Today’s Track: Curtis Harding – “Hopeful”

July 26, 2021 — Leave a comment

“Hope is seeing light, in spite of being surrounded by darkness”. Time for a new post!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Hopeful’ (Single) (Released on May 18th, 2021) (via Anti- Records)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s time for another optimistic daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! ‘Hopeful’ is the latest single from the Atlanta-based Soul singer-songwriter Curtis Harding, who records his own music with his self-described ‘Slop ‘n’ Soul’ style where he carries across the influences of R&B, Blues, Gospel, Psychedelic Rock and Country into his process of songwriting and musicality. In the past, Harding has been known for backing mainstream star CeeLo Green. Also, he is a founding member of Night Sun, an R&B-infused Garage-Rock band with former members from Black Lips, which has been active in Atlanta since 1999. Harding has now inked a solo record contract with Anti- Records, the same label which is also home to the likes of Booker T. Jones, Deafheaven, Mavis Staples and The Black Keys. There’s no news on a new album release associated with ‘Hopeful’ yet, but it has been four years since his last album material. ‘Hopeful’ arrives with a music video directed by Lynsey Weatherspoon, which directly references the events of 2020, like the Black Lives Matter protests, of which the lyrics were influenced by. Let’s give it a spin below.

A peaceful protest for the current racial affairs of the present times, Harding reflects on ‘Hopeful’ as, “I wrote ‘Hopeful’ some time ago, but in theory it goes far beyond a time and place”, Harding explained in a press release, noting, “I’ve always tried to carry it {Hope} wherever I am. Darkness finds us all, hope allows us the fortitude to seek out the light” in his self-assessment. For us, it’s the unmatched energy that his vocals bring to the track that brings home what we were all feeling in the millions last year, and how we can progress our mindset as a society to craft a brighter future for all. A radiant Gospel backing vocal of ‘Hopeful’ spreads across the canvas, while a melodic Hip-Hop delivery and tight Drums piece the decisive emotions together. Harding’s voice conveys qualities of vulnerability, longing, tenderness and peace as the stabbing Percussion and the funky Guitars provide an upbeat, yet golden era of Jazz-leaning, backbeat. Lyrics like “Now in this present darkness/All ears listen just a mass has formed to cure the common condition” and “A catalog of parables that’s broke down in a tongue/That’s been corrupted no substance to be hidden from” are delivered with a rhythmic flow. It feels like an effort split into two acts, with a long Wah-Wah guitar solo signaling the transition into a more melodramatic vibe. Horns, Strings, Brass stabs, cinematic female backing vocals and soulful Psychedelia carry the angrier, bluesier direction through to the perceptible climax, while the first half of the instrumental arrangements are a notch more Pop-driven, aside from a few quiet Organ chords that whistle briskly in the soundscape, marking a shift in the times. On the whole, this is a solid single that tells us that Harding is back, but, it also tells us that attitudes change for the better, and, as a society, we are fundamentally good and typically have our combined hearts in the right place, although a straight road to such positive unity can have it’s fair share of twists. Although it may feel a tad too 2020 for the next year at the first glance, the instrumentation definitely has a timeless feeling, and so do the key messages and personal values that Harding is raising awareness of.

Pictured: Curtis Harding in a PR shoot for ‘The 405 Exchange Podcast’ (2017) (via Ken Grand-Pierre)

That leaves us on a very Hopeful note to end the day with, but please feel free to join me again tomorrow for some more intriguing new music. The pick in question comes from a Los Angeles native who proclaims herself as the “Wal-Mart Marilyn Monroe” because she has been associated with the entertainment industry since a very young age. She was a child star on screen and is professionally trained in tap dancing. She has just released her debut solo album on Johnny Jewel’s label – Italians Do It Better.

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Way Back Wednesdays: Definition Of Sound – “Wear Your Love Like Heaven”

July 21, 2021 — 2 Comments

If you’d asked in 1991 – I would not know the meaning of the word. Let’s go Way Back!

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Moira Jane’s Cafe’ (Single) (Released in 1994) (via Circa Records)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke, and I hope that you are ready to take things down a notch for your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! For ‘Way Back Wednesdays’, we revisit one of the sounds from the past that influenced those of the present, or an oddball rarity that may have slipped by the radar. ‘Wear Your Love Like Heaven’, however, was something that I swiftly noticed on an old repeat of ‘TOTP 1991’ on BBC Four, and so you know what we’re probably getting into here. The tune seems a little forgotten, and I admittedly couldn’t find out a great amount about it on the internet. It was released in 1991 by Definition Of Sound, a London-based Soul and Dance duo made up of Kevin Clark and Don Weekes, who collaborated with musicians including ‘The Red King’ Rex Brough and, eventually, Michael Spencer. The single performed decently, reaching the #17 spot in the UK Singles Chart at its peak, and reaching the #28 position of the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. Another notable hit of theirs was 1992’s ‘Moira Jones Café’, which also reached the UK Top 40 and later hit #1 on that specialist chart in the US. Let’s get a blast from the past below.

Despite sharing the same title, Definition Of Sound’s ‘Wear Your Love Like Heaven’ was not a cover of Donovan’s 1967 Psych-Funk classic, but, if you listen closely to the chorus, the duo obviously used a key sample from that track. I also read that it was used in an episode of The Simpsons where Homer goes on an acid-filled psychedelic trip in his mind. This sounds like the sort of obscure 70’s record that The Avalanches could have used for a sample on ‘Wildflower’, as quick sample work and the pastiche House structure with playfully pitched vocals call back to the upbeat, laidback Hip-Hop sounds of De La Soul and the old-school Trip-Hop beats reminiscent of Mos Def. There’s a call back to A Tribe Called Quest in terms of the vaguely Jazz elements, and although I’m not certain that I would categorize the whole recording as Hip-Hop, as such, it’s more of an energetic Psych-Soul tune with a knack for rapping. More or less, it’s a connected thread of breakbeat elements from a selection of styles. It’s not an entirely derivative collage of past sounds, however, because there’s a hint of Fat Boy Slim to the easygoing, roughly Disco sound, and the kooky vocal samples add a nice level of individual personality to the mix. The lyrics aren’t much to write home about, with rapped verses about uniting the world around ourselves and working together to create a sense of heaven creating an optimistic mood that, while a slightly generic effort, fulfills its purpose and refrains from overstaying it’s welcome too much. For me, the lead vocals work pretty decently almost 30 years later, with an early flair of Chicago House and the brightness of the Sunshine Pop style giving the relaxed tempo enough good material to bounce off. It certainly nodded appreciatively to the East Coast for their hip-hop scene, and the combo of the Bass and Drums hardens the melodies up just a slight bit. On the whole, this was surprisingly better than I had expected. There’s nothing about it that feels incredibly unique on paper, but it’s an eclectic mix of clear influences which jangle together effectively. It’s inspired enough. The production is very early-90’s, but it never felt too outdated, as such. It may not have rewritten the dictionary, but it is water-tight when the parts are pieced together.

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Love And Life: A Journey With The Chameleons’ (LP) (1991) (via Circa Records)

That’s all the ‘love’ that I have to give to you today, but, please feel free to join me yet again tomorrow for some more music. Tomorrow’s pick brings some female voices to our week, as we review a recent track from a rising-star female-led Psychedelic Rock 4-piece band who met while attending Tufts University on the borders of Medford and Somerville in the US where the members had all lived and played together until 2016.

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Today’s Track: Confucius MC (feat. Strange U & Lee Scott) – “Cicada 3301”

July 13, 2021 — Leave a comment

Mixing poetry like a famous Chinese philosopher with a Grime flavour. New post time!

Pictured: Confucius MC in the music video for ‘War & Peace’ (2021) (via YouTube.com/YNR Productions)

Good Morning to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for you to read all about your daily track on the blog, yet again, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music each day! ‘Circada 3301’ is a fresh new UK Hip-Hop tune which finds the trio of Confucius MC, Strange U and Lee Scott joining forces. The leader of the crew is Confucius MC, a rising star on the UK’s underground who is a unique voice from Peckham, a Southern district of London. Confucius has been active in the London hip-hop scene for several years now, including a stint as one-half of the ‘Con+Kwake’ duo with drummer Kwake Bass. His two highest-profile releases, 2014’s ‘The Highest Order’ LP and 2017’s ‘The Artform’ EP, released on YNR Productions and WeStayTrue, have given him critical acclaim as one of UK rap’s most elite lyricists. Inspired to make music by the high school money that he used to spend on J Dilla, MF Doom and A Tribe Called Quest records, Confucius is now living a dream of his own, supporting the likes of Mos Def, Public Enemy, Slum Village and Jehst on tour. The new single, ‘Cicada 3301’, is taken from his upcoming second solo album, ‘Somewhere’, which is set to be released at a TBD time in the year. Check it out below.

Confucius MC has also become close friends with Kae Tempest after supporting her on tour, who cites him as “a huge influence on my life, my character and my rhyme-style”, and, similarly, Confucius is well-liked among his community in the urban environment of Peckham because he runs creative workshops for the young people in his ethnic minority’s community, giving them a solid role model to grow up with. A collaboration with the French Jazz-heavy producer Keor Meteor, ‘Circada 3301’ finds Confucius MC channeling his retro childhood influences, along with the assistance of Strange U and Lee Scott, to serve up a social commentary on the modern man of Britain. It’s a vengeful piece, dished out with a side order of salt. Named after the mysterious organisation who lays puzzles to recruit code breakers from the public, we get a boom-bap produced hip-hop track with charismatic rhythms all about linking the abstract with the everyday. Confucious MC opens with fast jabs like “The moment that I put an ear to the beat was an omen/The door way to reputation was opened” that mimic a stream of consciousness with a colourful flair, as steady guitar rhythms and shimmering drums embody a 60’s Sci-Fi soundtrack. Strange U’s verse bring lyrics like “Catch my words like the preacher” to the table by drawing on the sample-delia heroes like Madlib to bring the concept to life under fast sample work. Finally, Lee Scott’s verse leaves things on a more hopeful note, with prayers like “Motivate/Kill the world we pro-create” and “All we’re left with is an empty bag of tricks” to touch upon the poverty of London life. Together, the three target themes of neglect and ‘cancel culture’ with a venomous poise, but the melodies remain old-school. It never goes too heavy, with Meteor’s production bringing on a smoky Jazz aesthetic to the table. Overall, it is a brave effort from every creative involved, which is bolstered by the clearly spoken sample which sounds like an extract of The Jeremy Vine show on BBC Radio 2, as the trio mix current political affairs with retro-futurist Rap influences.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Cicada 3301’ (Single) (Released on June 11, 2011) (via YNR Productions)

That’s all I have to share with you today! Thank you for the support, and please feel free to reconvene with me for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ tomorrow as we look back at an 80’s Pop gem that my mother says she used to own on cassette tape. It comes from a Nothern Irish OBE who used to be the lead singer of The Undertones, and, in recent times, he has been an enviornmental advocate for the rivers in my area of Cambridge.

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Today’s Track: Genesis Owusu – “Same Thing”

June 7, 2021 — Leave a comment

The Genesis of a futuristic mega-star of Hip-Hop music in the making. New post time!

Pictured: Genesis Owusu in a general promo press shoot (2020) (Photo Credit: Bec Parson/OURNESS)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s time for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, just like usual, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! One of my true standouts of the year so far has undoubtedly been ‘Smiling With No Teeth’ from the Australian-Ghanian Hip-Hop rising star Genesis Owusu, who is the brother of Citizen Kay, which was released in March. In that case, I was absolutely chomping at the bit to cover ‘Same Thing’ on the blog as soon as I was aware of it’s release. An outtake from Owusu’s masterpiece of Funk-drenched and deeply contextual debut solo LP release, which he sent out through his own label OURNESS, which he reportedly spent 60 hours jamming with his Black Dog backing band to conceive. It’s nice to see, therefore, Owusu releasing some of the material which didn’t make the cut on the side. He tells the press, “The songs chosen for the album conveyed a very specific narrative, but we also made a lot of great music that didn’t necessarily fit the album’s narrative points”, alongside the release of the colorful Byron Spencer-directed video for ‘Same Thing’, designed to reflect Owusu’s themes for the track. Check it out below.

“Same Thing was one of the tracks born from the seemingly limitless SWNT sessions”, Owusu added to his press notes for the unveiling of ‘Same Thing’, adding, “The track is still in the realm of the album’s themes of mental health (more specifically, the crazy s**t the mind makes up”, to accompany the trippy visuals conveyed by the music video. The track itself veers more towards the Thundercat or MNDSGN 70’s Funk revivalist sound of the present times than the more aggressively focused angles that ‘Smiling With No Teeth’ took as a body of work, and so I can probably see why Owusu decided to leave it on the cutting room floor originally from his latest long-player project. He opens, “It’s still the same thing you want from me/It’s the same thing I fear to see”, as a shimmering Synth riff buckles ahead of the Funk-rooted guitar licks. He flows together the danceable instrumentation with vocals touching on internal disarray and the push-and-pull dynamic of a mental health struggle, rapping lyrics like “See, I thought that I crawled out of the void” and “Back out the black to the laughs and joy” and “I remember the scent of a happiness/I still smell it most of the time” with a quick precision. The later lyrics hint at a hesitant decision to enter a new relationship despite the promise of new happy memories going unfulfilled to the unknown, with lyrics like “Smile in the teeth but my trusting is skewed/PTSD from my soul, black and blue” and “Dance on the line linking love and bruise/My heart is terrified when I’m thinking of you” before a female backing vocal comes in to potentially add her perspective to the dynamic. The rhythms, with the vibrant Synth chords and the minimal drum basslines, are reminiscent of Prince. It’s almost like Owusu is telling us all a narrative, which he did very nicely on his solo album. I think it would be nice for him to explore themes beyond mental health in the future, but, as for the here and now, I’m very convinced that he can do no wrong. I really admire Owusu’s sheer perseverance when it comes to making music, and the ways that he links his own personal character with the personality of the backing music. He’s an incredibly versatile performer, and the focus that he puts into both lyrics and melody. This is the scent of somebody who is clearly not just your average artist, as he also does things very differently to the average modern rap artist. I will swear by this artist.

Pictured: Genesis Owusu in a press shot for the Red Bull House Party (in 2020) (Photo via RedBull.com)

If you’re new to Genesis Owusu, which makes sense because he seems to be a little slept on generally despite the very positive reviews for his work, I’d really recommend getting yourself acquainted with the rest of his craft. You can get started with my review of ‘Don’t Need You’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/11/06/todays-track-genesis-owusu-dont-need-you/, and the more aggressive themes of racism on the energetic outburst of ‘Whip Cracker’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/03/27/todays-track-genesis-owusu-whip-cracker/

Pictured: Cover Art for “Smiling With No Teeth” (LP) (Released on March 5th, 2021) (via OURNESS)

We’ve reached the end of my musical musings for Monday morning! Thank you for sticking with me to this point, and I will be here again tomorrow to share another track that marks the return of another favourite from recent times, as this certain Moshi Moshi-signed London indie girl pop/rock group return from a two-year hiatus with a new single that was co-produced in the studio with Joe Goddard & Al Doyle from Hot Chip fame. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

New Album Release Friday: Greentea Peng – “Nah, It Ain’t The Same”

June 4, 2021 — Leave a comment

It’s New Album Release Day – and it’s time to get this Par-Tea started! New post time!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “MAN-MADE” (LP) (Released on June 4th, 2021) (via Virgin/EMI Records)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here – and I’m here to deliver your daily track on the blog, as always, since it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It’s ‘New Album Release Friday’ on One Track At A Time – and this week’s notable releases come from James (Who are looking for their third consecutive UK Top 10 album), the rave-reviewed UK indie rock band Wolf Alice, the debut EP from the Hackney Punk trio Deep Tan and The Avalanches’ ‘Since I Left You’ receives a 20th Anniversary Deluxe re-issue. However, the spotlight deserves to go to the self-described ‘Psychedelic R&B’ South London-based Neo-Soul Singer-Songwriter Greentea Peng (aka Aria Wells) who has been slowly building up to the long-awaited release of ‘MAN-MADE’, her debut solo album, over the last handful of years with the Earbud-produced singles like ‘Ghost Town’, ‘Revolution’ and ‘Hu-Man’. The record arrives at shop shelves from today onwards on Virgin’s EMI label, and the long-player’s release date was previously shared along with ‘Nah, It Ain’t The Same’, as a promotional single. Fusing Dub, soft Hip-Hop and soulful Garage, Wells blends her influences of Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill and Ms. Dynamite with her love of Green Tea and the London slang word of ‘Peng’ – meaning cool or attractive. Debuted alongside a Machine Operated-produced music video, Wells says ‘Nah, It Ain’t The Same’ is “an expression and exploration of my utter confusion and inner conflicts amidst shifting paradigms”, as per her relevant press notes. Check it out down below.

Posting on Instagram, Wells writes of ‘MAN-MADE’, “Thank you to everyone who helped to bring this together. Its been a real process forming this album, a real trip. I’m so excited to begin this roll out.”, elaborating on it’s themes, “Deliberations of a (hu) man subject to the Pendulum swing, a reflection of my utter confusion and inner most conflicts/contradictions amidst these shifting paradigms. Always love. Always mushrooms. PEACE”, in her own wildly amusing words. Supported by her own backing band, Wells conjures up a very intriguing mix of Dub instrumentals and Neo-Soul rhythms as she expresses the modern life of men through a female perspective. Wells sings “Inner battles dwell like city kids beneath the poverty line/I’m feeding my senses” and “Food for thought is money well spent/Cause most of our so-called knowledge is rented” with her familiar, radiant croon, as she discusses female poverty in deprived areas of London with a calm and relaxed attitude. The backing beats keep bending and evolving, starting off with a soft Drum melody that permeates through the track, before a sequence of Garage-like electronic beats and a more hostile series of entrancing Jazz-like Hip-Hop rhythms ensues. An Upright Bass instrumental, the continually crackling Drum beats, spacious keyboard melodies and light Vinyl scratches make up the concoction. Imbued with the Punk-rooted assertion that we’ve come to expect from Wells, she tugs at the heart of her own personal matters by mixing Reggae-like melody with Spoken Word poetry that feels noticeably downcast, but quite natural and self-conscious, re-enforcing herself as a voice worthy of hearing.

Pictured: Greentea Peng (aka Aria Wells) in an early photoshoot (in 2019) (Photo Credit: Emma Williams)

If you think that Greentea is ‘Peng’ – you may want to seek joy in some of her other offerings. Still my favourite, ‘Ghost Town’, was previously covered on the blog here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/16/todays-track-greentea-peng-ghost-town/. In her early days, and my own early days on the blog, we also looked at ‘Mr. Sun (Miss Da Sun)’, when she was a younger upstart. Check it out here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/11/12/todays-track-greentea-peng-mr-sun-miss-da-sun/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Ghost Town” (Single/EP) (Released on 4th March 2020) (via Melody Maker)

That’s everything for today! Thanks for sticking with me until the end, and be sure to check back with me at exactly the same place again tomorrow, as we cover the announcement of the sophomore album release later this summer from a young lady from Northumberland, who has previously made an appearance on the blog, who attended the BRIT’s School in Croydon. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she has kept herself busy as the first artist to appear on Microsoft’s virtual ‘RE:Surface’ live-streamed concerts. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Fana Hues – “Lay Up”

May 24, 2021 — Leave a comment

She’s not one to heal a dreadful illness by basically just laying around. New post time!

Pictured: Fana Hues pictured for the “Icarus” music video premiere (2020) (Photo by Drew Robinson)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s time for you to read your daily musical diary entry on the blog, as per usual, since it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A 25-year-old Neo-Soul singer-songwriter from Pasadena, California – Fana Hues doesn’t only take up music as a passion or a profession, but as a tightly woven line of string that has been woven through her family tree. She’s one of nine siblings in a large family of musicians, and she had to battle illness to get to the spot where we find her today. When she was a child, she was diagnosed with Scarlet Fever, Tonsillitis and Strep Throat at the same time. It was up to her mother, who is a dancer, to concoct natural remedies and herbal elixirs that would eventually restore her voice, which was taken by illness. Now, her supporters include the US rapper-producers Tyler, The Creator and Earl Sweatshirt, and, last December, she released her debut EP, ‘Hues’, seemingly as a joint venture between Sweet Virtue and Westminster Recordings. For some reason, it’s taken Hues until now to finally release a music video for ‘Lay Up’, the 6th in a series of visuals that Hues notes are “a deep sigh of relief after a dark time”. Check it out below.

For Hues, her debut EP collection is a series of tracks that ultimately focuses on the complexity and intricacy of human emotion in both a personal and universal way, as she notes in her press release, “I thought it was super important for me as a black woman to be open about that because so many times I feel like I’m not allowed to express my emotions. I’m kind of all over the place”, Hues says, “But there’s always a method to the madness. It’s all centered, it all has a purpose”, of her emotional experiences by growing up with music around her for all her life. ‘Lay Up’ feels peaceful and has a calming ambience, with a repeating Synth section that mimics the sounds of Doves chirping. Her vocal harmonies are long, and the beats are kept loose to dress everything up in a rap-like breakbeat. The lyrics are often explicit to a sexual degree, with lines like “I’ll rest on his face right in the mirror, And make sure you hear us, and them come and kiss ya” and “I rest on his face, We up at your place, You led me astray, What can I say” that sell the intensity of lust, and it’s difficult to tell whether these sexual scenarios are a rich expression of real-life experiences, or some scene of daydream fantasy playing out in her head. The melodies are melodic, with sparse helpings of R&B and Indie Pop which give the chorus of-sorts some ascension in the mixture, with “You set in ways that got my emotions all screwed up and dazed” coming across as a more catchy, rhythmic part of the structure. It’s otherwise a chilled out affair of Madlib-like sampling and softly funky guitar licks, although I wouldn’t say that it’s particularly mellow, but more mid-tempo. It’s all sounding good, on the whole. Her interesting backstory makes me feel drawn to her as an artist, and it has the vibe of “Corinne Bailey Ray, but good” for me. Remember her? An inspiring human being, with a knack for creating an intriguing perspective for her art.

Pictured: Cover Art for “Hues” (LP) (Released on Dec 11, 2020) (via Sweet Vine/Westminster Recordings)

That’s all for now! Join me again for more tomorrow, as we focus our attention to one of the bigger Electronic music releases of the past weekend. Tomorrow’s serving of song comes from a Cardiff-born DJ and Ambient Music producer who initially spent years of her life trying to hack her target of becoming a Pop singer. Now based in London, she is the co-founder of the Femme Culture label that she runs alongside DJ Saint Ludo. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Lava La Rue (feat. Karma Kid) – “Lift You Up”

May 13, 2021 — Leave a comment

You might Rue the day this one got stuck in your head tomorrow. It’s new post time!

Pictured: Lava La Rue (aka Ava Laurel) (2021) (Photo Credit: DazedDigital.com)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for you to read your daily track on the blog, just like always, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Identifying as gender fluid, Lava La Rue is a Ladbroke Grove native whose stage name shares an uncanny resemblance to a certain “Bulletproof” UK Synthpop star who emerged in the mid-2000’s, and simultaneously, into my conscience. That’s more or less where the similarities largely end, however. La Rue only started producing their own music, mostly crafting their output at home, between the years of 2017-2019, but La Rue is also a visual artist and the founder of the NINE8 Collective in London, and so La Rue continues drumming up some buzz on the underground, with singles like ‘Magpie’ receiving airplay from BBC Radio 6Music. ‘Lift You Up’ is taken from La Rue’s newest EP, ‘Butter-Fly’, which was released in February via Marathon Artists. It sees them team up with Deb Never and, in this case, Derbyshire-born House producer Karma Kid, aka Samuel Knowles, for a five-track release that sees La Rue explore young romance and regional pride over the course of the EP project. Check out their testimony-turned-ballad, ‘Lift You Up’, below.

Lava La Rue counts ‘Lift You Up’ as one of their favourite tracks to be written to date, and they say “I feel like, in all of my songs, the delivery of lyrics are literal – in the way that even if I’m saying something super cryptic, it’s delivered not too differently to how I’d say it if I was sat in front of you, just speaking to your face”, adding, “Every song I’ve written has that level of intimacy”, upon opening up to American Songwriter about their vulnerabilities and direct approach. It conjures up a personal quality of confession that burns brightest in ‘Lift You Up’ for me. The vocal delivery sits between rapping and spoken word, with not quite enough of a lean towards one side over the other to make it a dominant trait, but it’s recited poetically. The opening lines of “Two nights, Split eye/I hold tight, speedin’ through lights” establish a melodic beat, but La Rue subverts a cheerful tone, at first, as they talk about going through foster care, having to go through the school system with little allies at their side, and tells an origin story of-sorts that contextualizes the mellow production on the track, and questions their homestead of being a misogynistic and largely Conservative one. There is never a moan or whinge in sight, so to speak though, as a proud declaration of “This world is for me, it’s my lava town” creates a more hopeful ambience, with a proclamation of personal identity and how focusing solely on producing their music in London with other creatives symbolises a fresh start and re-navigates who La Rue has become. While there’s not quite anything transcendentally brilliant, it’s a very engaging, and lovely listen. There’s a very intimate flair to the track, where the guitar beats are honeyed and the Falsetto use reveals a flush of beauty, both tonally and thematically. The small assistance of Karma Kid adds a swelling Male dynamic that sweetens the deal in it’s lack of over-reliance, and the mixture of catchy vocals and confessional lyricism gets the balance just right. This mostly reminds me of Loyle Carner’s high emotional IQ musings and Self-Esteem’s literary style, but the slight tinge of Garage and the very Urban feel adds a reasonably unique twist. If you’re a fan of artists like Arlo Parks or Greentea Peng, I think you’d love it. Very promising overall.

Pictured: Cover Art for “Butter-Fly” (EP) (Released on February 12th, 2021) (via Marathon Artists)

There’s your lot for today! Don’t forget that tomorrow we’ll be sampling one of the weekend’s new album releases. It’s pretty obvious what we’re going to be marking the release for tomorrow, but if you really need a clue, it comes from the inspiring female alternative modern icon who we celebrated for International Women’s Day on the blog a handful of months ago, and she became the first solo woman to win the nod for ‘Best Alternative Album’ at the Grammy Awards for 20 years in 2015, which is quite a shocking statistic, when you really stop to consider it. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Emawk – “Highroad”

May 4, 2021 — Leave a comment

Hit the Road, Jack, and never come back, no more, no more, no more. New post time!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “HIGHROAD” (Single) (Released on January 27th, 2021) (via Self-Released)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and, you know the drill by now – I need to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Born in Boston, raised in Kenya, and based in New York City, singer-songwriter and self-producer Kwame Nkrumah – who uses the moniker of Emawk – is a young graduate of the Berklee College Of Music who has spent the last handful of years writing and recording his music entirely on his own, despite an odd collaboration with actor Hart Denton from the hit US TV series ‘Riverdale’. Nevertheless, Emawk’s Hip-Hop music is gathering a healthy following on the internet, with his recent output gaining support from third-party promoters like Beats1 and Majestic Casual. Accompanied by a B-side, ‘Beads’, his first new track of 2021 was ‘HIGHROAD’, which kicked off an ambitious new audio-visual project that sees Emawk documenting a testimony of his personal life through steady new single releases during the year, which recently picked up with slick R&B, woozy offering ‘ACOUSCOUS’. Let’s hit the ‘HIGHROAD’ for a sample of his work below.

‘HIGHROAD’ marked the new point for Emawk to take a more candid approach to his craft, as he told Equate Magazine in a recent interview, “While I’m proud of the lyrics and the time I took to write them, it was one of the few times where writing was mostly about the vibe”, adding on ‘HIGHROAD’ and ‘Beads’ by penning, “I made the instrumental for Beads and just vibed with it. Hopefully, that comes across and hopefully whoever listens can vibe with it as well”, after joking about how cheesy the role of ‘Vibe’ played into the two tracks. As for ‘HIGHROAD’ specifically, Emawk prides himself in a cut where his self-expression feels at his most unsullied, and his natural instincts gave him the platform to transition from 2020 to 2021 with a refreshing attitude and a new start. A soulful and Gospel-backed mood reflects this, as slick and polished bass grooves interweave with a sun-soaked vocal outpouring of reflections on growing maturity. The first verse leans heavily into self-respect, with lyrics like “You talk a good game, tried to cross up my brain” and “I let you think that you won, I flip the script like I want/Then stepped over the spot where you tripped” and the second verse is a personal reflection on changes that could be made for the better, as lyrics like “I’ve got a lot of old fears that I’ve got to unlearn and I’m unlearning” as he picks himself up to encourage becoming more open to others. The final bridge of “Shout out to anyone who ever caught me on a bad day, And decided that’s all that I could ever be” hits hard, and he gets the last laugh on “I ain’t got the time to throw stones” as the self-confrontational messages draw to an end. Raw and heated are the words I’d use to describe the tone of the track. As for the instrumentation, we weave through sweet and steady flowing rhythms of Dub instrumentals, low-key synth tones that feel warm, and a honeyed production that sees the radiant, lo-fi acoustic guitar pluckings add a finishing touch during the home stretch. While there’s nothing here that truly blows me away, as I think it could have done without the briefly distracting auto-tune near the end, it’s fresh and it sounds good, with varied instrumentation and an intimate feel which lets Emawk off the leash to show personality among the polish.

Pictured: Emawk in the music video for “18” (2019) (Photo Credit: TMRWMagazine.com)

Well, it’s time for me to hit the ‘HIGHROAD’ and get on with my work deadlines for the rest of the day now. A break from the new music spotlight is on the docket for tomorrow, just like usual, however, as we delve into a retro hit from one of my own Dad’s favourite 90’s groups, and beyond, in roughly 24 hours time. The Liverpool indie rock trio are still gaining decent radio airplay, however, particularly for a national football anthem that saw them work with comedian David Baddiel and Absolute Radio presenter Frank Skinner for a sporting sensation that made it to the top of the charts in 1996 and 1998, and then again, in 2018. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Nia Archives – “Headz Gone West”

May 3, 2021 — Leave a comment

Headz, Shoulderz, Kneez and Toez…Kneez and Toez. On that note, it’s new post time!

Pictured: Nia Archives in a promotional shoot for The Pit, London (2020) (Article by Ben Tibbits)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, as always, since it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! ‘Headz Gone West’ is a short-and-sweet single that’s been sneaking it’s way onto my radio show and streaming library over the last week or so. It comes from the London-based (by way of Manchester and Leeds) singer-songwriter and visual graphic designer Nia Archives, who mixes Erykah Badu-inspired Neo-Soul and light Hip-Hop with more DIY-spirited Jungle and Drum & Bass production. There’s also some love for House music and UK Garage included in the pot too. Archives has just released her debut EP, of the same name as her latest track, via HIJINXX – which is also the name of the youth street art project that she also manages. Nia has remixed Lauren Faith, and collaborated with Zeitgeist, and so the stock is rising for this young lady, who claims to work primarily from her bedroom using old and second-hand kit to express herself through her material. Tune in below.

“Making the EP was super fun!”, Nia told Clash Music, elaborating, “I had a little DIY set up in my room, and I would sit up all night making loads of quick beats for fun… some of them I would end up proper vibesing to and kept working on them”, finishing up with, “Overall, the project is massively inspired by my love for breakbeats, jungle and D’n’B – and ‘Headz Gone West’ is the second track I wrote for it straight after ‘Sober Feels'” as she guided us along the process of putting together her first solo release. Her Jamaican heritage seems to have played a role in the intoxicating blend of lo-fi synths and Dub underlayers, paired up with lyrics that talk about independence, difficult relationships with familial figures and alcoholic addiction. The chorus of “My head has gone west, ain’t never getting nowhere, I watch the sunrise and then the sunset, I wanna get high so I can forget” balances a storm within the beauty, while a slightly more subdued verse gives space for lines like “I can’t sleep at night, I have so much on my mind” to address the elephant in the room willingly, despite the tone of the beats feeling danceable, and the subject matter of the lyrics feeling relatable. What I like about what Nia does here is the blending of traits from different genres that feel soulful, yet unwind in an experimental way that holds a personal quality for her. The explorations of late 80’s liquid rave music culture and German Soundsystem Reggae all fit under a similar umbrella and so the pieces all fit together neatly. The cohesion is really nice, yet there’s a feeling of “Summer anthem” to the mildly euphoric style. The lyrics have a darker mood if you read between the lines of the skittering, IDM-like breakbeats, however, and there’s simply a decent deal of interesting fusions to maintain your attention here. There’s a little over-reliance on repetition, but the duration is cut short and sweet, as to not overstay it’s welcome too much. Overall, it’s early days for her, but these results seem solid and very promising.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Headz Gone West” (EP) (Released on April 29, 2021) (via HIJINXX)

That’s all for today – but don’t forget to bring your Headz back over to the blog tomorrow for another review of recent, new music, this time coming from the Hip-Hop side of the pond, as we bring our focus to another emerging artist who was born in Boston, raised in Kenya, and now lives in New York City after graduating from the Berklee College of Music. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Little Simz – “Introvert”

April 27, 2021 — Leave a comment

I used to play a video game on my computer… Where I had little Sims. New Post time!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Sometimes I Might Be Introvert” (LP) (Available from September 3rd, 2021) (via Age 101)

Good Morning to you – I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, as per usual, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Little Simz is an artist who I truly feel is paving the way for a lot of female, black and hip-hop artists in the UK. I absolutely lapped up everything on 2019’s ‘Grey Area’ and the ‘Drop 6’ EP that she put out last year, and Simbi absolutely knocked it out of the park with her Glastonbury performance two years ago. Her fourth album, ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’, has seen a quicker turn-around from her that I was perhaps expecting, and she recorded the new body of work largely during lockdown in London and Berlin. It releases on September 3rd via Age 101 Records, and she’s said that it explores her personal life in an industry where everyone is expected to be “extrovert”. Her last album picked up Best Album awards at the NME Awards and the Ivor Novello Awards, along with scooping up a nomination for the Mercury Prize that year, and so I can see her picking up a bit more mainstream attention for this record than her last effort seemed to get, and BBC Radio 1 have started playing this one. Check out the comeback single below.

Despite her difficulties with opening up, Simbi finds her music to be her most pure form of expression, with tabloid The Observer revealing that her new album is 19 tracks long in length, some of which are Spoken Word interludes created to form a narrative. It says the record is “an epic, Wizard Of Oz-style quest as Simz confronts her fears and counts her blessings” that addresses a distanced connection with her father and the results of a relationship. One thing that we all loved about ‘Grey Area’ is that Simbi was very cool and collected, yet outspoken and wouldn’t compromise her work for any nonsense. It’s a trend that Simbi leans into once again on ‘Introvert’, where there’s certainly a lot to unpack in this 6-minute epic. It is somewhat similar to her work on the prior record, but she’s leaning a bit more into the soulful and Gospel undertones of her sound, and it feels like a natural progression for her, as an artist, into the new record. She mostly expresses the her experience of being a Black women today, with a visceral opening and a swelling String crescendo that gives the track a dramatic, sometimes cinematic, mood. Yet, she also balances her cutting edge vocals about race and identity with a personal contrast where she raps about her private feelings and her public persona. I’ve always felt that Hip-Hop has always allowed for the most fascinating contrasts for it’s artists to examine their role as a person and a performer, and Simbi provides a fresh take on it with ‘Introvert’ as she discusses her own desire to be left alone. Being reserved isn’t exactly a common asset when you’re projecting your music, potentially to the masses, and so I find it intriguing that she brings us into her own mindset and the idea that she seems to have different variations of her personality for different situations. So, overall, what do I think of the grand return? Well, I think it’s just absolutely solid. To be honest, it’s only been released to the world for a couple of days, and so I don’t think that I have spent enough time with it yet for it to personally connect with me on the same level that ‘Grey Area’ did, but that’s certainly not to say that it won’t. Everything that I love about Simbi and more is here though, and one thought I had is that it feels more like a trailer or preview for the new album than a standalone single, and so I can’t wait to hear the full results when the album becomes available… One day after my birthday, eerily. I mean, did you hear her flow on this track? Holy Mother of sacred cows, she’s good. It’s blindingly clear to me that she’s not just your average artist. A modern icon.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Drop 6” (EP) (Released on May 6, 2020) (via AWAL)

If you’re not on board with the hype train for the new Little Simz record like I am – here’s a few things to tempt you over. Get up to speed with my thoughts on ‘God Bless Mary’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/09/04/todays-track-little-simz-god-bless-mary/, and my thoughts on last year’s ‘Where’s My Lighter’, with Alewya as the featured artist, here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/05/15/little-simz-feat-alewya-wheres-my-lighter/

Pictured: Little Simz with ‘Best British Album’ at the NME Awards (2019) (Photo by Dean Chalkley)

That’s all for today – I can’t believe it’s nearly time again for another ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ post tomorrow, yet, here we are. Join me then for a throwback to a 90’s classic from a staple West Midlands indie rock band who have just announced a huge 30th anniversary tour. Their frontman has also been a hero during the pandemic for many with his listening parties on Twitter. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/