JOVM belatedly celebrates Chaka Khan’s 69th birthday.
Tag: soul
New Video: British Soul Outfit Mama’s Gun Shares an Adorable Visual for “Good Love”
Deriving their name from Erykah Badu‘s acclaimed and beloved album Mama’s Gun, the London-based soul outfit Mama’s Gun — currently, Andy Platts, Cameron Dawson, David Oliver, Terry Lewis and Chris Boot — formed back in 2008. And since their formation, they’ve released four full-length albums: 2009’s Routes to Riches, which broke big in Japan and eventually lead to the British band being the most played international artist on Japanese radio that year; 2011’s Life and Soul; 2014’s Cheap Hotel; and 2018’s Golden Days.
Adding to a growing profile, the London-based soul outfit have opened for Level 42, Beverley Knight, Ben l’Oncle Soul and Raphael Saadiq while developing a fanbase across Southeast Asia — in particular South Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore.
The rising British soul outfit began 2022 with the “Party For One”/”Looking For Moses” double A-side single. Released through the band’s Candelion Records with Secretly Group and Colemine Records, the double A-side single served as a teaser for the band’s fifth album Cure The Jones. (More on the singles a bit further below.)
Written and produced during the pandemic by the band’s Andy Platts’ with additional soundscaping from the band’s Chriss Bott, Cure The Jones was recorded direct-to-tape with an array of analog gear at Platts’ home studio in a breakneck three day session. The album, which is slated for an April 1. 2022 release, is reportedly informed and inspired by the spirit of conscious late ’60s and ’70s soul (think Bill Withers and Marvin Gaye) and the turbulence of the past couple of years. While being a lush, nuanced meditation on a world turned upside down, the album thematically explores and touches upon love, loss, and life through the most pressing sociopolitical issues of our day.
“Party For One” is a slow-burning and strutting bit of 70s psych soul and neo-soul centered around the sort of low-slung and wobbling bass line that would make Bootsy Collins proud, a lush horn line, fluttering psychedelic effects and Andy Platts’ dreamy falsetto. “Party For One” points out a bitter irony that even loners and homebodies felt during pandemic-related lockdowns — sometimes, you just want to see and talk to another human adult.
“Lyrically ‘Party For One’ comes from me being a bit of a loner – I like my own company and space to create, think and reflect,” the band’s Andy Platts explains. “I was in my ideal world during the early stages of the pandemic, on my own and with no one around, but I was mourning the company of strangers. There is something in anonymous togetherness that is the stuff of life.”
“Looking For Moses” continued a run of crafted and expansive, 70s inspired soul centered around Andy Platts’ easygoing Bill Withers-like delivery paired with a warm and lush arrangement of wah wah pedaled guitar, glistening and arpeggiated Rhodes, shimmering strings and soulful harmonizing. Much like its companion, “Looking For Moses” comes from a deeply personal, lived-in space –while actually paying homage to the legendary Withers.
“‘Looking For Moses’ was the track that kicked off the writing for our new album [to be announced shortly],” Platts says. “Everything was panic stations at the time, it was my daughter that inspired the first set up with the lyrics ‘her mama says she can’t go out, baby girl maybe one day you’ll understand, when all of this is in the past.’ I wanted to imbue it with a bit of hope too – it’s about leaning on your beliefs but more so it’s about standing united and staying the course, and the reality of simply getting by and getting through life.”
“Good Love,” Cure the Jones‘ third and latest single is classic Motown era-inspired love song (think What’s Going On era Marvin Gaye, in particular), centered around a shuffling, two-step inducing rhythm, a sinuous bass line, squiggling funk guitar and twinkling keys paired with Platts’ soaring and expressive falsetto. But at its core, the song is a contented and thankful sigh for the constant and dependable love you can count on –for better and for worse.
“This is a love song, no doubt about it,” Mama’s Gun’s Andy Platts explains. “But it was really prompted by life in the pandemic which forces you to reflect on what you have. The thought of getting through this pandemic alone like so many others out there — on top of everything else like work struggles and raising children — was overwhelming. So it is about counting your blessings, the constant and dependable love of your significant other.”
Directed and edited by Polyrock Films prominently stars a lizard named Ted and a doll named Barb as the couple’s odd yet devoted couple. Throughout the video, our protagonists are thrown into scenes that classic movies, including King Kong. At the end of the video, Ted remarks that he thought love — the love they have — only happened in the movies. It’s adorable.
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.”
Throwback: Black History Month: Sly and the Family Stone
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and pays tribute to Sly and The Family Stone.
Throwback: Black History Month: Bill Withers
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and pays tribute to Bill Withers.
Throwback: Black History Month: Stevie Wonder
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and pays tribute to Stevie Wonder.
Throwback: Black History Month: Marvin Gaye
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and pays tribute to Marvin Gaye.
Throwback: Black History Month: Nina Simone
JOVM’s WIlliam Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and pays tribute to Nina Simone.
Throwback: Black History Month: Earth, Wind & Fire
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and pays tribute to Earth, Wind & Fire.
Throwback: Black History Month: Mary J. Blige
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and pays tribute to the Queen of Hip Hop Soul, Mary J. Blige.
New Video: Kendra Morris Shares a Symbolic and Feverish Visual for “Nine Lives”
Kendra Morris is a Florida-born, New York-based singer/songwriter 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. 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 the same time, Morris was one of my bartenders at The Library Bar on Avenue A in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. For a long time, they had one of the best jukeboxes in the city. And one of the best bar mascots ever — Megasus. Megasus forever and ever in my heart. So, as you can imagine, it’s a bit of a trip to be writing about someone, who used to serve me copious amounts of Guinness every weekend for the better part of about 18 months or so.)
Morris’ 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 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 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.
Last month, I wrote about “Penny Pincher,” a slow-burning ballad about reaching the end of the road in a relationship, filled regret, heartache, acceptance and steely determination to boldly go forward with your life. Album title track “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.
Directed by Sarai Mari, the recently released video is a colorful fever dream that follows several different colored versions of Morris going about her day getting killed throughout various parts of the city. “‘Nine Lives; the song envelopes the concept of the album itself in that i believe we live multiple lifetimes in one . . .,”Morris explains in press notes. “When thinking about a visual for the song, I kept seeing these lives and versions of ourselves as represented in colors . . . how we can peel off each one and try on another.. sometimes we have to die a little to find ourselves again.”
Throwback: Black History Month/R.I.P. Syl Johnson
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms pays tribute to the great Syl Johnson, who died last night at 85.
Throwback: Black History Month: James Brown
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and pays tribute to the legendary James Brown.
Two-time Juno Award-nominated and Polaris Prize listed, Toronto-born and-based Trinidadian-Canadian singer/songwriter Tanika Charles spent a formative part of her life in Edmonton, when energy sector opportunities brought the family there. But whether in Toronto or Edmonton, music was a constant presence in the Charles household: Her father would return from two weeks on site with the latest jazz records for Tanika and her brothers to jam out to.
Several years later, Tanika’s eldest brother would be the first to coach her on how to sing and how to record a song. As a young adult., Charles relocated to Vancouver, where she picked up gigs as a backing vocalist and got a taste of tour life. When she returned to her birthplace, the Trinidadian-Canadian artist’s long-held dreams of becoming a professional artist began to come to fruition: She assembled her first backing band, and with that band recorded her debut EP What? What! What?! And with the release of her debut EP, she became a local scene fixture.
In 2016, Charles independently released her full-length debut Soul Run within her native Canada. The album became a national sensation, with the album receiving a Polaris Music Prize nomination and a Juno Award nomination for Best R&B/Soul Recording of the Year. The following year, Italian purveyors of funk and soul Record Kicks released Soul Run internationally to critical applause from the likes of Exclaim!, Music Republic Magazine and others. Album singles like “Endless Chain,” “Love Fool,” and album title track “Soul Run” received regular radio rotation on stations across Canada, the US, the UK and France.
Charles’ sophomore album, 2019’s The Gumption was released through Record Kicks. The 12-song album picked up where Soul Run left off, further establishing the Canadian artist’s sound and approach in which classic soul is mixed with modern production. Thematically, the album saw Charles tackling moments of vindication, uncertain love, forbidden fruit and the state of the world. “It’s a little more mature,” Tanika said at the time. ““It’s not feeling guilty about being up front, not being afraid to address situations that aren’t comfortable for me. I’m comfortable in my skin now in a way I never was before.” The Gumption was long-listed for the 2019 Polaris Music Prize and nominated for the 2020 Juno Awards R&B/Soul Recording of the Year.
Along with her latest backing band, The Wonderfuls, Charles has toured across Canada and eight other counties to support Soul Run and The Gumption. Those tours have prominently featured stops across the global, national and local festival circuits, including Rennes Trans Musicales, NXNE, Lärz Fusion, Pop Montreal, Canarias Jazz Festival, CBC Music Festival, TD Toronto Jazz Fest, Birmingham’s Mostly Funk, Soul and Jazz Festival, the Pan Am Games and a list of others. Her music has appeared on HBO’s Less Than Kind, ABC’s Rookie Blue, The CW’s Seed, CTV’s Saving Hope, CBC’s Kim Convenience and Workin’ Moms and a nationally broadcast KFC ad campaign. She also has appeared as a reoccurring guest on CBC Kids and as a lounge singer on Global TV’s Bomb Girls. Between a busy schedule as a touring musician, Charles appeared in the touring production of Freedom Singer in 2017. She returned to that role in February 2019’s Now We Recognize.
Charles’ third album Papillon de Nuit: The Night Butterfly is slated for an April 8, 2022 release through Record Kicks. The album, which features guest spots from Toronto-based emcee DijahSB and multi-disciplinary artist Khari McClelland was written and recorded during and after pandemic related lockdowns and restrictions. Much like its immediate predecessor, the forthcoming album is reportedly anchored in growth and maturity.
The album’s title is derived from an unlikely source, a creature that soars after the sun has set, but often goes unnoticed until light is shone on it. Referred to as “papillon de nuit” by some, the animal is more commonly known as a moth, possibly revealing a linguistic bias. “I always thought it was a strange insect,” the acclaimed Canadian artist says in press notes. “Once while in Paris, a friend swatted at one and I asked: ‘Was that a moth?’. I was told: ‘No, that’s a papillon de nuit.’ I thought that was the most beautiful description for this otherwise overlooked creature. When I later learned of the symbolism associated with it, I felt that really spoke to both my own situation and also what we’ve all been going through.”
Papillon de Nuit: The Night Butterfly‘s first single is the funky and strutting old-school inspired soul bop “Rent Free.” The song is a fiery tell off to energy sucking vampires, deadbeats, naysayers, time wasters and other shitty people centered around Charles’ effortless, Motown era-like delivery. We’ve all had those sorts in our lives, and this song is the sort of song that tells you that it’s okay to push those toxic people out of your life.
Throwback: Black History Month: The Isley Brothers
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and pays tribute to the legendary Isley Brothers.