Tag: women who kick ass

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Rising Aussie Artist Tullara Shares a Lush, Feminist Anthem

Tullara is a Ramornie, Australia-born, Grafton, Australia-based indie pop and folk/roots rocker, whose 2017 debut EP, Better Hold On went on to win a Best EP Award at the 2017 Australian Roots Music Awards. Since then, the rising Aussie artist, who proudly adheres to a DIY ethos, which includes being self-managed, has amassed over 1,700,000 streams on Spotify.

She has opened for acclaimed and beloved Aussie acts like Xavier Rudd, The Waifs, Ocean Alley, Bernard Fanning and Paul Dempsey, Cold Chisel‘s Ian Moss, INXS‘ Andrew Farriss, The Dreggs, Jeff Lang, Troy Cassar-Daley and a lengthy list of others. She has also opened for international acts like Donavon Frankenreiter, Wallis Bird, The East Pointers and a list of others during their respective Australian tours. And adding to a growing profile, the rising Aussie artist has made a run of the global festival circuit, playing sets at Woodford Folk Festival, Queenscliff Music Festival, Goolaholla Festival, Artswell Festival, Robson Valley Music Festival, Cur LeCheile Festival, Umefolk, Floating Castle Festival and a growing list of others.

Building upon a growing national and international profile, Tullara will be releasing her highly anticipated full-length debut, Rebound this year. Recorded and produced in Vancouver, Rebound reportedly showcases a bold, genre-defying evolution of her sound that embraces modern pop and rock, while blending her introspective lyricism with catchy melodies and cutting, world-class, modern production.

Released earlier this year, the forthcoming album’s first single “I Don’t Believe in Giving Up” features looping, reverb-soaked electric banjo paired with lush electronics serving as a supple bed for the Aussie artist’s expressive delivery singing lyrics about self-value and self-determination. Drawing from Celtic folk and contemporary pop, the new single sonically brings rootsier Dido to mind while being a feminist anthem.

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Throwback: Happy 71st Birthday, Reba McEntire!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Reba McEntire’s 71st birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 60th Birthday, Salt!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Cheryl “Salt’ James’ 60th birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 57th Birthday, Mariah Carey!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Mariah Carey’s 57th birthday.

women who kick ass by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 82nd Birthday, Diana Ross!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Diana Ross’ 82nd birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Miki Berenyi Trio Shares Breezy “Island of One”

Miki Berenyi Trio features an acclaimed and accomplished group of British artists:

  • Miki Berenyi (vocals/ guitar), a founding member, frontperson and rhythm guitarist of acclaimed and iconic shoegazer outfit Lush — and the founder and frontperson of acclaimed outfit Piroshka

  • Kevin “Moose” McKillop (guitar), a founding member of acclaimed shoegazers Moose, Berenyi’s spouse and Piroshka bandmate 

  • Oliver Cherer (bass)

The band is named after its lead singer — a direct way to convey the presence of former Lush frontperson Miki Berenyi, one of the most beloved figures and recognizable faces of 1990s alternative rock and shoeegaze.

The trio’s full-length debut, last year’s Tripla derives its name from the Hungarian word for “triple,” acknowledging the band’s songwriting is entirely a three-way collaboration. The album sonically was a rich, lushly layered, imaginative and uniquely slanted take on dream pop that features at points euphoric and other points melancholy guitars and electronics paired with Berenyi’s imitative vocal. The album’s material is anchored around a worldview that vacillates between profound, yearning and abrasive — seemingly informed by their lived-in experiences and hard-won wisdom,

Although the album’s material features a sophisticated sound, Berenyi, McKillop and Cherer have done so with a focus on the basics, not only recording at home, but driving around in a car packed with their gear, loading in and out of venues themselves, much like they did when they first started out. “There is something very ‘grass roots’ about what we’re doing,” Miki Berenyi Trio’s Miki Berenyi says.  “There’s no point following the ‘announce the album, then tour, then record the next album’ route – we just want to wring as much enjoyment out of this as we can, and hope that it resonates somewhere!”

Since the release of Tripla, the trio have released a limited edition 7 inch single of “Doldrum Days“/”Touché,” which sold out during their October 2025 Stateside tour. Yesterday, the band shared the standalone single “Island of One.” Released through Bella Union, “Island of One” is anchored around a flamenco-meets yé-yé-inspired rhythm and a remarkably catchy hook, making it arguably one of the breeziest songs of their lengthy individual catalogs — and of their growing, collective catalog.

“’Island of One’ took shape because I became quite obsessed with the track ‘Just A Western’ by Nilüfer Yanya last year, and the Latin-y beat got me inspired”, Miki Berenyi says. “But I wanted a lively, catchy song to add to our live set, so it ended up less laidback and more 60s-breezy with some driving, scratchy guitars – once all three MB3 members pile in on the embellishments, a song ends up a fair distance from where it started! As ever, recording and production took place in our various home-studio set-ups, and the song was mixed by our brilliant Bella Union labelmate, Paul Gregory.” 

Berenyi adds, “Lyrically, I’m at the age where a lot of my friends have elderly parents who are increasingly reliant on their help. It’s a new phase in a life relationship and can throw up a lot of emotions. But the words apply as much to all manner of family break-ups and the fraying of long-standing friendships. When you’re young, it’s much easier to justify walking away, but I’m acutely aware, as I get older, of how important even a thread of connection with people who have shared our lives can be, however difficult those relationships can be to maintain!”

The accompanying live performance-based video for “Island of One” was shot in Northwest London by longtime visual collaborator Sébastian Faits-Divers.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Kathryn Mohr Shares Brooding PJ Harvey-like “Doorway”

Oakland-based artist Kathryn Mohr creates music that exists in a liminal space of auditory dissociation. Drawing inspiration from lost items washing up on the shores of San Francisco Bay, Mohr’s work thematically touches upon the ephemeral nature of humanity, the warping of memory and how one’s trauma changes one’s experience of the world.

Mohr’s sophomore album Carve is slated for an April 17, 2026 release through The Flenser. The album was written over the course of five years and recorded over several weeks in a single wide in the Mojave Desert. The Oakland-based artist explains that her sophomore album explores how memory exists outside the body, embedded in places and landscapes.

The album’s material is shaped by her first return to the Southwest since a childhood road trip when she was five — and by the experience of moving through terrain that holds deep emotional weight, long after its origins faded. Thematically Carve considers how intimacy feels after years of isolation and what it takes to carve out a life that allows for trust, presence and feeling than mere survival.

Some of the album’s songs were written much earlier, during a prolonged period marked by emotional distance and apathy. During a four year period, Mohr was working through unprocessed childhood memories and trauma, and their long-term impact on her ability to connect with others. While the work was slow and difficult, it involved a fundamental reshaping of how she related to herself and to the outside world.

Mohr explains that the album took form after a difficult tour that ended in Joshua Tree. She pointed her car into the desert and drove alone, crisscrossing the Mojave Desert on dirt roads. Months later, she returned to record the album, working along with an acoustic guitar, a field recorder and limited supplies.

Following that period, she began to allow for intimacy and connection. The time she spent working on Carve didn’t create isolation, as much as mirror it. Working alone, out of an old, western-themed jail AirBnB, the physical enclosure reflected the emotional conditions under which much of the album had been written — distance, restraint and long stretches of stillness. For the Oakland-based artist, love wasn’t experienced as an escape or as a respite, but something inseparable from impermanence and the awareness of loss. The tension felt between connection and inevitability sits at the core of the album’s material.

Carve‘s third and latest single “Doorway” is a remarkably PJ Harvey-like tune that sees Mohr’s accompanying her crooned, stream-of-consciousness-like lyrics with buzzing and chiming guitar. The result is a song that captures the inner world and thoughts of its narrator with a woozy, uneasy and desperate precision that feels deeply lived-in.

“Doorway” was written in a Mojave Desert single wide, and as Mohr says, the song “…wrote itself really. The riffs came to me one after another and the lyrics were originally a stream of consciousness and me randomly reading from my notebook.”

singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 73rd Birthday, Chaka Khan!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Chaka Khan’s 73rd birthday.

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Throwback: Happy 111th Birthday, Sister Rosetta Tharpe!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 111th anniversary of the birth of Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: MADELEINE Shares Atmospheric “Give Back To Her”

MADELEINE is an emerging and rising talent in the UK nu-jazz and soul scene. Citing Flying Lotus, James Blake, Salami Rose Joe Louis, Ego Ella May and Sampha as influences on her sound and work, her early output has seen praise from The Line of Best Fit and Jazz re:freshed as well as airplay from BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing, and Jazz FM. She also played last year’s SXSW.

Building upon a growing profile in the UK, the rising British artist will be releasing the Earth Cry EP through Bridge The Gap on June 16, 2026. The self-produced, self-arranged and self-written effort features some additional production and mixing from Lewis Moody and Will Heaton. The EP reportedly sees MADELEINE taking on a much more futuristic turn, with the material featuring glistening synth textures complimenting her ethereal yet soulful delivery. The restful is an effort that explores future soul while balancing organic textures with an intergalactic interpretation of the sound of London’s cityscape.

Earth Cry EP thematically picks up from where 2023’s full-length Sun Daughter left off, acting as a cry for consciousness and care in relation to both the planet and to our fellow human beings. “I find the parallel between my own personal life, and the relevance of the world around me (nature, politics, the natural world, the dream world), extremely important,” MADELEINE explains. “Sometimes the two are so interlinked within my lyrics – they can almost blur into one. With this project I feel more confident in my directness with some of my themes. After the absolute horrors of the last couple years, it feels important to be talking about something that really matters.”

The forthcoming EP’s latest single “Give Back to Her” is a shimmering and atmospheric take on neo-soul that showcases MADELEINE’s effortlessly soulful delivery and knack for tight, catchy hooks. The result is a song that feels simultaneously improvised, sculptured and crafted. Fittingly, “Give Back to Her” was workshopped and crafted through a mix of her home studio and developing ideas on the road while touring as a keyboardist for Olivia Dean, Jorja Smith and Rachel Chinouriri.

Thematically, the song, as the rising British artist explains is about restoring balance, that people should return what is given, all while asking if we can learn to nurture the planet. “Mental health, for me, is strongly entwined with nature, and this idea of things being taken from us found itself manifesting in the verses from a more personal perspective,” MADELEINE says.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: London’s deary Shares Lush, Shimmering “Alma”

Rising London-based shoegazers deary — Rebecca “Dottie” Cockram (guitar, vocals), Ben Easton (guitar) and Harry Catchpole (drums) — formed back in 2020 over their shared love of Cocteau Twins, Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine.

The band’s debut single, 2023’s “Fairground” landed at #1 on the UK Vinyl Singles Chart and led to opening slots with Slowdive and Cranes, as well as collaborations with Saint Etienne, The Murder Capital and Lush‘s Emma Anderson. Building upon a growing profile in the UK, the London-based trio’s highly-anticipated, self-produced full-length debut, Birding is slated for an April 3, 2026 release through Bella Union.

Birding reportedly sees the band proudly wearing their long-held influences on their collective sleeve, pairing dreamy shoegaze beauty with trip-hop influenced beats, incorporating their unique, modern touch to make something completely their own.

Thematically, the album aims to draw attention to the direct impact that we humans have on the world around us, whether that’s nature or just ourselves. The album also touches upon the importance of protecting the inner child or someone more vulnerable, holding hands and learning from past mistakes. “I was writing the record in one of the worst periods of my life,” deary’s Ben Easton explains. “I was not in a good space at all. Our last EP, Aurelia, was about transition, and how it’s cool to change. And Birding is, ‘Oh no, I‘ve made some really disruptive life decisions.’ The album came from an isolated, almost hopeless space, and you can hear that in parts of the record. But there are also moments that are very self-loving and meditative, and a bit more uplifting.”

Birding will include the previously released, critically applauded tracks “Seabird” and “Alfie,” as well as the album’s latest single, “Alma.” Deriving its title for the Spanish word for “soul” and the Latin word associated with kindness and nourishment, Birding‘s third single is a blend of The Sundays-era dream pop with Slowdive and Cocteau Twins-inspired shoegaze: swirling and shimmering guitars serve as a lush bed for Cockram’s ethereal cooing and some remarkably catchy, well-placed hooks.

“I see ‘Alma’ as an embodiment of our band,” deary’s Dottie Cockram explains. “It has been with us for a long time and changed with us along the way. In the past 4 years, we have grown into ourselves and have a much clearer idea of what deary is. In this song, I am talking to my younger self who made the decision to look after us and become a better person.”

Directed by Limb, the accompanying video features twin siblings Robin and Charly Faye. Appearing as though it was a meeting of past and future selves, the siblings — one initially blindfolded until it’s removed — meet each other with deeply knowing love and kindness.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 63rd Birthday, Vanessa Williams!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Vanessa Williams’ 63rd birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 56th Birthday, Queen Latifah!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Queen Latifah’s 56th birthday.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Saltmother Shares Dreamy, Hopeful “Masske”

Amanda Appel is a Danish singer/songwriter, best known for being a member of the Danish Music Award-nominated vocal outfit ilinx. Since their formation back in 2020, iinx has been at the forefront of the Danish experimental scene, playing sets at Roskilde Festival, midsummer bonfire ceremonies, fashion shows during Copenhagen Fashion Week and niche classical music festivals across the country.

Appel is also the creative mastermind behind the solo recording project Saltmother. Appel’s Saltmother debut, 2022’s Heavy in Baby Blue EP was an adventurous batch of electronic music with songs that thematically touched on being young and in love, living in rental apartments and taking hormonal contraception.

The Danish artist’s forthcoming Saltmother debut album reportedly marks a shift towards a much darker, more organic sound, anchored around intimacy and filled with captivating and deeply human imperfections.

The album’s first single “Maaske” is a weird yet gorgeous song that features a seamless blend of doom metal, stoner rock, folk and choral music, complete with some stunning harmonies. The song is anchored around a universal sentiment: that the darkness of our moment — or of any moment, really — isn’t forever; that we can overcome darkness by the comfort of being and singing together; and that brighter days are just ahead.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Indy Fontaine Teams Up With Charlie Cruz on Swooning “Tú Tienes Algo”

Indy Fontaine is a Cuban-born, Miami-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, who can trace the origins of her career to her early childhood: Singing alongside her uncle and his old guitar, she fell in love with music when she was three. By the time she turned six, she was enrolled full-time at a music school in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, where she trained to be professional vocalist and musician. 

Fontaine went on to graduate at the top of her class from Havana‘s prestigious National School of Art. When she graduated, she already had over a decade of experience playing gigs all across her native Cuba, including music festivals, live radio and TV sessions, and more.

Fontaine then joined Sol y Sun, an act that has played sets across the international music festival circuit between the States and Cuba, as well as some of the most popular venues in Havana. The band was also frequently performed on national TV and radio shows.

The Cuban-born artist relocated to Miami, where she stepped out into the spotlight as solo artist. Her debut, 2024’s Moments of My Life ranged across a number of genres and styles, including Adult Contemporary, Easy Listening, Soft Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock and R&B — with songs written and sung in both English and Spanish.

The album featured “El Amor No Alcanza,” Fontaine’s subtly modern take on bolero, a Cuban genre that frequently focuses on affairs of the heart. Since then, Fontaine spent last year releasing a collection of highly successful singles including “Esta Navidad,” “Vacaciones,” “Mariposas En La Lluvia,” “Mejor Sin Ti,” “Que Te Vaya Bien,” and “Después De La Caída.”

Her latest single, the Andrés Castro and Guianko Gómez co-written and co-produced “Tú Tienes Algo,” sees her collaborating with salsa star Charlie Cruz. The new single is a swooning and euphoric declaration of passionate and complete surrender to love — even if it strikes you as being wildly inexplicable.

The song invites lovers to surrender with the same intensity they bring to the dance floor, to declare their love not just with words, but also with movement.

“‘Tú Tienes Algo’ is about that irresistible, mysterious attraction—and I say mysterious because you can’t explain what that other person has, but you know that when you’re with them, they shake your world,” Fontaine explains. “In the song, this person is asking the other to let themselves be loved because there’s resistance to fully surrendering, perhaps out of fear—that’s why they’re asking to surrender completely to love,” she says.

“This collaboration with Charlie is a dream come true,” said Fontaine. “It was a tremendous honor to share the studio and create music with an artist I deeply admire. To me, Charlie is a salsa icon who has kept the tradition alive in such an authentic way,” she adds.