Psychedelic reggae pop
Back in January, a song appeared online that was so tropical and sultry that it thawed our eardrums and made us even more impatient for the summer. Now that the sun is out, ‘Keep You’ sounds even more alluring, and Wild Belle are poised to soundtrack your season.
The duo - brother and sister Elliott and Natalie Bergman - specialise in captivating breezy rhythms, inspired by their love of Jamaican music and, following their triumphant visit to this year’s SXSW, they began to become something of a buzz word on these shores. “There is something about the relationship with an island sound in the UK,” notes Elliott, “it just resonates with people more deeply here.”Natalie, meanwhile, is wary of the perception that such a description might provoke. “As white people releasing a song that has reggae in it, it could go both ways,” she explains. “People could be like, ‘Who is this hippy jam band?’, or they could believe we are being innovative and have a new sound.”
The duo persevered with Wild Belle despite Elliott being engaged in other pursuits - he is also in Chicago Afrobeat band Nomo, while making a living from selling homemade thumb pianos in Brooklyn - and Natalie’s solo musical aspirations. The sibling collaboration just seemed to work. “His experience in the studio and as a musician just heightened my ideas, my small demos,” Natalie says. “It’s a sound that came about really while we were recording the record.”
It may be a familiar sound: while recording with ex-Talking Heads duo Tom Tom Club earlier this year, Wild Belle realised they shared the same database of synth sounds; “I was like, ‘That’s like the exact same space drum that we have on ‘Keep You’!” Natalie laughs. “They were like, ‘We invented the sound but you can use it.’”
Words by Simon Harper
Photo by Samuel John Butt
Where: Brooklyn via Chicago
What: Psychedelic reggae pop
Get 3 Songs: ‘Keep You’, ‘Take Me Away’, ‘Twisted’
Unique Fact: The Bergmans both filmed cameos for Terrence Malick’s new film while at SXSW. Elliott blows bubbles in Rooney Mara’s Long Island iced tea.
The duo - brother and sister Elliott and Natalie Bergman - specialise in captivating breezy rhythms, inspired by their love of Jamaican music and, following their triumphant visit to this year’s SXSW, they began to become something of a buzz word on these shores. “There is something about the relationship with an island sound in the UK,” notes Elliott, “it just resonates with people more deeply here.”Natalie, meanwhile, is wary of the perception that such a description might provoke. “As white people releasing a song that has reggae in it, it could go both ways,” she explains. “People could be like, ‘Who is this hippy jam band?’, or they could believe we are being innovative and have a new sound.”
The duo persevered with Wild Belle despite Elliott being engaged in other pursuits - he is also in Chicago Afrobeat band Nomo, while making a living from selling homemade thumb pianos in Brooklyn - and Natalie’s solo musical aspirations. The sibling collaboration just seemed to work. “His experience in the studio and as a musician just heightened my ideas, my small demos,” Natalie says. “It’s a sound that came about really while we were recording the record.”
It may be a familiar sound: while recording with ex-Talking Heads duo Tom Tom Club earlier this year, Wild Belle realised they shared the same database of synth sounds; “I was like, ‘That’s like the exact same space drum that we have on ‘Keep You’!” Natalie laughs. “They were like, ‘We invented the sound but you can use it.’”
Words by Simon Harper
Photo by Samuel John Butt
Where: Brooklyn via Chicago
What: Psychedelic reggae pop
Get 3 Songs: ‘Keep You’, ‘Take Me Away’, ‘Twisted’
Unique Fact: The Bergmans both filmed cameos for Terrence Malick’s new film while at SXSW. Elliott blows bubbles in Rooney Mara’s Long Island iced tea.
