London’s singer/songwriter SOFIA GILLANI‘s brand new single, ‘Monster’ is about expressing yourself through the alter ego of what society deems as a ‘monster’. Its fierce, impactful and deep bass, with raging build-up, is meant to bring out the best version of yourself, with one of the best messages: own it, even it scares people.
Sofia began her musical career at just nine years old; starring as a lead in the musical ‘Evita’. Since 2020, she has released five songs, each with their own invigorating videos. Her single ‘Water Run Dry’ has been featured by BBC Introducing and surpassed 9K views on YouTube. She has performed on various events from Westfield London to Haslemere Fringe and Luton Pride. Her latest track ‘Monster’ comes as a new dawn for the singer as she takes on 2023…check out the official for the single below…
Named after an amusement park she used to visit in Kansas, Los Angeles based indie pop singer/songwriter SKOFEE‘s brand new EP ‘Joyland’ contains six-tracks that chronicles finding joy in various ways after falling out of touch with it.
Skofee confides, “Joyland represents a euphoric state of mind, and one that isn’t necessarily accessible in the way it used to be. The pursuit of joy, self discovery, absence of comfort and the destruction of familiarity are all themes.”
Musically, ‘Joyland’ thrills with multidimensional sonics including sugary electro, moody indie pop, and introspective folk that touches on love, loss and the search for happiness in familiar places. Its release was preceded by several singles from the collection including her recent tropical house-tinged end-of-summer banger ‘Wind Up Hero’, ‘Quicksand’, a relatable 90’s pop fused anthem about letting go, and the lofi pop ballad ‘I’m Sorry I Killed Your Plant’.
2021 saw the release of the Post Pop Remix of her single ‘Spiderman’ (Post Pop being the moniker of producer Stefan Skarbek, who has worked with the likes of Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen and Jamiroquai among others). This uptempo reworking saw several months of airplay from Los Angeles’ KROQ-FM, arguably the most influential Alternative radio station in the country. In July 2022, Skofee released an incredible duet with famed Dutch singer/songwriter/producer and Grammy nominee Cimo Fränkel – a remake of Fränkel’s hit single ‘Where Do You Hide Your Love’ which saw support from tastemaker radio outlet KCRW and was placed in A-list rotation on Amazing Radio USA.
in the past, Skofee has received acclaim from the likes of Ones to Watch, Notion, LADYGUNN, The Line of Best Fit, LA Weekly, Spotify’s Fresh Finds, Sirius XM and NPR among other tastemakers…so you’re in for a treat here…have a listen to her EP below, out today from all good music platforms…
Must Listens: Mad At You, Quicksand, Wind Up Hero,
LA-based artist Julian Rose JUILAN ROSE and alt-pop powerhouse Caroline Romano team up for latest collaborative single, ‘Fighting A War’. Alternating between Julian’s R&B-tinged vocals and Caroline’s breezy voice, the single grapples with the push-and-pull of modern romance. It’s a reflective and lushly textured track that highlights the best of Caroline and Julian’s different musical universes.
Caroline says of the single: “Julian and I sat down to write this Summer while I was in LA. He came up with the chorus in the first fifteen minutes and, from there, we both found ourselves in two different parts of the same story. We wrote what each of us wanted to separately, and the final product is what you hear when we put everything together for the first time. I think it’s a universally relatable song. The clinging to something that once was, the loneliness of walking around a newly desolate relationship. It’s the war that we all fight at some point. I like that we both wrote different stories that ended up being part of the same one. It feels like a metaphor for something.”
A songwriter, rapper, producer and multi-instrumentalist, Julian Rose seamlessly blends elements of classic rock, soul, funk, hip-hop and pop, which defies genre boundaries. He made his debut in 2022 with the release of ‘How Deep,’ a 3-track EP produced by Bret “Epic” Mazur (Crazy Town, Black Eyed Peas, New Edition).
At just 21-years-old, Nashville-based singer and songwriter Caroline Romano has already accrued millions of streams across her repertoire. Her songs showcase her witty, introspective and hopeful take on modernity, romanticism and the highs and lows of being young in today’s world. In 2022 Caroline shared her debut album, ‘Oddities and Prodigies’, and has continued to capture the attention of fans and tastemakers with follow up singles like ‘Chopstix’ and ‘Me After September.’
‘Phone Calls 4’ is packed with 12 new songs that show a different side of slick rapper DESHAUNJAY when comparing this new release to his last album, ‘Pinky’s Boy’. Both projects are filled with solid song structure and verses that are mixed well with the chosen production for each track, but there is one key difference between both albums.
“Pinky’s Boy was my first actual rap album so I wanted to make a statement as far as my ability to adapt to different types of beats as well as my ability to rap in general” says Jay when speaking on the comparison of the projects.
In his own mind, the San Antonio native is taking somewhat of a gamble releasing an album that isn’t what his fans are used to hearing from him, and releasing no single before the drop made it even clearer that the artist was ready to take a huge leap with ‘Phone Calls 4’. DeShaunJay finds himself in the midst of late night hook ups and potential relationships as he speaks on those topics with verses like “Pull up to the spot/bullin with the squad just wasn’t expecting your presence/couldn’t run from it/didn’t need your number I knew how to send you a message/RnB name/coke bottle frame/and plus she had Mya’s complexion” on third track, ‘Only’. His tenth effort ‘Outside’, has Jay somewhat infatuated with a female as he is ready to switch things up and drop everything for her, including any side pieces.
DeShaunJay enlists help from producers Trevv, Vovo, NoSalez, Dionso, Kyduh, Ricci, Havio Beats, and PK, with a lone feature from D’Shaun as he provides his talents with the hook on ‘Switch’. ‘Phone Calls 4’ is a ride filled with emotions, love and lust, with each song sharing a different insight into Jay’s recent roller-coaster of a love life. It’s time to check out the album plus the blog’s songs recommendations below…
Following on from previous hits such as ‘Crushin’ and ‘Naughty or Nice’, CHERYLL is back with her brand new single ‘One of A Kind’, a sultry joint that’s a must have for a R&B collection.
Taking inspiration from the likes of Mary J Blige, Beyoncé and Aaliyah, Cheryll is a unique blend of powerhouse vocals and 90’s melodies, bringing back the nostalgic vibes of 90’s RnB! London-born singer-songwriter, Cheryll is well on her way to becoming one of the key players in UK RnB, and her new single shows just that.
Cheryll’s music delivers that emotional transparency that appeases the listening ear. Being of Gambian heritage, she has featured in live performances in the motherland and made appearances on many platforms building a core fan base in what she calls home. The soulful songbird is a proud winner of the Fresher of the Year Award at the 2022 State of R&B awards with over 40+ live show performances across the UK. With only one EP released so far – amassing over 50k streams – Cheryll’s place as a musician in the industry has already been cemented and it is only becoming strong.
Check out the official video for ‘One of the Kind’ below…
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