Anna Stubbs is a London-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, best known for being one-half of forward-thinking London-based nu jazz/broken beat act Brotherly. Stubbs recently stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist with her neo-soul/nu-jazz/jazz-fusion recording project Kinzoogianna.
Stubbs’ Kinzoogianna full-length debut Gold For The Hungry Souls is slated for an August release through Brotherly/Kudos Records. Featuring a backing band of Rob Mullarkey (bass) and Richard Spaven (drums), Gold For The Hungry Souls will be comprised of “an epic, nu-jazz, soul collection of nine, quirky and memorable songs with hooky, unexpected grooves and harmonies,” according to Stubbs.
Earlier this year, I wrote about Gold For The Hungry Souls single “Cinnamon Bun,” a dazzling mix of Quiet Storm, piano-led soul and jazz centered a mind-bending song structure, Stubbs’ powerhouse vocals and razor sharp hooks. Lyrically and thematically, the song captures life’s small — and perhaps most important — joys: waking up in the morning next to a lover after a night of lovemaking; coffee and sticky, sweet cinnamon buns for breakfast, with a novelistic specificity.
“Mexico,” Gold For The Hungry Souls‘ latest single continues a run of piano-led, jazz-influenced pop that sees the British singer/songwriter pairing Stubbs’ expressive vocals with glistening Rhodes, a sumptuous bass line and her unerring ability to write a song rooted in lived-in experience. It shouldn’t be surprising that the song, which was written during pandemic-related lockdowns expresses a wish to travel and adventure that should feel familiar to most of us.
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