Category: singer/songwriters

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Gan Shares Flirty and Summery “Infinity”

Gan is a rising, French Mediterranean-born, New York-based electronic music producer and artist, who has received attention for bending modern beats and production informed by the New York scene with his French and Mediterranean heritage.

The rising New York-based producer’s latest single is a slick and flirty take on Jaymes Young‘s “Infinity” that turns the smash-hit into the sort of summery, house/Afrohouse take on the song that could simultaneously rock grown and sexy lounges, rooftop parties and the club.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 83rd Birthday, Curtis Mayfield!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 83rd anniversary of the birth of Curtis Mayfield.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: San DIego’s Franhaus Shares Breezy and Nostalgia-Inducing “No Puedo Ser”

San Diego-based electronic music producer, singer/songwriter and DJ Franhaus, who specializes in creating what he believes is a new wave of Latin music that combines lived-in, earnest lyrics written and sung in Spanish with slick, dance floor friendly melodic, deeply emotional house.

The San Diego-based artist’s latest single “No Puedo Ser” is a breezy, nostalgia-inducing tune anchored around glistening synths, tweeter and woofer rattling thump, skittering beats and bursts of squiggling guitar. The Ibiza-meets-Tame Impala-like production serves as a lush bed for Franhaus’ yearning delivery while showcasing an artist, who can craft a catchy hook.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Emerging Artist TomEE Shares Hook-Driven “’bout Time”

TomEE is a mysterious, emerging artist, who over the course of handful of singles has firmly established a DIY, lo-fi bedroom pop sound and approach. Clocking in at a little under two minutes, his latest single “’bout Time” manages to recall JOVM mainstays MUNYA and Kainalu while showcasing an adept and uncanny knack for crafting an incredibly catchy hook.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy Belated 51st Birthday, Alanis Morisette!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates Alanis Morissette’s 51st birthday.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Essex, UK’s Nukie Shares Swaggering “Face like -_-“

Essex, UK-based artist Nukie is an emerging artist, who is gaining momentum within East London‘s underground music scene. And within a short period of time, he has quickly established a sound that’s a bold collision of punk and British electronic subcultures, blending garage, indie rock, drum ‘n’ bass and grunge. Routinely driven by distorted guitars, punchy rhythms and gritty vocal-led hooks, the rising British artist attempts to channel the tension and urgency of his environment while channeling the disillusionment and intensity of modern life.

Operating with a DIY ethos, the rising British artist oversees every aspects of his creative output from production and recording to visual design, bringing a cohesive and authentic quality to his work.

Nukie’s latest single “Face like -_-” is a bold, swaggering anthem anchored around dusty and glitchy breakbeats, distorted and woozy guitars, enormous hooks and choruses paired with an insouciant, extremely British delivery. The result seemingly channels a synthesis of The Streets, Odelay-era Beck and garage while showcasing at an artist with an uncanny knack for catchy and rousing hooks and choruses.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Develour Shares Slow-Burning and Yearning “Dealer d’Amour”

The mysterious and mischievous French artist Develour emerged into the Francophone indie pop scene with the release of “La Part des Agnes,” which saw him quickly establishing a sound that he playfully dubbed “French touch disco,” a sound that draws from and features elements of chanson, soul, funk, disco and pop.

“La Part des Agnes” and the French artist’s second single “Un Matin,” which I described as a breezy and summery bop built around a swaggering and infectious 80s-inspired groove, appeared on his debut EP, 2023’s Vert Galant.

Develour’s latest single “Dealer d’Amour” is a slow-burning, Quiet Storm-meets-sophistipop-like ballad anchored around an atmospheric yet sultry groove, bursts of glistening synths reminiscent of Hall & Oates “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” The song’s production and arrangement serves as a dreamy and lush bed for the mysterious French artist’s yearning, achingly plaintive cooing.

Thematically, the song questions our unhealthy relationships with dating apps, while openly discussing the wild mix of addiction, hope, disillusionment and loneliness they inspire. And yet, we keep on swiping because what else is there to do?

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 61st Birthday, Tom Morello!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Tom Mortello’s 61st birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy Belated 69th Birthday, Larry Blackmon!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates Cameo frontman Larry Blackmon’s 69th birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Bee Blackwell Shares Yearning and Anthemic “CLAWS”

Bee Blackwell is a rising Austin-based singer/songwriter and musician, who back in 2023 began posting covers of her favorite emo and grunge song online, which helped to create a fanbase that revels in her brand of heartfelt and cathartic music. What began as covers, quickly accumulated into her debut EP, that year’s Calico, an effort that featured fan favorite “Blue.”

The past year or so have been very busy for Blackwell, she released three singles “Dumb,” “The Same” and “Signs.” She made her SXSW debut this past March, along with a handful of energetic live shows around Texas. And with a few months of free time, the rising Texan-based artist wrote and her recorded her highly-anticipated sophomore EP, Nine Lives. 

Slated for a June 30, 2025 release, Nine Lives EP reportedly serves as a sort of personal diary entry, exposing her struggles, emotional hardships and life goals. While seeing Blackwell at her most introspective and daring, taking creative risks while maintaining the vulnerability and honesty that has won her fans. Sonically, the EP’s material showcases her knack for clear and atmospheric guitar hooks, smooth calming grooves paired with her love of 90s grunge and 2000s emo. 

Earlier this month, I wrote about “LALALA.” Self-produced and recorded at Sonic Ranch Studio over a three-day, breakneck stint, the Austin-based artist’s latest single “LALALA” is a decidedly upbeat 120 Minutes-era MTV-like tune, anchored around fuzzy, distorted yet dreamy guitars, swelling synths, Blackwell’s ethereal delivery that builds up to perfectly 90s grunge inspired bridge. And at its core, the song showcases a songwriter, who seems to effortlessly pair catchy hooks with earnest, lived-in lyricism. 

“‘LALALA’ is a conversation between two people who haven’t spoken to each other in probably years, with all the weird boundaries and walls that have built up over the time lost,”  Blackwell says. “There’s a sense of familiarity, but you still don’t know if you can fully trust them, so you just make things up to fill silence or to seem interesting.”

The EP’s latest single “CLAWS” continues a run of 90s/120 Minutes MTV-inspired indie rock featuring fuzzy and distorted power chords paired with Blackwell’s yearning delivery and her unerring knack for big, rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses.

“’CLAWS’ is the struggle of being caught between wanting connection and fearing vulnerability,” Blackwell explains. “Expressing emotion is hard, being a control freak is even harder.”

The accompanying video sees Blackwell and her backing band paying homage to a 1993 live performance from shoegazers Swirlies.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 81st Birthday, Gladys Knight!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Gladys Knight’s 81st birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Jahnah Camille Shares Languorous “summer scorch”

Jahnah Camille (pronounced as “Hannah”) is a rising, 20 year-old Birmingham, AL-born and-based singer/songwriter and musician, who can  trace the origins of her music career to her childhood: Overhearing her father’s guitar lessons, she first picked up a guitar when she was four, and by the time she turned 10, she was writing her own songs. 

Throughout her life, supportive coincidences have pushed Camille’s creative tenacity. Her mother encouraged an elementary school-aged Jahnah to perform for their apartment’s maintenance man, who then gifted her a red Gibson SG and an amplifier. At a hippie kids camp, she met a mentor, who helped to champion her early crowdfunded recordings. 

“My mom was always having me sing and play guitar for people,” says Jahnah. “I’ve always had people who believed in me, and I feel like I’ve internalized that. That’s been really beautiful.”

Later opportunities to open for acclaimed artists like Clairo and Soccer Mommy led to her burgeoning status as a keenly self-examining indie rock singer/songwriter in a Birmingham scene saturated with punk and hardcore bands — many of which she played with in her earliest DIY shows. 

“The first year after I graduated high school was kind of horrifying,” says Jahnah. “I had just basically broken up with most of my band. I wasn’t going to college. I was seeing how everyone else that I had known growing up, their lives were changing. I knew that whatever happened in my life, it wasn’t going to be that, and there wasn’t really any proof that things were going in a positive direction.”

The rising Birmingham-based artist’s sophomore EP, the Alex Farrar-produced My sunny oath! is slated for a June 13, 2025 release through Winspear. The EP comes on the heels of a run of tour dates with Blondshell and previous shows opening for TOPS,Soccer Mommy and Clairo — and the success of her debut EP, last year’s i tried to freeze light, but only remember a girl. 

My sunny oath! is set in the pressure cooker of new adulthood and is reportedly features a defiant collection of alt-rock, lo-fi grit and sardonic grunge that channels Jahnah Camille’s influences, including The Sundays, Liz Phair, Minnie Ripperton and Japanese Breakfast among others. 

In the lead-up to the EP’s release, I’ve written about two of its previously released singles:

  • “what do you do,” a 90s/120 Minutes MTV-era indie rock inspired anthem, anchored around a classic grunge rock structure paired with the young artist’s remarkably self-assured vocal turn and uncanny knack for an enormous, well-placed hook. “I wrote this while trying to understand the feeling of losing control,” the rising Birmingham-based artist says, “I was paralyzed by a need to control how other people saw me and needed to write about it.” 

  • “sit with you (pain),” a song that begins with a lush and dreamy, singer/songwriter, acoustic guitar section with gently rumbling feedback that slowly builds up into a full-throated, bombastic, feedback and grungy power chord-driven anthem. While continuing to showcase a young songwriter, who can craft a big, rousingly anthemic hook and chorus, the song is anchored in deeply lived-in and earnest hurt. The song “is about cutting someone out of your life who you still care for deeply,” she explains. “All of your critiques and drawbacks are still secondary for the love that you have. I wanted to make a habit of doing things that were good for me even if they hurt.”

My sunny oath!‘s third and latest single, the slow-burning and languorous “summer scorch” sees the rising, young singer/songwriter pairing a dreamily yearning delivery with strummed guitar, a simple yet propulsive backbeat that builds up to a big string-driven bridge. While evoking the stickiness of a humid, deep South summer afternoon, the song is rooted in real, lived-in, self-doubt, fear of rejection and desperate hope.

“I wrote it about a crush that I never even talked to,” the rising young singer/songwriter explains. “I was just like, ‘Would I be able to keep myself? Can I be trusted with a romantic relationship?’”

The accompanying video by Harrison Shook, is a hazily shot visual that follows a brooding Jahnah Camille on and near a stool in front of suburban-styled house and what appears to be an abandoned warehouse. The visual also evokes a similar humid, haziness.