The Appalachian mountain ranges have been the birthplace of many a musician. From bootlegging and Civil war battlefields, to the country’s first craft guilds, they have been a haven and muse for many a songwriter. Taking all that into account it seems like only a slight juxtaposition for it to also be the birthplace of an electronic pop act. 

 

The Jellyrox, consisting only of Eleventyseven front man Matt Langston, is that act. 

 

Where most folks in Appalachia find themselves within arm’s reach of a fiddle or banjo, Langston’s instruments of choice is the synthesizer. Having formed out of a desire to pursue an entirely electronic sound, The Jellyrox “isn’t a far stretch from the pop song writing sensibilities of Eleventyseven, just a different approach to the music” Langston says. He ads, “My love for music has it’s roots almost exclusively in 80′s pop, so this feels like a pretty natural adventure”. 

 

After releasing a self-titled E.P. in 2010, The Jellyrox’s debut album, Heta Himlen, is now available through all digital outlets. While the Swedish title is roughly translated into “Hot Heavens”, it seems like a most appropriate summation of the album sonically. Dreamy synth textures float effortlessly over driving dance beats that mesh the highlights of the 80′s with the sleek punch of modern electropop. 

 

As the early musical mountaineers before him forged their own sound with the instrumentation of their day, so Langston has chosen his own indigenous sonic tools and crafted something completely unique. Heta Himlen stands as a strong debut from this Carolina native, and points the way for a promising direction for the one-man synth act.