knight Time", "AnyTime", "Back In Time", and "Back To Life" would further propel him forward. As the play counts on Soundcloud and Spotify continue to soar and the dance floor becomes more tightly packed, his inspiration proportionately increases as well. "Right now I’m just insanely inspired," he gushed, "It goes up and down, but for the past 2 years I’ve been on an incredible high. I just had ideas that just go into the studio and music just comes by itself."

Up until recently he was prepping for a proper full length debut, which was tentatively titled, Respect Doesn't Pay The Bills. After an unfortunate series of hard drive failures earlier in the year, however, he took a step back to see what he could learn from the whole experience. "It opened my senses," he explained, "I lost all my music. I lost my whole album. But the album would have kept me on the same path." Throughout the majority of his career, Diablo has been an internet darling of sorts, getting so much love from music blogs that for a few years he was often Hype Machine's Most Blogged Artist, which he obviously is grateful for, but as his scrapped album was appropriately named, respect doesn't pay the bills in this industry. "[...] It’s cool getting good criticism and people on the blogs really loving you," he admitted, "[...] but I wasn’t getting any bookings. I really kind of saw it as a sign." After a month of soul searching he came to the conclusion that he would hold off on a full length for the time being. "I thought, 'Maybe this wasn’t meant to happen. I need to change my direction.' That’s when everything kind of happened for me. I broke through. All the things I’ve always dreamed about have happened straight after that. It really was an eye opener for me."

Instead, he chose to refocus on rebuilding his entire technical system so he could create more easily on the go as well as making the decision to take a singles based approach for the time being.  “I have the songs," he said. "I could release them tomorrow, but my record label and the people I’ve been working with have been saying, ‘Keep building this momentum’[...] I still really have a long way to go." While he estimates that we probably won’t see a proper full length until after summer of 2015, he did jokingly offer to put out one before then, "Maybe I should just start a poll," he chuckled. "[...]I’m gonna go on my Facebook and if I get 10,000 likes from people wanting me to do an album I’ll do an album before the summer of 2015."

That's the nice thing about Diablo, since he's been working on his art for such a long time it's easy for him to adapt to whatever his current situation may be. For example, if his musical career were to end today he thinks he could fairly easily transition back to his first love, filmmaking. “I’ve actually been writing on a couple of scripts," he admitted, "They’re all based around family life." For him, it's important for his art to have an impact on people, whichever discipline it may be. "[...]I’ve always wanted to touch people. Not just in their feet but also in their heart." Just like with his music, he hopes the movies he would make to impact people's lives. "My favorite movies have always been dramas," he noted, "You know, those movies that take you on that emotional journey and really make you walk out of the cinema with that feeling of, 'Wow I need to call my mother or my brother or my friend from back in the day.' It makes you think about life. It’s like art transforming life. It takes you one step further." He went on to detail how his ideal first documentary film would probably be at least partially about his family, who were immigrants from Indonesia. "There’s like a whole dramatic life story with my mother and her brother." he said.

“The most important thing is that you leave [behind] a legacy. I always thought that the legacy would be music, but at the end of the day there’s only one thing that’s important and it’s family.”

— Don Diablo

Family is something incredibly important to Diablo, moreso than anything else in his life. “The most important thing is that you leave [behind] a legacy. I always thought that the legacy would be music,” he admitted, “but at the end of the day there’s only one thing that’s important and it’s family.” I was heartbroken to hear that just two days prior to our interview that Diablo’s adorable grandmother that helped him campaign for the DJ mag list had passed away. He even admitted to the audience during his set that he almost didn’t perform that night because he was still very shaken from it. As seen in his latest video for “Back To Life”, you can see that mortality of man is something that has been impacting his art for awhile now, “[...] If you look at the time series I did (Anytime, KnightTime, Back In Time) they all kind of revolve around the concept of time,” he explained, ”I’ve lost a lot of people in my life in the last 2 years so it really made me realize like how precious and valuable time is.

For Diablo, his family extends past his bloodline to both his fans and his inner circle of friends. It’s seen in the way he interacts with his fans on social media and how hard he’s working to help his friends make their dreams come true as well. “I’m really working my ass off so hard right now and I’m making a lot of money right now, I’ll be honest,” he confessed, “I’m saving that money because I want to create good things for other people, you know? For my inner circle, so I can do things for them. I can help them achieve their dreams and they don’t have to wait as long as I had.” He revealed exclusively to Some Kind of Awesome that he will be starting his own label, which will be officially launching early next year. “It’s the first step to helping other people achieving their dreams.” he said.

Follow Don Diablo on Twitter, Facebook, and Soundcloud.

Make sure you download his latest single, "Generations"...NOW.

Check out the photos below of Don Diablo at Pier of Fear in NYC on 11/1/2014. Click here to view the full gallery in its full glory!

[Night Out] Electric Youth @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (11/12/14)

Click here to go to the full gallery.

The night was just as icy cool as Electric Youth singer Bronwyn Griffin as she serenaded us with dreamy synth pop tunes on that blissful Wednesday night at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Sprout and I were impressed with how effortless Griffin’s performance was as we twirled and swayed about like Molly Ringwald in The Breakfast Club to tunes like “WeAreTheYouth”, “The Best Thing”, “Tomorrow”, “Before Life”, and their latest single, “Runaway” off of their latest album, Innerworld. I must admit though that as a frontwoman that she still has a bit more to learn in terms of presentation. Sometimes her effortlessness almost looked like she was bored with performing, which is unfortunate because the audience was so glued to her that she could have instigated the chillest dance party that MHoW has seen to date. Mind you, that’s just me being critical because I would love for them to see their full potential. At any rate, I would still say that Electric Youth are worth catching live if not just for the opportunity to feel as euphoric as we did exiting the venue that evening.

Make sure you grab the deluxe version of Innerworld on iTunes.

Watch the video for “Runaway” below.