“Pull Me Down” is a strange but enticing proposition: recent RCA signee Mikky Ekko plying radio-ready blue-eyed soul over the woozy, bass-addled sonics of producer Clams Casino. Perhaps this Nashvillian’s pretty mug is the face of PBR&B 3.0? Or would that image belong to the far weirder profile of Alt-J? Whatever’s going on here, James Blake better get on board before the train he was once set to conduct leaves the station. In terms of exposure, Ekko has got a real jump on the competition — he duets with Rihanna on the elegiac Unapologetic track “Stay,” playing the piano-plinking Chris Martin to her, well, Rihanna circa Mylo Xyloto. But the guy’s approach isn’t 100 percent pop. There’s a lot of darkly mottled goop in the mix, made literal in the video for “Pull Me Down,” and a taste for chilly electronics that may make him a cousin to Sufjan Stevens collaborator Son Lux.
Mikky Ekko and Clams Casino Get Goopy in ‘Pull Me Down’ Video
