Category: singer/songwriters

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Leon Bridges Shares Ebullient Video for “Watch You Dance”

Acclaimed Atlanta-born, Fort Worth, TX-raised singer/songwriter and musician Leon Bridges released his latest album, the J Lloyd-Watson and Lydia Kitto-produced, Happiness Anytime earlier this year Columbia Records. Happiness Anytime sees the acclaimed singer/songwriter and musician returning to the warmth of his 2015 debut but while seeing the members of Jungle and Bridges’ signature sensibilities blending to create something entirely new — an expansive, borderless sound and approach that pushes the Grammy Award-winning artist into a brand new territory. The album’s material echoes Fela Kuti, Paul Simon’s 1990 acclaimed effort The Rhythm of The Saints and Jorge Ben without feeling overly referential. At its core, the album is reportedly boundary pushing while remaining unmistakably Leon Bridges, rooted in his imitable vocal, effortless charisma and melodic sensibilities.

The album was written and recorded across three fast and furious sessions with Lloyd-Watson and Kitto, a collaboration that can trace its origins to the trio repeatedly crossing paths across the global festival circuit. The trio decided to attempt a low-pressure writing session at Los Angeles-based Chaplin Recording Studios. Four days later, they had come up with six songs — half of the completed album. Pino Palladino contributed bass during the sessions. The overall end result is a timeless body of work that feels unfussy and breezy — that they all hope will make the listener feel happiness anytime they play it.

“For me, happiness is not a feeling that you chase,” Bridges says,“I want this album to be something that lingers with people and lingers in people’s bones. There’s this feeling that we have to fix the problems of the world; you feel inadequate or it can be debilitating. My role is to be light. I hope that comes across with this album.” With Happiness Anytime, Bridges actively sets out with a desire to not only find joy but to find movement again.

Early in his career, Bridges was out in front dancing — and that was something that had begun to greatly miss. He wanted to get back to making music to dance to, music to excise the stresses and frustrations of modern life, and to feel grounded in the rhythms of the present. Over the summer, he had started introducing audiences to the new album with sets in Paris, Cannes, Los Angeles, Montreux Jazz Festival, London, Chicago and Outside Lands. And as he has being playing the new material live, he has unveiled “Leon Bridges Presents Happiness Anytime,” a reimagined stage production featuring a vinyl DJ, a horn section, three backing vocalists and Bridges out in front dancing and singing. Partly inspired by the communal spirt of Jamaican dancehall culture, the live set mirrors the album’s emphasis on movement — and on dancing your stresses and frustrations away for a bit. You can see what the live show will look like during his most recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he performed medley of tunes from the soon-to-be-released album — the strutting Afrobeat-meets-1970s Motown soul-like “Light The Way” and “Illusion” and jubilant, joyous ode to working things out “Talk It Over.”

“Watch You Dance,” Happiness Anytime‘s latest single is a strutting and sultry bit of neo-soul meets classic soul that feels like a funky, dance floor friendly synthesis of Black Pumas, Cody Chesnutt, Daptone Records and Marvin Gaye‘s “Got To Give It Up” but anchored in old-school craft, earnest, seemingly lived-in lyricism and a grown ass folks sensuality. The song’s narrator knows that seduction is a game that you have to play — and he knows how to play it well.

Directed by Rippy Austin, the accompanying video for “Watch You Dance” was shot on a beautiful, sunny afternoon in New Orleans and features Bridges and a collection of beautiful — and infectiously ebullient– Black dancers moving and grooving to the song. The video and the song are a much needed joy bomb for a desperate, uneasy time. And I’ll add this because it’s necessary: Black is beautiful y’all.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Essay: Midterm Elections 2026/Stakes Is High . . .

An Election Day reminder to vote — if you haven’t already.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Sara Diana Shares Dance Floor Friendly “Phantom”

Sara Diana is a 20-year old, Miami-based singer/songwriter whose work sees her pair poetic storytelling, raw emotion and powerhouse vocals with lush, atmospheric pop productions. Her debut EP, 2024’s Tracksion and Camilo Velandia-co-produced Can’t Be Fazed explored themes of love, growth, survival, invincibility and self-discovery.

Fittingly released on Halloween, her latest single “Phantom” is a sleek and slickly produced bit of pop featuring glistening, horror-like arpeggiated synths and twitter and woofer rattling beats beneath Sara Diana’s powerhouse delivery. Arguably one of the most dance floor friendly songs of the young artist’s growing catalog, “Phantom” is a blend of Michael Jackson‘s “Thriller” and 90s EDM and dance pop that sounds remarkably modern.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 64th Birthday, Anthony Kiedis!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Antho

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 63rd Birthday, Johnny Marr!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Johnny Marr’s 63rd birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay Naomi Shares Euphoric “Tranquille”

2026 has been a busy year for Montréal-based JOVM mainstay Naomi: She has continued to be wildly prolific while entering a bold new era working with French producer Elior Chaudagne, who produced “Univers,” and “Hershey Kiss” feat. Anglophone Montréal-based emcee SLM (pronounced “SLIM”)

The French-Canadian artist’s latest single, the Naomi, Elior Chaudagne and John Adam co-written “Tranquille” is a breezy, remarkably catchy bit of pop anchored around a strutting, dance floor friendly bass line, glistening synths and Naomi’s sultry and soulful R&B-tinged pop star delivery. “Tranquille” is a euphoric, escapist fantasy, specifically meant for you to dance your frustrations and worries away.

Fittingly, the song is rooted in a familiar story for all of us: When a friend goes through a breakup, Naomi steps in to console her. And she comes up with a simple plan — get dressed up and head to the club to dance the night away and get her friend’s mind off things.

The Naomi and Wym Holmes co-directed video for “Tranquille” features dancers Miambi Kassé and Zanna Allepot performing choreography that Naomi developed in collaboration with Guillaume Michaud. The video follows the trio as they get ready for their night out. Gabriel Poirier handled the cinematography and editing for the clip.

Additionally, Naomi was recently named an ambassador for Maybelline Canada, further adding to her reputation as a fashion enthusiast.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Sandhouse Shares Atmospheric “Into Nothing”

Rising London-based indie duo Sandhouse — Anna Sutherland and Casper Holloway — have developed a musical language that comes from a wide-ranging exchange: The duo first bonded over dance music, soul and Arthur Russell, and still spend much of their studio time playing music together. Their ambition is to make guitar music that carries the feelings they find in hyperpop, rap, soul, dance music and film soundtracks. “A lot of our process is creating a powerful sound and then trying to figure out how to make it human, or find the complexity within it,” they explain. “Or creating something very vulnerable and then adding the power to it.” 

Sandhouse’s debut EP, last year’s Circus has amassed over 5 million streams on Spotify while subsequent singles have received press from The Line of Best Fit, DIY Magazine, Rolling Stone UK, Dork Magazine, Under The Radar, The New Cue and others, as well as airplay from BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music and BBC Introducing, where they had a single named “Track of the Week,” Adding to a growing profile across the region, the band has built a reputation as a must-see live act, playing sold-out headlining shows at London’s Corsica Studios, The Lexington and Peckham Audio, along with opening slots and tours with Dove Ellis, PORIJ, she’s green, MOULD, swim school, Bleach Lab, and Panic Shack.

The rising London duo’s sophomore. Casper Holloway-produced EP Pollyanna was released today through Broke Records. The EP’s title is derived from Eleanor H. Porter’s optimistic heroine, while exploring the impulse to keep believing in someone despite mounting reasons not to. For the duo’s Anna Sutherland, writing became a way to take back control of experiences that had left her feeling powerless, shaping the material’s lyrics and her vocal performances. “Writing this music was part of a healing process and a way to untangle all the complicated feelings that arise from escaping from a terrible situation,” the duo’s Anna Sutherland explains.

She adds, “We often talk about the songs being spells or me having magical powers. For the vocal recording for parts of the EP, I imagined I was a giant monster that was part woman part crow when I stepped up to the microphone.” Reading Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Little Mermaid” and accounts of succubi and sirens, alongside conversations about Fullmetal Alchemist fed into that imagination. Across Pollyanna, the desire to disappear into romance sits alongside the urge to become something powerful enough to escape it.

Much of the EP was written and recorded across the last half of 2024 and early this year. EP title track “Pollyanna” and “Into Nothing” emerged during a writing retreat on an estuary in Suffolk, UK with Jay Flew with further sessions taking place at Sandhouse’s studios and alongside Ben Hillier in Lewes, UK. The EP features Joel Kovoor (drums) and Anthony Boatright (bass) on EP tracks “Snapdragon” and “Gasoline” while Ben Beed appears on “Pollyanna” and “Into Nothing.” Jake Burgess (lead guitar, tape machine and contact-mic experimentation) contributes to “Into Nothing.”

Sonically, the EP sees the band pairing warped indie rock with surreal, visceral imagery, grunge-inspired guitars, bleary trip-hop production, warped psychedelia and nocturnal alt-pop and Sutherland’s seductive yet darkly playful lyrics.

Pollyanna EP‘s latest single “Into Nothing” is a slow-burning tune that’s a woozy blend of trip hop, shoegazer textures and alt pop paired with Sutherland’s yearning delivery. Thematically, the song explores what can be lot in the pursuit of an idealized version of yourself. The duo’s Sutherland says, “‘Into Nothing’ is about the performance of modern beauty, and the self-reduction that occurs in order to conform.”

The duo has a handful of live dates, including an appearance at this year’s London Calling. Check out tour dates below.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 61st Birthday, Gavin Rossdale!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Bush and Institute frontman Gavin Rossdale’s 61st birthday.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Justice Teams Up with Gesaffelstein on Cinematic, Club Banger “Pusher”

Acclaimed French electronic music duo Justice — Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay — exploded into the national and intentional scene with 2005’s groundbreaking single “Waters of Nazareth,” which was released through iconic Parisian label, Ed Banger Records. Their debut, 2007’s †, which was released through Ed Banger and Because Music featured the global hit, “D.A.N.C.E.“Their most recent effort, 2024’s Hyperdrama was supported with a stage-closing set at Coachella and a massive, extensive US arena tour that included a Grammy Award win for Best Electronic Recording.

Rockstar Games and the Grammy Award-winning French electronic music recently announced that Grand Theft Auto VI: Original Score is slated for a December 11, 2026 release through Because Music. Ed Banger and Rockstar Games. Hand-selected for the assignment, Justice worked in close collaboration with the Rockstar Games team to match the thematic beats of the gameplay experience, fine tuning their signature sound to align with the immersive world of Grand Theft Auto IV and its main characters Jason and Lucia. As a result, the band’s score is dynamically timed to game events as they unfold, constantly reacting in response to the different ways players engage with the people and places across the game’s world of Leonida.

“The scope of the game is so large geographically and thematically that it was clear from the beginning the music would also have to be very broad in terms of emotions, genres, and textures,” Justice’s Xavier de Rosnay says. “We were given the freedom to explore as many things as we needed to, musically speaking.”

Grand Theft Auto VI: Original Score will include the star-studded “Flower In a Hurricane” feat. Tame Impala, SZA and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, which debuted at #34 on the US Alternative Radio Chart was the first non-feature Justice song to hit the Billboard Hot 100 at #62, and the album’s latest single “Pusher,” feat. French electronic music producer Gesaffelstein. The first taste of the album’s instrumental side, “Pusher” is cinematic yet club friendly tune that seemingly channels a sleek blend of John Carpenter, Kraftwerk and the work of the two French electronic music legends.

The Grand Theft Auto VI: Original Score 2xCD and 3xLP – available in a limited crystal clear edition as well as standard black – features 30 tracks and a number of bonus digital tracks comprising a 3 hour-long suite of material from the game. All versions can be pre-ordered/pre-saved here. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Carolina Oliveros Shares Defiant “YA ROMPIMOS EL SILENCIO”

Colombian-born, New York-based singer/songwriter Carolina Oliveros is best known for being the frontperson of acclaimed act Combo Chimbita. Oliveros will be stepping out into the spotlight with her solo debut Ya Rompimos el Silencio, which is slated for a November 6, 2026 release through Chulo Records.

Inspired by her journey of healing from childhood trauma, Ya Rompimos el Silencio is an act of reclaiming voice, body and memory. The album’s material follows the path forward towards truth, resilience, queer love, collective healing and liberation. Each song is both a personal testimony and an invitation for others to break their own silences.

Sonically, the album reflects Oliveros lifelong dialogue between worlds. Anchored in the Afro-Indigenous musical traditions of Colombia and the Caribbean, vocal harmonies serve as connective tissue marrying bullerengue, cumbia, tambora, rumba, bolero, dembo, salve and other ancestral rhythms with adventurous contemporary production. The result if a sound that’s simultaneously intimate and expansive, ritualistic and contemporary — and honors tradition while boldly pushing it forward. Throughout the album’s runtime, its songs move effortlessly between ceremony and celebration, contemplation and the dance floor, revealing that healing can be a defiant, joyful act.

While showcasing another dimension of Oliveros’ artistry, Ya Rompimos el Silencio is rooted in the belief that music carries memory across generations, that telling the truth can be liberating and transformative, and breaking silence is not an ending, it’s a decision to choose a freer way of living.

The album will include the previously released “Oye Camina,” “RAYO” feat. Orquesta Akokán, and the album’s latest asingle, album closing track and title track “YA ROMPIMOS EL SILENCIO.” “YA ROMPIMOS EL SILENCIO,” which translates into English as “WE’VE BROKEN THE SILENCE”is a furious, defiant and fiercely politically charged song that directly confronts gender-based violence, abuse and the systems of ear, shame and impunity that allow them to persist. The track sees Oliveros alternating between spitting haymaker-like bars and crooning over a woozy production featuring Afro Latino percussion, bubbling synths and samples of a chorus of equally defiant women demanding to be heard.

Written in solidarity with women, girls, nonbinary, trans folks and families, whose stories have become intertwined with her own, “YA ROMPIMOS EL SILENCIO” is an uncompromising, unafraid declaration of resistance, solidarity and compassion for all victims and a demand to be heard. “I wrote it with all the women, girls, and families in mind whose stories have become intertwined with my own—people who have been silenced by fear, shame, power, and impunity,” says Oliveros. “It is a song born from outrage, but also from the conviction that breaking the silence is the first act of justice.”

Directed by Oliveros and Bodgehost, the accompanying video features the Colombian-born artist with a collection of Latin women and non-binary folks in all the shades in solidarity while also proudly taking up space and refusing to be shamed or silenced. Anchored around a simple concept, the video is as powerful as the song.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Creature In The Woods Shares Dreamy and Propulsive “Just Go”

Northern California-born, Brooklyn-based producer, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Tyler Morrisette is the creative mastermind behind the solo recording project Creature In The Woods. Since starting the project back in 2014, Morisette has developed a sound and approach that sees him built productions that blend elements of psych soul, downtempo electronica and surf rock, featuring bass, guitar, baritone ukulele and the Teenage Engineering OP-1. He’s also a founding member of the Brooklyn-trio Graffiti Royale, a project that blends alternative rock and indie hip-hop.

Since the beginning, collaboration has been part of Creature In The Woods with early releases featuring Elisa Coia, Emily Clibourn, J Lately, and July Quin, In 2021 Morrisette took up vocal duties for “Summertime Love,” a track that featured his band Graffiti Royale. The song was featured in the Disney series Saturdays and in the motion picture, In Spite of Ourselves. And since then, Morissette’s vocal has increasingly become a defining part of the Creature in the Woods sound.

Over the years, Creature in the Woods has played across the New York live circuit, playing sets at SOB’s, Mercury Lounge, DROM and The Shrine while receiving airplay from KCRW.

Morrisette is currently releasing a collection of songs inspired by his late mother, which include the recently released “Silver Moon” featuring Arc Iris‘ Ray Belli (drums) and “Halo.” His latest single in the collection “Just Go” is a simultaneously dreamy and propulsive song featuring Morissette’s yearning delivery ethereally floating over African-inspired percussion, skittering beats, a looping Flamenco-styled guitar figure and glistening synths. Nodding at LCD Soundsystem‘s 45:33, “Just Go” is kinetic enough to make the listener get up and start moving or running somewhere but is anchored in overwhelming grief and heartache.

“This song was born in the Oakland hills, on a portable synthesizer in the backseat of my car following a run,” Morrisette says. “After my mom’s passing, my grief was too overwhelming, too kinetic in my body to sit still. So I ran almost everyday. Sometimes away from my grief, sometimes towards my grief, sometimes with my grief. My mantra then was ‘just go.’ ‘Just get onto the trails and run.’ So I did. And it helped.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 68th Birthday, Simon Le Bon!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon’s 68th birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 59th Birthday, Scott Weiland!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 59th anniversary of the birth of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 115th Birthday, Mahalia Jackson!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 115th anniversary of the birth of Mahalia Jackson.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 82nd Birthday, Jon Anderson!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates YES frontman Jon Anderson’s 82nd birthday.