Ears Wide Open: NoMBe
Kevin Bronson on
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“Ooh, how I like the smell of West Coast pheromones,” Noah McBeth sings on the outro to his viral hit (as NoMBe) “California Girls,” which, if nothing else, answers the age-old question “What do pheromones sound like?” (In this case, drunken synths underpinned by pulsing electronic beats.) McBeth, a native of Heidelberg, Germany, and the godson of Chaka Khan, debuted last November with the “Change of Hearts” EP, and the L.A.-based singer-songwriter-producer has also remixed Kan Wakan and had his fingerprints on the deftly pitch-shifted KP tune “Where Did You Go,” as well as Beauville’s “Letting In.” Like so much production-driven pop-soul, NoMBE’s slow-building single mixes the organic (a familiar guitar progression) with electronic beats and bent synths, and sprinkles in some hip-hop lite. With his oh-so-smooth vocals and those nifty verses, it’s the kind of formula that gets you a million plays, and maybe the girl.
||| Stream: “California Girls,” or download it here
||| Also: Watch director Luca Repola’s video for “California Girls”:
[…] NoMBe — makes minimalist R&B with maximum results. He put himself on the map in 2015 with “California Girls,” a single that if you combine all services (and include the Sonny Alven rework) has probably been […]
[…] ||| Previously: “Drama,” “Young Hearts” “California Girls” […]