Tag: new album 2023

Austin Jay’s eponymous EP, is an explosive fusion of pop, hip-hop, trap and rock

A rock and trap-indebted singer-songwriter with the charm and bearing of a modern pop star, AUSTIN JAY is in many ways Los Angeles’s best-kept secret. Building on the success of previous singles, ‘Loving on You’ and ‘Things You’ll Never Know,’ he returns with his highly-anticipated self-titled debut EP, Austin Jay, out now across platforms.

Crafted with renowned producers Caleb Hulin (Avril Lavigne, Demi Lovato) and T Black (Hip Hop Atlanta, Marques Houston, and Pitbull), the EP fuses alternative pop/punk soundscapes with cutting-edge trap elements, showcasing the next evolution of Austin’s sound. He adds, “The EP is about not conforming to what society says you have to be and creating your own lane in life.”

The EP’s focus track, ‘Demented,’ blends captivating guitar stabs with Austin’s powerful vocals to provide a commentary on the heartlessness of modern relationships.

“‘Demented’ set the tone for the entire EP,” shares Austin. “It was the first song I worked on with my incredibly talented producer Caleb Hulin, and we connected right away, making the song in our very first session. It’s the song that really established and cemented my sound moving forward, with its mix of alternative pop/punk and modern trap music. I wrote it coming from a place of angst. I think modern-day romantic relationships are too casual, you know? I’m not a casual person. I’m a romantic at heart, and I miss the old-fashioned, dramatic, infatuated romance from old books and movies I love. Demented is about my problems with casual relationships and how so many people today are afraid or unwilling to truly commit and call it love.”

LA-based/Manhattan-born singer/rapper Austin Jay unapologetically combines 2000s Pop/Punk with modern Trap music. After going viral with covers of Khalid’s “Location” and Billie Eilish’s “Ocean Eyes,” Austin Jay has developed an 80k+ following on Instagram with his first original three single releases amassing over 350,000 streams on Spotify. He is also a dynamic live presence, earning a fanbase as the lead singer of the widely acclaimed band ‘Earth to Mars’ and touring nationally with his own band.

Austin Jay’s self-titled EP was released last Friday (9th June) across various music platforms. Have a listen below…

Must Listens: Fuck Ur Apology, Things You’ll Never Know, Hands Up.

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OUT TODAY: Mercury Prize-winning British rapper Speech Debelle reveals album ‘Sunday Dinner On A Monday’

Revealing her highly-anticipated fourth album, the self-confessed food-lover (a semi-finalist on Celebrity Masterchef, cookbook writer, and podcaster) SPEECH DEBELLE has been influenced by the connection, comfort and culture that food allows us to explore.

The South London lyricist says of the title: “On a Monday, the Sunday dinner just tastes sweeter; everything has time to marinate and settle.”

Featuring the singles ‘Come Your Way’, ‘101010’, ‘Atlantis’, ‘Away from Here’ and ‘Wayward’, ‘Sunday Dinner On A Monday’ examines family, friends, lineage, and ancestral DNA through the lens of afro-futurism.

“It’s about how we imagine and then create our own futures”, says Speech. “The album is about our journey through life as we learn from experiences that expand our senses. We learn internal management and get closer to ease. Some of us even become nourished, like a good meal. This is THAT album.”

‘Sunday Dinner On A Monday’ has been mixed and mastered by Grammy-nominated and MOBO award-winning mixer and engineer Clinton McCreery (Enny, Kofi Stone, Manik MC), with writing and production from Skripture (Will.i.am, Gregory Porter, Basement Jaxx), and collaborations with Dem Drums, Jamaican production team Island Wav, Kensaye, and Mark Cake. It includes features from English contemporary pianist and composer Neil Cowley (Adele, Emeli Sande, Maribou State), Miss Baby Sol, Dylema, Alyesha Lei and Ruth Sax.

Speech Debelle – whose real name is Corynne Elliot – kicked in the music industry’s backdoor in 2009, waving her sensitive, introspective Mercury Prize ‘British Album of the Year’ and debut album ‘Speech Therapy’, beating the likes of Florence and the Machine, Kasabian and La Roux. Her 2012 Kwes-produced sophomore album ‘Freedom Of Speech’ commanded further critical acclaim expanding Speech’s captivating flair for poetic testimonies, playful narratives and dynamic rumination on power, politics and pleasure.

She later stepped away from music for a few years to develop her other passions; her zeal for cooking tantalised the nation with her inventive recipes as a semi-finalist on Celebrity MasterChef, while in 2013, her socially conscious drive saw her curating a moving exhibition of art by prisoners for the Koestler Trust’s ‘The Strength and Vulnerability Bunker’ at the Southbank Centre.

Speech combined her love for music and food in her weekly podcast ‘The Work Brunch’, where she cooked and discussed music, life and inspiration with a range of esteemed guests, such as Lianne La Havas, Nitin Sawhney, Shabaka Hutchings and Mikill Pane.

She accompanied her third album ‘Tantil before I breathe’ with her own cookbook and memoir expressing that ‘music and food are art – they heal and inspire’. The nine songs spanning all three of her albums tell a story of abandonment, the artistic process, critical acclaim, record label mistakes and healing, with a delicious, inspired recipe for each.

Speech has spent three years working as a Relationship Manager in the music team at Arts Council England. She has supported artists and organisations in receiving funding and spearheaded the ‘Black Influencers Masterclass and Programme’, which provides the toolkit for funding projects, specifically for Black and Brown people in the UK.

‘Sunday Dinner On A Monday was released today (9th June) on all music platforms. Have a listen below…

Must Listens: 11:11, A reading, Wayward,

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Alt R&B artist Deb Fan unveils her highly-anticipated debut EP ‘Gemini Moon’.

Hong Kong raised, Los Angeles-based artist/producer DEB FAN releases her highly anticipated debut EP ‘Gemini Moon’.

The haunting six-track offering is centralized around duality in two parts; first being the search for control both internally and externally while grieving a heart-wrenching breakup, and second being the duality of Fan from a cultural perspective, as she continues to embrace expressivity while unlearning the social standards that were ingrained deep in her mind as a young girl in Hong Kong.

Written in the solace of her Los Angeles bedroom, the 24-year-old’s lush, ethereal vocals juxtaposed against brash, grungy production intentionally paint the polarity of her natural being, furthering the narrative of the vulnerable experience of searching for oneself post-breakup. In Asian culture, the moon serves as a symbol of feminine power, and Fan’s striking debut EP is a nod to this new chapter.

“Growing up in a traditional Chinese household, I didn’t know what expressivity meant because of how my culture views my gender,” Fan explains. “Moving to America was a huge step in understanding the essence of being a woman. I’ve learned to embrace the power of being hard and soft at the same time. This is captured in Gemini Moon. Because of my innate duality, this project was written from a place that is half realistic, and half delusion, Gemini Moon taking into account all perspectives.”

‘Gemini Moon’ is constructed around cinematic themes, each track detailing a specific feeling throughout her mourning process while listeners immerse themselves deeper into Fan’s world. From numbness (‘Run My Mind’), to lust and love (‘Rules’), depression (‘Pull My Hair’), delusion (‘Thru & Thru’), anger (‘Three Nights’), and passion (‘Rules – Acoustic Version’), ‘Gemini Moon’ tries to answer the unanswerable questions such as ‘why am I here,’ ‘why do I do this,’ and ‘what is my purpose here.’

In the early stages of her artist career, Fan has been championed by an impressive list of music tastemakers, including Billboard, Lyrical Lemonade, MTV, Earmilk and Early Rising to name a few. She has landed placements on Spotify Editorial Playlists including All New Indie, Ethereal, .ORG, Poses, Fresh Finds, Fresh Finds: R&B, Fresh Finds: Indie, Mood., Radar: Hong Kong, Simmering, +852 Rising as well as over 20 New Music Friday playlists.

Deb Fan’s debut EP Gemini Moon solidifies her position as the must-watch artist of 2023. Have a listen below…

Must Listens: Thru & Thru, Rules, Run My Mind, Three Nights

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YKB Releases ‘Yusful Music’ EP

Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, singer-songwriter YKB is transforming the sound of Afropop. Taking his real name Oluwo Yusuf Gbolaga, he has created the title ‘Yusful Music’ for his debut EP.

YKB has carved a lane for himself with his vibrant artistic vision and refined execution highlighted on the five track EP, which features the already released ‘San Siro’ and ‘Bo Card (Things I Need)’ with a combined 1.5 million streams on Spotify. Lead track ‘Komplete Riddim’ is an upbeat fusion with rhythmic patterns and afrobeats blended with an R&B feel to it, with the lyrics highlighting YKB’s incredible vocal range and soft pitch.

Across the EP, with other tracks ‘Pressure’ and ‘Traffic’, YKB delivers with soul and passion, with a sense of urgency and emotion reflecting the afropop roots in African Folk Music. YKB has carved a lane for himself with his vibrant artistic vision and refined execution.

Speaking on ‘Yusful Music’ he says, “That’s all I’m trying to do, transform feelings into sonics. And to do that on the highest level, as best as I can.”

With an ever-evolving sound, he has inducted himself into a new league of artists emerging from the African continent. Have a listen to his seductive EP below…

Must Listens: pressure, bo card (things i need), traffic

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OUT TODAY: Listen to LT’s EP, ‘Out the Trenches’

Port Harcourt bred singer/songwriter, LT‘s his first body of work ‘Out The Trenches’ documents the past three years of his life. A seven track, soulful, groovy, synth-heavy, rhythmic project, intentionally put together to showcase the outer-worldly range and drive he possesses as an artist.

Creating the majority of the project from a headspace of gloom, self reflection, and hunger, LT had to channel all these emotions, igniting light out of a place of darkness, hence the title Out The Trenches. LT’s scintillating range in songwriting, performance and cadence shines through on every track, affirming a thematic expression that characterizes a phase personally and artistically. Alongside creating a delicate sonic world that incorporates elements of R&B/Soul, Afrobeats, Trap & Reggaeton, owed to an impressive list of production collaborators, from Killer Producer, Abel Lead Us, Mazi Spice, Trizzy Beatx to other session vocalists and instrumentalists who added to the depth of the project.

Released today (2nd June), LT’s debut ‘Out The Trenches’ is a strong first impression by an artist tipped to go the distance. Have a listen to his collection below…

Must Listens: In Due Time, A Million Lies, My Ana

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