JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates The O’Jays’ Eddie Levert’s 82nd birthday.
Tag: singer/songwriter \
New Audio: Mzzltvv Shares Mind-Bending “Nonsense (Psalms My Guard)”
Mzzltvv is an emerging and mysterious pop artist and producer, whose mission is to create music that means something to her — with the hopes that it’ll meaning and life for others. Much like countless contemporary artists, Mzzltvv is genre agnostic, and enjoys jumping around genres and styles with a sense of exploration and curiosity.
Last month, I wrote about “Burning Bones,” a slickly produced bit of synth pop built around glistening synth arpeggios, skittering thump and a blazing keytar solo, creating a lush, club friendly be for the emerging artist’s soulful vocal delivery. While sonically bringing The Weeknd and 80s synth pop. The mysterious artist explained that the song is part of a larger quest of self-discovery and strength in which every chord and beat is a step towards owning her truth.
The emerging artist’s latest single “Nonsense (Psalms My Guard)” is a slickly produced, mind-bending bit of pop that meshes elements of atmospheric alt pop, trap, contemporary Billboard Top 40 pop and R&B that’s anchored by her effortlessly soulful delivery.
New Video: THE THE Shares Trippy Visual for Slinky and Brooding “Cognitive Dissident”
Acclaimed British post-punk outfit THE THE was founded by singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Matt Johnson back in 1979 and through various iterations and configurations, Johnson and his collaborators have developed a sound and approach that seems to inhabit its own difficult to define genre: music of long shadows, high hopes, channeled anger, feverish passions and sweetly disturbing poignancy that meshes elements of pop, rock, blues, folk and soul among others while spanning alienated electronics to twisted cinematic soundtracks, guitar tumbling swing to crimson ballads, rants and prayers to diaries and hymns.
Over the course of their 45 year history, Johnson and company have released only five full-length albums of original material, 1983’s Soul Mining, 1986’s Infected, 1989’s Mind Bomb, 1993’s Dusk and 2000’s NakedSelf. Having a long-held reputation for being unpredictable, the band has also tackled covers, such as 1995’s Hanky Panky; film soundtracks, including 2009’s Tony, 2010’s Moonbug, 2014’s Hyena and 2019’s Muscle; art installations, a the Radio Cinéola podcast series; 2017’s moving, 84 minute documentary/multimedia project The Inertia Variations and various book publications including 2018’s Matt Johnson biography Long Shadows, High Hopes: The Life and Times of Matt Johnson & THE THE.
2017’s The Inertia Variations took inspiration from British poet John Tottenham’s 2005 book of the same name — particularly the idea of “brooding, abstraction and evasion” getting in the way of the creative process. The Inertia Variations eventually resulted in not just the documentary, but also the Radio Cinéola Trilogy triple album box set.
At the end of The Inertia Variations documentary, Johnson was filmed performing a new song live in his studio, “We Can’t Stop What’s Coming,” an energy to his older brother Andrew Johnson, an artist professionally known as Andy Dog, who died in 2016. “It was not an easy song to write,” he says. “That was the first time I’d sung in many years. I enjoyed it but found it very emotional.”
The experience prompted Johnson to revive THE THE as a live band — and it lead to the sold-out 2018 The Comeback Special world tour. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the release of the accompanying live film and album until 2021. And of course, the pandemic also delayed the intended start on the writing and recording of first THE THE album in almost 25 years, Ensoulment. Instead, Johnson and company released a series of 7 inch singles that started with 2017’s “We Can’t Stop What’s Coming,” 2020’s “I WANT 2 B U,” and last year’s “$1 ONE VOTE!”
The 12-song Ensoulment is slated for a September 6, 2024 release through Cinéola/earMUSIC. The album reportedly contains echoes of the acclaimed British outfit’s multifaceted and lengthy musical past, however, it’s richly representative of the mercurial band’s here and now. The album continues Johnson’s long-held reputation for being unafraid to tackle the inherent emotional complexity of the human condition — in particular, intimacy in an age of alienation; democracy in a post-truth age; empire and vassalage; the seemingly inexorable rise of AI and more. And yet, the album is rooted in hope. “It’s vital to be hopeful,” Johnson states. “And I hope people get out of the album what we put into it. It was created under very happy circumstances, with a great vibe amongst the band and all the people that worked on it. There was a lot of thought, a lot of work, a lot of love, a lot of laughter!”
The album’s material were further refined in rehearsals, just before a six-day recording sessions at Bath, UK-based Real World Studios, where Johnson was joined by long-standing band members James Ellen (bass), DC Collard (keys), Earl Harvin (drums) and Barrie Cadogan (lead guitar). The album also marks the return of co-producer and engineer Warne Livesey, who worked with the band on Infected and Mind Bomb. The album also features contributions from Gillian Glover (backing vocals), Terry Edwards (horns), Sonya Cullingford (fiddle) and Danny Cummings (percussion).
Ensoulment’s first single, the Matt Johnson and Barrie Cadogan co-written “Cognitive Dissident,” is a brooding and slinky number, anchored around a strutting bass line, bursts of squiggling, reverb-soaked guitar, Johnson’s breathy speak-singing delivery, sultry cooing from Gillian Glover, atmospheric electronics, skittering percussion paired with an equally slinky and remarkably catchy hook. Thematically, the song captures the madly topsy-turvy Orwellian nature of modern life with an uncanny and unsettling attention to detail.
The recently released accompanying video for “Cognitive Dissident” was directed by Tim Pope with editing, VFX and projections People Like Us/Vicki Bennett and Peter Knight — all of whom are longtime collaborators with Johnson and THE THE. The video employs a relatively simple yet trippy premise: Johnson having projections of digital and analog noise, the song’s lyrics and some slick editing.
Félix Mongeon is a Montréal-based singer/songwriter, musician, producer and creative mastermind behind Radiant Baby. Mongeon’s Radiant Baby debut EP It’s My Party caught the attention of Lisbon Lux, who signed him and then released the Montréaler’s 2019 full-length debut, Restless. Restless saw Mongeon creating a sound that meshes crisp electronic sounds with organic instrumentation to convey a more mature and dynamic aesthetic.
Since the release of Restless, the French-Canadian artist has very busy: He has made the rounds of the provincial and national festival circuit, with sets at Festival Pop Montréal, M pour Montréal, Festival Mode et Design, Picnik Électronik, Festival Fringe de Montréal, Santa Teresa Fest and Canadian Music Week. He also played at New Colossus Festival back in 2019.
2021 saw the release of Mongeon’s sophomore Radiant Baby album, Pantomime, which was followed up with a deluxe edition of Pantomime (Deluxe) last year.
Earlier this month, Mongeon released his third Radiant Baby album Porcelaine through his longtime label home Lisbon Lux Records. The album features “Mort de Rire,” a slinky bit of synth-driven New Wave-like funk paired with the Montréal-based artist’s dreamy falsetto. “Mort de Rire,” sounds as though it could have been released sometime during the late 1970s and early 1980s. And as the rising Canadian artist explained, the song inspects the twists and turns of our darkest sides — without taking itself too seriously.
Porcelaine‘s latest single “Klondike” continues a remarkably run of slinky, synth-driven and downright dance floor friendly-like New Wave that seems to channel Jef Barbara‘s Soft To The Touch and Contamination, Talking Heads‘ Remain in Light and Le Couleur‘s Autobahn — all while reminding the listener of Mongeon’s unerring knack for crafting insanely catchy hooks.
New Audio: N’Faly Kouyate Shares Slickly Produced “Kolabana”
Guinean-born, Belgian-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist N’Faly Kouyaté has had a long-held interest in bridging the distinct worlds he inhabited most of his life: the ancient and the modern, his native Africa and the West. Growing up, Kouyaté received a rigorous and traditional Guinean musical education. When he later relocated to Belgium, he received traditional Western conservatory training.
Throughout his lengthy career, Kouyaté has collaborated with an eclectic and diverse array of internationally acclaimed artists across a wide range of styles and genres, including Peter Gabriel, William Kentridge, Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera, Ray Phiri and others. But by far, the Guinean-born, Belgian-based artist may be best known for his work with the Grammy Award-nominated, groundbreaking, genre-defying outfit Afro Celt Sound System.
Kouyaté’s solo debut Re: Génération Part 1 EP sees the acclaimed Guinean-born, Belgian-based artist creating and developing a new genre which he dubbed Afrotonix, which seems him pairing polyphony, electronic production and traditional African instruments like the kora, the balafon and regional percussion instruments.
Earlier this year, I wrote EP single “Premiers Pas,” a slickly produced, breezy and hook driven bit of pop featuring atmospheric synths, twinkling kora, a supple yet propulsive bass line and skittering tweets and woofer rattling beats serving as a lush bed for Kouyaté’s plaintive delivery singing lyrics in Malinké and French. While being club and lounge friendly, the song is rooted in several powerful and urgent messages with the song being a cry for African autonomy without colonial influence, but the song also seeks and demands a more equitable world for all, as Kouyaté also calls out abuse in both the workplace and domestic spheres.
Kouyaté’s latest single “Kolabana” is the latest off his recently released EP. “Kolabana” continues a remarkable run of material that sees the Guinean-born, Belgian artist crafting a breezy and seamless synthesis of the contemporary and the ancient: The track features twinkling and arpeggiated kora, glistening synths and skittering beats serving as a lush bed for Kouyate’s plaintive delivery and an emcee, who contributes a swaggering eight bars or so, making the song both club and lounge friendly.
New Video: JOVM Mainstay MAGON Shares Sweetly Romantic “The Wedding Song”
I’ve spilled a copious amount of virtual ink covering the remarkably prolific Israeli-born, Costa Rican-based singer/songwriter, musician and JOVM mainstay MAGON over the past few years.
Earlier this year, the JOVM mainstay released his eighth album The Writing’s On The Wall, an album that’s a bit of a return to form that saw him continuing to push his sound in new directions: According to the JOVM mainstay, the material is a fusion of hallucinogenic re-imaginings of 70s soft rock, oddball outsider jams and laid-back indie fare.
Continuing upon his reputation for being remarkably prolific, the Israeli-born, Costa Rican-based artist will be releasing his ninth album later this year. The album’s first single “The Wedding Song” is a 70s Laurel Canyon/AM Radio rock jam anchored around shimmering guitars, a shuffling yet propulsive rhythm, a glistening and soulful guitar solo paired with MAGON’s long-held penchant for catchy hooks. Under the slick and seemingly effortless craftsmanship is a song that’s a contented sigh of one, who after much effort has found true, long-lasting love.
The song marks the one-year anniversary of MAGON’s wedding to his now-wife Alexa, and is dedicated to their love.
Filmed by MAGON’s wife Alexa at Establo San Rafael, Costa Rica, the video features a couple — Emily and Raymond Ulibarri — having a sweetly romantic moment, dancing to the song.
New Video: Atlanta’s Rose Hotel Shares Lynchian Visual for Lush and Sultry “Fruit Tree”
Jordan Reynolds is a Bowling Green, KY-born, Atlanta-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, whose career started in earnest when she was 19 and playing keys in psych rock outfit Buffalo Rodeo. “We bought an Econoline van that didn’t even have seats in it for like $1,500. We fixed it up, and I learned how to be in a band,” she says. “I learned how to communicate with sound guys, how to fix a pedal board on the fly, how to be the only girl on a tour with 10 dudes. It was a super formative time for me. When rubber hit the road, I was like ‘oh, this is actually what I really want to be doing.’”
Since her time in Buffalo Rodeo, Reynolds has built a career as an in-demand side musician playing keys and guitar and providing backing vocals for Neighbor Lady, Susto, Faye Webster and She Returns From War, while being the creative mastermind behind the recording project Rose Hotel.
Reynolds collaborated with longtime friend Micheal Ruth to produce her debut Rose Hotel EP, 2017’s Always a Good Reason, which helped her build a following in small-town music scenes around the Southeast. Her full-length debut, 2019’s I Will Only Come When It’s a Yes received praise from Vice, as “a wonderfully collaborative LP,” where “Reynolds’ songwriting shines as she navigates the gray areas in love and life” and featured a cultivated group of DIY musicians in her then-newly adopted home base of East Atlanta.
Since then, Reynolds has released a double cassingle 2020’s “Drive Alone”/”Constant” and 2021’s The House That We Knew EP through Nashville-based Cold Lunch Recordings.
While her full-length debut, presented a coming-of-age story, the Atlanta-based artist’s highly-anticipated sophomore album, the 10-song A Pawn Surrender approaches adulthood with a genre-spanning yet cohesive approach that pulls from an expansive palette of psychedelic shimmer and jangle and Southern folk that was inspired and informed by a chess metaphor. “I was playing a lot of chess when I wrote this album, so I started to think about these songs as if they were all different pieces on the board representing varying aspects of my songwriting, personality, and experience,” Reynolds explains. “Each piece has its own specific purpose and its own strength to utilize, but you can’t play the game with only your queen or your knights, or whatever. That became such a comforting idea and ethos to operate within – not just accepting variety but finding its inherent value. I went into the studio without any fear of being all over the board. I wanted to be limitless in letting my influences shine through the music in different ways.”
The studio backing band for the A Pawn Surrenders sessions features a personally hand-picked group of players that Reynolds knows from DIY scenes across the Southeast and includes Rich Ruth’s and S.G. Goodman‘s Micheal Ruth (synth), Neighbor Lady’s, Night Palace‘s, and CDSM‘s Jack Blauvelt (lead guitar, drums), Margo Price‘s, Caitlin Rose‘s, and Orville Peck‘s Luke Schneider (pedal steel), Neighbor Lady’s Payton Collier (bass, drums), RumorsATL‘s and Nomenclature‘s Denny Hanson (bass, piano) and a list of others.
Reynolds co-produced the album with Standard Electric Recorders engineer Damon Moon and Mirror Mirror Recordings engineer Graham Tavel. She enlisted acclaimed Athens, GA-based producer Drew Vandenberg for additional production and mixing. “I brought Damon and Graham together to form one unified brain with me,” she explains. “Damon’s incredibly curated studio space has a certain crispness that I was after. He knows how to get that clean, beautiful, organic sound. On the other end of the spectrum, Graham comes from a background in Punk and DIY, and brings a really unique analog approach. Together, I think we found a sweet spot between HiFi and LoFi.”
Thematically, the album reportedly sees the Bowling Green, KY-born, Atlanta-based artist exploring relationships, feminine rage, lust, temptation, blissful ignorance, apathy, delusions, illusions and more.
A Pawn Surrender‘s latest single “Fruit Tree” is a lush and seamless synthesis of 60s psych pop and psych folk and shoegaze, featuring an arrangement of shimmering acoustic guitar and electric guitar, fluttering flute, atmospheric synths and thunderstorm samples. While seemingly evoking getting caught in a rain storm on a narrow stretch of two-lane blacktop surrounded by verdant greenery, the song is anchored by Reynold’s sultry, siren-like delivery beckoning the listener to come, come, come . . .
“I wrote ‘Fruit Tree’ towards the end of the album writing process — a time where I was thinking very much about what I wanted from music and my ‘career’ and if that dream was even possible anymore,” Reynolds explains. “I wanted to personify the temptation of success in music as something sensual and lusted over, which brought up the image of the forbidden fruit. The lyrics are written from the perspective of the Fruit Tree, but with the tantalizing voice of an alluring woman. Sort of a ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’ tune.”
Directed by Hannah Welever and her production company Good Trouble Films, the accompanying video is a gorgeously shot, Lynchian and eerily Southern Gothic tale of lust, longing, temptation and madness
A Pawn Surrender is slated for a June 7, 2024 release through Strolling Bones Records.
New Audio: Bored at My Grandma’s House Shares Lush and Anthemic Ode to Love
Cumbria-born, Leeds-based singer/songwriter and musician Amber Strawbridge is the creative mastermind behind the rising British indie rock project Bored at My Grandma’s House. Strawbridge began recording music back in 2017 using the GarageBand app on her phone; she then updated her bedroom setup after saving the money to buy a laptop and Logic Pro. After a couple of years of self-taught production and recording, the rising British artist worked with Clue Records, who released her critically applauded debut EP Sometimes I Forget You’re Human Too, an effort that sold out two pressings before Strawbridge ever played a single gig.
Strawbridge’s Bored at My Grandma’s House full-length debut, the Alex Greaves-produced Show & Tell is slated for a June 7, 2024 release through Clue Records/EMI North. She wrote and recorded all the demos for the album in her bedroom, before heading to The Nave Studio, where she worked with Alex Greaves, who gave the material a proper studio polish.
Show & Tell sees Strawbridge exploring a broad range of heavy topics including anxiety, friendship, introspection, love, greed, mental health, loss, empathy and the lack of it thereof in the world. “The main overall theme of this album is connection. Connection with myself, connection with the world and connection to the people around me who I love,” the rising British artist explains. “This album is for me first and foremost and was a way for me to internally process.
“The origin of these tracks all stem from me wanting to understand these connections and process my emotions surrounding them. The album covers topics such as the power of queer love, humanity and its ‘delusions of grandeur’, reflection and purpose.
It would be unwise to say that I haven’t developed and changed a lot since my EP,” Strawbridge continues. “I’ve experienced more, questioned more, felt more and allowed myself to be vulnerable more – which I hope translates throughout the Album.”
Sonically, her full-length debut reportedly sees her establishing a sound that’s reminiscent of the likes of Soccer Mommy, Snail Mail and Alvvays, while displaying the ability to alchemize the wistful and hopeful into expansive, anthemic tunes rooted in a pop sensibility.
The album’s latest single “I Like What You Bring Out In Me” is anchored around a lush and ethereal sound and production in which glistening and reverb soaked 90s alt rock-like guitars, a steady yet propulsive rhythm section are paired with Strawbridge’s yearning, heart proudly worn on sleeve delivery and her unerring knack for rousingly anthemic hooks. At its core, is a song written from lived-in, personal experience and captures the woozy, goofiness of love with a sense of optimism and a contented sigh.
“This song is about all the gross cringey things that come along with being in love. It’s about the realisation of someone bringing out the best in you and making you feel confident in yourself at all times, something that I hadn’t really ever experienced prior to being with my girlfriend,” Strawbridge says.
New Video: Akira Galaxy Shares Glittery and Yearning “Silver Shoes”
Born Akira Galaxy Ament, the Seattle-born, Los Angeles-based 20-something singer/songwriter and musician Akira Galaxy grew up steeped in eclectic music by her music-loving family for as long as she could remember. Ament cut her teeth as a musician fronting several high school bands in her hometown — before stepping out into the spotlight as a solo artist.
The Seattle-born artist’s five-song Chris Coady and Sam Westhoff co-produced debut EP What’s Inside You was released earlier this year through Bright Antenna Records. The EP sees the rising artist effortlessly blending rock ‘n’ roll edge with synth textures that channel 80s dream pop while also drawing from the magic and beauty of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, where Ament often retreats to write. “I moved to LA as a teen to start my endeavor as a musician, but it wasn’t until I hit the pause button and went back to Seattle at 20 that I discovered my musical and lyrical voice,” the rising artist says. “I remember intending to go back for 2 weeks and ending up staying for 7 months. I like to think it was a perfect combination of things—the guitar, my childhood bedroom, and the state of the world. A fire was ignited beneath me, birthing the first song off of the EP, What’s Inside You.
The EP’s material delves into and touches upon themes of love, yearning and disappointment, resulting in a vulnerable yet self-assured debut effort. EP single and closing track “Silver Shoes” is a dreamy and atmospheric Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac-meets-Beach House-like track centered around glistening synth arpeggios, strummed reverb-soaked guitar and steady backbeat serving as lush bed for the Seattle-born artist’s yearning delivery. Throughout the song, its narrator yearns for and attempts to resuscitate a love that has long since died; so at its core, the song is tied into the sort of foolish, desperate and obsessively nostalgic hope of the lovelorn.
Directed by David Black, the accompanying video is a glittering dream that features the rising singer/songwriter and musician in a glittery jumpsuit and glittery faceprint and shot through kaleidoscopic filters and bright lights.
New Audio: Kalystia Shares 80s Inspired Synth-driven Bop
Kalystia is the solo synth pop recording project of a mysterious and emerging British singer/songwriter and musician, who started the project after watching the major motion picture Drive.
Inspired by the synth-driven soundtrack of the film, the British artist started to learn how to play synths, much like the sounds heard throughout the film. Two weeks later, they loaded up a vintage synth and attempted to mix that vibe with their love of the psychedelic elements of Tame Impala’s sound.
Kalystia’s latest single “Tonight, I’m Alive” is a swaggering 80s soundtrack-inspired bop built around glistening synth oscillations, anthemic, shout along with your drink raised in the air-worthy choruses, gated reverb soaked beats, wobbling bass lines and a woozy guitar solo paired with the British artist’s yearning delivery.
At its core is a youthful sense of abandon — and of enjoying life’s small pleasures before they pass.
New Audio: JOVM Mainstay MAGON Shares Pixies-Esque “Solem Sequi”
Over the past handful of years, I’ve spilled a copious amount of virtual ink covering the remarkably prolific, Israeli-born singer/songwriter, musician and JOVM mainstay MAGON. After the release of his fifth album, 2022’s A Night in Bethlehem, the Israeli-born artist, along with his partner relocated to Costa Rica, where he continued his ongoing prolific period with three more albums, 2022’s Enter By The Narrow Gate, last year’s Did You Hear the Kids? and Chasing Dreams.
Chasing Dreams saw the JOVM mainstay collaborating with local indie rock outfit Las Robertas, who acted as his backing band for the recording sessions. Sonically, the album continued a slow-burn expansion of his sound with the incorporation of string arrangements, which add a lush and dreamily cinematic quality to the material.
The JOVM mainstay’s recently released eighth album The Writing’s On The Wall is a bit of a return to form — but while continuing to push his sound in new directions: According to the JOVM mainstay, the material is a fusion of hallucinogenic re-imaginings of 70s soft rock, oddball outsider jams and laid-back indie fare.
Earlier this year, I wrote about the album’s first single “Breakthrough Blitz,” which sees MAGON pairing his laconic and easy-going delivery with a simple yet propulsive backbeat, glistening keys and a bluesy, Keith Richards-like guitar riff with a big hook. Thematically, the song touches upon the freedom and connection found in simple, everyday moments with the sort of contented sigh that can only comes from someone, who has lived a full and messy-life — and understands that he is truly very lucky.
The Writing’s On The Wall‘s second and latest single “Solem Sequi” is Pixies-esque track anchored around a looping, strummed guitar melody, MAGON’s laconic delivery singing dreamily introspective lyrics paired with his uncanny knack for crafting enormous hooks.
Anthony DiBella is an emerging, 23 year-old, Long Island-born, Boston-based singer/songwriter. Currently studying songwriting at renowned Berklee College of Music, DiBella’s love of music was sparked when he was in fifth grade and began playing trombone.
Since then, the emerging Long Island-born, Boston-based artist has busily explored every aspect of music and performance, including classic, muscle theater, country, alternative and more. DiBella’s latest single “Can’t Let You” is a hook-driven. slickly produced bop with glistening synth arpeggios, a relentlessly driving groove paired with soulful, yearning vocals that reminds me a bit of Rush Midnight, St. Lucia and other contemporary acts, whose sound channels 80s synth pop.
Underneath the breezy song’s remarkably catchy hooks, the song tackles a universal experience: The inability to let go of someone and move on with your life.
New Audio: Nick Kizirnis Shares Anthemic “Every Moment”
Nick Kizirnis is a Dayton, OH-based singer/songwriter and guitarist, who has spent the past two-plus decades writing genre-twisting and genre-defying material on over ten solo albums, while also collaborating playing in bands like The Mulchmen, Tobin Sprout’s Eyesinweasel, Cage and others with a collection of up-and-coming local musicians.
During the past decade or so, Kirzrnis has focused on guitar-driven compositions; but his last solo album, The Distance saw Kizirnis returning to writing lyrics and arrangements while simultaneously being a step forward stylistically, As Kizirnis explains, he had a desire to push himself beyond anything he had previously done. “I wanted it to be new and different from what people had heard from me,” he says,
Kirzirnis’ long-time friend, Austin-based drummer Mark Patterson had just temporarily relocated to Dayton to visit family and prepare touring and recording as a member of acclaimed indie outfit Son Volt. Patterson had offered to work on the material that Kizirnis had worked on, enhancing the material’s arrangements based on his experience playing in the Austin scene. During the creative process for the Patrick Himes-produced The Distance, Kizirnis began to feel that writing for his voice was limiting the material. He recruited Cincinnati-based singer/songwriter and cellist Kate Wakefield, one-half of the duo Lung, to contribute vocals.
Wakefield’s background as an opera singer, plus her years of recording and performing helped pushed the fledgling album and recording sessions into high gear. “Kate brought a completely new dimension to the songs,” Kizirnis says. “The moment she sang them, they were transformed into something so much more.”
Kizirnis’ forthcoming album Every Moment sees the Dayton-based artist collaborating with an All-Star cast including The Breeders‘ and Guided by Voices‘ Jim Macpherson, Foxy Shazam‘s and Lung‘s Daisy Caplan, Tod Weidner and Kate Wakefield and guest spots from Trashcan Sinatras‘ Paul Livingston and Guided by Voices’ Tobin Sprout. Sonically, the album’s material reportedly builds on a range of influences including Link Wray, The National, Guided by Voices, Neko Case and others paired with Kizirnis’ probing lyrics and textured, guitar atmospherics throughout.
Every Moment‘s latest single, album title track “Every Moment” is an anthemic track hat recalls Starfish-era The Church, Reckless-era Bryan Adams-like rock featuring some big fuzz and distorted pedaled guitar riffs, a driving rhythm section, big, incredibly catchy hooks and choruses paired with Kizirnis’ easy-going yet earnest croon.
Recorded remotely during the depths of COVID-19 pandemic-related lockdowns and restrictions and later finalized in-person with Macpherson, Caplan, Wakefield, Weidner and Kyleen Downes, “Every Moment” as Kizrnis explains is about staying present during impending existential crises and the brink of collapse, which — well, considering everything seems all too fitting, y’all.
Throwback: Happy Black History Month/Happy 84th Birthday, Smokey Robinson!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month and Smokey Robinson’s 84th birthday.
Throwback: Happy Black History Month/Happy 79th Birthday, Bob Marley!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and the 79th anniversary of the birth of Bob Marley.