Jeeni Blog

Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

Ivy Eye – On My Mind - Single Review

/ By Doug Phillips
Ivy Eye – On My Mind - Single Review

Electronic duo, Ivy Eye makes a formidable case for the wellbeing of disco with their latest revival effort, ‘On My Mind’

In just a short period of electronic anthem creation, UK electronic act, Ivy Eye have steadily been building more and more traction with their disco revival endeavor. Joining the likes of Jessies Ware, Midnight Generation and Róisín Murphy, in the electronic rejuvenation of disco, Ivy Eye have an even more on-the-nose appreciation of the 70s club music. And ‘On My Mind’ is no exception. Consisting of Matthew Benham and Rory Sheppard, Ivy Eye continue to raise the bar of their dance/disco quality with their newest single.

A swirling crescendo opens the track which is met with short, sharp strings, a four-to-the-floor kick-clap beat and a host of synth pads, all joined together as a glittery, shimmering entrance into this electric single. The introductory instrumental takes a rest as the vocals enter for the first verse. A restless synth bass bounces all over the simple, dependable dance beat as various guitar parts stab into the off-beats. Every component of Ivy Eye’s instrumental feels like it’s bursting with energy and personality, almost as though they’re all desperate to be a part of the fun.

After a classic dance riser to elevate the impact and excitement, the first chorus erupts but only for a moment. Almost acting as a teaser for the true chorus, which the twosome still has up their sleeve. This half-chorus is a great way of whetting the listener’s appetite before the main course of funk-dance-disco.

After another verse, the chorus enters in a similar way, except now, most of the instrumental leaves to let the vocals shine to begin with, a classic disco feature. Once the rest of the instruments join in with the celebration, Ivy Eye takes the brave step in picking up where Daft Punk left off with a little help from the vocoder. An iconic sound, made famous by the likes of Stevie Wonder, Peter Frampton and of course, Daft Punk, the vocoder (or similar device, talkbox) manipulates instruments with the help of the performer’s mouth to give the instrument a voice-like quality. This unique and undeniably funky effect is perfect for a song like ‘On My Mind’

The full chorus pay-off delivers in full as the track celebrates in the journey it’s had in the last three minutes. Hinting at the chorus earlier on the track instead of having two main choruses was a stroke of genius and really eases the listen of this disco banger. This perfectly produced track is a promising and exciting sign from an act like Ivy Eye who are so young in their path as artists.

This single acts almost as a love letter to a whole group of styles and eras and Ivy Eye should be applauded for this celebratory triumph of a composition.

Ivy Eye will be performing at Victorious festival this August (26th-28th) get your tickets now and check them out!

How can Jeeni support artists like Ivy Eye?  

JEENI is a multi-channel platform for original entertainment on demand. We’re a direct service between creatives and the global audience. 

• We give creatives, independent artists and performers a showcase for their talent and services. And they keep 100% of everything they make.  
• We empower our audience and reward them every step of the way.  
• We promise to treat our members ethically, fairly, honestly and with respect.  
• Access to artist liaison and a supportive marketing team. 

05
May

Artists' rights have been stuck like a broken record, until Broken Record asked for Reform

An open letter was sent to Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the 20th of April, demanding, finally, that there be a reform in music streaming services. Hoorah! We hear you say, but what does this mean? Well, everything that Jeeni stands for, in essence the fair and equal treatment of music makers and artists.  High profile artists such as Sir Paul McCartney, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Boy George and Jessie Ware, have all signed the open letter and petition asking for a regulator to ensure these actions, in order to make the UK “…the best place in the world to be a musician or songwriter.” The move was spearheaded by the Musicians’ Union and the Broken Record campaign but has garnered more than 150 signatures from famous faces across the UK music industry and the support of over 5000 musicians and fans.  Since the launch of Spotify in 2008, streaming services have quickly become our primary method for listening to music instead of through the more traditional methods of radio and Television. What these streaming services don’t offer however, is protection and fair treatment of the artists and songwriters.  In November 2020, as part of an investigation into streaming royalties, it was found that some artists were receiving just a fraction of a US cent per song streamed and worse, some no compensation at all.  In order for this to change, only small amendments need to be made to the 1998 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, however the outcome for artists could mean the difference in being able to pay next month’s rent or not as many have unfortunately experienced. At a time when we need to be looking for ways to restart the post-Covid financial recovery, a truly free market would allow a song to achieve greater profits and therefore, as the letter addresses, put more money in the pockets of UK taxpayers which can only benefit our economy.  Fundamentally we don’t want to stop listening to and seeing the artists and musicians we love. When we are able, we want to dance along at concerts, sing our hearts out at gigs and sway to the rhythm that an artist has worked hard to create for us, so why should they not be paid and treated fairly?  We want the music industry to thrive, and it is why we at Jeeni believe that it is so important to do this.  You can support the petition at  https://www.change.org/p/boris-johnson-put-the-value-of-music-back-where-it-belongs-in-the-hands-of-music-makers Let’s make 2021 a great and fair one.

31
Jul

NEW OPERA ACHIEVES ROCK STAR STATUS

It's the sort of statistic that music promoters dream of. An audience of ten thousand in less than one hour, and for a first-time performance. But this massive audience didn't turn up to watch a new boy band or the latest rap sensation, they came to the opera! A brand new opera called Spring Street is set in Manhattan, and it mixes classical arias, string quartets, jazz, blues and even acid rock. The opera was streamed on Jeeni, the self-styled "ethical alternative" to the big streaming giants, and opera composer Pete Wyer is ecstatic about Jeeni’s methodology and success. “I’m really thrilled. My expectation was we’d get to the magic 10,000 mark in a month, but this is quite incredible - especially when I compare it to operas I’ve had performed on stage! Without Jeeni’s help my piece might be languishing with a few hundred hits.” Wyer is being modest. An award-winning composer for the English National Ballet and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, his biggest audience before the Jeeni event was when 60,000 people enjoyed his celebration Liverpool waterfront concert, and the performance and publicity costs for that were considerable. By contrast, the Jeeni audience for his new event has already topped 66,000 and the costs have been zero. Everything has been achieved by the publicity and marketing systems built in to the Jeeni platform, which makes it unique when compared with the likes of Spotify or Netflix. Pete Wyer continues, "I looked at the Jeeni platform doing really good work for independent artists, and the more I learned the more I liked. It's been a very happy experience." The opera stars the soprano and triple-GRAMMY award-winner Maren Montalbano, who says, "Power is shifting from large organisations to the individual, and platforms like Jeeni are on the rise because they give artists the opportunity to lift themselves up and lift each other up." Her co-star, the bass-baritone and Netflix superhero Heday Inoue adds, "Jeeni is allowing us to have more exposure. I think it's amazing, and I'm really, really happy to be part of it." What is even more amazing is the fact that the cast and musicians have never actually met except on the Jeeni platform. Everything was composed, rehearsed and performed remotely in lockdown. Jeeni founder Shena Mitchell says, “When we first launched Jeeni a few months ago, it took days to hit audience figures of ten thousand for an online concert or festival, and I was delighted with that. But here we are, achieving the same thing in under an hour, and for an unknown opera. Imagine what we can do next. We already have more than two thousand artist showcases and an audience outreach of over two million." Now Jeeni.com needs to scale up to meet the technical demands for handling more artists and bigger audiences, so they have turned to crowdfunding. Shena Mitchell says, "Everybody knows that the big streaming companies rip artists off. We don't do that. Our artists keep 100% of everything they earn with us. Now we are allowing the public to invest as little as £10 to buy a part of us, and own a stake in what could be the ethical future of entertainment.”  More information: shena@jeeni.comjeeni.com/investjeeni.com/springstreet *Capital at Risk

23
Jun

Emiliyah and the MightyZ Allstars at The Queens Hotel Southsea

COMPETITION TIME WIN FREE ACCESS FOR A GROUP OF 6  The Queens Hotel Southsea Sunday 13th June 2021. Emiliyah and the MightyZ Allstars are a collective of talented musicians fronted by lead singer Emiliyah Witkiewicz. The band perform original new reggae music, while still staying faithful to reggae roots from the 1970s and early 1980s. Emilia ‘Emiliyah’ Witkiewicz from Warsaw is a true vocal phenomenon.  Without doubt the most exciting new talent on the Reggae scene.  Never formally trained, she started her musical journey with Jazz, Blues and Soul music before finally choosing reggae. Singing from her heart always, Emiliyah has already worked with and supported names like Janet Kay, Vivian Jones, Winston Reedy, Kenny Knots ,Starky Banton, Luciano to name but a few. Joined with immensely talented musicians – ‘the Mighty Z All-stars’. Consisting of Stuart ‘MightyZ’  Inglis on bass, Bri Cotter on guitar, J Sealy on Drums and Cajon, James ‘The Jazz Priest’ Richardson on keyboards and Clinton ‘Rock’ Jones on lead guitar. Emiliyah and the MightyZ Allstars will be performing at the Summer Garden Party hosted at The Queens Hotel Southsea along with The Majestic, Sunday 13th June 2021. How to win: All you have to do is like and share this blog post and we will enter you into the draw to be announced Saturday Night 12 June 2021 at 8pm.  Full Details of event can be found at: https://book.events/queensgardenparty/2021-06-13/30015 #funky #upbeat #uplifting # emiliyahandthemightyzallstars  #blogs #reggaemusic #band #livemusic #jamacianmusic #guitar