I first got introduced to the seductive sounds of Max Colombie and his Belgian alt-pop outfit (Ozan Bozdag + Claudio Arduini), Oscar and the Wolf last year at CMJ. Sure, I admit I was lusting over the band’s flamboyant frontman, but the music they made was alluring and highly sexual. It was dark and gloomy r&b-infused electronic pop but still VERY danceable. The band made its NYC-debut on Webster Hall‘s 600-capacity Marlin Room stage; part of the New Shapes / Neon Gold showcase. While the band is already a multi-platinum success story in its native Belgium, recently SELLING OUT the 20,000 capacity Sportpaleis Arena in Antwerp, they certainly have what it takes for crossover success abroad, and I’m clearly not alone in that thinking as Neon Gold, alongside PIAS Recordings released the band’s new single “The Game” back in July.
Dripping with attitude and dark pop beats-a-plenty, “The Game” was produced in Los Angeles by Colombie and mega-producer Noah Breakfast who is known for gritty collaborations with Christine and The Queens, Wet, Santigold and countless others. In talking about how the song came together, Colombie gushed about working with Breakfast on the beats as well as the overall inspiration behind the song;
“Together with Noah, we really tried to capture enigmatic sounds of late night clubbing. As a soundtrack to an eventful night out; the adventure and drama, the mixture of audacity and uncertainty.”
Max goes on to compare the new sound on “The Game” to his band’s previous debut album—Entity (which spent 10 weeks in the No. 1 spot in Belgium), calling it a grittier, darker and sexier amalgamation— “a late night remix,” if you will. “Ultimately I’d describe it as tears on the dance floor in the dirty twerk remix.“
CONSIDER ME SOLD! Listen to “The Game” below and download/stream it if you’re so inclined (Spotify/iTunes).
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*UPDATE* The EPIC video for “The Game” was released on September 28th. Directed by photographer Marie Wynants and co-directed by Thieu Seynaeve (a psychiatrist btw), the video draws inspiration from Oscar Wilde‘s classic The Picture of Dorian Gray, “where Lord Henry quotes ‘The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.'” Shot on location in a STUNNING Baroque mansion in Antwerp, the video expertly matches “The Game“‘s darkness and mystery. Check it out below.
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