Breaking the rules is where things get interesting with pop music. Franz Ferdinand’s ‘Take Me Out’ actrually slows down for the main part of the song. Sonic Youth releasing ‘The Diamond Sea’ the twenty minute closing track as the single off Washing Machine. Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’

Here -and this is a single- it’s not only the fact that it’s the first single but it’s the track itself. ‘Rubies’ the track fades in to an ambient opening, before the vocals come in on a completely different song. And two minutes twenty two seconds in it stops and goes in a different take before coming back to the main theme. But like the aforementioned song, though it sounds nothing like them, it’s a great pop tune. And although I get a number of submissions in my inbox every day, I suddenly realise I’m playing this for the fourth time in a row…It reminds me of Brian Eno in parts, Boards Of Canada in others, and Dubstar vocalist Sarah Blackwood in others. The tags for the Soundcloud read ‘Drone’ ‘Hip-Hop’ ‘Shoegaze’ and ‘Electronic.’ Very accurate.

According to the press release ‘Stickfigure Recordings is proud to release the first single from Qurious’s new full length “Void Vanishing”. The first single is entitled “Rubies”…Qurious is the surprising collaboration between a hip-hip producer/sample collagist (Mike Netland) and a vocal texturist/muli-instumentalist (Catherine Quesenberry). Since winter 2009, the pair has taken up casting a sonic net over the patrons of the Atlanta and Athens music scenes.’

Stream and download it here. I have heard no other tracks by this act -BUT: even if they never produced anything like this again, this would still be of note, IMHO.