Country: Germany
Film and music have always had a friendly interplay, but with German indie pop duo Nick & June, the influences of the former play a strong part in their creation of the latter;
“We have always been inspired by various things to write our songs and stories, from French New Wave to movies by Sofia Coppola, Noah Baumbach, Wes Anderson, Xavier Dolan or Greta Gerwig”
From these cinematic touch points, the duo birth their own brand of lush, dreamy orchestrated indie pop. That’s not to say any one song is directly related to a single film. It’s more that you get tracks like their latest single “Hugh Grant & His Consequences”, which draws you in with its mysterious vocal deliveries, before hitting you with an enchantingly wistful chorus. About the track, they’ve said:
“We wanted to tell a story between a ‘coming of age’ trope of departure and the melancholy that follows. The poetic persona writes a letter to a former (or maybe a parallel) version to him/herself and that melancholy returns eternally after all.”
Other songs that will bring various films to mind are “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” (which would be too on-the-nose soundtracking Garden State), while “Anything But Time”, with its atmospheric aura and pearl-drop effects, has the preciousness of auteurs like Wes Anderson in his scene crafting. Older tracks like “Home is Where the Heart Hurts” find beauty in hushed harmonies, acoustic guitars and light percussion, sounding like a more relaxed Of Monsters and Men. The layered vocals and marching drums bring some power to the track, taking it to another level.
Let Nick & June soundtrack your life by hearing a couple of their tracks in our World Watch Playlist on Spotify or Apple Music!
The Indy Review 