Robert Charlebois’ “Je reviendrai à Montréal” and some quick thoughts upon my return.
Tag: world music
New Video: Jonathan Personne Shares Shimmering and Dreamy “Je pense toi”
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. He’s also the creative mastermind behind the solo recording 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.
Robert’s fifth Jonathan Personne album Répertoire officially drops today through Bonsound. The album’s material can trace its origins back to 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. The new album sees Robert brining 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 will include the previously released, album opener “Rêve américain,” “Superstar,” and the album’s latest single “Je pense à toi.” “Je pense à toi” is an intricate and lush tune, built around a shimmering and looping guitar figure, some mysterious, dream-like samples and a laid back yet supple and propulsive groove beneath Robert’s equally dreamy and ethereal deliver. The song may make you want to go for the sort of walk in which you lose yourself in your thoughts, which is apparently what the song is actually about.
Robert is also an accomplished visual artist and graphic designer, and he designed the album’s cover art. But for the new album, he swapped illustrations for a small-scale model of an idyllic mountain village, which helps set the material’s overall tone and vibe. Fittingly, the accompanying video features the Montréal-based artist and his backing band in the cover art’s idyllic mountain village performing the song in a mix of stop-motion styled animation and real life.
New Audio: Nouvelle Vague’s Breezy Take on Depeche Mode’s “Only When I Lose Myself” feat. Mélanie Pain
Founded by Marc Collins and the late Olivier Libaux back in 2003, Nouvelle Vague was initially conceived as a one-off tribute to post-punk songwriting in a Bossa nova style. 2004’s self-titled debut, which saw them establish their unique fusion of melancholy post-punk, Bossa nova and French re-interpretational approach, unexpectedly achieved global acclaim. Since then, Nouveau Vague has become a global phenomenon.
Their 10th album, A Date with Depeche Mode is slated for an October 30, 2026 release through Kwaidan Records/[PIAS] Recordings. And as you can probably tell, the album sees the French outfit tackling the work of pioneering British electronic outfit Depeche Mode.
A Date with Depeche Mode will include the previously released “Never Let Me Down Again” feat. Brazilian artist Flavia Coehlo, and the album’s latest single, “Only When I Lose Myself” feat. Mélanie Pain. Originally released on 1998’s compilation The Singles 86>98 “Only When I Lose Myself” is a brooding song full of desperate, aching longing. The Nouvelle Vague rendition, which features one of the act’s long-time collaborators retains the longing at the heart of the song but now paired with a breezy Quincy Jones and Herb Alpert-like arrangement featuring Bossa nova rhythms, strummed guitar and soulful brass. The result is a take that gives the song a sultriness rooted in desperate need and a little bit of lust while being incredibly cinematic.
New Audio: Yeisy Rojas Returns with Hopeful “¿Dónde está el amor?”
JOVM mainstay Yeisy Rojas is a Grammy Award-nominated and Latin Grammy Award-nominated Cuban-born, Oslo-based, classically trained, jazz violinist, singer/songwriter and composer.
Her recently released album Inmigrante features the previously released “LATINO” and the album’s latest single “¿Dónde está el amor?” “¿Dónde está el amor?” begins with a cinematic jazz pop introduction in which the JOVM mainstay’s excessive vocal is accompanied with piano and subtly Latin percussion before morphing to a decidedly upbeat soul and gospel-influenced — with the song moving from heartbreak to joy and hope.
“The song grew out of a question that kept coming back to me as I looked at the world around us: Why do we treat each other this way? Where is the love?” The Oslo-based artist says. ” I wrote it sitting at the piano, moved by the sadness and helplessness I felt watching a world becoming increasingly divided—shaped by conflict, persecution, raids, hatred, and a growing lack of empathy. But I didn’t want to write a song rooted in hopelessness. I wanted to turn those feelings into something that could remind us of what still connects us. Musically, “¿Dónde está el amor?” begins as an intimate, vulnerable ballad, gradually weaving in Afro-Cuban rhythms through the tumbadoras. It continues to build until it opens into a powerful gospel choir, where gospel and Afro-Cuban rhythms come together in a call for unity, hope, and love. What begins as a deeply personal question ultimately becomes a collective voice—an invitation to rediscover our empathy and remember the humanity we share, especially in times of profound division. Rather than trying to provide an answer, I hope the song leaves one question lingering long after the music ends: amid everything that separates us today, where is the love?”
New Video: EL Drez Shares Hook-Driven and Uplifting “Hosanna”
Marphus L. Drez Stewart, is a Buchanan, Liberia-born and-based Afro pop/R&B singer/songwriter, best known as EL Drez. Stewart can trace his passion for music and his music career to his upbringing: As a teenager, he was the choir director for his church. Since then, the emerging Liberian artist caught the attention of Relumae Liberia, who signed him and has released a handful of singles to date.
His latest single, the KrisBeatz-proudced “Hosanna” is a sleek, hook-riven blend of gospel, Afrobeats, pop, dancehall and hip-hop anchored in a deeply heartfelt message of faith, belief and resilience that’s a much-needed bit of uplift for anyone out there having a difficult time in a mad, mad, mad world.
Directed by longtime friend Parashoot, the accompanying video follows the Liberian artist through a day in his life, attempting to achieve his dream through a steadfast belief in his talent and faith in God.
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New Audio: JOVM Mainstay George Aletras Returns with Chilly Yet Yearning “Υπνοβάτες (Sleepwalkers)”
George Aletras is a Greek singer/songwriter and musician, whose work sees him moving between indie rock, post rock and cinematic soundscapes, frequently blurring the boundaries between them. At times, his work leans into experimental territories, not as a statement of style, but a a natural consequence of exploration, where form isn’t followed but discovered.
This year, Aletras has released a couple of singles that have caught my attention, including “Τώρα,” “Όπως Παλιά” (“Like the Old Times”) and “Γιορτή”(“Celebration”).
Aletras’s latest single “Υπνοβάτες (Sleepwalkers)” sees the JOVM mainstay blends elements of post-punk, New Wave and coldwave. A breakneck, galloping bass line, tight, punchy four-on-the-floor, slashing guitars and glistening, atmospheric synths form a lush and dream-like bed for the Greek artist’s dreamily yearning baritone. The result is a mix of a chilly arrangement and an even chillier production and vulnerable vocals, that evokes an uneasy tension that’s lived-in, deeply universal, without a lot of people being consciously aware of it. The song’s narrator essentially sleepwalks through a life of mundanity, routines and despair — while longing for more.
Lyrically, “Υπνοβάτες (Sleepwalkers)” “explores the sleep of human consciousness — people moving through routines, isolation and everyday life while remaining unaware of their own disconnection.” Aletras adds, “Through images of sleep, movement and psychological tension, the song also reflects on freedom as something fragile: something we can touch, only to lose in a moment without realizing it.”
New Audio: Ayanna Witter-Johnson Shares Gorgeous, Meditative “Blue”
Born and raised in North London to Jamaican parents, acclaimed and rising, Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Award-nominated composer, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ayanna Wittter-Johnson grew up surrounded by the sounds of reggae, gospel and classical music. After earning a first-class Bachelor’s degree at Trinity Laban Conservatory and a Masters at the Manhattan School of Music, supported by a Higher Education Scholarship, Witter-Johnson has built a career founded in authenticity and cross-genre collaboration.
From composing to performing, the London-born artist’s work is a sonic bridge between worlds, seamlessly blending jazz, reggae and soul while celebrating her Jamaican heritage, culture and identity. Witter-Johnson’s recorded output — 2014’s Black Panther EP, 2018’s Truthfully Still and Ella, Reuben & Aly EP, 2019s full-length debut, Road Runner, 2021’s Rise Up EP and 2023’s sophomore album Painted Light — has seen her collaborating with producers Marc Mac and James Yarde, as well as pianist Robert Mitchell, vocalist Cleveland Watkiss and rapper Akala while earning critical acclaim and widespread acclaim across BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 1Xtra, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, BBC Music 6, Jazz FM and Magic Classical. 2023’s Ocean Floor, a collaborative album with the London Symphony Orchestra Percussion Ensemble dove into her Jamaican heritage, weaving classical textures with island rhythms and ancestral storytelling.
As a composer, Witter-Johson has won the Nordoff and Robbins 02 Silver Clef Classical Award and an RPS and AIM Awards Best Life Performer nominations — and she has been commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra, Kronos Quartet, Chineke! Orchestra, Guerzenich Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra, as well as numerous chamber ensembles.
The acclaimed London-born artist has been both prolific and very busy: She’s currently working on a major new commission for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra to celebrate their 90th anniversary and co-scoring her first TV drama for Sky Arts, which is slated for release this year.
Witter-Johnson’s highly anticipated album New Roots is slated for a September 18, 2026 release through her own Hill and Gully Records. Written across a series of retreats, hotel rooms, quarantine lockdown and quiet pockets of life on the road, New Roots documents moments where stillness becomes a portal, a place to her ancestral voices, confront personal truth and re-anchor yourself in what matters. Further cementing the London-born artist as a world-builder and musical polymath, the album sees Witter-Johnson delving into her heritage and spiritual practice, reflecting on British-Caribbean identity, the inheritance of Windrush Generation wisdom, grief and remembrance and the the strength required to keep choosing oneself. (By the way, the Windrush Generation was the Caribbean Island folk, who moved from the island nations from 1948-1971)“It’s an album about finding centre — personally, culturally, and cosmically — and about learning that new roots can be grown even in unfamiliar or fractured ground,” the acclaimed artist says,
Sonically, the album reportedly sees her expanding on her signature fusion of R&B, soul, classical and jazz, while tracing her Jamaican heritage through lush orchestration and raw, personal storytelling. The result is an effort that’s both deeply rooted and yet forward-looking.
New Roots‘ latest single “Blue” is built around a sparse yet gorgeous arrangement of Witter-Johnon’s percussive cello playing and subtle bursts of strings beneath her expressive, searching delivery. The result is a song that’s intimate, lived-in and yet cinematic. Sonically seemingly to nod at Joni Mitchell, Meshell Ndegeocello and contemporary R&B, “Blue” was originally written pre-pandemic during a “write-an-album-in-a-week” retreat, and was a way of processing the emotional fallout of a toxic relationship. But with distance and reflection, the song took on a new life.
“With distance and reflection, ‘Blue’ has grown into something broader: a meditation on patterns of pain and the ways in which victimhood can quietly shape multiple areas of life,” Witter-Johnson explains,. “The song now stands as a metaphor for a range of difficult relationships and situations — moments where suffering becomes familiar, and where growth comes from recognising and gently releasing that identity.”
New Video: Carolina Oliveros Shares Meditative “Oye Camina”
Colombina-born, New York-based singer/songwriter Carolina Oliveros is best known for being the frontperson of acclaimed act Combo Chimbita. Oliveros will be stepping out into the spotlight with her solo debut, Ya Rompimos el Silencio, which is slated for a November 6, 2026 release through Chulo Records.
Inspired by her journey of healing from childhood trauma, Ya Rompimos el Silencio is an act of reclaiming voice, body and memory. The album’s material follows the path forward towards truth, resilience, queer love, collective healing and liberation. Each song is both a personal testimony and an invitation for others to break their own silences.
Sonically, the album reflects Oliveros lifelong dialogue between worlds. Anchored in the Afro-Indigenous musical traditions of Colombia and the Caribbean, vocal harmonies serve as connective tissue marrying bullerengue, cumbia, tambora, rumba, bolero, dembo, salve and other ancestral rhythms with adventurous contemporary production. The result if a sound that’s simultaneously intimate and expansive, ritualistic and contemporary — and honors tradition while boldly pushing it forward. Throughout the album’s runtime, its songs move effortlessly between ceremony and celebration, contemplation and the dance floor, revealing that healing can be a defiant, joyful act.
While showcasing another dimension of Oliveros’ artistry, Ya Rompimos el Silencio is rooted in the belief that music carries memory across generations, that telling the truth can be liberating and transformative, and breaking silence is not an ending, it’s a decision to choose a freer way of living.
Ya Rompimos el Silencio‘s latest single “Oye Camina” feels both timeless and remarkably modern. Oliveros’ powerhouse and expressive vocal asks the listener to slow down and savor the feeling moments that define a life, because nothing lasts forever. Anchored around the refrain “Que se va la vida” (life slips away). the song’s narrator reflects on the raw, fleeting beauty of those things that just can’t be held on to and really matter — love, friendships, and the moments that leave a mark and continue to shape us long after they have passed. “‘Oye Camina’ is a reminder that life is constantly in motion and that our challenge is to live with presence, gratitude, and courage before it slips away,” says Olivero.
The accompanying video is an intimate and deeply personal visual that showcases what may arguably be Oliveros’ most explicit artistic and authentic expression of Queer love and Queer joy rooted in the accumulation of the small, seemingly mundane moments that truly make life worthwhile.
Throwback: Happy 82nd Birthday, Jimmy Cliff!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 82nd anniversary of the birth of Jimmy Cliff.
New Video: Bingo Club Shares Breezy “Bingo Twingo”
Paris-based duo Bingo Club describe their ethos as a club that demands no rules for entry, that’s friendly and where everyone knows your name, and where the club never closes and there’s no dress code.
Their second album is slated for an October 7, 2026 release through Fuzo Music. But in the meantime, the album’s latest single “Bingo Twingo,” is a summery and mischievous Italo-disco song anchored around a strutting, funky dance floor friendly bass line, Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar-driven hooks and dueling boy-girl vocals. It’s perfect for the beach, for the rooftop party — and for the club.
Directed by Romain Winkler and Bingo Club, the accompanying video is a bright and trippy visual that capture she buoyant, breezy vibe of the song.