JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 89th anniversary of Kris Kristofferson’s birth.
Category: singer/songwriters
Throwback: Happy 72nd Birthday, Cyndi Lauper!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Cyndi Lauper’s 72nd birthday.
New Audio: Detroit Punks The Lowcocks Share a Cheeky Cover of Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5”
Founded back in 2017, the Detroit-based punk outfit The Lowcocks have established their own sound while sharing stages with several national touring acts, including The Casualties, Total Chaos, Nekromantix, The Koffin Kats, Menstrual Tramps, GBH, The Suicide Machines and The Exploited.
The Detroit-based punks latest single is a deliriously fun and cheeky, straightforward bruising cover of Dolly Parton‘s beloved 1980 smash-hit “9 to 5.” If you somehow didn’t know, “9 to 5” is a defiant feminist anthem, capturing the ambition, chutzpah and the bitter frustrations of its narrator/songwriter. But what makes it truly great is that what the song expresses and evokes is something that generations of working women know exactly what Dolly is talking about in the song. And in some small way, The Lowcocks cover feels like a passing of the torch for a younger generation, who will have to maneuver and fight an altogether different yet similar fight.
New Video: San Diego’s moondaddy Shares Gauzy “Bystander”
Fronted by producer, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Cara Poticker, the San Diego-based dream pop outfit moondaddy traces its origins to the eerily uneasy quiet of the COVID-19 pandemic. And as a result, the band embraces the age-old maxim that the only certainty in life is uncertainty.
With the release of their full-length debut, 2023’s Poet Lies, the project attempts to meet the haze of existence with a kaleidoscopic sound that provides peace — especially — when all else feels like chaos. Poet Lies saw the band quickly establishing a sound featuring glistening guitar, gauzy synths and dulcet vocals singing dreamily poetic observations while drawing from sheogaze, dream pop and trip hop.
Since then, the San Diego-based dream pop outfit has gone on a sold-out tout with DeVotchKa and opened for the likes of Beabadoobee, Peel Dream Magazine and King Hannah. Building upon a growing local and regional profile, the band has headlined some of their hometown’s tastemaking venues, including The Casbah and others.
Last year’s Lightwave Lightwave EP laid the foundation for what may arguably be the band’s most immersive and expressive effort to date, their sophomore album Dove Tapes, which is slated for release later this year. Both Lightwave Lightwave EP and Dove Tapes was produced by producer/engineer Manuel Calderon at Tornillo, TX-based Sonic Ranch and recorded live to tape. The material was mastered directly to lacquer by Paul Gold at Salt Mastering.
Dove Tapes‘ first single “Bystander” is a lush, breathtakingly gorgeous tune that seemingly recalls a synthesis of early 90s shoegaze and Beach House with swirling and glistening, reverb soaked guitar textures, gauzy and atmospheric synths and skittering and shuffling beats serving as a dreamy bed for Poticker’s remarkably Victoria Legrand-like vocal. Throughout “Bystander” expresses a woozy, desperately yearning lovesickness that’s both frustratingly unfulfilled and unrequited.
Directed by Sylvie Lake, the accompanying video for “Bystander” is fittingly a hazy and kaleidoscopic, half-remembered dream that’s just out of reach.
Throwback: Happy 83rd Birthday, Brian Wilson!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 83rd anniversary of the birth of Beach Boys creative mastermind Brian Wilson.
Throwback: Happy 83rd Birthday, Paul McCartney!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Paul McCartney’s 83rd birthday.
New Audio: N3WYRKLA Returns with Swaggering and Defiant “Bad Luck”
Philadelphia-born N3WYRKLA (pronounced New York L.A.) is a rising pop artist: “Outside All Night,” her collaboration with Brent Faiyaz and A$AP Rocky earned RIAA Gold Certification and has led to over one million monthly listeners on DSPs.
Earlier this year, the Philadelphia-based phenom opened for FERG on the North American leg of his The Darold Tour. And back in May, she released the lead single from her highly-anticipated full-length debut, “Plastic Cup.” “Plastic Cup” is burning up the charts right now: the track jumped to #15 on the Urban Radio Charts.
Building upon a rapidly growing profile, the Philadelphia-born artist shared her latest single, the Hitmaka-produced “BAD LUCK,” which features her honey-soaked vocal paired with a contemporary retro/old-school soul-inspired production that brings the likes of Monophonics, Bobby Oroza, Daptone Records, Colemine Records and others to mind.
Ironically, the song isn’t a lament on the narrator’s bad luck, whether personally or romantically or on superstitions; but rather, a self-assured side-eye to fuckbois, players, flops, deadbeats that open says that trusting these dudes out there is just going to get you a case of bad luck — and perhaps worse. At its core, it’s a feminist anthem that says “you don’t have to deal with bullshit, ever.”
Throwback: Happy 83rd Birthday, Eddie Levert!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates The O’Jays lead singer Eddie Levert’s 83rd birthday.
Throwback: Happy 88th Birthday, Waylon Jennings!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 88th anniversary of the birth of Waylon Jennings.
Throwback: Happy 64th Birthday, Boy George!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Boy George’s 64th birthday.
New Video: Kim Gordon Shares “BYE BYE 25” with Proceeds Going to NOISE FOR NOW
Last year, the legendary Kim Gordon released her critically applauded, Grammy-nominated, sophomore solo album The Collective, which featured “BYE BYE.” As a form of righteous protest agains the hateful, authoritarian Trump Administration, Gordon and her collaborator and producer Justin Raisen got back together to re-do the song.
“(Producer and collaborator) Justin Raisen had this idea to redo ‘Bye Bye’ starting at the end of the song. When I was thinking of lyric ideas, it occurred to me to use words taken from a site that had all the words that Trump has essentially banned, meaning any grant or piece of a project or proposal for research that includes any of those words would be immediately disregarded or ;cancelled.’ I guess Trump does believe in cancel culture, because he is literally trying to cancel culture.
Gordon continues, “Trump has used the term “cancel culture” not only as a political talking point but also as a dog whistle while weaponizing the term to signal support for white grievance politics, traditional gender roles, anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment and hostility toward racial justice movements – without always saying those things outright.”
Here is a short list of some of the words Gordon mentions in “BYE BYE 25” that have already begun to disappear under the Trump Administration agenda:
ADVOCATE
CLIMATE CHANGE
FEMALE
HISPANIC
IMMIGRANTS
INTERSEX
MALE-DOMINATED
MENTAL HEALTH
NON-CONFORMING
TRAUMA
UTERUS
VICTIM
WOMEN
Among the organizations that have been targeted by the Administration’s policies include Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Personnel Management (OPM), National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Defense (DoD), Small Business Administration, National Cryptologic Museum and NASA.
Proceeds from “BYE BYE 25!” — both song and t-shirt will be donated to the reproductive rights nonprofit NOISE FOR NOW. If you have a few bucks, please buy the song and/or a t-shirt; it’ll go to a worthy, much-needed cause. If you’re unable to protest because of health concerns or some other very valid reason, donating to worthy causes if and when you’re able to, is a form of protest, y’all. In the event that donating is a hardship for you, don’t worry. Pass the word along to those who could. Links are here: https://kimgordon.lnk.to/byebye25
Of course if you’re curious: NOISE FOR NOW enables artists and entertainers to connect with and financially support organization that work in the field of Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice. They’re needed now, more than ever with reproductive health care services, including access to legal abortion being under attack. Learn more at https://www.noisefornow.org
The song is accompanied by a video directed by Vice Cooler and Kim Gordon.
Lyric Video: Velatine Teams Up with Nocturna on Brooding and Cinematic “Till Death We Do Art”
Melbourne-based songwriter and producer Loki Lockwood is the creative mastermind behind the darkwave/goth recording project Velatine, which sees him crafting a unique and fresh take on a familiar and beloved sound. In fact, with Velatine, Lockwood is unafraid to experiment and works with different vocalists while weaving aspects from goth, Darkwave, post-punk and industrial music.
His latest single “Till Death We Do Art” feat. Nocturna is a slow-burning, and brooding bit of goth-tinged post punk which features Nocturna’s Anika-meet-Nico-like delivery paired with layers of eerie synths, bursts of strummed guitar and cinematic strings. “Till Death Do We Art” may arguably be the most cinematic-leaning post punk song I’ve heard in sometime, while showcasing Lockwood’s penchant for catchy and anthemic hooks.
Lockwood explains that “Till Death We Do Art” is for the creatives of the world, focusing on the highs and lows creative endure while following their muses. He adds that the song is dedicated to a Ukrainian painter named Ksenia, who regularly shared Velatine’s music with posts featuring her art on Instagram before the project was on the platform. He got to know her a little through the site, but because he’s an Australian, who is often far from any sort of violent conflict, it was the first time he knew someone living in the middle of war.
“Having that ever present threat as part of your life, disruption to normality, what we take for granted here and the devastation of losing her lover I found her often in my thoughts. If I didn’t see her post, I’d check to see if she was alive.” He adds that song was largely written before all of this but the chorus wasn’t there. One time, he checked in on Ksenia on Instagram and her instagram tag “Till Death We Do Art” jumped out of him. He was convinced that was the missing piece that summed up the emotion of the song. ” I’d read these words before on her page but this time I saw them in a new light, I knew immediately where they also belonged. Everything fell into place and the last lines, “we’re upset by war, and worry for them all” are for her,” he explains.
Lyric Video: Tomás Jensen and Bïa Team up on Flirty and Breezy “Boum Boum Boum”
Tomás Jensen is a true global citizen: The Argentine-born artist has lived in Brazil and France, before settling permanently in Québec. Over the course of a 25-year career, Jensen has released 12 albums either in a band or as solo artist, which have seen him explore his eclectic influences.
Back in the early 2000s, Jensen first became known for being the frontman of Les Faux-Monnayeurs, releasing four albums that he and his band supported with touring extensively across Canada and the European Union. He solo debut, Quelqu’un d’autre won the Songwriter of the Year Award at the 2008 Canadian Folk Music Awards.
Jensen went on to collaborate in a number of projects including the band Hombre, which received nominations for an Association québécoise de l’industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo (ADISQ) Award and won a Gala Alternatif da la Musique Indépendante du Quèbec (GAMIQ) Best World Music Award album.
In 2015, Jensen returned home to Argentina for the first time in over 20 years and recorded his 2016 effort Retour, which received an ADISQ Award nomination. Documentary filmmaker Martin Bourgault accompanied Jensen on that trip and made a film that was screened at FIFA and other documentary festivals around the globe.
2020’s Les rêves sont faits was the first album in which he was the sole arranger and producer, received a GAMIQ Folk Album of the Year Award, while reflecting both his cultural diversity and artistic freedom.
Since then, he founded Studio La Maison Ronde, where he records, mixes and produces work for several artists. Late last year, he reunited with Les Faux-Monnayeurs on a reunion tour and live album to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Tomás Jensen & Les Faux-Monnayeurs.
Slated for a fall 2025 release, Jensen’s 13th album À l’humain! À la vertu! (To humanity! To virtue!) is an album of original material that sees the Argentine-born, Canadian-based artist collaborating with a collection of supremely talented collaborators on what will be the first album he’ll be releasing on his own label. Jensen explains that the album’s title is derived from the lyrics of the album’s second single “Big Bro,” ” . . .which carries some optimism with it . . . something we all need right now!”
À l’humain! À la vertu!‘s first single “Boum Boum Boum” is a breezy and flirty Bossa nova duet that features Brazilian Canadian artist Bïa. Anchored around Bossa nova’s famous, gently swaying rhythms and a gorgeous, jazzy arrangement featuring strummed acoustic guitar and twinkling piano, “Boum Boum Boum” imagines a scenario in which for the song’s romantic couple, samba is more important than anything else. Certainly in parts of South America, that’s a fact.
New Video: JayWood Shares Swaggering, Genre-Defying “ASSUMPTIONS”
Jeremy Haywood-Smith is a Winnipeg-born, Montréal-based, singer/songwriter, musician and creative mastermind behind the acclaimed, boundary pushing project JayWood. Though he was nominated for a Polaris Music Prize, the Canadian artist currently has a day job as a postal worker, which is arguably the least interesting thing about him.
Haywood-Smith’s third JayWood album Leo Negro is slated for a September 5, 2025 release through Captured Tracks. Much like previously released tracks “UNTITLED (Swirl)” and his collaboration with Tune-Yards, “BIG TINGS,” Leo Negro will further cement his reputation for refusing to be easily pigeonholed.
The Canadian artist explains that the album’s title ” . . .came from the main concept of the album which is identity. I asked myself the question of ‘What are some things that make me who I am, no matter what changes occur in life?’ and funnily enough, I was getting really into astrology at the time due to fact that 70% of my friends are queer femmes. I was trying to understand what it means to be a Leo. On the other hand, I’m moving through life as a black man in spaces that don’t always understand me or will try to categorize me.”
He adds, “I know the main identifier for Leos is that they’re super confident and massive social magnets and leaders, but in recent years, I’ve had a harder time leaning into that specific energy, so I started to just dismantle the idea of confidence and leadership by doing somewhat of the opposite. I started to get more vulnerable and share more things about myself: insecurities, fears, anxieties, my scarier truths and my experiences as a black person. Through that, I weirdly started to feel a little more confident. Which brings me to my last point about the title. I now live in Montreal and one thing I realized while trying to learn the language is that the descriptions of things are at the end. For example ‘black cat’ would be ‘chat noir,’ and if I look at my album title, it kinda translates to ‘black confidence’ in my mind.”
Leo Negro‘s latest single “ASSUMPTIONS” is a mind-melting, defiantly genre-agnostic track that sees the Montréal-based artist meshing a swaggering and braggadocio-fueled hip-hop production and neo-soul while subtly hinting at Pharrell‘s “Happy.” While seemingly recalling Tyler, the Creator, Stereolab and Men I Trust among others, “ASSUMPTIONS” showcases a mischievously forward-thinking producer and songwriter, who can pair social commentary and deep introspection within a catchy, deceptively fun bop.
“‘ASSUMPTIONS’ feels like it’s giving myself permission to step into some new sonic territory,” Haywood-Smith explains. “It’s fun and playful while still being pretty focused and lyrically consistent, which is new for me. It’s also one of the funniest songs I’ve ever written. It’s literally about my crippling imposter syndrome but at the same time, I’m staking my claim as a solid artist and a producer.”
Directed by Trent Wayne, the accompanying video is a playful, unpredictable mix of cartoons and live action footage at an equally cartoon colored party, in which he plays his new song. Much like the accompanying song, the video touches on feelings of imposter syndrome, feeling under appreciated yet knowing deep down that you’re fucking dope.
The video’s director, Trent Wayne, while speaking on the production said “JayWood set the tone for us—playful, unpredictable, and musically rich— making a great foundation for the video. Inspired by the song’s genre-blending, we built a narrative to match: starting in a comically chaotic party scene, drifting into a Yo Gabba Gabba!-inspired graveyard, and featuring a cartoon version of Jay performing created by Pete Though, which was sent through a VCR for added analog grit. Our production designer, Sophia Kotowski, built a functional CD-player gravestone that became a psychedelic centerpiece. Collaborating with Captured Tracks to spotlight innovative artists like JayWood is a real privilege for our team.”