While celebrating a recent birthday, the acclaimed Florida-born, New York-based JOVM mainstay Kendra Morris was shaken by the realization that old habits were holding her back from growth. Something needed to change — and fast. She began writing new songs and rethinking of her old ones. Less-than-perfect takes were tolerated. She put a moratorium on love songs. As Morris puts it: “I needed to scare myself into growth.” The result is the acclaimed artist’s Torbitt Schwartz, a.k.a. Little Shalimar-prorudced fourth album I Am What I’m Waiting For.
Officially released today, through Karma Chief/Colemine Records, the album is a sophisticated, playful and joyful reinvention and an unfiltered expression of Morris’ weird universe that sees her delving deep into the little details. “How do you put yourself into a record? I wanted to make it feel like you cracked open the ooze in my head,” Morris says. Fittingly, the album is an unvarnished self-portrait of Morris with all of life’s odd imperfections that captures the artist at the time of its creation.
The 11-song album pairs Morris’ towering and effortlessly soulful vocal with a sound that features elements of dusty funk, R&B and touches of indie rock. Thematically, the album at points touches upon the mundane conflicts of domesticity and cohabitation, the Butterfly Effect, her fear of flying and even an attempt to expand the birthday song canon among others.
Last month, I wrote about “What Are You Waiting For,” a seamless synthesis of Muscle Shoals soul, psych soul, and Spoon-like indie rock built around a gritty, swaggering groove and Morris’ sultry and effortlessly soulful delivery. The song is a bold and playfully defiant feminist anthem that champions self-reliance and realness above all.
“Dominoes,” I Am What I’m Waiting For‘s third and latest single continues a run of material that meshes elements of Muscle Shoals-era soul, psych soul and Spoon-like indie rock paired with a swaggering and strutting groove and Morris’ powerhouse delivery. But at its core is a playfully sardonic skewering of the conflicts of domesticity and cohabitation that points out that hell can often be other people — including those you love.
Created by Morris and Julia Haltigan, and filmed in Morris’ Brooklyn home on VHS tape, the video features her husband and adorable pasta-loving dog Jerry and stop motion animation by Morris. The video goes through some of the scenarios discussed in the song. And while you can empathize with the fact that the scenarios are infuriating, there’s also the tacit and knowing nod that love is also accepting your dearest one’s irritating habits and quirks.
As a member of M.O.P.’s First Family, Brownsville, Brooklyn-based emcee Teflon first made a name for himself, contributing verses on M.O.P.’s 1996 sophomore album Firing Squad. By the following year, the Brooklyn-based emcee released his full-length debut, the ten-song My Will, which saw him displaying his full artistic range. While rooted in roughneck, braggadocio, the album offered a contrasting style from the hardcore sound listeners expect from M.O.P. and featured deeply meaningful, thoughtful rhymes,
The buzz surrounding the Brooklyn emcee reached its pinnacle in 2000 with his appearance on M.O.P.’s “Ante Up (Remix), alongside Busta Rhymes and Remy Ma. That guest spot led to a deal with Def Jam Recordings that was brokered by Teflon’s longtime friend DJ Premier. Sadly, after a turbulent transition with the company, Teflon’s Def Jam debut never saw the light of day, and he took a much-needed hiatus from the music industry.
Earlier this month, My Will was re-released and made available through all major DSPs and Bandcamp, just in time for the album’s 26th anniversary. Coincidentally, the Brooklyn-based emcee is gearing up for the June 30, 2023 release of his long-awaited, DJ Premier and Jazimoto co-produced sophomore 2 Sides To Every Story through 420 Music in partnership with Colemine Records.
2 Sides To Every Story‘s latest single is the DJ Premier-produced “Hostile Takeover.” Built around a swaggering Preemo production pairing tweeter and woofer rattling boom bap with menacing synth arpeggios and some old-school turntablism, “Hostile Takeover” features the Brooklyn-based emcee and Benny The Butcher trading ferocious bars detailing the struggles of being an artist in an industry that’s often a viper’s pit of betrayal and bullshit — and with a criminal justice system set out to use their rhymes against them.
You can go to Coalmine’s online store to pre-order 2STES on vinyl and CD. A blue and purple whirlpool vinyl edition is also available for pre-order through Get on Down, along with a silver vinyl edition through RRC Music. Both are limited to 150 copies each. A double-sided slipmat bundle is also available in Black and Get on Down edition, which features Teflon’s 420 Music logo emblazoned on one side, with an image of a “non-stick” teflon pan branded with Coalmine’s logo on the other.
Led by Max Ramey (production, bass) and Joe Ramey (production, saxophone), and featuring members of Monophonics, as well as a collection of some of the best Bay Area-based players, The Ironsides specialize in a sound that meshes classic psych soul with sweeping orchestral arrangements in a way that recalls the soundtracks and library music of European composers during the ’60s and ’70s.
The Bay Area collective set out to create a collection of lush compositions that evoke a diverse arrange of feelings, emotions and memories. The band enlisted Louis Robert King, a New York-based maestro as a co-writer and arranger. King had previously created arrangements for Ramey on other projects. Once the material was finished, the Ramey Brothers started contacting a collection of local musicians, who would bring the material to life. “We hired a group of Bay Area working musicians,” Max Ramey explained. “Many of them play a range of music, from jazz to classical, in clubs and orchestras. Using these local musicians was really important to us.”
Slated for a May 19, 2023 release through Colemine Records,Changing Light was recorded at Transistor Sound Studios, the home base for The Ironsides, a growing list of Colemine Records artists, including Kelly Finnigan and Monophonics. While California is a major inspiration for the album’s material, it wasn’t the only geographical inspiration for the album: The Ramey Brothers can trace their heritage to Liguria, Italy — the birthplace of their maternal grandfather. Album track “Ligurian Dream” pays homage to their Italian heritage and the composers, who inspired the cinematic and instrumental direction of the album’s material.
Changing Light‘s material evokes the imagery of an open road, a breathtaking view and scenes of a vast landscape begging to be explored. So plug something into your GPS, play the album and just drive. “The songs are inspired by landscapes – each one could mean something to someone and create a completely different meaning for someone else,” The Ironsides Max Ramey says.
The album’s first single “The Web” is a soulful, lush and incredibly cinematic composition rooted in old-school craftsmanship featuring shimmering and soaring strings, a supple and propulsive rhythm section, a punchy horn section and a buzzing horn solo. Sonically recalling a slick and seamless synthesis of Issac Hayes‘ Hot Buttered Soul and Spaghetti Western soundtrack scores, “The Web” is the perfect mood-setting song for a road-trip playlist.
Founded and led by multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and producer Seth Applebuam, rising New York-based psych rock/psych soul outfit Ghost Funk Orchestra initially began as a lo-fi, solo recording project back in 2014 with a unique sound featuring tape-saturated drums, spring reverb, surf rock guitar, Latin-styled percussion, odd time signatures and Spanish language female vocals. Since then, the project has become a full-fledged band featuring as many as 10 members — while still featuring a unique sound that draws from even more diverse sources including salsa, Afrobeat, classic soul, film soundtracks and more.
Ghost Funk Orchestra’s full-length debut, 2019’s A Song for Paul was conceived as a tribute to Applebaum’s late grandfather Paul Anish, who played an immense role in his life. Although the album’s songs don’t address Paul Anish directly, the album’s creative direction specifically conveys what Anish’s presence felt like — and was — for Seth, a tough but kind, music obsessed, native New Yorker. For Applebaum, accurately capturing what his grandfather’s essence meant to him forced him to expand the band’s arrangements and sound further than anything he had done to that point, including writing much more comprehensive horn lines and working with a string section.
Their sophomore album, 2020’s An Ode to Escapism saw the band further expanding upon the sound developed on A Song for Paul: The album’s material featured much more intricate arrangements, unusual time signatures, rapid tempo and time signature changes within songs, heavier drums and vocal harmonies that soar over the entire affair. Specifically written as an invitation to the listener to close their eyes and delve deep into their own subconscious while playing the album, if they weren’t too afraid to do so, the album thematically touched upon isolation, fear of the unknown and the fabrication of the self-image.
Written during pandemic-related lockdowns, Ghost Funk Orchestra’s third album A New Kind of Love reportedly feels like the soundtrack from an imaginary movie — with the album’s songs easily being part of the score of a romantic drama, an action thriller or a modern twist on film noir: Spare, cascading vocals accentuate the lush instrumental arrangements composed, arranged, performed and produced by Applebaum. Sonically, the album’s material draws from mid-20th Century exotica, 60s and 70s orchestral pop, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings and Antibalas among others, as well as his experiences as a young filmmaker. Sonically speaking, the end result is an album that encompasses a loving reverence for the past without attempting to recreate it.
The 12 song album sees Applebaum exploring a complicated, confusing and conflicting realm of love, with the album’s songs capturing the emotional notes of love going well and love gone sour, as though manifesting love songs based in ghostly affairs.
A New Kind of Love‘s first single “Scatter” is a cinematic affair that pairs Romi Hanoch’s sultry and ethereal delivery with an expansive, lush and downright trippy arrangement that’s one-part film-noir-like spy movie, one-part classic rom-com, one-part Blaxploitation — with a wild late-period John Coltrane-like saxophone freak out of a solo. But pay close attention, y’all. The song captures a narrator reeling from a love gone disastrously wrong but with the knowing self-assuredness that she deserves — and will get better.
Directed by Greg Hanson and shot on Kodak film, the accompanying video for “Scatter” stars singer/songwriter and musician Romi Hanoch in a gloriously cinematic fever dream that includes a debonair, fish man boyfriend, an underwater party, doppelgängers, and a saxophone playing creature that nods at nouveau vague and others.
Deriving their name as a sort of tongue-in-cheek nod to the legendary Nile Rodgers — “C’est chi-chi! It’s Chic!” — the rising NYC-based funk and disco act Say She She features three accomplished, strong female lead vocalists: founding members Piya Malik, who has spent time in El Michels Affair, 79.5 and Chicano Batman; and Sabrina Cunningham; along with Nya Gazelle Brown, a former member of 79.5.
Over the course of this past year I’ve written about the act quite a bit, so you might recall that they can trace their origins to when Malik and Cunningham found themselves living in the studio apartments directly above and below each other. The pair would hear each other singing through the floorboards and quickly became friends. “I knew the girl below me had the most beautiful voice as I would hear her early in the morning and she would hear me late at night. Between the two of us I don’t think we got a wink of sleep. Then again I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say they moved to New York City to sleep,” Malik says in press notes.
After spending years singing in other people’s bands, Malik and Cunningham felt they were finally ready to step out into the spotlight with their own project, at first writing tongue-in-cheek songs about bad boyfriends, band breakups and bad politics. Shortly after, they started writing much more serious and vulnerable tunes, like much-needed therapy sessions, detailing the lives of post-modern women. And as a result their material touches upon love, lust, sex, heartbreak, betrayal and hope.
A few years after starting the project, the duo recruited their close friend and Malik’s former 79.5 bandmate Nya Gazelle Brown to join them. At that point, the act’s core lineup was settled.
Slated for an October 7, 2022 release through Karma Chief Records, an imprint of Colemine Records, Say She She’s eight-song, Sergio Rios-produced, full-length debut Prism was recorded on old tape machines in the basement studios of friends. The album features guest spots from The Dap Kings‘ Joey Crispiano and Victor Axelrod, The Shacks’ Max Shrager, Chicano Batman’s Bardo Martinez, Antibalas‘ Superhuman Happiness‘ and Low Mentality’s Nikhil Yerawadekar, Twin Shadow’s Andy Bauer and NYMPH‘s Matty McDermot.
The rising New York act have released a handful of attention-grabbing singles that include:
“Forget Me Not,” the New York-based act’s debut single and their forthcoming debut album’s first single. Featuring a strutting bass line, glistening wah wah pedaled funk guitar, fluttering flute and dreamy three part harmonies “Forget Me Not” is one part Patrice Rushen, one part Tom Tom Club’s “Gangster of Love,” one part ESG, one part Mary Jane Girls, centered around righteous feminist lyrics. “Forget Me Not” premiered on KCRW‘s Morning Becomes Eclectic and was played in heavy rotation, with a KCRW DJ describing the song as “The funkiest shit I’ve heard in a while!” They performed the song for a Paste Magazinesession. The song has started to receive airplay on BBC6.
“Blow My Mind,” a slow-burning, sultry bop centered around the trio’s yearning and impassioned cries, shimmering Bollywood-inspired riffage and a strutting bass line that’s about returning to a former flame, who you’ve managed to hold feelings for — even after some period of years.
“Trouble,” which landed at #7 on KCRW’s Top 30, with the station saying “”New York’s Say She She are always on the assignment of making it as funky as possible, and with their new single they’ve cranked up the lovers rock lever.”
“NORMA,” a defiant, politically-charged, glittery dance floor anthem — and urgent call for action, for all of us. Written in response to the leaked Supreme Court draft decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the song is a powerful reminder that the fight to have this country live up to its ideals ain’t over — and that women’s rights and their right to choose what’s best for them need to be protected.
And adding to a growing profile, the trio’s music is featured in the trailer for Lena Dunham’s upcoming feature-length film Sharp Stick.
Prism‘s latest single, album title track “Prism” is a glittery and silky ballad centered around glistening keys, a supple bass line and metronomic-like drumming paired with the trio’s lush harmonies. The end result is a hook-driven song that sonically nods at The Supremes, psych pop and psych soul, and sounds as though it could have been released in 1968, 1978, 2008 or — well, today.
Directed by Alyssa Boni and shot by by New York-born and-based film producer Nathan Corbin, a.k.a. Blazer, the accompanying video for “Prism” was filmed in upstate New York and features the trio delighting in a gloriously sunny and lysergic trip through blooming summer pastures — with Bollywood-inspired dance moves.
Deriving their name as a sort of tongue-in-cheek nod to the legendary Nile Rodgers — “C’est chi-chi! It’s Chic!” — the rising NYC-based funk and disco act Say She She features three accomplished, strong female lead vocalists: founding members Piya Malik, who has spent time in El Michels Affair, 79.5 and Chicano Batman; and Sabrina Cunningham; along with Nya Gazelle Brown, a former member of 79.5.
Say She She can trace their origins to when Malik and Cunningham found themselves living in the studio apartments directly above and below each other. The pair would hear each other singing through the floorboards and quickly became friends. “I knew the girl below me had the most beautiful voice as I would hear her early in the morning and she would hear me late at night. Between the two of us I don’t think we got a wink of sleep. Then again I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say they moved to New York City to sleep,” Malik says in press notes.
After spending years singing in other people’s bands, Malik and Cunningham felt they were finally ready to step out into the spotlight with their own project, at first writing tongue-in-cheek songs about bad boyfriends, band breakups and bad politics. Shortly after, they started writing much more serious and vulnerable tunes, like much-needed therapy sessions, detailing the lives of post-modern women. And as a result their material that touches upon love, lust, sex, heartbreak, betrayal and hope.
A few years after starting the project, the duo recruited their close friend and Malik’s former 79.5 bandmate Nya Gazelle Brown to join them. At that point, the act’s core lineup was settled.
Slated for release this fall through Karma Chief Records, an imprint of Colemine Records, Say She She’s self-titled, Sergio Rios-produced, full-length debut was recorded on old tape machines in the basement studios of friends. The album features guest spots from The Dap Kings‘ Joey Crispiano and Victor Axelrod, The Shacks’ Max Shrager, Chicano Batman’s Bardo Martinez, Antibalas‘ Superhuman Happiness‘ and Low Mentality’s Nikhil Yerawadekar, Twin Shadow’s Andy Bauer and NYMPH‘s Matty McDermot.
Over the course of the year, I’ve managed to write about the rising New York act’s first two singles:
“Forget Me Not,” the New York-based act’s debut single and their forthcoming debut album’s first single. Featuring a strutting bass line, glistening wah wah pedaled funk guitar, fluttering flute and dreamy three part harmonies “Forget Me Not” is one part Patrice Rushen, one part Tom Tom Club’s “Gangster of Love,” one part ESG, one part Mary Jane Girls, centered around righteous feminist lyrics. “Forget Me Not” premiered on KCRW‘s Morning Becomes Eclectic and was played in heavy rotation, with a KCRW DJ describing the song as “The funkiest shit I’ve heard in a while!” They performed the song for a Paste Magazinesession. The song has started to receive airplay on BBC6.
“Blow My Mind,” a slow-burning, sultry bop centered around the trio’s yearning and impassioned cries, shimmering Bollywood-inspired riffage and a strutting bass line that’s about returning to a former flame, who you’ve managed to hold feelings for — even after some period of years.
The act’s third single of the year, “Trouble” landed at #7 on KCRW’s Top 30, with the station saying “”New York’s Say She She are always on the assignment of making it as funky as possible, and with their new single they’ve cranked up the lovers rock lever.”
And adding to a growing profile, the trio’s music is featured in the trailer for Lena Dunham’s upcoming feature-length film Sharp Stick.
The act’s latest single “NORMA” is a dance floor friendly anthem centered around glistening synths, a sinuous bass line, propulsive four-on-the-floor, a funky and forceful horn section and bursts of Latin-influenced percussion paired with the trio’s gorgeous harmonies delivering a defiant and much-needed call to action — for all of us. Written in response to the leaked Supreme Court draft decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the song is a powerful reminder that the fight to have this country live up to its ideals ain’t over — and that women’s rights and their right to choose what’s best for them need to be protected.
With collective backgrounds working in education, speechwriting and nonprofits, Say She She’s three frontwomen have no shied away from their intention to use their voices to share important and powerful messages. The band’s decision to name the song after Norma McCorvey, a.k.a. Jane Roe, who the Supreme Court decision was ultimately named for wasn’t an easy one. McCorvey’s life and story were complicated. uneasy and controversial: After fighting vehemently for years in support of the decision to protect a women’s right to choose, she changed position a number of times, before finally admitting on her deathbed that she had only done so in exchange for payments from an ultra-conservative, Evangelical movement in a bid to undermine the law. But that in her heart, she always supported a women’s right to choose. The trio thought of this as an example of how the vested interests of the ultra-religious and conservative patriarchy pose a corrupting and unyielding threat not to be met with complacency.
When asked about the inspiration for “NORMA,” Say She She’s Piya Malik says;
“Our friend Dina Seiden – who is an activist, writer, comedian and musician once said to us during a rally for Planned Parenthood, ‘I reckon feminists need to start touring the way bands do.’ It resonated and we felt a sense of urgency and obligation to recognise the opportunity we had to use our voices in a concerted way to protect what we believe to be fundamental to women’s rights.
“Call it blind idealism — but I still believe that policy, public opinion and protest can push change towards a fairer and more equitable society. After years working in Parliament where tireless hours are spent implementing Bills only for them to simply get amended or scrapped by the opposition once there was a change in the administration, I knew I wanted to find a new medium for the message.
“We are using our song and music to let other women know we are here and we stand with them ready to fight. But behind the scenes we are also working with a number of grassroots organizations to develop a policy position paper around SCOTUS Reform which we aim to publish as a coalition soon.
Sabrina Mileo Cunningham adds: “ We believe in using the tools at our disposal — from grassroots activism, to the power of voting awareness and letter writing campaigns. And to us, being able to use our voice and music as a force for change and to send our message to the powers that be on behalf of all women who support the right to choose what happens to our bodies is a gift we want to harness and direct.”
Nya Gazelle Brown adds: “Ultimately, we recognize that all lives are complicated and that the story only serves to prove how important it is for us to collectively use our voice to raise the importance of protecting our right to choose.”
The new single was released exclusively on Bandcamp on June 21, 2022, just days before the Supreme Court’s official decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was made. 100% of the proceeds from Bandcamp sales will continue to be donated to NARAL” Pro-choice America. So if you have a little bit of cash on you, support the new track — and give money to a worthy and necessary cause.
Since their formation, Bay Area-based soul outfit Monophonics — Kelly Finnigan (lead vocals, keys), Austin Bohlman (drums), Ryan Scott (trumpet, backing vocals, percussion), and Max Ramey (bass) – have developed and honed a sound that continues in the classic and beloved tradition of Stax Records, Muscle Shoals,Daptone Records and Dunham Records: an incredibly cinematic sound that features elements of classic soul, heavy funk, psych rock and psych soul recorded on vintage analog recording gear, paired with a healthy amount of old-fashioned woodshedding and craft. .“We’re from the same school as the producers from the studios we love. We use the tools that we have to make the best records we can,” the band explained in press notes.
Monophonics’ third album, 2020’s It’s Only Us, which featured “Chances,” and “It’s Only Us” received praise from the likes of Billboard, Flood, Cool Hunting and American Songwriter, while selling 10,000 physical copies and amassing over 20 million streams across the various digital streaming platforms. Thematically, It’s Only Us touched upon unity in a fractious and divisive world, strength, resilience, acceptance — and of course, love. (It can’t be ol’ school soul without love songs, you know?)
The acclaimed Bay Area-based soul outfit’s fourth album, the Kelly Finnegan-produced Sage Motel was released last week through Colemine Records. The album’s title is derived from an actual place — the Sage Motel. What started out as a quaint motor lodge and common pitstop for travelers and truckers in the 1940s, Sage Motel morphed into a bohemian’ hang out by the 1960s and 1970s: Artists, musicians and vagabonds of all stripes would stop there as seedy ownership pumped obnoxious amounts of money into high-end renovations, eventually attracting some of the most prominent acts of the era. But when the money ran out, the motel devolved into a hot sheet hotel.
If the hotel’s walls could talk, they’d tell you tales of human highs and lows, of a place where big dreams and broken hearts live, and where people find themselves at a crossroads — sometimes without quite knowing how they got there. And thematically, Sage Motel tackles all of those subjects while seeing the band further cementing their reputation as one of the world’s premier psychedelic soul bands.
Last month, I wrote about Sage Motel‘s second single, the swaggering “Love You Better,” which continues the band’s remarkable run of period-specific, cinematic soul centered around Finnigan’s soulful vocals, twinkling keys, hip-hop-like breakbeats, a gorgeous horn arrangement, an expressive and lengthy flute solo and an all-woman backing vocal section. But underneath the prideful swagger, the song captures the bitter heartache of someone who gave a relationship — and their partner — their all, and yet still wound up being taken advantage of and abused.
“The song ‘Love You Better’ is rooted in the spirit of soul music and hip hop,” Monophonics explain. “It’s a braggadocio tune with a clear message to the one you loved that no one will ever be as good to them. It is that feeling of knowing you gave your all to your partner and really tried to love them the right way, only to be hurt and taken for granted. It’s empowering and important to have that self worth and remind somebody that they really missed out on a really good thing.”
Sage Motel‘s latest single, the swooning album title track “Sage Motel” is centered around a gorgeous, late 60s-early 70s soul-inspired arrangement featuring twinkling keys, Finnigan’s soulful delivery, wah wah pedaled guitar, martial-like half-step drumming, soulful all-female backing vocals paired with a lysergic guitar solo and the band’s unerring knack for crafting razor sharp, infectious hooks. The song’s narrator tells a story of a meet-cute at the titular Sage Motel that turns into a dangerous, life-altering obsession — with an almost lived-in, novelistic precision.
Directed by Kassy Mahea, the cinematic and feverish accompanying video for “Sage Motel” tells the story of a tragic love triangle rooted in the unrequited — and obsessive — love held by a lonely cleaning woman at the hotel. While only a music video, the characters that inhabit its universe behave, feel and talk the way that dysfunctional, hurt, and deeply confused people behave and talk.
Deriving their name as a silent nod to the legendary Nile Rodgers — “C’est chi-chi! It’s Chic!” — the emerging NYC-based funk and disco act Say She She features three accomplished, strong female lead vocalists: founding members Piya Malik, who has spent time in El Michels Affair, 79.5 and Chicano Batman; and Sabrina Cunningham; along with Nya Gazelle Brown, a former member of 79.5.
Say She She can trace their origins to when Malik and Cunningham found themselves living in the studio apartments directly above and below each other. The pair would hear each other singing through the floorboards and quickly became friends. “I knew the girl below me had the most beautiful voice as I would hear her early in the morning and she would hear me late at night. Between the two of us I don’t think we got a wink of sleep. Then again I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say they moved to New York City to sleep,” Malik says in press notes.
After spending years singing in other people’s bands, Malik and Cunningham felt they were finally ready to step out into the spotlight with their own project, at first writing tongue-in-cheek songs about bad boyfriends, band breakups and bad politics. Shortly after, they started writing much more serious and vulnerable tunes, like much-needed therapy sessions, detailing the lives of post-modern women. The result is material that touches upon love, lust, sex, heartbreak, betrayal and hope.
A few years after starting the project, the duo recruited their close friend and Malik’s former 79.5 bandmate Nya Gazelle Brown to join them. At that point, the act’s core lineup was settled.
Slated for release this fall through Karma Chief Records, an imprint of Colemine Records, Say She She’s self-titled, full-length debut was recorded on old tape machines in the basement studios of friends. The album features guest spots from The Dap Kings‘ Joey Crispiano and Victor Axelrod, The Shacks’ Max Shrager, Chicano Batman’s Bardo Martinez, Antibalas‘ Superhuman Happiness‘ and Low Mentality’s Nikhil Yerawadekar, Twin Shadow’s Andy Bauer and NYMPH‘s Matty McDermot.
Last month, I wrote about “Forget Me Not,” the New York-based act’s debut single and their forthcoming debut album’s first single. Featuring a strutting bass line, glistening wah wah pedaled funk guitar, fluttering flute and dreamy three part harmonies “Forget Me Not” is one part Patrice Rushen, one part Tom Tom Club’s “Gangster of Love,” one part ESG, one part Mary Jane Girls, centered around righteous feminist lyrics.
Building upon a growing profile, the disco and funk outfit’s latest single is the slow-burning, sultry “Blow My Mind.” Centered around the trio’s yearning and impassioned cries, shimmering Bollywood-inspired riffage and a strutting bass line, “Blow My Mind” is a song about returning to a former flame, with who you’ve managed to hold feelings for — even after some period of years. “‘Blow My Mind’ is about a love that you can’t seem to get rid of and you can’t quite get enough of,” Say She She’s Nya Gazelle Brown explains.
Directed by Spencer Bewley, best known as Reelloopy, the accompanying video for “Blow My Mind” is fittingly mind-blowing as it’s chock full of trippy imagery. Bewley predominately works in found and self-produced 16mm film footage, which he culls, reframes and radically re-contextualizes, juxtaposing as many four projected images at a time to create reckless, riddling and yet fully synthesized visual poems. “Blowing minds is a subject very close to my heart and the fact this was a rare case of me liking the song EVEN MORE after the dozens of times during editing I had to listen to it made this an absolute joy to work on,” Bewley adds.
As I mentioned, the band’s full-length is forthcoming but in the meantime, they’ll be releasing their debut 45rpm “Forget Me Not”/”Blow My Mind” through Colemine/Karma Chief on May 20, 2022.
Since their formation, Bay Area-based soul outfit Monophonics — Austin Bohlman (drums), Ryan Scott (trumpet, backing vocals, percussion), Max Ramey (bass) and Kelly Finnigan (lead vocals, keys) – have developed and honed a sound that continues in the classic and beloved tradition of Stax Records, Muscle Shoals,Daptone Records and Dunham Records: an incredibly cinematic sound that features elements of classic soul, heavy funk, psych rock and psych soul recorded on vintage analog recording gear paired with a healthy amount of old-fashioned woodshedding and craft. .“We’re from the same school as the producers from the studios we love. We use the tools that we have to make the best records we can,” the band explained in press notes.
Monophonics’ third album, 2020’s It’s Only Us, which featured “Chances,” and “It’s Only Us” received praise from the likes of Billboard, Flood, Cool Hunting and American Songwriter, while selling 10,000 physical copies and amassing over 20 million streams across the various digital streaming platforms. Thematically, It’s Only Us touched upon unity in a fractious and divisive world, strength, resilience, acceptance — and of course, love. (Hey, it can’t be ol’ school soul without love songs, you know?)
The acclaimed Bay Area-based soul outfit’s fourth album, the Kelly Finnegan-produced Sage Motel is slated for a May 13, 2022 release through Colemine Records. The album’s title is derived from an actual hotel. What started out as a quaint motor lodge and common pitstop for travelers and truckers in the 1940s, Sage Motel morphed into a bohemian’ hang out by the 1960s and 1970s: Artists, musicians and vagabonds of all stripes would stop there as seedy ownership pumped obnoxious amounts of money into high-end renovations, eventually attracting some of the most prominent acts of the era. But when the money ran out, the motel devolved into a hot sheet hotel.
If the hotel’s walls could talk, they’d tell you tales of human highs and lows, of a place where big dreams and broken hearts live, and where people find themselves at a crossroads — sometimes without quite knowing how they got there. And thematically, Sage Motel tackles all of those subjects while seeing the band further cementing their reputation as one of the world’s premier psychedelic soul bands.
Sage Motel‘s second and latest single, the swaggering, “Love You Better” continues a remarkable run of period specific, cinematic soul centered around Finnigan’s soulful vocals, twinkling keys, hip-hop-like breakbeats, a gorgeous horn arrangement, an expressive and lengthy flute solo and an all-woman backing vocal section. But underneath the prideful swagger, the song captures the bitter heartache of someone who gave a relationship — and their partner — their all, and yet still wound up being taken advantage of and abused.
“The song ‘Love You Better’ is rooted in the spirit of soul music and hip hop,” Monophonics explain. “It’s a braggadocio tune with a clear message to the one you loved that no one will ever be as good to them. It is that feeling of knowing you gave your all to your partner and really tried to love them the right way, only to be hurt and taken for granted. It’s empowering and important to have that self worth and remind somebody that they really missed out on a really good thing.”
Deriving their name as a silent nod to the legendary Nile Rodgers — “C’est chi-chi! It’s Chic!” — the emerging NYC-based funk and disco act Say She She features three accomplished, strong female lead vocalists: founding members Piya Malik, who has spent time in El Michels Affair, 79.5 and Chicano Batman; and Sabrina Cunningham; along with Nya Gazelle Brown, a former member of 79.5.
Say She She can trace their origins to when Malik and Cunningham found themselves living in the studio apartments directly above and below each other. The pair would hear each other singing through the floorboards and quickly became friends. “I knew the girl below me had the most beautiful voice as I would hear her early in the morning and she would hear me late at night. Between the two of us I don’t think we got a wink of sleep. Then again I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say they moved to New York City to sleep,” Malik says in press notes.
After spending years singing in other people’s bands, Malik and Cunningham felt they were finally ready to step out into the spotlight with their own project, at first writing tongue-in-cheek songs about bad boyfriends, band breakups and bad politics. Shortly after, they started writing much more serious and vulnerable tunes, like much-needed therapy sessions. detailing a post-modern woman’s life. And a a result, the material is full of tales of love, lust, sex, heartbreak, betrayal and hope.
A few years after starting the project, the duo recruited their close friend and Malik’s former 79.5 bandmate Nya Gazelle Brown to join them. At that point, the act’s core lineup was settled.
Slated for release this fall through Karma Chief Records, an imprint of Colemine Records, Say She She’s self-titled, full-length debut was recorded on old tape machines in the basement studios of friends. The album features guest spots from The Dap Kings‘ Joey Crispiano and Victor Axelrod, The Shacks’ Max Shrager, Chicano Batman’s Bardo Martinez, Antibalas‘ and Superhuman Happiness‘ and Low Mentality’s Nikhil Yerawadekar, Twin Shadow’s Andy Bauer and NYMPH‘s Matty McDermot.
Last month, I wrote about “Forget Me Not,” the New York-based act’s debut single and their forthcoming debut album’s first single. Featuring a strutting bass line, glistening wah wah pedaled funk guitar, fluttering flute and dreamy three part harmonies “Forget Me Not” is one part Patrice Rushen, one part Tom Tom Club’s “Gangster of Love,” one part ESG, one part Mary Jane Girls, centered around righteous feminist lyrics.
Building upon a growing profile, the disco and funk outfit’s latest single, the slow-burning, dreamy and sultry “Blow My Mind.” Centered around the trio’s yearning and impassioned cries, shimmering Bollywood-inspired riffage and a strutting bass line, “Blow My Mind” is a song about returning to a former flame, with who you’ve managed to carry the north for — after a period of some years. even.
“‘Blow My Mind’ is about a love that you can’t seem to get rid of and you can’t quite get enough of,” explains Say She She member Nya Gazelle Brown.
As I mentioned, the band’s full-length is forthcoming but in the meantime, they’ll be releasing their debut 45rpm “Forget Me Not”/”Blow My Mind” through Colemine/Karma Chief on May 20, 2022.
