Everyday is always the right time to get sentimental with a special loved one. In today’s age when sporadic hookups are common, events move at a million miles and people are wrapped up in their own world, it’s easy to lose track of who means the most to you. Jade Novah doesn’t lose sight of her outward affections with her latest single “I Just Wanna Know”. The Atlanta-based singer/songwriter shines on a silky smooth 1970s R&B groove produced by Devin Johnson, complete with girl group-esque backing vocals, finger snaps, and strings swelling throughout the track.
The soundscape of the track evokes a heavenly feel as Novah escapes into a special place to embrace the lover in her life. When she sings, “Got the voodoo and it’s good for you, I’m always in the mood, In the mood for you”, Novah emphasizes how much she’s head over heels in love and lust. The bluntness of her sentiments is intertwined with an earnest sweetness, fully capturing the aura of a true relationship that can envelop a person. Jade Novah explains:
‘I Just Wanna Know’ is about that point in a relationship when desire & love are in perfect harmony. When you’re in that honeymoon haze, you look at everything through the lens of love. Even the harmonies and vintage instrumentation in the music feel like a dreamy escape from reality.
Full disclosure: I am a huge fan of both John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen. I have seen them both in concert, multiple times, and still regularly listen to their music. Seeing the invitation in my inbox to write about this collaboration was a Valentine! Would the song be something that their fans would like? Absolutely.
John Mellencamp has new music due to be released in 2022. The first single from that upcoming album is “Wasted Days”, a duet with Bruce Springsteen. Both are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, but this marks the first time that the two artists have recorded together.
The lyrics in “Wasted Days” lament the lack of time left in ones’ life and the value of that time. Both artists have written songs throughout their careers that reflect all stages of the human condition, so this theme was not unexpected. After all of these years of music and art success, John Mellencamp (who wrote and produced “Wasted Days”) can still tap into feelings of melancholy and remorse that everyone can relate to.
Musically, Mellencamp and Springsteen sound like they have been playing together forever. The only question to me was, what took them so long?
It’s hard to function after being in an unhealthy situation, but it’s even harder to overcome and embrace your emotions so you can become a better person at the end of the day. Miami-born Spanish singer-songwriter Jacqueline Loor takes listeners through this laborious yet rewarding journey on her debut album, Show Them, due to release this Friday. In response to seeing her sister endure a toxic relationship and eventually gaining the courage to leave her partner, the mother of two wrote this collection of empowering songs to inspire others to thrive and do the same.
At the beginning of the album, Loor recognizes how her relationship is in shambles and reminisces how it used to be. Over time, she realizes how her significant other is only a distant echo of who they once were until she cuts them off from her life and finally gets the opportunity to exhale without them breathing down her back. This alone time allows her to find her footing and take the reigns of her life back, so she can show the world how she can soar and carry on without her former lover.
Although she just started singing several years ago, at the age of 36, Loor’s commanding vocals and intricate, vulnerable lyricism shine throughout, ultimately sounding like an intriguing blend of the cinematic melancholia of Lana Del Rey and the ecstatic optimism of Sara Bareilles. With that in mind, if someone told me that some of these songs were from a musical on Broadway, I’d probably take their word for it.
All in all, this project is remarkable, as it aims to empower listeners worldwide to escape the darkness and discover the light inside themselves.
Loors’ passion for performing is ever-increasing, as seen by how the singer-songwriter self-produced one song on the album, “I Broke My Heart,” and has been releasing a variety of songs sung entirely in Spanish as well.
If this is her first comprehensive venture into the music industry, I’m excited to see what she has in store for the years to come.
Alternative rock band Keep It a Secret returns with their new single “Middle with My Thumbs Up”, as catharsis for listeners. With its mix of soul-piercing screams and whisper-esque vocals over a bombastic guitar-laden instrumental, the band captures the feeling of an emotional roller coaster as they lament over heartbreak and loves that were never quite meant to be. Over a chorus of “Left for dead, it takes time to get away”, the band reluctantly accepts a withdrawal from romance to escape a self-destructive cycle that could claim their sanity and any hope of starting anew. The opening line “I’ve been watching you destroy me” is a sign of infatuation morphing into a ticking time bomb of dependence. The band describes:
‘Middle with my Thumbs Up’ is a dichotic look back on the melancholy of lost love. Although seemingly separate emotions, anger and sadness are often a self-destructive loop that many people experience from heartbreak in all its forms. This song incorporates both intimate, almost whispered vocals and cathartic gritty yells to illustrate these feelings.
The video shows a masked couple in separate colors attempting to embrace within a decrepit household, which captures the realization of disconnect and blindness clouding a relationship. It’s as if one’s own love can end up haunting them and living inside as an unwanted guest for some time.
Check out the video for “Middle with my Thumbs Up” and be on the lookout for Keep It a Secret’s next project.
Harborcoat’s newest LP, “Joy Is Elusive”, debuts on October 1. The sextet, based in Lansing, Michigan, has created a set of songs that are lyrically thoughtful and musically varied. The band’s influences include R.E.M. (the name Harborcoat is from an R.E.M. song), The Smiths, and Billy Bragg and you can hear the impact of those artists on “Joy Is Elusive”.
Band founder and primary songwriter Matthew Carlson explains:
A record titled ‘Joy Is Elusive’ is almost certainly going to be about depression, anxiety and a lifelong struggle with mental illness. That much is true, but there’s more. I think for so many of us, we deny ourselves true joy, or are too afraid to go out and find it. I know that is certainly true in my own experience. The people and the stories in this record are living lives of survival, not a full life. They’re eking out these threadbare existences of shabby surroundings, little hope and the occasional diversion from their struggles. Those diversions most often come by way of self medication or desperate choices with dire consequences. The lyrical content of the album is buoyed by joyous and dense musical foundations. These songs embrace the ethos of what Tom Waits once called, “Beautiful melodies telling me terrible things.” These songs are like short stories with chords. The band name is pulled from an early R.E.M. gem, and the music brims with nods to our heroes. The songs recall the crunchy power pop and harmonies of Teenage Fanclub; the introspection and melodic storytelling of Billy Bragg; and sprinkled in are moments of 80’s esque Brit-Pop or working-class anthems. These influences, however, do not define the record, but they are merely a strand of DNA in Harborcoat’s collective musical helix.
Just before we began recording the record, my Dad died very suddenly. It seemed very likely, I was not going to be in a spot logistically or emotionally to go through with the sessions. My family, and friends all stepped up and convinced me what a tremendous relief it might be to spend a week recording with friends at the family cabin. It was the best possible diversion. I maintain that you can hear our collective grief between the notes of the record, but maybe I just can’t remove myself from it. The loss of my Dad, the uncertainty of the pandemic and the collective anxieties that come will all of that certainly informed the process and the finished product. It feels now like a tribute to ho him that we were able to create something beautiful from all of that darkness.
Two particular track favorites of mine are ‘Help Me Out Somehow’ and ‘Hear Me, I’m Courageous’. Both have spirited, Indie rock melodies with poignant lyrics. Following the release of “Joy Is Elusive”, Harborcoat heads out on an eight city tour to finish up 2021.
Desert Liminal just released their video for their song “Watercolor” from their upcoming LP Glass Fate, which comes out November 19.
The transitions from the paintings to real life were one of my favorite features in this video. It definitely screamed, “life imitates art!” Creatively, it was a really smart decision to add that in because it really added something different into the video. It was really cool that the paintings being present in the video matched the lyrics as well, since they talk about a painter.
The song itself has a meditative and vibey composition to it, which is portrayed rather well in the music video. It has a very nature-esque feel to it as well, and most of the shots take place in nature. In just about every scene of the video, there was some sort of nature competent present. Whether that be the real life outdoors, flowers in a vase, or a tapestry of a field on the wall, it is easy to tell that nature was a big inspiration here in this video.
Make sure to check out Desert Liminal, as well as the music video for “Watercolor,” and be on the lookout for their LP Glass Fate on November 19!
Written and performed by Desert Liminal Produced by Robby Haynes and Ziyad Asrar at Strange Magic Recording Directed and Edited by Sarah Jane Quillin Paintings by Kerry Couch Featuring Mallory Linehan and Kerry Couch
