La'Monte - What I Came For (EP)

What I Came For (EP) - La’Monte (HipHop) Retro and lo-fi vibes abound in La’Monte’s five-track EP “What I Came For” with its midtempo grooves designed for the house party. With complex arrangements, smooth rap flows and an easy-breezy attitude, the chillness of the record pulls listeners into its current, making for an excellent ‘listen all the way through’ experience. Below we dig into La’Monte and his work.

A native of Philadelphia, La’Monte focuses on groove driven funk and soul elements combined with modern drum arrangements for his particular aesthetic. There’s an old-school sensibility to La’Monte, reminding us of a fusion between early Outkast and early Pharrell productions, taking us back to the 00s and 10s. The artist specifically lists The Neptunes, Tyler the Creator, Ye, Curtis Mayfiled, Cameo and Timbaland among his influences, which all shine through on the EP. This retro feel is combined with a modern production that makes a La’Monte track as fresh as it is nostalgic.

On “What I Came For”, La’Monte hopes for a soul stirring experience, utilizing melodic soul and organic flows and sprinkling in some low key trap elements. He does this as a one-man band and jack-of-all-trades, producing, singing, rapping and playing guitar and piano.

The EP kicks off with “Afterparty”, introducing his listeners to the soundscape that will permeate the rest of the EP. The kick is round and full as old school synths set a dreamy vibe. Layered vocals introduce our artist before his smooth rap flow rides the beat. The lyrics are clever and full of references to the music of yesteryear. Hazy and relaxed, it’s a great track to settle into.

“Rage / Therapy” introduces some 8-bit video game-esque sounds for a very Neptunes feel, including a Pharrell like rap flow. His vocal performances are understated so that they meld into the music, and his melodies are earworms and easy to sing along and slip into.

“These Dream$” carries The Neptunes feel, specifically their early work with Kelis. La’Monte’s flow takes a more center stage approach here, sitting apart from the music to deliver a message about pursuing success and maintaining optimism. He will do this again in “Trophies”.

Title track “What I Came For” breaks up the EP by picking up the pace a bit—it’s a livelier track than the prior songs amplified by the tight trap tops. But when album closer “Trophies” kicks in, we get our biggest changeup in style—the flow moves to a more early Ye styling. It’s a darker track full of tension, shorter and punchier than the other songs—far more centered on the message than the overall groove.

Overall, we are impressed with La’Monte’s exploration of his nostalgic influences. The tracks have unique identities, and while the inspirations are clearly communicated, they do not feel like imitations of what came before, but rather new songs in an overall lineage. The tracks also display musicality, which can often fall to the wayside in modern hiphop productions that focus on lyrics and messaging over tight, but predictable, beats. Not to say that La’Monte doesn’t have interesting and memorable lyrics, he certainly does, but he seems much more focused on creating atmosphere and vibes that wash over his listeners and suck them into his world. We certainly were.

Alexa Perez - Dear Future Me (LP)

Dear Future Me (LP) - Alexa Perez (Pop) With her 6-track EP “Dear Future Me”, Alexa Perez mixes sweet and sadness with a collection of melancholy tunes primed to hit you in your feels. Boasting an impressive production, sparkling vocals and catchy hooks, “Dear Future Me” is a collection of pop gems. We dig into the tracks and the artist below.

Alexa Perez is a latina songwriter turned artist hailing from in Huntsville, AL. Her artistry centers on cohesive storytelling with diary-style lyrics conveyed through dense vocal layering. Alexa marks this project as a chronicle of her evolution over the past four years, each track telling a chapter in the story of her life. Romantic baggage, loneliness, whimsy and longing, the collection’s emotions are set to perfectly crafted and ear candy laden beats. WIth this work, Alexa hopes you will dance, cry and connect.

The overall feel of the album is heaviness. Alexa carries a burden, many in fact, and in “Dear Future Me” she lets the listener in on all that weighs on her. Centered in heartfelt ballads and driving mid tempos, there is a Taylor Swift-ness to the stylings here. Along with the vocal performance and production, Alexa shines throughout as a songwriter, with captivating lyrics that stuck with us long after we finished listening to the project. “Cliche” probably exemplifies this the most.

The production is expertly done, both understated while complex. allowing Alexa’s vocals to shine throughout as the instrumentation fills the space and provides accompanying tension to Alexa’s angst. Instrument separation and clarity are perfection while still melding into a cohesive tracks. With Alexa’s vocals often intimately close, the instrumentation thrums along as if it is her heartbeat.

“ROCKETSHIP” begins the project with a slinky tango—a slippery lead bass winding through the backing as Alexa broods with darkness. The track reaches its crescendo in the choruses, culminating in a rousing anthem that has great sing-along-ability. The baton is handed to “Cliche”, which we think is the star of the project. The lyrics come to the forefront here, with dense vocal layering hitting you right in the chest as the sparkling instrumentation exemplifies the sorrow therein. This track is a standout.

“Virgo Moon” is where we feel the most Taylor, as Alexa yearns for the bliss of ignorance, burned by the curse of introspectiveness and self-awareness. “Obsessive” gives us Lorde—a bit more edge than the other tracks. But when we finally reach “On My Own” we no longer just simmer in our feelings, the drive returns with some clear forward momentum as the pace picks up. The journey that track beings culminates in “Wondering”, a perfect project closer that touches on some 80s influences in the way that Carly Rae Jepsen often does.

Overall, we are most impressed with the storytelling on “Dear Future Me.” Alexa is clearly a woman at the beginning of an emotional journey. She has carefully evaluated, weighed and unpacked the baggage that she has carried through her 20s. And now after that self assessment, we’re left wondering where she will go next. We’ve enjoyed this chapter in Alexa’s story and anxiously await the next.

Belle Lundon - Space Cadet (Remix)

Space Cadet (Remix) - Belle Lundon (Pop) Belle Lundon remixes her track “Space Cadet” to give us a minimalist dance floor banger. It’s a powerful pop vocal, with some ear candy touches of tuning with some fun distorted verb punches. Overall the performances feel Rhianna inspired—a ”Bitch Better Have My Money” feeling. As noted, the instrumentation is minimal, leaving lots of space for the vocal to fill the track, giving a melancholy piano line to set a foreboding tone, as punchy percussion and bass leads give the dance floor flavor. We especially like how the track closes, adding an extra movement that slows things down and takes a surprising left turn that inspires you to put the track on repeat.

Best Lyric: “Feels like I’m drowning, grab my hands and lift me up.“

Love Ghost - Time Travel

TIME TRAVEL - Love Ghost (Emo) Love Ghost’s romantic partner is going through some turmoil, and in “TIME TRAVEL” our artist wishes to travel back in time in order to fight the demons that are threatening the strength of their relationship. It’s a big track—foreboding in tone—and epic and cavernous in size. A collaboration with Mexican artist Yung Dupe, and produced by Mexico's Shantra, the use of verbed synths and a haunting piano line sets the tone. There’s danger in the track, as Love Ghost warns that in fighting someone else’s demons, they could become your own. Put this on your karaoke list.

Best Lyric: “The scars on your thighs look like the scars in your eyes to night.“

Sam Dickinson - Flex

Flex - Sam Dickinson (Pop) Sam Dickinson brings some post-disco funk vibes with dancefloor spinner “Flex”, which seems primed for the summer tea dance scene. Sam has a strong and clear pop vocal rooted in 70s stylings, often popping up into that BeeGees falsetto. The song takes the theme of showing off your physicality to deliver a message about loving yourself and showing off your confidence. Inspired by a conversation with Sam’s partner about hiding themselves from people by painting a picture over their true selves, “Flex” is an aspirational song telling the listener to drink their own Kool Aid and show the public who they are.

Best Lyric: “Your mind, your fire your confidence. The power is yours you don’t need to pretend.“

Proklaim - FOR YOU

FOR YOU - Proklaim (Rap) The prolific Proklaim—like I think we’re at a track a week—returns in a romantic mood, with “FOR YOU”, a song about being motivated by love. The hiphop and afrobeat fusion is a plucky mid tempo, and as always Proklaim knows how to ride a beat. There’s a wistful feeling to the track, evoking the often ephemeral feeling of love. Proklaim continues in his lane with his well cemented formula, this time leaning heavy on the spitfire vocals (we can’t imagine the kind of vocal warmups he must to do prepare himself for this) that fly by so fast the track needs a few listens to unpack the wisdom within.

Best Lyric: “On this road that I tread now unphased.“

Jeff Eager - Audience of Three (Live)

Audience of Three (Live) - Jeff Eager (Pop) How is this live? With a live rendition of “Audience of Three” we are gobsmacked with the pitch perfect vocals. With a powerful instrument, Jeff Eager gives a musical theater flare to the track, giving us some Elton John vibes, with some retro inspired chord progressions (we felt some “Don’t Stop Believing” in here and even a touch of “In My Life”), delivering a song that immediately says to us 80s movie soundtrack. But as heavenly as the synths are and crisp the minimalist percussion, it’s the vocal performance that makes the track shine. We can confidently say, run to a Jeff Eager show.

Best Lyric: “Attempt to trace the path of creativity.“

Moon and Aries - FIRENIGHT

FIRENIGHT - Moon and Aries (Pop) Moon and Aries returns with a mystical track in latest single “FIRENIGHT.” Nighttime beach campfire vibes abound in this track, with sparkling plucky synth bells conjuring an ethereal atmosphere, as haunting verb touches add a paranormal element, all before fully flying into a fever dream with foley conversations and building chord progressions. As we’ve come to expect from Moon and Aries, our female vocal is dramatic and evocative, like a siren calling a ship to shore. The song also has great movement, giving the listener beats to rest and submerge into the miasma of the sonics before delving back into the storm.

Best Lyric: “Like a phoenix in flight.“

Elizabeth Shepherd - Three Things (LP)

Three Things (LP) - Elizabeth Shepherd (Jazz/Soul)  Six-time JUNO award nominee Elizabeth Shepherd returns with seventh studio album “Three Things”, written during the pandemic as an exploration of the sounds found at home. This origin doesn’t surprise us due to the intimacy of the album, generated from a combination of sound selection and spatial production that puts the listener right next to Elizabeth to bear witness to her creativity. An impressive showcase of musicality and an example of an artist immersed in her element, we dig into the eleven-track LP below.

First, a little about Elizabeth. The celebrated jazz-soul musician is on the road, taking her Elizabeth Shepherd Trio show from Montreal to London with a performance at Pizza Express’ The Pheasantry in Chelsea on April 16th. Aside from her JUNO award nominations, Elizabeth has shared the stage with the Quantic Soul Orchestra, Christian MacBride, and Victor Wooten, and opened for Jamie Cullum at his sold-out Hollywood Bowl show. No stranger to the radio, Elizabeth has also appeared on NPR, BBC Radio 1, and CBC Radio’s art show Q, and has also been featured by MOJO, Straight No Chaser and London Evening Standard.

On “Three Things”, Elizabeth illustrates what sits underneath all of these accolades—an impressive musicality that rises above form to allow for pure, unadulterated play. It’s an intimate experience, with the use of reverb and recording techniques creating an almost surround sound feel to the album, which works to stick the listener in the center of a private jazz club or even Elizabeth’s own living room. When listening to “Three Things” you feel less like an audience member and more like a friend who has been invited to sit in on the creative process.

Your seat is right next to Elizabeth, who’s delicate and close vocal slips right into your ear. While certainly rooted in jazz—from the travelling base lines to the sizzling percussion—she cleverly bakes in synth elements that elevate, not dominate, her productions. If drawing comparisons to the world of pop—where most of our references on this blog sit—we would place her lyricism and vocal performance in the realm of Fiona Apple, with production feeling close to Halsey’s “100 Letters”.

Among the standout tracks for us is the album opener “Time” which plays with time and melody in a way that both introduces you to Elizabeth’s playfulness while creating a dizzying effect to draw you into her soundscape that will permeate the rest of the album. Title track “Three Things” contains a bevy of ear candy—from the production of the background vocals and their ghostly reverse effects to the sparkling twinkle of the synths—that makes for an intoxicating listen.

But when those fuzzy rhodes kicked in on “Vernon Morning Star”, we found our favorite track. Elizabeth gets a bit funky on this one, as the simple touch of a lead synth line to her tight percussion arrangement adds vibrancy. Finally, the cavernous “All You Need” is a culmination of all of the elements on display throughout the album, leaving the listener with a soul stirring and haunting finale.

Jay Kurdy - Rise Again

Rise Again - Jay Kurdy (Rap/Pop)  Manchester rapper Jay Kurdy brings an inspirational and motivational vibe with latest track “Rise Again.” Driven by the piano chord progression and accompanied by a soulful guitar feature, Jay’s latest song deals with overcoming internal struggle to reach your zenith. Positive vibes abound as Jay encourages his listeners to keep the faith, especially after a downturn, and reminds them that hope is never lost, while conveying his own struggles with reaching his better self. That message is delivered over an anthemic production that reminds us a lot of later Timbaland tracks, when he was leaning more into pop in the 10s. So, if you need someone to remind you to keep your head up, turn to Jay’s “Rise Again.”

Best Lyric:  “Sound of my conscience loud and confident.”

Super Saiyan Jay - Can I

Can I - Super Saiyan Jay (Rap)  Super Saiyan Jay is bringing chill R&B grooves with his latest track “Can I”, a 90s/00s feeling track and bumping mid tempo. Jay’s flow is immaculate over sparkling rhodes, crispy percussion and an analog fuzz, and overall gives us the feeling of early Kanye—College Dropout era. The laid back approach to the song makes it an easy listen, reminding us of the days where you’d spend nights just driving around the neighborhood with your friends. With that chill approach comes a quiet confidence as Jay lists his many accolades and security in who he is as an artist. It’s a bop.

Best Lyric:  “Shine too bright for you to see.”

Astralix - Crazy World

Crazy World - Astralix (EDM)  Astralix just wants to dance the night away on latest track “Crazy World.” The message is certainly relatable—it’s a crazy world right now and we all just need to just let loose once in a while. The instrumental reminds us a lot of the dancehall anthems of the late 90s and early 00s—the “Blue” Eiffel 65 era if you will. On top of the spinning synths and driving piano line sits a powerful female vocal lead that beckons you onto the dancefloor like a siren to the shore. But overall, the thrust of the song is the vibe, certainly giving you the feeling of spinning around in circles amongst the flashing lights.

Sophia Stevens - Fervor

Fervor - Sophia Stevens (Pop) Sophia Stevens’ latest track, “Fervor”, is a seductive number with great sing-along-ability. Delivering an emotive and evocative vocal performance, Sophia belts her passion all over the track with the power of a Florence and The Machine track. Lyrically, however, we’re feeling Fiona Apple, and Sophia similarly chews and twists her lyrics with a dramatic flair. Underneath the wordsmithing is a chaotic and driving instrumental, featuring a travelling bass line that gives the number a bit of a jazz vibe. Powerful and savage, Sophia brings her fervor on this one.

Best Lyric: “I’m not the one for your passions.“

JD Kelleher - Dance On Ur Own 2 Feet

Dance On Ur Own 2 Feet - JD Kelleher (Pop) London-based queer, non-binary Irish performer JD Kelleher is delivering some much needed positivity with latest track “Dance On Ur Own 2 Feet”, a song about being yourself, relishing in your uniqueness and identity and enjoying life. On the track, JD reunites with Catalan musicians, Jimmy Pinol, David Ibarz & Marti Rieira (along with new band member Alex Badia on keys & synths) who together previously topped the Irish rock chart during the Marriage Equality referendum in May 2015. “Dance on Ur Own 2 Feet” is a plucky pop production which begs for an audience sing along—certainly an all ages affair. JD uses a tuning effect to give a unique identity to his vocal production. This is one you can hear during the ending credits of a family friendly movie, for sure.

Best Lyrics: “When you’re true to yourself you can onlly succeed.“

Marissa Mansion - L O V E R

L O V E R - Marissa Mansion (Pop)  Marissa paints a lush landscape with latest release, “L O V E R.” With a close and intimate vocal delivery, Marissa balances between wistful and forlorn on a track that definitely gives us Taylor vibes. Lilting keys are cut with an almost tribal feeling percussion, as delicious vocal walls and harmonies fill the space between. The song also has great movement, from the drive of the chorus to the emptiness at the close. What the track does best is encapsulate a feeling, from the instrumental production to the vocal delivery, this is one to surely get you in your feels.

Best Lyrics: “Canvas covered in colors.”

Parker Kay - Paint the Skies

Paint the Skies - Parker Kay (R&B) Blue-eyed soul R&B crooner Parker Kay shows up with a seductive waltz in latest cut, “Paint the Skies.” The warbly, muted old-timey keys put you in the feels immediately, with a vinyl tinged percussion kicking in to introduce Parker’s reedy baritone. The track is smoky, hazy—with swells that feel like waves hitting the shore. It gives us very “Worth It” Weeknd vibes. The song takes an interesting turn after the second chorus, however, leaning heavy on mood and atmospherics, abandoning the melody to let the instrumental carry you out to sea. It’s quite a beautiful track, and one of our favorites this year.

Best Lyric: “Hurricane in my mind.“