JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 84th anniversary of Tammy Wynette’s birth.
Tag: singer/songwriter
Throwback: Happy 67th Birthday, Ian McCulloch!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Echo and the Bunnymen frontman and co-founder Ian McCulloch’s 67th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 85th Birthday, Nick Ashford!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 85th anniversary of the birth of Nick Ashford.
Throwback: Happy 70th Birthday, Sharon Jones!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 70th anniversary of the birth of Sharon Jones.
Throwback: Happy 48th Birthday, Paul Banks!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Interpol frontman Paul Banks’ 48th birthday.
New Video: Marcos Jobim Shares Meditative “Silêncio”
Brazilian singer/songwriter and musician Marcos Jobim released his sophomore album, Singelinha last year. Sonically, the album sees the Brazilian artist branching out into multiple sonic directions, traversing across Brazilian popular music, folk and world music, while also featuring elements of rock and concert music. But the material is guided by the delicacy of the arrangements and the power of its poetic lyricism.
Fittingly, the album’s songs shift between intimate and expansive atmospheres. Instrumental album title track “Singelinha,” which was originally written back in 2023, was the album’s starting point — and was inspired by his desire to achieve a poetic and sonic synthesis. “I was seeking something with a synthetic character—something that could convey deeper insights through a simple, objective form,” Jobim explains.
Following the recording of “Singelinha,” the idea emerged that the Brazilian could expand upon the project. “The process was so inspiring that we realized we could create something on a larger scale,” he says. The end result was the 13-song album that featured ten songs and three compositions.
Much of the album features two versions of most of the album’s songs: one version featuring solo acoustic guitar arrangements, as originally written and another version arranged for a chamber ensemble with violin, clarinet, trombone, cello, tuba and double bass. Those arrangements were revised and edited by Pablo Schinke, who also handled production and engineering duties. “Pablo was fundamental to shaping the album’s sonic identity, in addition to performing as the cellist,” the Brazilian artist says. “He possesses a keen eye for aesthetics and brought a sense of balance and innovation to the tracks.”
Schinke went on to meticulous work to preserve the unique character of each track during the mixing process, “He always made a point
of preserving the essence of the compositions, even during moments of
greater experimentation,” Jobim adds.
Jobim will be embarking on his first international tour this year, but in the meantime, he further establishes Singelinha‘s aesthetic. The album’s latest single “Silênecio” is a meditative, introspective song anchored by a gorgeous arrangement featuring acoustic guitar, brooding strings and clarinet and gently padded drums paired with Jobim’s dreamily laid-back delivery.
Filmed by Zé Carlos de Andrade the video was shot in the Bacupari District in Mostaradas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The video follows Jobim in the desert. conveying solitude while serving as an invitation to the listener to slow down and listen to the void that surrounds us.
New Audio: Hannah Scott Shares Thoughtful and Politically charged “Sitting In The Dark”
Suffolk-born, London-based folk artist Hannah Scott will be releasing her newest EP Threads on June 19, 2026. Threads is the follow-up to Scott’s widely praised third album, 2024’s Absence of Doubt.
The EP marks the first effort the Suffolk-born, London-based has both written and self-produced. She worked alongside acclaimed engineer Adrian Hall and recorded piano, acoustic guitar and vocals at home — with a makeshift vocal booth in her wife’s wardrobe. The EP’s material is inspired by family, nostalgia and grief — and perhaps in a small, unexpected way, a desire to change the rental market for the better. (Shit, you got me there, lady!)
The EP’s second and latest single “Sitting In The Dark” showcases Scott’s thoughtful storytelling rooted in a subtle yet powerful critique of capitalism and the local rental market, calling out the greedy developers, landlords and others, who have helped to put her narrator in a lousy apartment that she can barely afford with shitty furniture and power outages.
I have a shitty and greedy landlord, so this song hit close to home. You’ve most likely have been there, too.
New Audio: SHOLTO Teams Up with Phoebe Coco on Brooding and Atmospheric “Everything is Stolen Anyway”
Initially known as being one-half of indie outfit Sunglasses for Jaws, the rising London-based producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Oscar “Sholto” Robertson grew up with with a deep and abiding love of jazz, soul, krautrock and soundtracks from the 60s and 70s. As a producer, Robertson honed his production skills under the guidance and tutelage of Allah-Las‘ Nick Waterhouse and Inflo.
A handful of years ago, Roberston stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist with his recording project, SHOLTO. And with SHOLTO, the rising London-based multi-instrumentalist has firmly cemented a cinematic take on instrumental, psychedelic soul.
Now, as you may recall Roberton’s sophomore SHOLTO album, last year’s 12-song The Sirens was recorded at the JOVM mainstay’s Hackney-based SJF Studio, and the album saw him continuing an ongoing collaboration with a familiar cast of musicians, including Syd Kemp (bass), Clementine Brown (strings) and Rachel Horton Kitchlew (harp) to craft an album that’s emotionally unflinching and explores themes of duality temptation and emotional dissociation, “blurring grief with groove, seduction and surrender,” as Robertson says.
Sonically, The Sirens saw Robertson building upon the groove-driven, string-soaked soundscapes and ethereal textures that have won him attention in the UK and beyond but while evoking a haunting, uneasy fever dream.
Robertson’s latest single, “Everything is Stolen Anyway” sees the JOVM mainstay diving deeper into his long-held trip-hop influences with a brooding, jazz groove-driven arrangement that seemingly channels Portishead, Tales of Us-era Goldfrapp and No Angel-era Dido among others.. The song also features frequent collaborator Phoebe Coco‘s mesmerizing, whiskey and longing soaked vocal.
“Everything Is Stolen Anyway” is rooted in two central concepts: the comfort in repetition and that nothing we feel or think is entirely new. “Moments of love, loss, wonder and the quiet awe of the sea’s tide arrive to us as if they’re ours alone, yet they’ve all been lived before. Borrowed feelings, borrowed time,” the two collaborators say.
“’Everything is Stolen Anyway’ leans into the thought that art works the same way; every melody, every painting, every idea carries echoes of something earlier,” Robertson and Coco continue. “Songs are fragments passed forward, reshaped, reframed, and retold through new hands and new voices. In that sense, nothing is truly original. But the first time you hear or feel something, it becomes new again.”
Throwback: Happy 93rd Birthday, Willie Nelson!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Willie Nelson’s 93rd birthday.
New Audio: Jonathan Personne Shares Groovy “Rêve américain”
Initially known for his roles as co-founder, co-lead vocalist, guitarist, lyricist and songwriter in internationally acclaimed JOVM mainstay act Corridor, Montréal-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, animator and visual artist Jonathan Robert is by both necessity and nature, a prolific and versatile artist.
Back in 2015, he began archiving his overflowing ideas, when his girlfriend gave him a Tascam four-track recorder. This opened a world of possibilities for the French Canadian artist, fueled by his enthusiasm for a wide range of musical genres aligned by his lo-fi sensibilities. He began compiling demos with similar sounds and inspirations, and before publicly releasing a song, a discography was taking shape.
This creative process eventually evolved into Robert’s solo project, Jonathan Personne, which derives its name from the French version of John Doe — or perhaps a bit more accurately, Jonathan Nobody. The project’s name reflects his determination to simultaneously not represent a specific person and to better reflect his multifaceted artistic identity. Over the past seven years, he released four albums that saw him drawing from a wide range of influences including desert dream pop, Morriocone-esque Spaghetti Western rock, The Clean-like jangle pop, Latin-influeinced grooves, Galaxie 500 and Yo La Tengo-like indie rock, as well as sampling, sequencing and beatmaking. And he’s done this while working on albums with his primary gig, Corridor.
Typically, Robert finds himself working three albums simultaneously. Although he gives each project the time it needs to be distinctive, there’s always one that’s on the verge of completion. The French Canadian artist’s Jonathan Personne debut, 2019’s Histoire Naturelle drew from desert dream pop, Morricone-esque Spaghetti Western rock and jangle pop, showcasing some of the project’s earliest written and recorded material. Thematically, the album’s material focused on the potential end of the world, which with the album’s timing, may have been alarmingly prescient.
His sophomore Jonathan Personne album, 2020’s Guillaume Chiasson-produced Disparitions was primarily written while the Montreal-based artist was touring with Corridor and his full-length debut was being mixed.
He began 2022 by signing with Bonsound, who released his Emmanuel Éthier-produced self-titled third album. Written alone on an acoustic guitar in a cottage, the album took an unexpected turn, when the Montreal-based artist went to Quebec City-based Le Pantoum with his friends and frequent collaborators Samuel Gougoux (drums), Julian Perreault (guitar), Mathieu Cloutier (bass) and the aforementioned Éthier (violin, synths, mellotron, vocals and production), who helped flesh out the album’s material with arrangements featuring electric guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, Rhodes, timpani, mellotron, synths, violin and samples from obscure TV shows and movies. But unlike his previously released Jonathan Personne work, the self-titled album had a much more polished production.
His fourth album last year’s Nouveau mode was a melodic, sometimes noisy effort that brought together previously unreleased songs from different periods of the project.
Robert’s fifth Jonathan Personne album, Répertoire is slated for an August 28, 2026 release through Bonsound. The album’s material can trace its origins back six years ago: When he began working on what would eventually become Repertoire, the Montréal-based artist sensed a significant change in direction and chose to focus on another set of songs instead. This lead to his acclaimed, self-titled third album. Répertoire reportedly sees Robert bringing some light to his firmly established melancholic sound, with the album’s material drawing from yacht rock and dream pop to create something entirely unexpected. Anchored around melodic bass lines, looping figured and self-sampled guitars, the result is a sound that’s groovy yet contemplative, dreamlike yet noisy.
Thematically, the 10-song album sees the French Canadian JOVM mainstay reflecting on his relationship with music, vacillating between moments of repulsion and ones that remind him why he chose — and loves — his career.
Répertoire‘s first single, album opening track “Rêve américain” may be the funkiest song of Robert’s growing solo catalog to date. Seemingly a mind-bending blend of yacht rock, Les Imprimés and Monophonics-like blue-eyed soul and indie pop, “Rêve américain” explores the feeling of disillusionment over an idealized notion of success, specifically referencing his last tour across a dysfunctional, fucked up Trump-era United States with a droll sense of irony, exasperation and fear.
Throwback: Happy 78th Birthday, Kate Pierson!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates The B-52’s co-founder Kate Pierson’s 78th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 56th Birthday, T-Boz!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates TLC’s Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins’ 56th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 109th Birthday, Ella Fitzgerald!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 109th anniversary of the birth of Ella Fitzgerald.
New Video: Afterlife Shares Atmospheric and Yearning “Lovers Maze”
Currently split between Paris and Copenhagen, Danish-born Olivia Danielsson is a multidisciplinary artist with a background that spans both music and fashion. Danielsson is also the creative mastermind behind the emerging indie pop solo recording project Afterlife.
With Afterlife, the Danish-born artist’s work reflects a cross-disciplinary approach in which visual and sonic elements are created in parallel. And as a result, her releases exist within a cohesive expanding universe that sees her exploring emotional and existential states unfolding through an intimate inner dialogue. Sonically, her work moves between ambient pop and experimental pop, rooted in an atmospheric, otherworldly quality.
Danielsson’s latest Afterlife single, The Bird-produced “Lovers Maze” is a hook-driven bit of electro pop featuring glistening synth arpeggios effortlessly gliding over a pulsing, Giorgio Moroder-like baseline paired with the Danish artist’s ethereal and yearning croon. The result is a song that evokes the sort of woozy, euphoric haze shared in the intimate moments between lovers with an uncanny, seemingly lived-in precision.
Shot on grainy VHS-styled analog film, the accompanying video follows the Danish artist in a long red dress wandering through a Danish forest. It’s one part music video, one-part fashion shoot.