Tag: singer/songwriter \

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: New Orleans’ Britti Shares Lush and Yearning “Lullaby”

New Orleans-based singer/songwriter Brittany Guerin, best known as the mononymous moniker Britti was gifted with a voice that has been described as bridging the distance between delicacy and flint — and like many singer/songwriters can’t remember she can’t remember a time when she wasn’t singing. “According to my mom, I was singing before I could talk,” Guerin says, likening herself to a Disney character. “I would sing throughout the halls of the house, throughout the aisles of the grocery stories, in my car seat,” the Louisiana-born artist recalls. “I was just a little bird, doing what came easy.”

Raised by her mother and grandmother — whom she does dubs “brown sugar and cayenne pepper,” respectively — Guerin continued to nurture her talent everywhere, sining in the school chorus and the church choir, between learning dance steps and playing soccer. “Singing is my passion,” she says. “But simultaneously, it’s also my purpose.”

Guerin relocated to the Crescent City and earned a degree in music performance from Loyola University in the mid 00s. But shortly after, was when when the clock began to slow down to a crawl on her vision, with her diploma collecting dust, as she landed into a retail grind that was both tantalizingly and depressingly performance adjacent. She spent a decade selling instruments and sheet music to aspiring musicians and artists while deferring her own. “For this 10-year span, I just stayed in that safe space of just thinking, ‘Oh, I’ll get to it. I’ll live my dreams eventually. I’m young.’” 

While singing always came naturally, promoting herself just didn’t. But when a long-term relationship ended just before the pandemic, ironically her former partner’s parting gift was to urge her to pursue what she was clearly meant to do, proving that sometimes the wrong person can have the right idea. “He broke my heart into pieces that you would need a magnifying glass to find,” Guerin says, but it also set on a path to creativity for the first time in several years.

“I remember saying this out loud in prayer, ‘What if I actually try believing in myself?’ I had this whole dialogue with my ancestors, my spirit guide, and the divine like ‘What if I try?’,” she recalls. During a two-month furlough in the midst of the pandemic, Guerin began running meditating and — after buying her dream Martin guitar — writing songs.

“I was perfecting these songs at 2:00 in the morning, because there was no time limit because I wasn’t working.” Except, she was. “I started treating myself like a business and putting myself out there and posting videos at least once a week, and just really building my self-confidence,” she says of early clips that saw her covering some of her favorite songs like Sheryl Crow’s rendition of “The First Cut Is the Deepest” and Lainey Wilson‘s “Rolling Stone.”

The Wilson cover caught the attention of a country A&R executive, who saw her talent but also understood that Guerin was a little too left-of-center for Music Row. Others expressed interest but didn’t quite have a handle on her sound. “There were a lot of nights sitting on the floor crying and thinking ‘Okay. These darts are going forward, but they’re not hitting anything,’ and feeling very discouraged.”

Then she decided to cover her favorite Dan Auerbach song “Whispered Words (Pretty Lies).” “I’ve always really enjoyed his writing style, the New Orleans-based artist says of The Black Keys frontman and producer. “As joyful of a person as I am, I love a good melancholy song.”

“I was praying every single day that I would find somebody who would be able to hear my voice, see my potential, and have the resources to help me cultivate my dream,” she says. No one was more surprised than Guerin that that person turned out to be actually be Auerbach.

“I saw a video of her singing and strumming the acoustic guitar in her bedroom,” Auerbach recalls. “I thought she had an intriguing delivery, and I wanted to learn more. So we flew her up to Nashville to meet.” “

“You know when something feels wrong, and you know when something’s meant to be,” Guerin says of the meeting. “This is who I had been praying for.” On the day she flew up to Nashville, Auerbach says “we instantly hit it off.” And the pair began writing right away with The Black Keys frontman and producer brining in various co-writers, who he thought would complement the direction the two were heading and “lend an interesting flavor to the album,” including Roger Cook, Bobby Wood and Pat McLaughlin.“For someone who hadn’t done any of this, she took to it really quickly, and we just hit the ground running as soon as we started these writing sessions.

”“I’m sure he’s great with everybody, but we definitely vibe,” says Britti of the locked-in nature of the collaboration. “To the point where I’m just like, ‘Can I write with him until I’m 115, please?’”She also was thrilled by the speed with which the album came together, and the remarkable group of players Auerbach convened to bring the songs to life. “I felt like I was being heard, seen, and felt. I’m still in awe,” she says of the estimable group which included Robert Plant & Alison Krauss‘ and Sharon Van Etten‘s Jay Bellerose (drum), Sheryl Crow’s and Stevie Nicks’ Tom Bukovac (guitar), Yola‘s and Don Henley’s Mike Rojas (keys), Auerbach himself and a talented cast of collaborators. “I just pick people who I really respect and are very talented and get them in the room together,” says Auerbach of this first-time configuration of players. “Very rarely do bad things happen. They fed off her energy ultimately.”

And although she’s a relative newcomer, Auerbach believes that Britti was ready. “She grew up in the most musical environment in the world. It’s in her DNA,” The Black Keys frontman and producer says of Britti’s Louisiana upbringing. “She knows more about music than she ever realizes.”

Guerin points out that she honed her ear listening to contemporary R&B stations driving in the car and then signing hymns with friends and family in church. She would delve into blues, Zydeco and Motown with her grandmother and then switch to classical music with her grandfather. An uncle played jazz and schooled her in its intricacies on forays to and from New Orleans.

All of those sounds and more inform her 11-song, Dan Auerbach-proruced full-length debut, Hello, I’m Britti, which is slated for a February 2, 2024 release through Easy Eye Sound. Naturally, the New Orleans-based artist is heartened by what she sees as “progress in the world of understanding fluidity.” ”When I got together with her, it was clear that she was interested in all types of music. We talked about Sade a little bit, how much she loved her stage presence. And we talked about Aretha’s songs, Blues Brothers’ stuff, New Orleans music, we talked about all kinds of stuff,” adds Auerbach on the album’s varied influences and moods.

Fittingly, Hello, I’m Britti‘s 11 tracks tell their own compact stories with the album’s material rooted in the spectrum of emotions flowing from the haze of heartbreak to the electricity of new love to the quest for self-understanding and self-acceptance. The continuous thread that holds it all together is the New Orleans-based artist’s unique delivery.

Hello, I’m Britti‘s latest single, the gently swaying “Lullaby” pairs shimmering and yearning pedal steel, twinkling keys and understated percussion with the New Orleans-based artist’s vulnerable, heart-worn-on-sleeve vocal in a way that’s hauntingly gorgeous and cinematic. The song is an old to the comfort and security of a hard-won — and perhaps harder-earned — intimacy.

Directed by Vanessa Pla, the cinematic, mostly black and white visual for “Lullaby” is a retro-chic and glamorous look at the artist’s private and public life that explodes into lush color for the last third, in which we see Guerin on stage performing.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Angela Colombino is an Sassari, Italy-born pop artist and performer, who eventually decided to write and producer her own material, starting in 2018 with the release of the critically acclaimed five-song ep Io rimango a letto . . .

Adding to a growing profile in her native Italy, Colombino has also collaborated with Shelf, Herbert Stencil, Enola Bit and others.

Earlier this year, the Sassari-born artist released “E’ Festa,” a slickly produced synthesis of Larry Levan-like house, and Giorgio Moroder-influenced Italodisco, and Version 2.0-era Garbage industrial electro pop built around tweeter and woofer rattling thump, glistening synth oscillations, and a relentless motorik groove paired with Colombino’s sultry delivery. While being accessible and club friendly, “E’ Fiesta” possesses a noticeable cinematic quality.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay MAGON Shares Shimmering and Introspective “I Don’t Take You For Granted”

Over the past handful of years, I’ve managed to spill copious amounts of virtual ink covering the remarkably prolific Israeli-born singer/songwriter, musician and JOVM mainstay MAGON. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site during that particular period, you might recall that shortly after the release of his fifth album,  A Night in Bethlehem, the Israeli-born artist, along with his partner and young daughter relocated to Costa Rica, where he continued an ongoing period of remarkable prolificacy with his sixth album, Did You Hear the Kids?

Did You Hear The Kids? featured what may arguably have been the broadest and most expansive sonic palette of any of his previously released work — and a collaboration with Paris-based indie duo SOS Citizen. 

The Isreali-born and now-Costa Rican-based artist’s seventh album, the recently released Chasing Dreams sees him collaborating with local indie rock outfit Las Robertas, who acted as his backing band for the recording sessions. Chasing Dreams sees the JOVM mainstay continuing a slow-burn expansion of his sound with the incorporation of string arrangements, which add a lushly cinematic and dreamy quality to the material.

In the lead-up to the album’s release, I wrote about two of the album’s previously released singles:

  • Album title track “Chasing Dreams,” a song built around strummed acoustic guitar, shimmering pedal steel and gentle drumming paired with Magon’s dreamily laconic delivery. “Chasing Dreams” seems indebted to Exile on Main Street-era Rolling Stones and Harvest-era Neil Young with some subtle nods to country and folk. Much like the material on his last two albums, “Chasing Dreams” is rooted in the sort of deep, heartfelt introspection informed by living a full, messy and well-lived life and getting older — with the song touching upon themes of maturation, love and enjoying cherished family and personal bonds while you have them.

  • “Under the Sea,” a child-like lullaby that sounds a bit like Yellow Submarine and “Octopus Garden”– perhaps as a result of a lush, 60s psych rock-inspired arrangement performed by the JOVM mainstay and his new collaborators Las Robertas, and an unfussy production. But at its core, the song is rooted in the pure and whimsical sense of exploration and curiosity of childhood.

“I Don’t Take You For Granted,” Chasing Dreams‘ third and latest single is a lush and introspective bit of psych rock/psych folk built around glistening, finger-plucked guitar, shimmering and cinematic strings and gently padded drumming paired with the JOVM mainstay’s laconic delivery. Much like its predecessors, “I Don’t Take You For Granted” is rooted in the same introspective, deeply lived-in lyrics that reflect a hard-earner, harder-won maturity and a contented sigh of recognition that adult love is so very difficult to find and harder to keep.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Heartafiya Shares Sleek and Yearning “Don’t Leave Me”

Barbadian-born California-based reggae artist Heartafiya is well known within the global reggae scene for pairing thoughtful, earnest lyrics with soulful music. His latest single, the dance floor and lounge friendly “Don’t Leave Me” features a sleek, percussive Afrobeats-influenced riddim paired with Heartafiya’s yearning delivery and a remarkably catchy chorus.

The California-based reggae artist’s latest single reveals a songwriter, whose songwriting seems rooted in lived-in, personal experiences with the song exploring the depths of love while baring the raw feelings of fear of loss, despair and hope.

The accompanying video features a collection of gorgeous sisters wining and grooving to the remarkably catchy, hook-driven bop.

singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Fabien Gravillon Shares Breezy Pop Confection “Je t’attends”

Fabien Gravillon is a Paris-born singer/songwriter, pop artist and actor, who may be best known in France for starring in the smash-hit soap opera Plus belle la vie. As a singer/songwriter and pop artist, Gravillon has specialized in a sound that draws from Zouk, Kizomba and Afro pop.

After the release of his debut album through Because Music, Gravillon went to Los Angeles and appeared in several videos by internationally acclaimed artists including Macklemore and  Patrick Stump‘s “Summer Days,” Collapsing Scenery and others. He also participated in several projects filmed at Fox Studios in Hollywood and for The Jim Henson Company.

Gravillon’s latest single “Je t’atends” is a slickly produced bit of hook-driven pop that meshes elements of reggaeton and chanson in a way that’s crowd-pleasing and accessible. Much like his previously released material, “Je t’attends” is an earnest plea of devotion to a lover that feels and sounds sweetly old-fashioned.

Directed by Roger Artola and Griffit Vision, the accompanying video for “Je t’attends” was shot on a gloriously summer day in Los Angeles and tells a classic tale of deception, cheating and devotion.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay Robert Finley Shares Anthemic and Bluesy Stomp “Waste of Time”

69 year-old Winnsboro, LA-born, Bernice, LA-based singer/songwriter and JOVM mainstay Robert Finley‘s highly-anticipated fourth album, Black Bayou was released last Friday through his longtime label home Easy Eye Sound.

The album sees the JOVM mainstay continuing his wildly successful collaboration with Easy Eye Sound founder and The Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach. Much like its immediate predecessor, the new album’s material is a deeply personal portrait — but this time of Finley’s Louisiana, from an insider, who has lived there all of his life. Sonically, the material coalesces all of the vibrant sounds of the bayou, including gospel, blues, rock and more. 

The result is a vivid collection of songs that depicts life in North Louisiana — with Finley playing the role of charismatic and knowledgeable tour guide. “I think that’s one of the biggest things about the album is it tells the truth and the truth will set you free,” Finley told American Songwriter.

“It’s amazing to realize how much of an impact Louisiana has had on the world’s music,” Dan Auerbach says in press notes, “and Robert embodies all of that. He can play a blues song. He can play early rock and roll. He can play gospel. He can do anything, and a lot of that has to do with where he’s from.”

Recorded at Auerbach’s Nashville-based Easy Eye Sound Studio, Black Bayou saw the pair adopting a much different creative process. Rather than write songs beforehand, as they did on 2017’s Goin’ Platinum and 2021’s Sharecropper’s Son, they devised everything in the studio, with Auerbach leading a backing band of some of the world’s best players, including: Auerbach’s Black Keys bandmate Patrick Carney (drums), G. Love & Special Sauce‘s Jeffrey Clemens (drums), Eric Deaton (bass), legendary Hill Country blues guitarist Kenny Brown and vocalists Christy Johnson and LaQuindrelyn McMahon, Finley’s daughter and granddaughter.

They worked quickly, devising their parts spontaneously and usually getting everything in one take. “I started singing, and they started playing,” Finley explains. “That’s how we made the album. It wasn’t written out. Nobody used a pencil and paper. We just sang and played together in the studio.”  The album and its material reveals Finley as a truly original Louisiana storyteller, who evokes the place and its unique — and deeply influential culture — for the rest of the world. 

In the lead up to the album’s release, I’ve managed to write about three of the album’s singles: 

“What Goes Around (Comes Around),” a swampy, blues rocker that subtly recalls Creedence Clearwater Revival‘s “Green River” built around an irresistibly funky and shuffling 12 bar blues-driven groove paired around the collaborators’ unerring knack for anthemic hooks and choruses. The song serves as the perfect vehicle for his whiskey soaked gospel-like croons and shouts warning the listener about the weighty impact of karma.

“You gotta reap what you sow… do to another what you would have done to you. Be real, tell the truth. For all those out there hurting, you just have to keep the faith,” the JOVM mainstay says of the song. “I’ve seen it over the years, especially with my career – you got to put joy out into the world and it will come back. It’s never been anything short of the truth for me.” 

“Sneakin’ Around” is a classic blues and soul tale of deception, deceit and a bit of deserved comeuppance, featuring Finley’s heartbroken yet defiantly proud narrator describing how he found out his lover was repeatedly cheating on him. This is paired with a swampy and gritty, Motown-meets-Muscle Shoals-like groove complete with a big horn line, and a scorching guitar solo. 

“Whatever is in the dark is gonna come to the light, so don’t play around,” Finley says. 

“Nobody Wants To Be Lonely,” an old school, fried slice of deep southern soul with cornbread and collard greens built around R&B/soul guitar licks, a laid back funky groove and a steady drum pattern paired with Finley’s achingly tender vocal. The song offers a message of understanding, resilience and hope in the face of isolation, aging — and our inevitable mortality. Although rooted in some of Finley’s experiences and those of folks he knows, the song speaks of a universal, deeply embittering experience. “This song is about the many people who have been forgotten,” Finley explains. “Their kids drop them off and go with their lives. I go down occasionally and perform at the old folks home in Bernice. Just take my guitar and play for thirty minutes or so, try to get them to dance, try to bring some joy to them.”
 

Black Bayou‘s fourth and latest single “Waste of Time” is a gritty and bluesy stomp that sounds like it would have easily fit in the legendary catalogs of Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters and the like, built around twinkling keys, fuzzy power chords and Finley’s whiskey soaked wail, describing struggling to survive in the big city with your dignity intact. The song is rooted in the sort of lived-in, desperate and hungry specificity that should feel familiar to anyone, who has made the big risk of having big dreams and picking up their lives to accomplish them.

Featuring footage shoot by Andy M. Hawke and edited by Tim Hardiman, the accompanying video for “Waste of Time” was filmed at Easy Eye Studios and intimately captures the album’s creation — set to the anthemic album single. The video also features appearances from The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach, along with the rest of the album’s collaborators.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Andrew Bishop is a grizzled Vancouver music scene vet, who over the past decade has contributed his talents as a guitarist and/or singer/songwriter to a number of local outfits including Alex Little & The Suspicious Minds, Twin River and his own country-infused solo project White Ash Falls.

The Vancouver-based artist’s latest project WAASH sees him merging his prolific songwriting skills with a passion for expansive shoegaze soundscapes, marking both a culmination of his musical career and a fresh start. Initially started as a solo recording project, WAASH has gradually evolved into a full-fledged live band. 

WAASH’s self-titled debut Colin Stewart co-produced EP is slated for a November 20, 2023 release. The EP’s five meticulously crafted tracks showcase Bishop’s departure from his long-held, conventional songwriting process: Instead of relying on guitar, he explored beats and baselines as starting points. For him, this approach allowed him to delve into minute details, crafting lyric and melodies that intricately fit each song. The EP was recorded with Bishop’s Alex Little & The Suspicious Minds bandmates at Afterlife Studios and further refined at The Hive with Colin Stewart. Over in East Vancouver, Bishop added ethereal keyboards, harmonies from Louise Burns and perfected the EP’s reverb-soaked aesthetic. 

Earlier this month, I wore about “There’s Never Enough Voices,” a song built around glistening, reverb-soaked guitars, and a tight motorik groove paired with Bishop’s plaintive delivery and carefully crafted, anthemic hooks and choruses. But brooding despair, confusion, regret and unease swirl just underneath the sleek, arena rock friendly surface. As Bishop explains the song is about trying to come to an understanding about the intentions within your actions and the realization of your past mistakes.

The self-titled EP’s second and latest single, the upbeat and anthemic “It Goes On” is built around reverb-soaked, swirling shoegazer-like guitar textures and Bishop’s laconic and plaintive delivery paired with his penchant for rousing and infectious hooks and choruses. Seemingly indebted to 120 Minutes-era MTV alt rock with a slick modern touch, “It Goes On,” as the Canadian indie outfit explains “is about moving on, learning to let go and not really listening to what others have to say. Sometimes relationships get to a point when both people don’t really care anymore. The writing’s on the wall, and everyone around you knows this is coming. You just have to take a moment, reflect and allow yourself time to breathe.”