Scene and Heard – CCXXXIII : Dancing Leaves –  Himmel (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

I’m still holding out for the modern dream-pop sound, a blend of commercially aware accessibility and late 80’s shoegazing references, pop infectiousness and cult integrity, to become the new, dominant form of mass market pop music. Unlikely I know, but if it ever happens Himmel are going to be right at the front of that wave as it crashes into the modern consciousness and becomes the zeitgeist.

Himmel is based around the wonderfully named producer Luca Bluefire, a multi-instrumentalist and studio whizz-kid who operates a revolving door policy when it comes to his musical collaborators. Here Flora Lin takes the lyrical and vocal duties and her understated and breathy deliveries are balanced out with soaring musical crescendos and pulsing electronica and the result is a both unique and powerful play off.

As the music industry wanders further into a music by numbers situation, using templates providing more of the same to catch the pop fan dollar, the rise of such brilliant blends of dance vibes and old school integrity, artists who understands the long game and the cyclical nature of music, rather than the knee jerk reaction to this weeks fashion are the only real way forward. Welcome to a glimpse of the future. Hopefully.