JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 93rd anniversary of the birth of Nina Simone — and Black History Month.
Tag: wonen who kick ass
Live Footage: Charlotte Day Wilson Performs Intimate and Soulful “My Way”
Toronto-based JOVM mainstay Charlotte Day Wilson exploded into the national and international scenes with her critically applauded debut 2016’s CDW EP and her critically applauded full-length full-length debut, 2021’s ALPHA, an effort that served as a metaphorical coming out — with the album’s material openly and honestly tapping into her queerness as a storyteller/songwriter.
Over the past decade, her work has been sampled by the likes of Drake, John Mayer and James Blake. Further cementing her reputation as an artist’s artist, she has collaborated with Kaytranada, BADBADNOTGOOD, Snoh Aalegra and SG Lewis, which has helped her become a musical chameleon. She also has received praise for the supergroup remix of “Take Care Of You” featuring Syd, King Princess, Amaarae and the legendary and incomparable Meshell Ndegeocello.
Earlier this year, the acclaimed Canadian artist released her highly-anticipated Leon Thomas and Jack Rochon co-produced sophomore album Cyan Blue to praise from Clash Magazine, Billboard and a lengthy list of others. Sonically, the album is a smoothly woven tapestry of her eternal influences — in particular, thumping gospel piano, warm soul baselines, atmospheric electronics and penetrating R&B melodies while also showcasing the evolution of her songwriting.
Throughout the course of this year, the Toronto-based Wilson has been busily touring to support the album across North America. During performances, she was moved by the audience’s reception to “My Way,” a soul-baring bit of old-school, singer/songwriter soul that feels effortless and timeless.
In response Wilson shared a live performance video of the song, shot by Josh Renaut that features accompaniment by Ryan Macdonald (drums), Ian Culley (guitar) and Ourielle Auvé (harp). The live footage should serve as an introduction to one of the best, young soul singer/songwriters in entire world to those who don’t know her — and a reminder of how supremely talented she is to those who are familiar with her work.
New Audio: Anselyn Shares a Breezy Pop Gem
Anselyn is an emerging Cape Cod-born singer/songwriter, who traces the origins of her music career to her childhood: Although she was a painfully shy girl, who was too afraid to sing or perform in front of large groups, she did enjoy singing to her dogs and cats.
When she grew up, the Cap Cod-born artist, spent most of her adult life working jobs in industries that weren’t particularly creative. Whatever songs she did write, she didn’t finish. But she finally decided it was time to finish some of those songs she had written and record what would be her full-length with debut with producer Elliott Lanam at Santa Barbara, CA-based Hidden City Studios.
The Massachusetts-born artist’s single “Triggered” is an Easy Listening/Quiet Storm-like pop song with elements of smooth jazz that will remind some listeners of Sade but with a subtly modern edginess — and anchored by Anselyn’s coy yet coquettish delivery.
“‘Triggered,” as Anselyn explains “is a song about tortured love, where you wanted to be with someone badly (and ached for them to love you back), yet they drove you crazy with their hot-then-cold indecisiveness . . . Their emotional swings would drive one mad.”
New Audio: Minneapolis’ speakeazie Shares Lush and Swooning “Love Me Wild, Love Me Crazy”
This weekend has been an extremely busy but very fun one:
- Friday night, I caught French 79 and JOVM mainstay Brothertiger at Racket NYC.
- Last night, I was at GlobalFest at Lincoln Center. I specifically wanted to see JOVM mainstay Juana Molina. But was thrilled to see a collection of great artists playing music from all over the place, including Native American rapper Supaman, Congolese outfit Jupiter & Okwess and Haitian rockers Ram. It was a full day and my feet and knees are paying for it.
- Today, I’m hoping to catch Xylouris White at Union Pool‘s Summer Thunder. Much like yesterday it’s looks to be a glorious day to see live music and to drink a few beers.
But in the meantime, there’s still work to do, right? So let’s get to it.
Emerging Minneapolis-based electro pop artist speakeazie with an obsession for noir aesthetics from the 1920s. Sonically, she pairs effortlessly soulful vocals with a dreamy synth pop-driven sound.
Although the project started back in 2021, she released her full-length debut Prohibition Hippie last year. The album featured “Disintegrate,” which amassed over 70,000 streams in its first five months. Building upon a growing profile with the dream pop and synth pop scenes, the Minneapolis closed out the year with the Bootlegger’s Blood EP.
The rising Minneapolis-based artist’s latest single “Love Me Wild, Love Me Crazy” is a swooning track built around a relentless motorik pulse, strummed reverb-soaked guitar and skittering beats serving as a lush bed for speakeazie’s effortlessly soulful and yearning delivery. It’s the perfect song for dancing by yourself in your room — or for an intense makeout session.
Throwback: R.I.P. Olivia Newton John
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the life and music of Olivia Newton John.
New Video: Lightning Bug Releases Hazy Visuals for Ethereal and Soaring “The Onely Ones”
Led by songwriter Audrey King and featuring multi-instrumentalist Kevin Copeland and producer Logan Miley, Brooklyn-based shoegazer act Lightning Bug is grounded in a tight-knit friendship and an intuitive musical bond which heavily influences their sound — a mix of rapturous shoegaze, longing balladry and ambient soundscapes. While their recorded output has revealed a sonic eclecticism, their material is centered around a magnetic sense of cohesion. Lyrically, their work documents Kang’s relationship with her humanity and feelings, detailing memories fraught with joy and heartache, and the seemingly unending cycle of tension and release that comes as one develops self-trust.
With the release of their first two albums, 2015’s Floaters, which landed on NME’s best debut albums of 2015 list and last year’s October Song, the Brooklyn-based shoegazer act has developed a reputation for being one of the genre’s newest buzzworthy acts. Building upon a rising profile, the act recently signed to Fat Possum Records, who will re-issue October Song on vinyl on April 24, 2020 — and to celebrate the occasion, the band released a previously unreleased single “The Onely Ones.” Recorded during the October Song sessions, the lush and atmospheric song is centered around a soaring hook, ethereal vocals, twinkling instrumentation and thumping beats — and manages to evoke a hazy and difficult to define and intense emotion that’s a mix of joy and anguish. Unsurprisingly, the recently released video for “The Onely Ones” is shot in a hazy black and white that nods at 120 Minutes era MTV — while capturing a fleeting and temporal moment
“You know when you experience a sudden extreme of emotion? Not quite anguish, not quite joy, but some unutterable mixture of both. This song is my attempt to express that,” King says in press notes of the song and accompanying video.
The video for ‘The Onely Ones’ seeks to represent the fleeting impressions that stream behind the membrane of immediate reality. It attempts to remind how there is, shimmering within each person, an entire universe as intangible and as infinite as time.”