Brooklyn's Best Coping Mechanism

Name: Autre Ne Veut

Where He’s From: Brooklyn, New York

When He Started: 2010

Genre: lo-fi pop, R&B

Most Similar:  How To Dress Well, Cyril Hahn

Sounds Like: If Edvard Munch’s “Scream” Could Sing

Growing up in the generation of oft-overprescribed Prozac poppers, it seems like everybody I know claims to suffer from serious anxiety. But if you were the only son of two American ex-patriots who shipped off to rural Kenya, it’s easy to imagine why you’d be on edge. Thankfully, Brooklyn-based musician Arthur Ashin aka Autre Ne Veut found some much needed catharsis through electro-pop grooves with his second album Anxiety.

Debuting in 2010 with his self-titled album that gave nods to The Weeknd and How To Dress Well for its R&B and electro blend, Autre Ne Veut goes even deeper into his psyche with Anxiety. In the dancey single, “Counting,” Autre ne Veut pairs his earnest falsetto with a lush groove for a Timbaland-esque club banger. He sometimes combines alien sounds a la David Byrne with upbeat bubblegum to please Katy Perry fans, so it makes perfect sense that one of Autre Ne Veut’s biggest inspirations  is karaoke — the unsung shower divas with their bars of soap in hand.

Give a listen to Counting below, and stay tuned for Anxiety, available via the Software Recording Co. February 12th, 2013 in limited vinyl edition as well as CD and digital formats.