JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the legendary Gladys Knight’s 79th birthday.
Category: R&B
Throwback: Happy Belated 67th Birthday, Larry Blackmon!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belated celebrates Larry Blackmon’s 67th birthday.
Throwback: R.I.P. Tina Turner
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the life and music of the iconic and incomparable Tina Turner.
Throwback: Happy Belated 82nd Birthday, Ronald Isley!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates Ronald Isley’s 82nd birthday.
Throwback: Happy 75th Birthday, Grace Jones!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Grace Jones’ 78th birthday.
Throwback: Happy Belated 81st Birthday, Taj Mahal!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates Taj Mahal’s 81st birthday.
Throwback: Happy 73rd Birthday, Stevie Wonder!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Stevie Wonder’s 73rd birthday.
New Video: JOVM Mainstay Marie Dahlstrøm and Sipprell Team Up on Sultry “The Process”
Over the past few years, the acclaimed Roskilde-born, London-based singer/songwriter, musician, producer and JOVM mainstay Marie Dahlstrøm has proven herself to be one of the most prolific and essential talents in contemporary, underground R&B.
Dahlstrøm continues multitudes, a thousand different selves co-existing and contradicting each other — at once. An acclaimed singer/songwriter and producer. A mother. A partner. “These different pockets of life also create friction,” she acknowledges. “I’ve been figuring out where I belong, what I’m supposed to do and how I fit into all of this — because I am so much more than an artist. When you have big dreams or goals and you see time being taken away from achieving them, and going towards something else — how do you make that a positive experience? There are always challenges, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good life.” Fittingly, the Roskilde-born, London-based JOVM mainstay’s highly anticipated sophomore album A Good Life thematically is about dismantling the idea that your validity as an artist diminishes when it’s not the focal point of your life, that somehow being a parent somehow negates creativity. Hell, this can be even said for those artists, who have to support themselves with a day job.
“I hope that every album I make will convey a sense of honesty to it. This one is based on reflections from a few years of my life with many changes and adjustments,” Dahlstrøm adds. “It’s an album about human interaction in all its complexity.”
A Good Life is slated for a May 22, 2023 release through Dahlstrøm’s JFH Records. But in the meantime, the album’s last single before its release, “The Process” features Dahlstrom’s longtime friend and collaborator Sipprell. Built around twinkling piano, skittering beats, bursts of shimmering guitar, a Quiet Storm-meets-smooth jazz guitar solo, whirring electronics and a sinuous bass line, “The Process” is a seemingly effortless and sultry bop that sees its collaborators soulfully dissecting the intricacies and complications of being an artist — with a lived-in specificity.
“The song is about creativity, and the process of that,” the Roskilde-born, London-based JOVM mainstay explains. “The song is about the creative process. It’s about letting go in order to catch inspiration when it presents itself. Trying to go with the flow rather than forcing it.”
The accompanying video Lennon Gregory features Dahlstrom and Sipprell in a bare studio on an intimate photo shoot/video shoot and captures their friendship with an honesty while they vamp and sing for the camera.
Sôra is an emerging Paris-born, Montréal-based singer/songwriter and composer. After completing studies in Modern Languages, music and jazz vocal, the Paris-born, Montréal-based artist sang in a number of different bands before stepping out into the spotlight as a solo artist with her debut EP 2018’s Number One.
Her full-length debut, 2021’s Long Life to Phil was written as a tribute to her father Phillipe — and was released through Colligence Records.
“You Love Me,” is the first bit of original material since the release of Long Life to Phil is a slickly bit of contemporary R&B/soul built around skittering trap beats, woozy and wobbling low end paired with the emerging Canadian-based artist’s sultry delivery. Inspired by the likes of Brent Faiyaz, Snoh Aalegra, and Jorja Smith, the new single is a wildly accessible bop but rooted in seemingly lived-in experience with Sôra expressing longing and frustration. “It reflects the difficulties one encounters in a relationship where love isn’t expressed the same way,” she explains.
Throwback: Happy 77th Birthday, Al Green!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Al Green’s 77th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 84th Birthday, Marvin Gaye!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 84th anniversary of Marvin Gaye’s birth.
Throwback: Happy 54th Birthday, Mariah Carey!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Mariah Carey’s 54th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 79th Birthday, Diana Ross!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Diana Ross’ 79th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 81st Birthday, Aretha Franklin!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 81st anniversary of Aretha Franklin’s birth.
Throwback: Happy 70th Birthday, Chaka Khan!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Chaka Khan’s 70th birthday.
