Premiere: Johnson & McAuley, ‘Heartbeat (Beatin’ You Up)’
Kevin Bronson on
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Boston-bred, L.A.-based songwriter Bleu McAuley has worn many hats. Besides his own catalog, which includes four full-lengths, he’s flexed his pop muscles as a producer and co-writer with myriad artists including the Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato and Air Traffic Controller. His latest meeting of the minds is with Canadian singer-songwriter-actress Alexz Johnson, who herself has built an impressive resumé on screen and on record. Their collaboration, Johnson & McAuley, sounds like it ought be a law firm, but you don’t need a writ of discovery to hear where they’re coming from: the romantic, well-coiffed New Wave ’80s.
The spark for the duo’s album, which will be released digitally on April 8, came after Johnson heard When in Rome’s 1988 hit “The Promise” on KROQ, she told Vanyaland. Added McAuley: “I hadn’t thought about that song in years and years, but, when I heard it again, it was so lusciously familiar. … We fired up my Kawai K4 synth — which ended up being the staple for the whole record — and it came together fast.”
After dutifully covering “The Promise,” the pair waded into originals, including “Heartbeat (Beatin’ You Up),” one of those duets in which the principals sound like they’re trying to work everything out in 3 1/2 minutes. Those sleek synths, that machine beat, those harmonies … Somebody’s gonna end up with tears on their Members Only jacket.
||| Stream: “Heartbeat (Beatin’ You Up)”
||| Also: Check out the previously released “Illuminated Dream” and their cover of “The Promise”
||| Live: Johnson & McAuley perform April 9 at Resident, along with The Great Indoors and Brad Byrd. Tickets.
[…] Coachella-bound Goldroom headlines the Roxy Theatre, joined by Chela and Matt DiMona. ► L.A. duo Johnson & McAuley — that’s Alexz and Bleu, respectively, celebrate the release of their debut EP with a show […]