NYC Scene Report – Anna Rose, Isador, & more

This week’s NYC Scene Report features tour news from blues rocker Anna Rose, dark indie pop from Isador, another soulful R&B jam from Starchild & The New Romantic, and the return of indie electro-pop artist HoneyChrome.

* If you haven't seen Anna Rose live, now is the perfect time to make it happen, as starting tomorrow the NYC-based blues rock artist will be on tour as a co-headliner with Philly-based singer-songwriter Andrea Nardello.

Their tour, which is named the Revolution is Love Tour, runs from the 5th – launching in Portland, ME – through the 24th, closing out in Pittsburgh, PA, and includes a hometown show for Rose at Rockwood Music Hall on April 12th (see all the tour dates here).

In a statement, Rose discussed the upcoming road trip saying, “I'm thrilled to be touring with Andrea, an artist who I vibed with, and admired, from the minute we met. Her songs are brilliant, her heart is pure gold, and I think the collaborative elements that we're bringing to these shows will be really exciting for our fans.”
 
Nardello added, “There is nothing better than going on tour with like-minded artists. I can’t wait to share the stage with Anna Rose and travel to some of my favorite spots. She has a powerful voice and is full of light.”

Check out Rose’s powerful voice, and then catch her live with Nardello when they hit your town.


* Sometimes boredom can lead to greatness. This was the case for Isador, the artistic moniker of Warren Heller, who says his hometown wasn’t exactly the excitement capital of the world, and because of that, he became the artist he is today.

“I was incredibly bored growing up in New Jersey,” he explained in a statement, “I didn’t connect with anything, or anyone, at school. I couldn’t find anyone interested in the things I was interested in. I was stranded. Music became my escape. I would stay up all night creating these crap beats, (and) reading and watching everything I could to learn about music production.”

Heller relocated to Queens, NY, and his “crap beats” matured into top notch dark indie pop.

He recently released an EP titled EP1, the latest single off of which is “Falling,” an earworm of a song that you’ll love having stuck in your head.

Heller is more than a musician, however, as Isador is actually a multimedia project involving music, film, photography, and design, all brought together to portray a coming of age story. Check out the video for “Falling” to get a taste.


* Indie soul standout Starchild & The New Romantic – the nom de plume of Bryndon Cook – says his sensitivity is his strength, and just one listen to his music serves as reminder that sensitivity is an emotion that makes R&B great.

His latest single is “Can I Come Over?,” an R&B jam that would fit in perfectly alongside Maxwell, Mint Condition, and Tony! Toni! Toné!. The song is off of Starchild & The New Romantic’s full length album Language, which was released earlier this year via Ghostly.

Give the song a spin, it’s absolutely fantastic, and may very well be some of the best R&B you’ll hear all year.


* Brooklyn-based indie electro-pop artist HoneyChrome is back with a brand new single, titled “Machine,” and with it he wants to take you to a place you’ve never been – the 5th dimension.

No, he isn’t talking about The Age of Aquarius soul band from the ‘60s and ‘70s, he's talking about freeing oneself from the bonds of society’s expectations, and living life on a higher plane.

In the chorus HoneyChrome croons, “I’m not gonna be part of the machine, you won’t catch me dead or alive inside as a cog or a wheel or a spark that ignites it.”

Check out the video for “Machine,” and get free with HoneyChrome.


For more of the best of NYC’s indie music scene, come back next Wednesday, and check out the archives for previous columns.