The best music is music that can make you think as well as feel, sounds that are as visceral as they are cerebral. And the best love songs are those that acknowledge that the power of human sexuality can be just as terrifying as it is thrilling, that the passion that leads us to love can also lead us into dark, dark places.

Welcome to the world of Brooklyn duo Beacon, who explore the dark side of the sweet melody with a sound that’s as seductive as it is subtly discomfiting. The duo – Thomas Mullarney III and Jacob Gossett – met at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, where they were studying sculpture and painting respectively. As with many other great musical partnerships, this one involves two disparate sets of influences coming together to form a sound that’s both fresh and exciting. They fuse the deceptively sweet melodies of R&B with an intoxicating undercurrent of darkness, drawing on influence as disparate as Warp’s back catalogue and Underworld.

The fusion of these two sounds – R&B’s melody and sexuality, electronic music’s complexity and, especially, the bass-heavy sound design of Mullarney’s influences (“Bass is key to our music,” he enthuses, “big, thunderous rap bass”) – would provide a blueprint for Beacon’s own sound: there’s a duality at play here, an idea of something dark lurking beneath a sleek veneer, a sense of latent conflict and uncertain resolution. “I think the balance of inhibitions is at the core of my own songwriting,” says Mullarney. “The love songs we write are ones that have an inherent guilt implied. Inside love lives a more sinister, carnal element that is constantly being subdued or released.”

The duo’s first release is the No Body EP, four songs that deftly walk the line between seductive and sinister. The production takes as much from the world of non-vocal electronic music as it does from R&B and hip hop, setting Mullarney’s vocals against backdrops that define as much of the song’s atmosphere as do the words themselves. As Mullarney says, “We’re channeling some parts of R&B’s aesthetic, and updating them with today’s ambient, electronic instrumentation.” The result? “A kind of displaced, atmospheric pop.” Music for the 21st century, indeed.

Natasha Kmeto is a Portland-based singer and electronic producer who turns heads everywhere she goes. Armed with a taut dancefloor sensibility and a flutteringly sensuous voice, she exudes the kind of confidence that can only come from a staunch commitment to her craft. Her tracks, which she composes, produces, and performs entirely by herself, straddle the line between dance, pop, and RnB, making rhythmically intriguing compositions that slide effortlessly into the ear and send shivers down the spine. Her energy, talent, and realization of the intricate coalesce into a truly visceral live show, moving both to the partygoer and the thinking person alike. Wherever her music goes, heavy breathing will follow.

Born into a musical family in California, Natasha began to develop her talents as an artist from a young age. It wasn’t until almost two decades later, on the verge of becoming a career session musician, that she took the wheel and broke out in a direction that truly inspired her. Her artistic growth has vastly accelerated since her arrival in Portland and alliance with hometown crew Dropping Gems, and she shows no sign of slowing down. The string of releases since this period showcase Natasha in her most self-realized form, dealing in matters of love, independence, and a re-affirmed outlook on life. She released her sophomore LP Crisis 6/18/13 on Dropping Gems to praise from many tastemakers including NPR, Pitchfork, Fader and Spin. Her upcoming album, Inevitable, is slated to be released early 2015 on rising label Federal Prism helmed by Dave Sitek of TV On The Radio.

Natasha’s long list of notable and acclaimed live performances include a 2014 national tour supporting TV on the Radio, gigs at Coachella, Bumbershoot, MusicfestNW, Symbiosis, SXSW, Low End Theory, and Decibel Festival. She has shared the stage with a number of talented artists including Fourtet, Squarepusher, Flying Lotus, Kid Cudi, Flume, Gold Panda, Dam Funk, Kode 9 and Shlohmo. Her radio experience includes live performances on Boiler Room and KEXP, and her tracks have been played by numerous tastemaking DJs including the legendary Mary Ann Hobbes.