Shallou

Under the name Shallou, American producer and singer Joe Boston has developed a melodic electronic sound since the mid-2010s, sitting between ambient, downtempo house and vocal indie pop. Originally from the Washington D.C. area and now based in Los Angeles, Shallou first gained attention online with tracks featuring atmospheric textures and minimal rhythms, often led by his falsetto. The EP All Becomes Okay (2017) laid the foundations for this contemplative aesthetic, continued in 2018 with Souls, which opened his songwriting further to the pop-song form. The full-length debut, Magical Thinking (2020), brings together this work of blending detailed electronic production with pop structures, featuring several vocal collaborations from the indie and electronic scenes. On record as well as in concert, Shallou favors moderate tempos, simple harmonic progressions and arrangements built around the contrast between ambient pads, repetitive synthetic motifs and melancholic vocal lines, placing him within a strand of introspective electronic music aimed as much at listening as at dancing.