SONG PREMIERE: Lo/Hi Create Beat Driven Soul Splendor With "Tell Me Your Name"

October 27, 2016 by Glide in Audio, Media, PREMIERES No Comments

Listen up for release day Friday 10/28, as Lo/Hi steers the beats and pop aesthetics with the Lessons From The Low End EP. Steve Rusch’s 808-laced, beat-driven sensibility and Mischa Mandel’s bluesy and soulful vocal melodies mix in a way that is undeniably delicious. Writing and producing together, Lo/Hi delivers lyrics filled with both the hardship and elation of the human condition, sung in a voice whose sweetness is tempered with grit, tracing arcs through tapestries of layered bass and airy harmonies.

Both Rusch and Mandel come from highly accredited resumes, with Rusch engineering some top notch releases including records by Solange and Cody ChesnuTT, and earning two Grammy nominations for his work with Andra Day and Miguel. He began regularly engineering for Raphael Saadiq, which only served to further influence his artistic aesthetic.

Mandel has fronted a 10-piece soul band called John Macy & The Heavy Hand. He wrote his own material in his spare time, and when he had enough written to record his debut album (All I Know, 2013), Mandel turned to his friend and former schoolmate Rusch for production services. Working together, it became clear their individual strengths were a perfect complement, and Lo/Hi was born.

Soon enough the duo crossed paths, bonding over a shared love of of downtempo, electronic, soul, and hip hop. Retreating to Rusch’s home studio in North Hollywood, the duo crafted Lessons From The Low End, a bold collection of music that is cutting edge as well as eminently accessible. Lyrically, the record is both autobiographical and universal, trading in the timeless world of love found and lost. Yet close analysis is not required, as listeners who just want to lose themselves in the rhythm will be richly rewarded.

Glide Magazine is premiering ‘Tell Me Your Name,” (below) a convincing composition mixing the electronic prowess of Cut Copy atop unqiue vocal splendor that cries “mercy.” Lo/Hi have made a bold statement with their debut offering and should be considered one of the scene’s most vital instigators of “beat pop.”

“This is one of the first songs we wrote together along with a good friend, artist and writer Bianca Gisselle,” describes Rusch. “It started with an instrumental idea we wrote from banging on a desk and developed into a beat-driven dance song. We had a lot of fun using voices to mimic instruments in this one. In this case, the music really prompted the lyrics. The light and uptempo feel of the song reminded us of that feeling of seeing someone from across the room who just grabs all of your attention.”