Tag: world music

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Alain Void Shares Brooding “Amo questa vita”

Alain Void is an Italian electronic music scene and producer, who first emerged into the synthwave and electro pop scenes in 2022 with his solo recording project Empty Essence, which saw him blending elements of post-punk, electro pop and darkwave paired with lyrics that frequently tackle philosophical themes.

Void eventually stepped out into the spotlight as solo artist, writing and recording under his own name. His work as a solo artist has largely been inspired by the nee to spread awareness and awaken consciousness through music.

The Italian artist’s latest single “Amo questa vita” continues a run of material that pairs Void’s remarkably Dave Gahan-like vocal with a brooding early era-meets-Violator-era Depeche Mode-inspired production featuring layers of glistening and shimmering synths, a motorik-like bass synth-driven groove and industrial beats. “Amo questa vita” thematically touches upon accepting oneself entirely — including their complicated history.

The accompanying video was shot in black and white and follows Void wandering through a wood area and in graffiti-strewn ruins — and in some way it reminds me of early era MTV videos.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay Naomi Shares Euphoric “Tranquille”

2026 has been a busy year for Montréal-based JOVM mainstay Naomi: She has continued to be wildly prolific while entering a bold new era working with French producer Elior Chaudagne, who produced “Univers,” and “Hershey Kiss” feat. Anglophone Montréal-based emcee SLM (pronounced “SLIM”)

The French-Canadian artist’s latest single, the Naomi, Elior Chaudagne and John Adam co-written “Tranquille” is a breezy, remarkably catchy bit of pop anchored around a strutting, dance floor friendly bass line, glistening synths and Naomi’s sultry and soulful R&B-tinged pop star delivery. “Tranquille” is a euphoric, escapist fantasy, specifically meant for you to dance your frustrations and worries away.

Fittingly, the song is rooted in a familiar story for all of us: When a friend goes through a breakup, Naomi steps in to console her. And she comes up with a simple plan — get dressed up and head to the club to dance the night away and get her friend’s mind off things.

The Naomi and Wym Holmes co-directed video for “Tranquille” features dancers Miambi Kassé and Zanna Allepot performing choreography that Naomi developed in collaboration with Guillaume Michaud. The video follows the trio as they get ready for their night out. Gabriel Poirier handled the cinematography and editing for the clip.

Additionally, Naomi was recently named an ambassador for Maybelline Canada, further adding to her reputation as a fashion enthusiast.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Carolina Oliveros Shares Defiant “YA ROMPIMOS EL SILENCIO”

Colombian-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.

The album will include the previously released “Oye Camina,” “RAYO” feat. Orquesta Akokán, and the album’s latest asingle, album closing track and title track “YA ROMPIMOS EL SILENCIO.” “YA ROMPIMOS EL SILENCIO,” which translates into English as “WE’VE BROKEN THE SILENCE”is a furious, defiant and fiercely politically charged song that directly confronts gender-based violence, abuse and the systems of ear, shame and impunity that allow them to persist. The track sees Oliveros alternating between spitting haymaker-like bars and crooning over a woozy production featuring Afro Latino percussion, bubbling synths and samples of a chorus of equally defiant women demanding to be heard.

Written in solidarity with women, girls, nonbinary, trans folks and families, whose stories have become intertwined with her own, “YA ROMPIMOS EL SILENCIO” is an uncompromising, unafraid declaration of resistance, solidarity and compassion for all victims and a demand to be heard. “I wrote it with all the women, girls, and families in mind whose stories have become intertwined with my own—people who have been silenced by fear, shame, power, and impunity,” says Oliveros. “It is a song born from outrage, but also from the conviction that breaking the silence is the first act of justice.”

Directed by Oliveros and Bodgehost, the accompanying video features the Colombian-born artist with a collection of Latin women and non-binary folks in all the shades in solidarity while also proudly taking up space and refusing to be shamed or silenced. Anchored around a simple concept, the video is as powerful as the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay Super Plage Shares Breezy “MINI CLUB”

Jules Henry is a Montréal-based singer/songwriter, electronic music producer and creative mastermind behind the acclaimed, JOVM mainstay recording project and Super Plage. Founded back in 2019, Super Plage sees Henry crafting slickly produced, dance floor friendly electro pop that draws from house and nu-disco. He frequently collaborates with local French Canadian artists to create a playful, fun-loving and escapist universe, where it feels good to party. 

Since 2019, Henry has released a handful of albums including 2023’s Magie á minuit, which received an ADISQ Félix Award-nomination for Electronic Album of the Year. Building upon a growing profile, Henry has made a run of both the provincial and international festival circuits, playing sets at Francos de Montréal, FME and Festival d’été de Québec, SXSW, Wide Days and others. He has opened for Miel de Montagne, Juilen Granel, Bon Entendeur, MYD and more. 

Last year’s GROSSE MAISON featured a sleek and daring blend of house, disco and French touch anchored around catchy, downright funky grooves, much like on album single “Tip Top.” 

The French Canadian JOVM mainstay’s fourth album MINI CLUB was just released today through his longtime label home, Lisbon Lux. MINI CLUB sees Henry solidifying his place within Québec’s electronic music scene while bridging the project’s multiple sonic identities throughout its history — the electro pop of MINI CLUB track “PARIS” the house music of last year’s GROSSE MAISON and a decided shift towards tech house of “SÉOUL” feat. Zéa Calla. Rooted in synth and digital driven textures, there is more than enough room for organic textures throughout — including everyday sounds recorded in the studio and on Montréal’s streets. The album’s material sonically is suited for both the club and chilling in the park, but lyrically, it’s rooted in observations and thoughts on everyday life.

MINI CLUB is arguably one of Henry’s most collaborative efforts to date — fellow JOVM mainstay Virignie B.; Zéa Calla, a childhood friend, who he reconnected with; and Hawa B have contributed both vocals and songwriting to the album.

The album includes the previously released “POOL PARTY” featuring longtime collaborator Virginie B. and the album’s latest single, album title track “MINI CLUB.” “MINI CLUB” is a club and lounge friendly that nods a bit at Larry Levan-era house with a looping whistled melody, twinkling and bubbling synths, wobbling bass and skittering beats beneath Henry’s ethereal cooing and crooning.

Directed by Henry, the recently released accompanying video follows Henry as he’s barbecuing in a Montréal park and lounging by a pool — all while playing the song. With fall in full effect in the Northern Hemisphere, the video and the song are a fond reminder of summer — and of summers to come.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 102nd Birthday, Celia Cruz!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 102nd anniversary of the birth of Celia Cruz.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Montréal’s DONALDA Share a Glitchy, Politically-Charged Banger

Montréal-based electronic dance music duo DONALDA — Florence Lafontaine and Olivier Martin-Fréchette — derive their project’s name from the name given to the first women admitted to college in Québec in the late 19th century, and is a nod to the fictional character introduced in Claude-Henri Grignon’s 1933 novel Un homme et son péché, who, for several generations, embodied the consequences of patriarchy. 

Lafontaine and Martin-Fréchette both have an academic background in digital, contemporary mixed-media and instrumental composition, as well as in jazz interpretation. Inspired by UK garage, dubstep, left field bass and other British electronic music sub-genres as well as the queer nightlife scene, the duo take a pedagogical approach to music in order to deconstruct the boundaries of musical genres. While getting people onto the dance floor is their ultimate goal, they also seek to spark musical curiosity among their audience, something that is at the core of their inclusive, unifying philosophy. 

Through composition, sound design and creative coding, the Montréal-based duo tap into their wide-ranging experiences to bring every stage of DONALDA’s creative process to life. And fittingly, their versatility imbued their sound with a coherent and deeply personal artistic identity rooted in a celebration of diversity and inclusion, freedom and the French language. 

Earlier this year, the duo signed to Bonsound. And since then, French Canadian outfit have released “C FOU,” “C BEN D’VALEUR” and their latest single “C CHER.” Translated into English as “It’s expensive,” “C CHER” is one-part footwork, one-part Larry Levan/Chicago-styled house and one-part glitchcore with wobbling bass that references Daniel Lanois’ 1989 song “O Marie,” which focused on the grueling, back-breaking labor of French Canadians who used to work in Ontario’s tobacco fields while also being a critique of the frantic pace of capitalism and its physical and psychological effects. The result is a song that turns collective physical and mental exhaustion into a visceral, deeply universal anthem — and is both a cry of frustration and a call to question a broken system that hinders individual and collective fulfillment.

Directed by Cori & Zacksta, the accompanying visualizer features the French Canadian duo making beats, brushing their teeth, stopping a bloody nose, making beats and hanging out with VHS video glitch and in heat mapped-style footage. It’s as trippy and high energy as the song it accompanies.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 88th Birthday, Fela Kuti!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 88th anniversary of the birth of Fela Kuti.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay Elisapie’s Ethereal Take on The Cranberries’ “Dreams”

Acclaimed Salluit, QC-born, Montréal-based singer/songwriter, musician, actor, activist and JOVM mainstays Elisapie‘s fourth album, 2023’s Inuktitut features inventive re-imaginings of songs by Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Blondie, Fleetwood Mac, Metallica and more, with the album being an act of cultural re-appropriation that reinvigorates the poetry of these beloved songs by placing them within Inuit traditions.

Through the album’s 10 songs, the acclaimed Montréal-based artist tells her story, while offering its songs as a loving gift to her close knit community. But the album is also a testament to the power and remarkably universality of pop music and an ode to the experiences, memories, places and people, who have shaped us.

Recorded for the CBC, APTN and Netflix original series North of North, “Sinnatuumakka (Dreams)” marks the first bit of new material since 2023’s Inuktitut and sees the acclaimed Inuk artist translating and adapting The Cranberries‘ beloved smash-hit 1992 song “Dreams” into her mother tongue. While retaining the familiar and beloved melody of the original, Elisapie’s rendition of the song is a slightly slowed down, more ethereal take that pulls a yearning, escapist thread out to the forefront.

“It’s a song that really resonates with the Inuit world,” says Elisapie. “In the North, it’s cold, and life isn’t always easy. That’s why dreams take on a special place. They’re a way to escape and imagine something else.“

North of North‘s second season, which includes episodes featuring the acclaimed Iunk artist and her new song will launch globally on Netflix later this fall. Set in the Canadian Arctic, the show’s second season sees Siaja (Anna Lambe) still making bold decisions and even bolder mistakes in her effort to level up her life and prove she’s ready to take charge as winter closes in on the Ice Cove community. “It was very moving to see Siaja’s character open up and dream throughout the episodes,” Elisapie says. “This series allows us to dream, and I think the Inuit need that.”

Elisapie was invited by Red Marrow Media and Northwood Entertainment, North of North‘s production team to take part in the show’s second season, which was filmed earlier this year in Iqaluit, NU and Toronto. In addition to making a cameo, she can be seen performing “Sinnatuumakka (Dreams)” and “Arnaq.”

“During the shoot, there were times when I wasn’t sure if it was reality or fiction,” says Elisapie. “And I was lucky enough to share this experience with my band!”
 
“When we wrapped, Elisapie played a couple more songs just for the crowd so they could enjoy a performance without having to hold back their reactions,” say Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, North of North’s co-creators and executive producers, and founders of Red Marrow Media. “She dedicated a song to any residential school survivors in the room, and there wasn’t a dry eye. There are a few hundred Inuit who will carry that experience with them for the rest of their lives, us included.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Yari M Shares Breezy “Adicta”

Yari M is a Carolina, Puerto Rico-born singer/songwriter and pop artist, who blends elements of Latin pop, Afrobeats and urban rhythms into a unique sound of her own. Her debut EP, 2020’s Yo Soy introduced her fearless energy, with EP track “Freshy” getting attention through a remix with Randy Nota Loca and Brray. The Puerto Rican artist appeared on Randy Nota Loca’s 2021 effort, Romances de Una Nota, 2021 Vol. 2 as the only female guest artist to appear on the album.

2023’s “Está Lloviendo” was her first Billboard-charting single. And adding to a big year, she launched her label Black Diamond Music and opened one of Miami‘s first Dolby Atmos studios.

Building upon a growing profile, the Puerto Rican-born, Miami-based artist’s highly-anticipated full-length debut Momentos, which will include “Últimta Vez,” a hit in Venezuela and “Sin Ti,”which reached #1 in the Dominican Republic features songs that explore joy, heartbreak, nostalgia and celebration.

Momento‘s latest single “Adicta” is a hook-driven blend of Latin pop, reggaeton and Afrobeats built around an an atmospheric production featuring squiggling bursts of funk guitar, skittering polyrhythmic beats and glistening synths beneath the Puerto Rican-born artist’s yearning delivery. While being a much-needed breezy and summery blast on a dreary and damp fall afternoon, “Adicta” is simultaneously club and lounge friendly — but at its core it captures the wooziness, the desperate longing of a new love.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Carolina Oliveros Teams up with Orquesta Akokán on Disco-Tinged “RAYO”

Colombian-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.

The album will include the previously released “Oye Camina” and the album’s second single, “RAYO” feat. Orquesta Akokán. “RAYO” features a Santeria chant delivered by Oliveros and the members of Orquestra Akokán in unison and in call-and-response over a disco groove, Afro-Caribbean/Afro-Colombian percussion and dusty, old-school breakbeats. Sonically, the song continues a run of material that feels simultaneously ancient and remarkably contemporary while bridging the Latin American world.

The song celebrates the possibility of reconciling the opposing forces that live within all of us. It’s also a reminder that even in heart of a storm, there is a harmony between the fire that ignites change and the water that sustains it. “Together, we pay tribute to two of the most revered Orishas of the Yorùbá pantheon: Shangó and Oshún,” Oliveros says.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: EL Drez Teams Up with Jessmine and Lavien on Breezy “We Outside”

Marphus L. Drez Stewart, is a Buchanan, Liberia-born and-based Afro pop/R&B singer/songwriter, best known as EL Drez. The emerging Liberian artist can trace his passion for music and the origins of his music career to his upbringing: As a teenager, he was the choir director for his church.

Since then, Stewart caught the attention of Relumae Liberia, who signed him, and have released a handful of singles over the past 17-18 months or so, including sleek, hook-driven, KrisBeatz-proudced “Hosanna” and his latest single, the Masterkraft-produced “We Outside” feat. Jassmine and Lavien.

“We Outside” is breezy and hooky blend of dancehall, Afrobeats and hip-hop that’s simultaneously club, lounge and radio friendly. The song manages to capture the effortless, playful simpatico between each collaborator while being remarkably accessible — and just a much-needed bit of joy. Each collaborator gets their moment to strut and shine creatively; but at its core, “We Outside” is the sort of song meant to get you to the dance floor, dance away your worries and to live a little bit.

The accompanying video is a gorgeous, stylishly shot visual that’s meant to bring the party — directly to you and your home.