Tag: Kendra Morris

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Tiwayo Shares a Soulful and Contented Sigh of Appreciation

Tiwayo is a Paris-born singer/songwriter, who released two critically applauded albums, 2019’s The Gypsy Soul of Tiwayo and 2023’s Desert Dream, which he supported with opening slots for Curtis Harding, Cody ChesnuTT and Marcus Miller among others. Adding to a growing international profile, the Parisian-born artist was celebrated by the likes of Norah Jones, Tony Visconti and Don Was.

As the story goes, Tiwayo, who has been nicknamed “The Young Old” for his timeless vocal, had nearly vanished before the scene when he crossed paths with Grammy Award-winning producer, songwriter and Black Pumas founder Adrian Quesada at Les Eurorockéennes Festival. Quesada heard Tiwayo’s demos and knew he must work with the acclaimed French artist.

Tiwayo’s third album, the Adrian Quesada-produced Outsider, which is slated for an April 10, 2026 release through Record Kicks Records was recorded at Quesada’s Austin-based Electric Deluxe Recorders.

Throughout his career, Tiwayo has refused to play by the genre’s rules. In fact, he stands uniquely apart as a Frenchman in Texas, as a soul singer with a bluesman heart, and a traveler, who is constantly an outsider. And while embracing being an outsider, he eschews the polish and shine of the contemporary soul revival scene for a raw, unvarnished take on the sound that to hm carries the deepest power.

Sonically, Outsider is a genre-bending take on soul that features contributions from Quesada’s Black Pumas bandmates, as well as guest spots from Eric Clapton‘s Doyle Bramhall II and JOVM mainstay Kendra Morris.

Outsider will include the previously released “I’ve Got To Travel Alone,” and “Up For Soul,” which received airplay from KCRW, KEXP, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6, Jazz FM, Radio Eins, Jazz Radio, RAI Radio 1 and others, as well as its third and latest single, “Sunshine Lady.”

Arguably one of the brighter, more buoyant tracks of the album to date, “Sunshine Lady” is a crafted bit of Memphis and Muscle Shoals-inspired soul featuring Jay Mumford (drums) and Terin Moswen Ector (bass) that showcases the French artist’s catchy hooks, a soulful groove and Quesada’s unerring knack for gritty and timeless sounding production with earnest, lived-in lyrics and an effortlessly soulful delivery. At its core “Sunshine Lady” is a contented sigh and an expression of gratefulness for having a romantic partner, who completely and patiently understands you and what makes you tick. This is anchored by the understanding that finding that sort of partner can seem both extraordinarily lucky and rare, which fittingly adds to overall sense of thankfulness within the song.

“Sunshine Lady” was sparked by a comment from a close friendly, who told the French-born artist, “You always write sad songs, why don’t you write something happy to change a little?” Taking that suggestion to heart, Tiwayo wrote the song as a tribute to his partner, a constant source of patience and comfort during intense periods of home studio work.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Kelly Finnigan Returns with Two Christmas Time Originals

Acclaimed San Francisco-based singer/songwriter, musician, producer and Monophonics frontman Kelly Finnigan has proven himself to be rather prolific over the past couple of years. Last year, Finnigan released his sophomore solo album, A Lover Was Born, which featured album singles “Be Your Own Shelter,” and “Love (Your Pain Goes Deep).”

This year, Finnigan followed up with two standalone singles:

Finnigan closes out the year with two new, self-penned Christmas tunes —
“I Can’t Wait (For Christmas Time)”/”Snowy Night In Ohio.”

“I Can’t Wait (For Christmas Time)” is a straightforward pop/soul arrangement that features labelmate Kendra Morris and her band on backing vocals. “I the Can’t Wait (For Christmas Time)” channels some of Finnigan’s previously released work, while reminding the listener that the holidays are about the excitement, anticipation and longing for reunions with loved ones.

“Snowy Night In Ohio” is a meditative tune that sounds as though it could have been previously unreleased track from the A Joyful Sound sessions that evokes the nostalgia and comfort of being with your dearest ones and looking out the window to see the snow gently fall outside.

“I Can’t Wait (For Christmas Time)”/”Snowy Night In Ohio” are out now as 7″ 45RPM single and on digital platforms through Colemine Records.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Kendra Morris Returns with a Sardonic Sendup of Domesticity and Cohabitation

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.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Monophonics and Kendra Morris Team Up on a Soulful Meditation on Life on the Road

Since their formation, Bay Area-based soul outfit and JOVM mainstays 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, recorded on vintage analog recording gear and 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.

Their fourth album, last year’s Kelly Finnigan-produced Sage Motel derived its title from a real place — The Sage Motel. What started as a quaint motor lodge and common pitstop for travelers and truckers in the 1940s, 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 mounts of money into high-end renovations, which eventually attracted some of the most prominent acts of the era. But when the money ran out, the motel quickly devolved into a hot sheet hotel.

If The Sage Motel’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 frequently have found themselves at a crossroads — often without quite knowing how they wound up there. Thematically, the album tackles all of those subjects — with the band further cementing their reputation as one of the world’s premier psychedelic soul bands.

JOVM mainstay Kendra Morris is a Florida-born, New York-based singer/songwriter, musician, and multi-disciplinary artist. As a singer/songwriter and musician, Morris can trace the origins of her music career to discovering the joys of multi-tracking and harmonizing with herself on a karaoke machine in the closet of her childhood home. 

Morris went on to play in cover bands in Florida before relocating to New York with her band, which played her original material. Her first band split up and she dealt with the aftermath by writing material alone on an 8-track recorder in her closet. Sometime after, she met longtime collaborator and producer Jeremy Page and signed to Wax Poetics, who released her full-length debut, 2012’s Banshee. 

The Florida-born, New York-based JOVM mainstay self-released her sophomore effort 2016’s Babble. She then went on to collaborate with DJ Premier, 9th Wonder, MF DOOM, Czarface, Ghostface Killah, Dennis Coffey and Dave Sitek among others. And while being a grizzled, New York scene vet, Morris’ work generally embodies a broader sense of American culture, drawing from a wide array of influences across music and film dating back to the mid 20th Century. 

Last year’s Nine Lives was the Florida-born, New York-based JOVM’s mainstay’s first full-length album in about a decade. The album represented a major turning point in her life both professionally and personally for Morris: The album heralds the beginning of a new chapter, an evolution to the next level of adulthood — and the first on her new label,  Karma Chief Records. Thematically, the album’s material encapsulates moments from what could easily be nine lifetimes lived over a chronological time period — or nine lives lived simultaneously in parallel and convergent realties in the multiverse.

Last year, the JOVM mainstays and labelmates toured together and they’ve finally collaborated on a song together — the woozy and trippy soul jam “Untitled Visions.” Built around a strutting yet cinematic arrangement that serves as a perfect vehicle for Finnigan’s and Morris’ soulful vocals, “Untitled Visions” is about the hectic and bizarre lifestyle that comes from being on tour. The song’s narrators dive into the feelings of boredom, anxiety, anticipation, stress, fun and more that one feels while living a life on the road.

The accompanying video feature edited footage of 50s and 60s era cars driving on the highways, byways and streets, flowers bursting to life and then contracting, a Fred Astaire-like dancer performing — and seemingly heading off to the next tour stop.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Kendra Morris Performs “Come Wander With Me” at Tupelo House Studio

JOVM mainstay Kendra Morris is a Florida-born, New York-based singer/songwriter, musician, and multi-disciplinary artist. As a singer/songwriter and musician, Morris can trace the origins of her music career to discovering the joys of multi-tracking and harmonizing with herself on a karaoke machine in the closet of her childhood home. 

Morris went on to play in cover bands in Florida before relocating to New York with her band, which played her original material. Her first band split up and she dealt with the aftermath by writing material alone on an 8-track recorder in her closet. Sometime after, she met longtime collaborator and producer Jeremy Page and signed to Wax Poetics, who released her full-length debut, 2012’s Banshee. 

The Florida-born, New York-based JOVM mainstay self-released her sophomore effort 2016’s Babble. She went on to collaborate with the likes of DJ Premier, 9th Wonder, MF DOOM, Czarface, Ghostface Killah, Dennis Coffey and Dave Sitek among others. And while being a grizzled, New York scene vet, Morris’ work generally embodies a broader sense of American culture, drawing from a wide array of influences across music and film dating back to the mid 20th Century. 

Morris’ most recent album Nine Lives was released earlier this year, Karma Chief Records. While being her first full-length album in about a decade, the album for Morris represents a major turning point in her life both professionally and personally: For Morris, the album heralds the beginning of a new chapter, an evolution to the next level of adulthood — and the first on her new label. The album’s material encapsulates moments from what could easily be nine lifetimes lived over a chronological time period — or nine lives lived simultaneously in parallel and convergent realities in the multiverse.

I wrote about three of the album’s singles:  

  • “Penny Pincher,” a slow-burning ballad about reaching the end of the road in a relationship, fueled by regret, heartache, acceptance and steely determination to go forward with your life.

  • “Nine Lives” is a strutting, hook-driven bit of soul pop jam centered around Morris’ sultry vocals, stuttering boom bap beats, squiggling guitar, and glistening Rhodes arpeggios that sounds as though it could have been released between 1992-1996 or so. 

  • “Circle Eights” is a slow-burning song centered around twinkling Rhodes, a sinuous bass line, a steady rhythm and Morris’ soulful vocals full of a deeply aching yearning.

Earlier this year, Morris stopped at Colemine Records’ Cinncinnati area-based Tupelo House Studio to lay down some stripped down version of tracks from her then-forthcoming album. While she was there, she recorded a hauntingly gorgeous version of the Jeff Alexander and Tony Wilson penned “Come Wander With Me,” a song written for and featured in a 1964 episode of The Twilight Zone with the same name. “Come Wander With Me” was the final episode to be filmed of the series — and interestingly, the song has a connection to Cincinnati: The Twilight Zone can trace its origins back to Cincinnati, where it was originally known as Rod Serling’s The Storm in the mid-’50s.

Both versions are so gorgeous, so haunting that I stopped in my tracks when I heard them. Rooted in heartache, longing, the desire to escape a sad world of devastating heartbreak and loss, “Come Wander With Me” at its core, is a lament older than time itself.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Kendra Morris Shares Slow-Burning and Intimate “Circle Eights”

Kendra Morris is a Florida-born, New York-based singer/songwriter, multi-disciplinary artist and newest JOVM mainstay. Now, as you might recall, as a singer/songwriter and musician, Morris can trace the origins of her music career to discovering the joys of multi-tracking and harmonizing with herself on a karaoke machine in the closet of her childhood home.

Morris then went on to play in cover bands in her home state before relocating to New York with her band, which played her original material. Her first band split up and she dealt with the aftermath by writing material alone on an 8-track in her closet. Sometime after, she met longtime collaborator and producer Jeremy Page and signed to Wax Poetics, who released her full-length debut, 2012’s Banshee. 

Morris self-released her sophomore effort 2016’s Babble. Then she went on to collaborate with the likes of DJ Premier, 9th Wonder, MF DOOM, Czarface, Ghostface Killah, Dennis Coffey and Dave Sitek among others. And while being a grizzled, New York scene vet, Morris’ work generally embodies a broader sense of American culture, drawing from a wide array of influences across music and film dating back to the mid 20th Century. 

The Florida-born, New York-based artist’s long-awaited sophomore album Nine Lives was released last week through Karma Chief Records. While being her first full-length album in a decade, the album represents a major turning point in her life both professional and personally: The album for her heralds the beginning of a new chapter; an evolution to the next level of adulthood; and the first on her new label. The album’s material encapsulates moments from what could easily be nine lifetimes lived over a chronological time period — or nine lives lived simultaneously in parallel and convergent realities in the multiverse. 

In the lead up to the album’s release last week, I managed to write about two of its singles:

  • “Penny Pincher,” a slow-burning ballad about reaching the end of the road in a relationship, fueled by regret, heartache, acceptance and steely determination to go forward with your life.
  • “Nine Lives” is a strutting, hook-driven bit of soul pop jam centered around Morris’ sultry vocals, stuttering boom bap beats, squiggling guitar, and glistening Rhodes arpeggios that sounds as though it could have been released between 1992-1996 or so. 

The album’s latest single “Circle Eights” is a slow-burning song centered around twinkling Rhodes, a sinuous bass line, a steady rhythm and Morris’ soulful vocals full of a deeply aching yearning. “Circle Eights is about the feeling of being outside of yourself and feeling kind of alone and awkward even when you’re surrounded by your friends,” the New York-based JOVM mainstay explains. “I remember hanging out at a rooftop party in Brooklyn one summer night and looking around at all the people I was with plus the groups of people I didn’t know and just lifting my glass and laughing out loud and yet feeling like I wasn’t really there. Like I was just watching a movie and I was thinking.. Where do I fit in all this right now? 

Directed by Morris, the accompanying video for “Circle Eights” sees the JOVM mainstay employing stop motion animation and live action as it follows the secret adventures of an old toy through Morris’ apartment. At points, this beloved toy seems to be watching a life as though they’re a passive observer “I made the accompanying video using what I had on hand and shot using stop motion animation combined with live action around my apartment while I had covid,” she explains. “I love a good challenge and believe that with a good idea you can make anything exciting.. and so began my covid adventure.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Florida-born, New York-based singer/songwriter and multi-disciplinary artist Kendra Morris. As a musician, Morris can trace the origins of her music career to discovering the joys of multi-tracking and harmonizing with herself on a karaoke machine in the closet of her childhood home. She then went on to play in cover bands in her home state before relocating to New York with her band, which played her original material. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Around that same time, Morris was one of my bartenders at The Library Bar on Avenue A in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Also Megasus is the best bar mascot ever. Megasus forever.)

That band split up and Morris dealt with the aftermath by writing material alone on an 8-track in her closet. Sometime after, she met longtime collaborator and producer Jeremy Page and signed to Wax Poetics, who released her full-length debut, 2012’s Banshee.

Morris self-released 2016’s Babble and went on to collaborate with the likes of DJ Premier, 9th Wonder, MF DOOM, Czarface, Ghostface Killah, Dennis Coffey and Dave Sitek among others. And while being a grizzled, New York scene vet, Morris’ work generally embodies a broader sense of American culture, drawing from a wide array of influences across music and film dating back to the mid 20th Century.

The Florida-born, New York-based artist’s long-awaited sophomore album Nine Lives is slated for a February 18, 2022 release through Karma Chief Records. While being her first full-length album in a decade, the album represents a major turning point in her life both professional and personally: The album for her heralds the beginning of a new chapter; an evolution to the next level of adulthood; and the first on her new label. Interestingly, Nine Lives‘ material reportedly encapsulates moments from what could easily be nine lifetimes lived over a chronological time period — or nine lives lived simultaneously in parallel and convergent realities in the multiverse.

Nine Lives‘ latest single “Penny Pincher” is a slow- burning ballad centered around a gorgeous yet spectral arrangement of strummed guitar, Morris’ soulful and achingly plaintive vocals and bursts of atmospheric keys. And at its core Morris expresses the regret, heartache, acceptance and steely determination that comes from a relationship that has reached its inevitable end.

“”Penny Pincher” is the moment of reaching the end of the road with someone,” Morris explains. “They have no idea that you’re already there and you’re just adding pennies and dimes up both literally and metaphorically until you have the strength to leave. I can speak from experience regarding this situation.. unfortunately multiple times. It is the worst feeling. Limbo is indeed a circle of hell.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Julia Haltigan Releases a Jim Jarmusch-like Visual for “Wool”

Julia Haltigan is a New York-born and-based singer/songwriter, who has received attention for crafting a primal rock sound paired with a smoldering, bluesy expressivity. But along with a solo career, Haltigan has been rather busy: she moonlights at the slinky Jessica Rabbit-inspired jazz crooner Vivian Fairchild in the critically applauded off-Broadway show Sleep No More. She’s member of the fizzy pop act The Singles, an act that features Scarlett Johansson, Kendra Morris and Holly Miranda. And recently, she made a cameo appearance in HBO’s The Deuce.

Haltigan’s W. Andrew Raposo and Dave Sitek co-produced album Trouble is slated for an October 25, 2019 release, and the album’s first single “Wool” is a gorgeous, slow-burning and twangy ballad centered around Haltigan’s aching vocals that subtly recalls Chris Issak’s “Wicked Game” and k.d. lang’s “Constant Craving” — but while painting a picture of how we can sometimes allow the lines between fiction and reality to blur, way after the film or TV show has ended.

Directed by Marc McAndrews, the surreal Jim Jarmusch-like video stars Haltigan as a weary and bored New York cab driver, who picks up an eclectic variety of passengers across town. With each series of characters, we’re offered mini vignettes into their foibles, tragedies and idiosyncrasies as they’re rushing about — and it’s done with an empathetic yet playful touch.

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Released last year through Wax Poetics Records, New York-based singer/songwriter Kendra Morris’ debut effort, Banshee was critically well-received with Morris being compared favorably to the likes of vocalists such as Adele, Joss Stone, Amy Winehouse and interestingly enough, the legendary Janis Joplin. Mockingbird, her sophomore […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

New York-based singer/songwriter Kendra Morris will be releasing her sophomore effort Mockingbird through Wax Poetics Records on July 30th. The album has Morris and her backing band led by producer and guitarist Jeremy Page covering classic songs […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Released last year through Wax Poetics Records, New York-based singer/songwriter Kendra Morris’ debut effort, Banshee was critically well-received with Morris being compared favorably to the links of Adele, Joss Stone, Amy Winehouse and interestingly enough, the legendary […]