From Baltimore comes a music producer “Clutchboy Kuma” who consumed his time with producing bombing beats and R&B music in collaboration with a smooth and harmonic voice “Sophie Defrench” from Indiana has created their second song together in a newly released song on the 3rd of June, 2022 a song called “Devil I Know” With an immaculate vibe that gets the real devil out of you with the buzzing rhythmic beats of Kuma’s creation.
They have first created the song “If Only” and they amazingly have never met in real life creating two masterpieces through connecting virtually. Two brilliant minds and Sophie’s angelic voice have collided to come out with the song “Devil I know” that is coming into our playlist so bad with ambiguous dreamy dark vibes and lyrics. The sound of this song is so melodic with some booming jazz and rhythmic beats that progressed along with Sophie’s melodious voice as she sings. It gives you the perfect balance you wish to hear in a song.
Compared to “If Only” it’s not as slow but perfects the vibe to it as if it’s completing each other with the lyrical feels that it gives to the listener while a bass guitar playing in the background buzzes your eardrums and connects to your stomach indescribable feeling.
It feels as if it’s one of the music you hear in movie or series with intense sexual or dramatic scenes that has a dark romance story to it, the song gives that kind of tingling vibe when you watch “50 Shades of Grey” or the series “The Affair.” You can perfectly listen to it by the sea with a pit of fire and some beer imaging the breezy air coming with a tingly feeling that I mentioned earlier that deals with your emotions.
The music is simple and yet so great, they both created a piece that will go viral through the dark and mystical points of view for some of their listeners. I personally added this one to my playlist along with their previous song “If only.”
Kuma will give you the most satisfaction with the rhythmic tunes and music he makes, a brilliant mind Is shining through!
Exceptional artists with genuine talent and a sincere message are hard to forget. That’s why I still remember the US-based singer, songwriter, producer, and worship leader, John Long, since I was introduced to him at the beginning of this year, reviewing his single, “Only Limit Is You.” And now it’s time to delve into his passionate project, in which he evoked all his musical talents, sincere emotions, and intense experiences on his latest album, “Zealous.”
It is an incredible gift to be able to translate your feelings into something tangible that can be shared, such as words or music. It’s not an easy process to get the work done, but it just flows naturally when you’re truthful about what you’re willing to share. That is what makes the album that has been made from the depths of John Long’s heart reach to the most vulnerable part of one’s heart.
“Zealous” is a journey to pursue God’s presence in one’s life. The eight-track album is meticulously crafted, with heartfelt, profound, and cordial lyrics that put you in the place of others in different stories in the Bible; poignant vocals that color to fit the single’s mood, sound, and message; and the fusion of Rock, Pop, and Electronic that make each single sound different, feel different, and make one engage with the outstanding composition they’re hearing.
Before hearing it, I was willing to just pick the songs I liked and refer to them, but once I pressed the play button, I didn’t feel myself until I was immersed in its aesthetic. Should we begin the not-short but worthwhile adventure?
Believe, let him in, seek him out
The journey of faith begins with “Ghost Upon The Water.” We intend to believe that if we were in the shoes of others, we would behave differently, and Long took us to the middle of the sea, alongside the disciples. Would we take the leap? Or would we hear: “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31 NIV). Most of the song brilliantly conveys the conflict of doubt and, by the end, the certainty of faith. The tone of the vocals, instrumentation, and lyrics shift from questioning and floppy as the raging water to calm, joyous, and reliant. It’s a recurring song that leaves you believing that: “There’s beauty in the mystery of hope.”
Moving to the fittingly titled “Joy,” with all the elements bursting with spiritual joy that doesn’t end when the circumstances are gloomy. The dynamic percussion resembles one’s rising heart rate when they’re feeling an internal joy that is always renewable. How the vocals sound delightful shows how sincere Long is. It’s a three-minute single, but its feelings last much longer.
There’s a huge difference between acknowledging that God exists and seeking his presence in every moment of your life. “Zealous,” the title track, embodies that yearning. It’s not about opening the door that God knocks; it’s about having the attitude of “I’m running after you. I’ll never stop chasing you.” And the most touching line in the lyrics that deliver the message clearly is: “A zealous heart knows no season.” I know it’s something I’d like to always remember. Musically wise, we haven’t reached half of the album yet, and it’s obvious that each single song sounds exactly as it feels, as the message it delivers. You can see how the guitars, percussion, and vocals are zealous here, especially in the vibrant chorus that give chills.
“Wash Your Feet” is the halfway point on our journey to the depths of worship. Right from the intro, the electronic elements blend with the rock sound and catch your ears. And once Long’s vocals enter with a delicate, peaceful tone, he evokes the scene of the sinful woman who broke the alabaster jar that she could barely afford over Jesus’ feet and washed them out with all kindness, oblivious to how everyone else is taking and thinking. Would we ever have her faith and think, “Let it coast me everything, to wash your feet.”
Blase Pivovar
Feel his presence
Starting with intense strings, which give a mystic feeling, in “In Awe.” As it progresses, it turns out to be an almost instrumental piece, and the simple lyrical and touching vocals just complement the ethereal sensations of the track. It portrays the feeling of being in awe of God, not knowing what to say, not knowing how to describe it! You just stand still and feel the beauty of his presence. It’s the simplest single of the album, yet it effectively touches one’s core.
Hearing “Throne Room” gives you a majestic feeling of angels soaring around you. How it progresses and builds around well-thought texture, demonstrates the intense emotions of feeling surrounded by God’s holiness, feeling that you’re joining the angels in sacramental rituals of glorifying him with all your heart.
Embrace the peace
“Rest, O Child” is a song that you can close your eyes and hear to feel serene. The tranquil atmosphere will let you forget about the world’s events and mental troubles for a while. The peaceful vocals along with the gentle guitar chords take your heavy heart at ease and let some light penetrate it. It urges us that every time we feel like we need to hide from the world, we can seek God’s warm hugs and lean on his shoulders.
The spiritual journey concludes with “More Than Enough,” which leaves us with the vital moral of knowing that one of the results of having a consistent relationship with God is that we end up seeing him in everything, hearing him everywhere, and finding him to be more than enough. The single starts with the line: “Through all the noise in all the world, I hear a whisper calling me deeper into life, into joy, into hope,” with soulful vocals that embody it, carrying the grace and fulfilment we feel when we are in union with God. And that’s the sensation that endures throughout the single with its soft rhythm, heartfelt lyrics, and moving vocals.
Wow! What a journey! John Long certainly outdid himself. Making a fatty meal like this isn’t easy. The album is driven by the emotions of a loyal servant of God. But he didn’t just want to deliver the message; he wanted it to be delivered perfectly, paying attention to every detail, and ensuring that the production of each song enhanced its meaning. I could go on and on, and I obviously didn’t try to express it briefly, but hearing it yourself is an entirely different experience.
Nolan Forghani, AKA FOLEY, is a nonconventional artist with lots of determination. It usually takes years for teenagers to figure out what they want to be or what to study, but not FOLEY; he has always known what he wanted to do since he picked up a guitar at the age of 8. The California-based artist decided to pursue his dream and moved to Los Angeles to study music production and business at California Lutheran University. Having the necessary tools, a significant amount of knowledge, and his passion to drive him, he worked in songwriting, production, and engineering, which gave him the necessary experience to position himself within the industry and receive the recognition he deserves.
Forghani has been releasing singles since 2017, 30 singles to be exact, and a very interesting debut EP named “Who is Foley?”. After a short break in between, the artist released a series of singles in 2020 and 2021 that received thousands of streams and views on different platforms. Although the music was different, they all shared the same artwork template series, which made it all seem somewhat connected or thematic in a very interesting way. Another unusual and abstract thing about FOLEY is how he doesn’t like to conform to a specific genre of music, resulting in a wide range of sounds like Hip-hop, Alternative, and Indie.
“Disappointed” is his debut single, released this year. It’s a pop track with rock guitar vibes and an indie mood. It starts with a strummed guitar riff, then guitar chords, and an electronic beat that is maintained throughout. The vocal line is narrating a story while singing it in a beautiful, simple, and easy way to listen to and comprehend. It’s a song that most of our younger selves and teenagers can relate to, where he says how he disappointed his parents when he didn’t join medical school or a more stable and prestigious career, and instead he studied music and made a living out of it. He understands how hard this must have been for them, but he believes that pursuing his dreams and being passionate about what he does is the way to go, and he wouldn’t have done it differently. Honestly, who hasn’t faced this dilemma with their parents?
A talented artist who made some dope beats from Plano, US the amazing “Havoc Osiris.” He creates dystopian hip hop tracks and released an awesome wide collection of albums with extraordinary beats on his 31st birthday, which was on the 4th of June, 2022 listening to one of the albums “Payoff” sound, it blew me away with a lot of great varieties of tunes.
Having to wait to release all his 25 albums on different occasions wasn’t an option for him, the guy is awesome enough to have it all out at once, and making it special for his birthday is so far the greatest gift he can give himself as an artist and something you love to make.
Havoc released 25 albums among them is an album called “Payoff,” which was inspired by a dystopian novel series and so he worked on the making of the albums before the pandemic. He mentioned that the project is called “Imbalance” and that 6 of the albums are outlined in that novel, those 6 chronologically are “Overture,” “Discharge,” “Hardware,” “Survival,” “Risk and Reward,” and “Payoff.”
It is a bomb work translating a novel into music, One of the tracks that caught my attention from the album “Payoff” is a track called “Gunmetal Lore,” it’s so catchy with those different beats and beautiful Arabian beat mixed in it got me to listen more deeply into this album. “Masterless” is another track that was created profoundly with cool and soothing hip-hop beats. “Full Circle” gave me a Mario cart vibe but yet I like this one as it has a dark and mysterious feeling to it.
“Numberless” is the last track in this album and gave the adventurous feel that the music got you traveling into different dimensions and cultures.
This album was carefully named with each and every track it contains, it was made with a lot of effort and he has a great future of making music ahead. Compared to the other albums this album “Payoff” which contains 18 banging tracks had a great aesthetic to it with electro sound and other weird yet so cool beats to listen to with great other mixes like “Gunmetal Lore.”
Havoc mentioned that this release has a special meaning to him and that’s why he named each one that he has his own connection to it and every listener can interpret the meaning of each track with their own connections to those.
Simon Van Booy quote: “Music is only a mystery to people who want it explained. Music and love are the same”
An artist came from Dubai-born Indian “Aryan Kapoor” with induced multi-talented skills in him with a fusion of rap and hip-hop, based in L.A. he produced his own music by himself and created his own song lyrics releasing a new single on the 7th of June, 2022 that is “PLASTICHRTZ.” It went viral on different platforms as it got released along a fashion line and had great growth on TikTok, living through his music to deliver his own messages in various unique ways through his creativity.
Aryan mentioned in one of his interviews that he wants to spreads out his music that give a “babyblue” vibe as he described, and show them that support is out there to the people that are similar to him and make them aware that there are some great opportunities for different growth. Posting a picture quoting “I apologize to everyone. I was trying to be someone I wasn’t. Now I know what must be done. Because who else will id I don’t. I found myself and I hope you do too, But if you can’t then I don’t blame you because who wouldn’t know that.” He tried to give out a message through a different and unique way of knowing himself and his origins. It’s different and everyone in the culture.
In his new single “PLASTICHRTZ” he sings along with different aesthetic vibes of rap, hip-hop, and pop that is so different from any other songs he released previously, with juicy vibes creating a piece of fun music that tells us a story through, quoting “I live where I write,” I can see Aryan is growing with a lot of talent that was buried abyss in with leveling up skills of his own and he has a long way to release an awesome potential to a monster level of new buzzing music.
Aryan has gone through making many other singles that are definitely worth being listened to that I went through and can check out “Traumatized,” “THETHINGSILIVEFOR,” “Rolling With You” and “She Don’t Know.” With the immense success that Aryan can give will be known as an awesome music builder.
I don’t like nostalgia. Remembering sweet times gone by gives me a feeling of sorrow and loss of memories and feelings that can’t be recovered.
Makram is an American/Lebanese singer-songwriter who specializes in a certain brand of biographical pop. This single is called ‘Young Again’, a gentle, lilting piano ballad that pines over the sweetness of youth. A particular youth before social media became a thing. It utilizes a gorgeous multi-part melody on top of simple piano chords that open for an emotional chorus that conjures the magical music of ‘Majical Cloudz’ to mind (if you don’t know them, you’re missing out).
The production couldn’t be more direct. Vocals front and center, with minimum-to-no alteration whatsoever. The tempo is, elegantly, all over the place, also the vocals that tend to sway in and out of tune gently, speak of an intimate delivery of the words, and a realistic, intimate take of unchanged singing.
Simple messages are best served with simple music, and here… it can’t be simpler, or sweeter. Check out Makram’s uplifting singing in his gorgeous take on nostalgia for childhood.
London’s Abbey Road meets Broadway on this gentle marvel of vocals.
London’s Remi Charles rediscovered himself and reconsidered his Rock roots during the pandemic, and after a period of assessing his mental health and recovering, he emerged from a cocoon with a brand new pop brand that’s truly unique.
Hush is a call out for a dark part taking its hold on you, imploring it to release you from its grip. A haunting, lush and luxurious pop song with an ingenious vocal arrangement. The song is engulfed from start to finish with warm choir vocals that fizzle in and out in short, passionate phrases. Topped by the creamy voice of Remi himself, a very capable vocalist with an impressive range and delicate control of dynamics and with an impeccable feel and delivery.
The first half is defined with a sparse minimalist beat that serves and a simple backbone, that’s defined in the second half with a very powerful throbbing bassline that truly carries the song to a different place altogether, while Remi pours his heart out on top for a sensational minute of pure soul.
Remi takes over the likes of Rhye and Ry X (resemblance not intentional) and adds beautifully to their particular school of fragile art-pop. a smart craftsman of melody and voice that’s ready to blossom, and when he does, I will certainly be on the lookout.
Travis Ryan Bramble is not just a musician, he’s a philanthropist who aims to use his voice, talent, and platform to speak for the ones who are different and to encourage people to love themselves, he shares his life story and uses his influence to inspire them to not limit themselves or surrender into where society places them.
Ryan is an entrepreneur and a New York-based artist with an extensive experience in singing and songwriting, he is also a man of many artistic talents, and crafts and an activist. Yet, he chose to focus on expanding his music career in which his true passion lies. In no time the artist received recognition from his fans and the press where he got featured in several articles and media appearances. He has over 7.7K monthly listeners on Spotify with some songs played almost 300K times and over 88K followers on Instagram, not to mention his songs reaching thousands of viewers on YouTube. The artist has a very interesting discography, in 2020 and 2021 he released a series of singles about women with different zodiac signs which was a very interesting idea with very significant and well-reflected music to describe each thoroughly.
“The River” is his latest single which is about the crimes occurring in his neighborhood and he compared it to “River Styx” and how it washes away lost souls and adds a metaphor of how the mother’s tears crying over their sons and family created that river. It’s a very powerful rap track with a simple melody on the piano, a soft echoing of backing singers singing a series of “ohs and yeahs” while keeping a steady beat.
The Nashville-based rockers Geez Louise are one of those bands with heavy influences that they are planning to make good use of. Mixing their influences together and adding their own unique touch they wrote and released their debut EP “Candy Bruise” on the 1st of July, 2022. It’s a real piece about real life’s ups and downs and sometimes misfortunes all draped in a classic alternative sound from the land where Alanis Morissette and The Cranberries came from.
“Candy Bruise” kicks in with the dreamy “Old Haunts”, a song about our most confusing age period, the mid-twenties. It starts with a mellow swaying melody with Sierra Torres laying some “jazzy” vocals before the distorted melody takes over control. The guitar tune felt pretty accurate with the song shaping into a more alternative sound. The groovy (Caribbean maybe) interlude around the 2:30 minutes mark was pretty surprising and I loved how they took it from there to that heavy fuzzy ROCKING outro. You can feel them steering into a brighter and more colorful direction in “Placing Bets” like everyone decided to go on and have fun. Bassist Eli Slaughter and drummer Tyelen Gibbs are in perfect harmony while Sierra Torres is flexing her vocals (especially with the chorus’ beautiful vocal melody) and guitarist Nick Jude is throwing melodies and licks everywhere before playing a classic alternative solo. Remember the part about mixing their influences? Keep that in mind while playing “Bomb Shelter”.
Its floating samba-like melody will get you moving with its smooth romantic melodies. Choosing such sound and melodies for a song about domestic abuse within romantic relationships to reflect the struggle the victims go through as they are being deceived under the name of love was a brilliant move from my POV and, it proved Geez Louise’s work’s authenticity and vision. “Solipsism” is about getting lost inside your head and leaving your dark thoughts to take over control. Its sound takes us back to their groovy sound with a chilling sweet vocal melody and a super interesting bassline. It progresses into a heavier sound around the outro with some outstanding intense drumming that I believe reflected the mess we’ve all got inside our heads at that state. Exploring a grungier sound comes “Out Out”, it was a needed rocking break dynamically as it boosted the EP’s mood with its rocking wailing guitar intro and playful vocal melody. The production and guitar tune was on point with this one as it sounds so old school, I’m picturing a black and white music video. Ending the EP with the mellow streaming “Bury the Lead” that I was lucky to review a couple of weeks ago and I believe it’s still my fav. It sums up Geez Louise’s sound with its laid-back beautiful melodies, floating groove, fluid-structure, tender vocals, and solid songwriting.
“Candy Bruise” is a very special debut, the songs are all on the same standard with lots of effort and musicianship that’s clearly showing, the EP’s dynamics and songs’ order is quite interesting and logical and the topics are heavy and real. It shows that Geez Louise knows their influences quite well and that they have a clear vision about how they’ll use those influences. I really enjoyed “Candy Bruise” and I would say that it’s one of my favs so far this year and I believe it’ll be yours too. Good luck Geez Louise, I’m looking forward to your full length. Cheers!
As a culmination of the releases “I AM A MACHINE”, “the future, or a glitch?”, which were created in the wake of his NDE in 2017, English guitarist and composer from Salisbury, Rob Johnson Music, is releasing his new album “hi,” where he was able to forge his unique brand of Vo Electronica’s experimental instrument records.
“Throw The Sun Into The Sea” was his second album released with 10 self-produced short tracks, and the first was “Upon a Painted Ocean,” creating a highly immersive and intense audio experience with this trilogy.
Rob’s Audio Journeys dive into timeless and fascinating explorations of instrumental sounds and electronic grooves, and his 10-track album “hi” is forward-thinking and famous for its complex dramatic music, and is no exception to Rob’s work. It is a powerful, synthetic, and hypnotic show that requires all of your focus from the very first note.
“sea of skeletons” sounds noticeably different from the opening track, Johnson uses a complex vocal melody as the keystone, really leans into the Vo electronica setting, and is very skilled at crafting it.
But then in “fading orange soon,” the English artist takes you on a journey that feels so detached from what you’ve been experiencing before, that it begins to confuse you for a while before trapping you in a pit from which you can’t escape. The great electronic song is divided into several sections, each of which feels like a special moment.
The track “you will wonder” has a distinct acoustic character created by guitars. And another track called “God is laughing at your plans too” has very fun audio samples repeating different musical phrases that cleverly catch your eye.
It certainly won’t be entirely clear where Rob Johnson’s eighth album will take you, as each track seems to go a different way in both instrumentation and feel. It makes you wonder how there is music without any kind of words that can still make its way into people’s lives and carry so many complex and thoughtful meanings.
“hi” isn’t an ordinary recording; it’s a massive volume of harmony and melodies that puts you in the back of your head. Add some to your carefully chosen list.
