MUSIC

Jah9 Has a Spiritual Reckoning on "Ma’at (Each Man)"

"What we pay, will be weighed, when we meet our judgment day."

Jah9

Wade Rhoden

Ever since her emergence from the cocoon of Jamaica's "reggae revival" movement, Jah9's polished jazz vibe has captivated listeners.

Described as "black magic," Jah9's spellbinding vibrato conjures up balanced textures steering the way toward spiritual evolution. Her latest single, "Ma'at (Each Man)," the second single from her forthcoming third album that drops early 2020, carries her potent feminine energy with its blend of reggae, soul, and spiritual consciousness.

Jah9 - Ma'at (Each Man) | Official Music Videoyoutu.be

Jah9 explains, "I speak about the karmic cycle and its real implications for the individual relative to their actions on 'Ma'at (Each Man).' No actions go unnoticed, and I am ever reminded that 'what we pay, will be weighed, when we meet our judgment day' in the lyrics. For [me], it represents a coming-of-age, an initiation into the real meaning of social and personal responsibility, an understanding that fosters self-discipline and strength of will: the key tools for rising above karmic forces."

Follow Jah9 Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud | YouTube

MUSIC

HĒIR Plays Games on New Single "My Love"

The singer-songwriter's latest single strips away the indie-electronica sheen for a sparser, more intimate track.

Lara Giliberto

HĒIR's "My Love" is an arresting gem, opening with a sparse guitar and growing steadily into something sultry and sardonic.

Patricia Manfield is the voice and pen behind HĒIR, a globe-trotting singer-songwriter with three compelling singles to her name so far. Her music combines wryly potent vocals with dynamic indie-electronica, a reliably effective mix, as evidenced by her past singles "Threads" and "Soundtrack." But "My Love," her latest offering, turns down the percussive power of her last few releases in favor of a more intimate and disarming sound.

"My Love" is a sort-of love letter, as its title hints at—but HĒIR's specificity makes the track far more enticing than just that. HĒIR's lyrics are softly browbeating, convincing the object of her affections that his current relationship is killing him. "She controls you, you gave her the switch / You'll be dialed if needed again," she reminds him over the sound of sliding guitar strings. The trick of "My Love," and the best part of HĒIR's songwriting here, is that she never outright tells him to leave his toxic girlfriend. She just pulls on the already-unraveling threads, emphasizing the track's feel of coy seduction as the drums kick in: "So I keep dancing, fooling you somehow / Why don't you keep me tied up to your bed?"

HĒIR makes "My Love" risky fun, from the song's slight production and her perfectly double-edged delivery, but the track also showcases an artist coming into her own, effectively building character and sound with the barest materials.

Follow HĒIR online at Instagram | Spotify | YouTube

MUSIC

Jack Gray Premieres His New Track "Friends Like These"

The Australian artist's latest single is an introspective look at his own burgeoning career.

Wolfe and Von Creative

In an exclusive Popdust premiere, Australian pop artist Jack Gray shares "Friends Like These," his latest infectious single.

Gray prides himself on a genre-blending aesthetic, and a scintillating track like "Friends Like These" is no exception. "I grew up listening to everything," he says, "so I feel like that sets the table for me as a songwriter."

"Friends Like These" originates from that same genre-blending aesthetic. Sustained by a powerful EDM-indebted beat, the song features Gray's earnest vocals tuned against a swooping backing chorus and a distorted guitar line. The sound is massive and immediate in its power, drawing the listener in and keeping them there with an electronic, nearly orchestral verve.

Gray's lyrics buckle down the track's soaring production with a dose of reality, worrying about authenticity and paranoia in an unfamiliar setting. "Don't get too close," Gray urges the listener, as if he's protecting someone else as much as he's protecting himself. The song's inviting sound bounces pleasantly off of Gray's anxious songwriting. As young as Gray is, it's refreshing to hear him experiment with introspection on "Friends Like These," a single shot through with a deeply accessible pop.

With a few singles under his belt already and an EP in the works, Jack Gray's making his way in the industry, and "Friends Like These" suggests he's an up-and-coming talent to watch.

Follow Jack Gray online at Twitter | Facebook | Spotify

MUSIC

Sorcha Richardson Talks "Honey" Ahead of Debut Album

The Irish bedroom-pop artist shares a new single and the details of her process with Popdust, a few weeks out from her debut album, First Prize Bravery.

Sorcha Richardson's debut album is on its way, and "Honey," the latest single from the album, is a powerful snapshot of a beautiful, exacting voice.

The Irish singer-songwriter's new single is the second release from her debut, First Prize Bravery, out November 1st. The new single follows in the foot steps of "Don't Talk About It," released early this summer. Richardson has been making music for nearly a decade, and she's perfected a delicate tightrope walk between hard-edged irony and gentle emotionality in her songwriting. But "Honey" arrives in the fallout of heartbreak, with Richardson's liquid vocals and soft piano spelling out the disorienting feeling of love leaving you behind. It's a change of pace from her usual casual cynicism, but a welcoming introduction to her first album, the culmination of years of work.

Popdust got the chance to catch up with Richardson, discussing her songwriting approach and how her music's grown with her.

Your debut album, First Prize Bravery, is coming out in November, and you've been making music at least since 2012. What's that journey been like for you? How has it been to grow into different versions of yourself, as an artist?


It feels like there's been many stages to it all, but I'm very glad I took my time in making an album and did things at my own pace. At the very beginning, I was just making demos in my bedroom on GarageBand. Once I started letting other people into the process, it made me realize how much more was possible, how much I could learn from other musicians, and how much more fun it could be.

I could have put out an album way sooner, but I was enjoying the process of just making music to make it, without too many rules. It feels like things have kind of come full circle in a weird way. Nearly every song on the album began as demo I made by myself in my bedroom, and everything is very guitar driven, like the very first songs I wrote, just with a lot more confidence now than I had back then.

What's the significance, to you, of the album's title? How did you land there?


It comes from the title of one of the songs on the album. I sometimes have a habit of giving my demos two alternative titles. So this one was originally called "1st Prize/Bravery," and then over time it became First Prize Bravery. I don't want to decode it entirely, because I think it's important for people to attach their own meaning to it. But at a very basic level, I think I realized as I got older that one of the greatest achievements you can have in life is just to build up the courage to face your own demons. I think the biggest battles we have to face in life are with ourselves. That is definitely true for me. So that title has a lot to do with that. Having the courage to be honest with yourself. Acknowledging what an achievement it is just to do that.

When did it become clear to you that you were ready for a full length album? Was it a matter of having the right material, or was it just about the right time?


I think some time toward the end of 2017 I just decided that I wanted to make an album. I was back in Dublin after living in New York for a few years, and I spent about four months playing shows around Ireland with my band. Towards the end of that run of shows, it just started to become really clear to me what kind of album I wanted to make. And as soon as I said to myself, "I'm gonna make an album," it completely changed the way that I was writing, and I felt much more excited about the songs I was writing. I guess there's a different freedom in making an album, than there is in releasing singles. You can write songs that might never work as singles but can live as a part of a bigger world on a record.

Heartbreak is nothing new for you, but there's a lot of pain in "Honey," from its production to your lyrics; it sounds like it's pulling from somewhere deep within you. How did it end up sounding the way it does?


I guess I do have a lot of sad songs. "Honey" was the first song I wrote after I decided I was going to make an album. I wrote it at the piano in my parents' house in the middle of winter and the song itself didn't really change at all from the day I wrote it. Sometimes you just feel things so intensely that it feels like you're going insane, and the only way to try and get a handle on it is to write about it. That's kind of what "Honey" is for me.

The way you write about love and want is so interesting. It never seems idealized or unrealistic in your songs, but there is a layer of sentiment, even wistfulness, in your work. Where does that come from for you?


I guess all of my songs are about very specific people in my life, so they're always going to be grounded pretty heavily in reality. But I want them to feel almost like mini-movies. A lot of times I write just because a day or night felt special, and I don't want to forget it. I think life is pretty cinematic anyway. I'll be at a party or driving around Dublin and just the simplicity of people going about their lives feels like there's an entire movie in that.

How do you think about character in your songwriting? There's a really interesting balance between cynicism and romanticism in your voice, even in your early stuff; does that come to you naturally, or is that a conscious piece of your craft?


It's not something I think about consciously at all when I'm writing songs. I studied creative writing and fiction in college, so that probably has a lot to do with why my songs are so narrative-driven. But I think I can be both cynical and idealistic in equal measure. I guess they just meet halfway when I'm writing songs.

Let's say a listener's introduced to you through "First Prize Bravery." What's the most important lesson you want to share with them?


Hmm. That's a hard one. Maybe just that life is hard but friendship makes it worth it.

Follow Sorcha on Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

MUSIC

Jillian Steele Muses On Fate On "No Expectations"

Silky vocals gliding on top of a warm acoustic guitar.

Meet indie pop singer Jillian Steele, who released her new single, "No Expectations," today.

Co-written by Michel Heyaca and James Shelley of American Authors, "No Expectations" describes how everything happens for a reason and, eventually, things come together as intended.

Explaining the inspiration for the song, Steele says, "Life was happening around me and I was just in it without any control and through this song I gained insight that I do deserve things and I should have expectations of what I want."

Now 21-years-old, Steele moved to Nashville when she was 18 to study songwriting at Belmont University. While there, her appetite for creativity redoubled, resulting in contagious musical concoctions, both authentic and alluring. Influenced by female artists such as Maggie Rogers, Sasha Sloan, and Julia Michaels, Steele's sound is all about introspective self-love and empowerment.

"No Expectations" rides an acoustic guitar topped by Steele's vibrant voice. When the rhythm enters, the melody takes on buff dynamics, supporting the surging guitars. Layers of vocal harmonies interweave, giving the music depth and shining blushes of color.

"I've got no, no, no, no, no expectations / Gonna let the pieces fall, let 'em fall, let 'em fall into places / I've got no, no, no, no, no expectations / No, I can't control it all / So let 'em fall, let 'em fall into places."

Follow Jillian Steele Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

MUSIC

F*** Yeah It's Summer. LISTEN NOW!

Improv Group On The Spot Just Dropped the Raunchiest, Craziest, and BEST Song of the Summer You Will EVER Hear

On the Spot


It's loud, it's proud, it's the NSFW song of the summer you've been waiting for...

On The Spot, an NYC-based improv troupe, has come up with this Lonely Island style summer anthem, and it is something special. Featuring gratuitous language, ridiculous rhymes, killer breakdowns, and an over-the-top embrace of all things Summery, it is both unstoppably hilarious, and just a damn fine party jam. "The song was born from a full cast rehearsal which was guest run by the amazing Rachel Rosenthal," says On The Spot director Patrick Reidy, "She encouraged us to create choruses that were as dumb and simple as possible." The rest is all on the screen.

The video features the On The Spot team jamming out on Coney Island beach in a variety of increasingly gratuitous scenes to increasingly gratuitous lyrics. The bar is set high by Andrew Whitbeck chanting the opening chorus, "F*** yeah it's summer, got my T-shirt on, and I'm going to the pool, and I wanna get it on," which immediately sets this party to eleven, and won't ever let it come down. First up is Pat Reidy rapping on the boardwalk, shirt blowing in the breeze, chest tattoo out and proud, telling wintertime it can go do something you can't bring up at your grandmother's birthday.

This is followed up by Chris Catalano making a Harry Potter innuendo you will never be able to un-hear. Then Andrew Del Vecchio jumps in on unnecessary acoustic guitar, and performs what may be the most lit version of "Wonderwall" ever. La Dynasty shows up and drops some of the filthiest fire since Fresh Kills was the subject of an arson attack. Hot on the heels of that is Nathan Armstrong breaking it down in seductive Boyz II Men fashion (and also dumping you because it's summer). The chorus then comes back in, and just when you think it can't get any more insane, Thomas Burns Scully emerges from the ocean, Jason Momoa style, and rips in to a solo. The chorus repeats forever as awkward white men and gorgeous women dance on the sand until the end of time.

If you have ever listened to The Lonely Island and felt great about your life, then this track is for you. If you like over-mixed, over-autotuned, Pitbull style, takes-itself-way-too-seriously club anthems, then this track is for you. If you used to sit in your room and play Weird Al on repeat, then this track is for you. If you like smartly written (but hugely raunchy) lyrics about the middle three months of the year, then this track is for you. Watch the video multiple times and you will pick up new details each time. It's that good.

On The Spot isn't normally an unstoppable party juggernaut though. While they definitely do know how to pump up the jam and worship the gods of summer, their regular grind is creating improvised musicals every Monday night at the Broadway Comedy Club. Their show has been critically lauded over and over again, and has attracted guest stars from the heights of Broadway. If you liked this video, you will love this show. Go see it.

Tickets | Web | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Listen to F*** Yeah It's Summer

Spotify | Apple Music | Amazon | Tidal | Napster | YouTube