EP Review — JulianTheGirl & Dais dial up an experimental R&B confessional on New Project “Tales From The Modem”
A glitching neon diary cracked open at 3 a.m.—that’s what the EP project “Tales From The Modem” feels like, JulianTheGirl and Dais trading stories across fiber-optic nerves instead of notebook pages. The duo’s experimental R&B leans into distortion, latency, and emotional lag, turning the EP into a strange but human conversation between vulnerability and bravado. Indeed, the project functions less as a late-night browser tab of feelings: fun, cheeky, reflective, then suddenly boisterous.
First, “Aol” sets the frame with a French monologue on what a modem is, delivered in a warped, dark tone over a cinematic, suspenseful soundscape—half concept-art, half thriller opening credits. “tREMors” follows with haunted piano, off-kilter drums, and a dark-dreamy vocal blend; the risk is admirable, though its chaos occasionally threatens to eclipse the song’s emotional core. In fact, “Raindaince” is where everything snaps into focus: cello, bells, and R&B grooves cradle JulianTheGirl’s hypnotic delivery as she repeats “dancing through the pain,” turning survival into something defiantly graceful.
“alRIGht” pairs both artists over piano, synth, and hip-hop drums, evoking a world where Khalid and Willow Smith swap notes on growing pains—gentle yet potent. “Girl Math” pushes further: heavy bass, restless synths, and Dais’ agile rap flow collide with JulianTheGirl’s dreamy top line, creating a heady, futuristic pulse. However, “The Girls” stretches the experimental dial so far—low-pitched samples, chaotic structure—that it risks alienating casual listeners, even if Julian’s entrance somehow stitches the fragments together. Moreover, that slight excess is the EP’s only real limitation. The modem crackles, sometimes distorts, but the signal—two artists chasing an honest, weird, digital soul—comes through beautifully.
Enjoyed the read? Consider showing your support by leaving a tip for the writer
TRENDING NOW
A roof leaks from the inside first; by that law of damage and repair, Khi Infinite’s new single “HOUSE” reads like both confession and renovation permit. The Virginia native, fresh from a high-water…
Heartbreak teaches a sly etiquette: walk softly, speak plainly, and keep your ribs untangled. By that code, Ghanaian-Norwegian artist Akuvi turns “Let Me Know” into a velvet checkpoint, a chill Alternative/Indie R&B…
Call it velvet jet-lag: Michael O.’s “Lagos 2 London” taxis down the runway with a grin, a postcard of swagger written in guitar ink and pad-soft gradients. The groove is unhurried yet assured…
A Lagos evening teaches patience: traffic hums, neon blooms, and Calliemajik’s “No Way” settles over the city like warm rainfall. Producer-turned-troubadour, the Nigerian architect behind Magixx and Ayra Star’s “Love don’t cost a dime (Re-up)” now courts intimacy with quieter bravado…
Unspoken rule of Saturday nights: change your type, change the weather; on “Pretty Boys,” Diana Vickers tests that meteorology with a convertible grin and a sharpened tongue. Following the sherbet-bright comeback…
A good record behaves like weather: it arrives, it lingers, and it quietly teaches you what to wear. Sloe Paul — Searching / Finding is exactly that kind of climate—nine days of pop-weather calibrated for the slow slide into autumn…
There’s a superstition that moths trust the porch light more than the moon; Meredith Adelaide’s “To Believe I’m the Sun” wonders what happens when that porch light is your own chest, humming. Across eight pieces of Indie Folk and Soft Pop parsimony…
Every scar keeps time like a metronome; on Chris Rusin’s Songs From A Secret Room, that pulse becomes melody—ten pieces of Indie Folk/Americana rendered with candlelight patience and front-porch candor. The Colorado songwriter, now three years…
Cold seasons teach a quiet grammar: to stay, to breathe, to bear the weather. Laura Lucas’s latest single “Let The Winter Have Me,” arriving through Nettwerk, alongside her album “There’s a Place I Go,” treats that grammar as a vow…
A campfire flickers on the prairie while the city votes to forget—rrunnerrss, the eponymous debut by the Austin-born band rrunnerrss led by award-winning songwriter and composer Michael Zapruder, arrives as both shelter and flare…