Mr. Barry and his Orchestra...

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[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents 2020: a playlist - #29.

#29. "MAGA? (featuring Angela Rye)" - PJ Morton

Most people don't know that Maroon 5 has a black member in it, and that man is the keyboardist/vocalist PJ Morton. He joined the band full time right after their "Moves Like Jagger" days (which is ironically when they went full power pop and ditched the majority of their early soul influences), but to his credit he has been racking up an impressive catalog of neo-soul, R&B, and gospel records as a solo artist and a producer. His album "PAUL" consists of chemistry rich collaborations with other soulful vocalists and finds him trying to redefine him from his previous releases by presenting his most honest version of himself. In the song "MAGA?" he nails it, pouring out his heart out about the present state of politics in the United States. This is the response to the Make America Great Again movement brought on by the 45th U.S. President Donald Trump and other conservative pundits from a black man's point of view. PJ Morton connects the ongoing movement and culture ignited by the Trump campaign to the ongoing unjust murder of citizens by police for no reason other than racial profiling, and also racial injustice. He asks the question "When was America great and for who?" and even brings on legislative advocate Angela Rye who further drives the point home on the outro of the song. I know that there's a completely different world that exists where people laugh and mock songs like this, but trust, the sentiment behind it comes from a very real place. Kudos for PJ Morton for not holding back his feelings and using his platform to give a perspective on issues that affect him deeply on a personal level.

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents...2020: A Playlist - #30.

#30. "Ants" by Tank and The Bangas

Tank and The Bangas is a collective of musicians based in New Orleans founded by Tarriona "Tank" Ball. Tank started her artistic career as a slam poet, and it definitely shows. Much of their songs are driven by spoken word, but their influences run the gambit of soul, R&B, gospel, hip-hop, funk, and rock. The best thing about this band is that every song is completely and utterly unpredictable. What sounds like a ballad may turn into a funky jam session, then transition into a jazz solo, before ending in a zany rap performance. It's all held together by the tight musicianship of Tank and Company and their commitment to create this imaginative musical world that they jokingly call "Soulful Disney". Their live performances give each song that they perform extended life as they transform each piece into a completely different experience. Equally as introspective as it is fun, "Green Balloon" is an album that takes you on a journey through what New Orleans is now. It's ditching the traditional tropes of the jazz and soul New Orleans has been known for and instead gives us a buffet of modern flavors to choose from.

"Ants" was the song that I kept returning to, as I enjoyed the comparison of the journey of an ant to a human going through the various stages of life. Tank makes it personal and specific to her but still brings the listener in as if they've been there to witness her journey all along and is only doing a recap for the fun of it. Everything about this piece creates an atmosphere that I want to be a part of.

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents...2020: A Playlist - #31.

#31. "I Need $$$" - Jessica Nicole Brown

Jessica Nicole Brown is an independent artist that resides in Chattanooga, Tennessee. How did I find out about her you ask? The power of social media, of course! A friend of mine was sharing some of her music online, and me being the naturally curious person that I am decided to give a try. I was surprised to find her sound to be a refreshing acoustic approach to R&B. Sure she's still developing her sound and her voice as a songwriter, and doesn't even have a proper album out. But her warm vocals married with the earnest vulnerability she shares in the stories about her personal life and self growth scratch a certain itch for me that is rarely found in the mainstream (in spite of us existing in the relatable pop star era). She captures the essence of an artist that is just beginning to realize her worth but still wrestles with the question of "Can I really make money doing something that I love? Is this it?" Every creative goes through this phase, and many never make it past this barrier. I can relate to this on a personal level, and as much as I hope for my own progression, I'm hoping that Jessica doesn't give up on her passion, but continues to grow and progress as an artist.

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents...2020: A Playlist - #32.

#32. “Born Without A Heart” by Faouzia

The thing about a pop singer with a big voice is that they can be given almost any kind of material and it’s still going to sound amazing. Faouzia is a 20 year old Moroccan-Canadian singer who I stumbled upon and immediately had to hear everything she’s sung on (which isn’t much at present) off of the strength of her voice. The soaring textures of vibrato, her ability to sink into her lower register and still come back up and nail whistle notes blows my mind. I can only blame the current music scene that doesn’t value actual pop music for her not being an A-list vocalist yet, but as she continues to drop collaborative singles, people are taking notice. Her live acoustic takes and covers sound even better as the polished studio songs she’s cut, which is often a rarity. 

“Born Without A Heart” strikes a particular nerve for me as it speaks on numbing out in order to deal with trauma, but having a hard time softening up when it’s time to. In this case, she’s in a relationship and has been told that she’s cold and heartless. She wants to love and recognizes that she’s flawed, but she also knows she didn’t get this way on her own. Having been on the receiving end of such commentary, I understand every bit of the conflict this dilemma presents. A solution isn’t presented, but maybe that’s not the goal of this song. I think, perhaps it’s the expression and desire to be seen as a real human being with flaws, rather than a reprehensible person worthy of being demonized. After all, isn’t that what we all want?

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents...2020: A Playlist - #33.

#33. “PRACTICE” by DaBaby

As much as I love hip hop and rap music, I don’t keep my ‘ears to the streets’. I like to hear artists when they’ve found their sound and matured a bit. Also, I’m getting older. I used to listen to way more obnoxious and ridiculous things on a regular basis in my 20s, and now I’m at a point where it’s still fun, but I gotta leave the club setting after a while because it just doesn’t resonate like it used to. However, in the past couple years I can’t think of another character on the scene who has been more entertaining than DaBaby. By combining his relentless flow and seamless mixing of vocal takes one after another, he creates the feel of him literally devouring the beats he raps on within seconds of the song’s beginning. The level of work ethic and commitment to approaching every facet of his life as subject matter for his music is impressive. If he loses a family member, if he’s reflecting on his life, or steps out to party...it’s all going to be used as content for a song. Between March 2019 and November 2020, DaBaby dropped 4 albums, with each single becoming as relentlessly popular as his flow. “ROCKSTAR” was his global smash, and also a record that he repurposed as a protest anthem during the police brutality protests of the past summer. However, there’s something about “PRACTICE” that grabbed my attention. It’s a 2 minute song, that stomps through your speakers with 808 drums and carefully selected high hats. For the majority of it, he’s staking his claim as being one of the best rappers out and acknowledging he’s on a whole different level of visibility than he was a year prior. His blunt wittiness even extends to him questioning whether he should stop using the N word in his music since his audience now consists of more white people before dismissing the idea entirely.

This is 2 minutes of audible IDGAF energy that I didn’t know I needed.

P.S: The title of this song references a rant from professional NBA player Allen Iverson that I didn’t catch until now since I’m completely ignorant when it comes to sports.

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents...2020: A Playlist - #34.

#34. “WAP” by Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion

As much as I love unique, artsy, abstract complex music about of all styles, there’s a time and place for everything. I love the aggression and bluntness of explicit, ratchet, ignorant rap music! While I’ll admit at times the content can be problematic, the energy and the opportunity to turn the tables on what society deems as acceptable, while at the same time giving voice to those whose voices aren’t heard doesn’t happen in other genres. Whether or not you can appreciate it or not, that’s what’s happening with the song “WAP”.

I grew up sneaking peeks at music video channels when my mom was asleep or at work. This would be around the era of the mid 2000s. Women were often used as props in music videos, and their sexuality was always attached to the male artist in the video, right along side their cars and chains. I also saw this in pop & country music videos (although with different aesthetics). So I find it interesting and refreshing to see women in music taking control of their own narrative, not being afraid to talk about sex, and expressing exactly what they want. This is not a completely new narrative from women in rap. There has been Lil Kim, Nicki Minaj, Trina, and a host of other artists that carved out their own lane in a male dominated genre by speaking their minds. Their work laid down the foundation for the wave of artists who are now not just competing with the boys, but surpassing them. Our modern society hates to talk about sex. We police it through religion, through censorship, through shame, and through fake ‘what about the kids’ diatribes, as if an astute parent can’t cope with content that was never made for the consumption of children. Our lack of ability to confront our fears and apprehension about sex, and specifically our insistence on making sex a taboo for children and never having a real conversation about it leads to problems and baggage that affects those kids deeper than anything an artist could produce.

The song itself kicks off with a sample of a 90s club hit by DJ Ski that runs in the background throughout the entire track. It’s a sparse beat that puts the focus on the knock of the 808 drums. Even the clap isn’t prominent. It leaves plenty of space for Cardi to give her Bronx bark of a flow, and Megan to run some laps around the drum pattern with her Houston swagger. Cardi is by no means my favorite rapper, but where she lacks in technical ability, she excels in vocal presence. Her voice sounds perfect over this kind of production. It’s 3 minutes of them seamlessly trading bars about enjoying sex in detail. It’s fun. It’s freaky. And all the conservative folks who griped about this song only made me like it more...in fact, ya’ll made me and many others end up loving this song. It was the most acclaimed song of 2020, and that happened in part because of all the talking heads that were quick to use this song’s explicit nature to further a “culture war”.

Sorry folks, the song slaps. And if you didn’t like it, you probably won’t like my next post either!

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents...2020: A Playlist - #35.

#35. “Lucky Me” by Big Sean

Big Sean effectively joined the scene when his debut album dropped 10 years ago and I was not impressed. Aside from the witty line or two, most of his lyrics made me cringe, and his flow was not impressive, etc. I only moderately paid attention to his career over the years in between then and now because there was just very little that was interesting, let alone compelling about him. Fast forward to 2020, and I had to walk all of that back, and when I say all of it, I mean ALL. “Detroit 2″ was an excellent album in terms of flow, delivery, content, production, pacing, sequencing, and pretty much any other metric you can measure a hip hop album by. I loved this record. “Lucky Me” is the second track on the album, and it embodies the victory lap, the sermon, personal struggles, and some keen advice on staying focused on your goals. The track gets off to a slow start as Sean talks about his personal life, getting into break ups, failures, and even being diagnosed with a heart disease at 19 years old. The slow and lumbering beat we started out with cuts out in the middle and transitions into an epic trap banger with intense energy. Sean casually switches his flow to match that energy and hits a Eminem worthy double time streak that doesn’t let up much for the duration of the song. All I want to know is, where has this Sean been?! If you can’t keep up with fast cadences, you’re probably going to get lost on the second half of this track, but Sean isn’t just rapping fast without saying anything. He’s still giving out just as many witty bars and personal anecdotes as he was in the beginning of the song. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Sean rap with the clarity of focus and message as he does on this record. It’s a great deal of fun, but there’s nuggets of truth for the youth that are listening, and on top of sharpening up his technical skills as a rapper, that makes all the difference for me.

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents...2020: A Playlist - #36.

#36. “Golden Ticket” by Brasstracks, Masego, & Common

Brasstracks is a production duo that excels in combining live horn and percussion arrangements with hip hop/R&B production (hence the name). There’s no shortage of triumphant and jubilant soul anytime they’re handling the sonics, whether it’s a rap record, a funk record, or a soulful pop song. Lots of critics who eschew hip hop’s focus on electronic sounds (probably the same folks who think The Roots are merely the backing band for Jimmy Fallon), would do well to dig into this sound that has always been a part of the genre. It’s still hip-hop. The syncopation and the bars of lyrics are all still there, but it grooves like a funk record. It has the uplifting feeling of a gospel record. All of these vibes are intentionally brought to the forefront on Brasstracks debut album “Golden Ticket”. The title track pairs Jamaican born rapper and multi instrumentalist Masego, with Chicago native Common (one of my favorite lyricists of all time) as they both wax poetic on the creation of art and how far their work has taken them. The musicality paired with the optimistic and inspirational nature of this song is a welcome marriage.

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents...2020: A Playlist - #37.

#37. “Better Than I Imagined” by Robert Glasper, H.E.R. & Meshell Ndegeocello

Robert Glasper (who has already been on this list via the Dinner Party project) takes his skills as a jazz musician, his love of hip hop and the intersection of R&B to create a lush, smooth blend of sounds. His series of albums entitled “Black Radio” have functioned as a launchpad to pull artists from a wide variety of musical backgrounds into a singular vision that represents what contemporary black music can be. “Better Than I Imagined” serves as the lead single to the 3rd installment of “Black Radio”, and from the second it comes on, it destroys me! The soft & distinct percussion, the jazz chords, the pleading and hushed tones of H.E.R. combined with the spoken word monologue from Meshell Ndegeocello...simply put, it’s perfection! The song is a reflection of an estranged love that ended but still lingers in the hearts and minds of both parties. H.E.R. gives a smooth, but emotional vocal performance as recounts the lows of the relationship and feels the highs, while Meshell Ndegecello (a classic neo-soul artist who I’m ashamed to say that I did not know before this song), gives a lucid monologue after receiving a call from her former lover. Meshell is outside of the U.S and can’t catch a flight back because of the global pandemic that’s hitting. She regrets missing the call and implores her ex to call again. I like the tension of “what if” that this song captures. What if they hadn’t broke up? What if there was never an issue? Could they have made it work? Are the memories of good times worth the struggle of trying again? Or is the past better left in the past?

This song doesn’t answer those questions, but it does leave them open ended and provides the space at atmosphere for you to apply the narrative to your own situation, and that’s the mark of a great blues song.

Glasper was asked about the song in an interview, and he said: 

“Black lives matter and so does black love; no one wants a life without love, but we have generations of people in our community who haven’t had the tools to actually be in healthy relationships. It seems like people are finally ready to open their eyes to systemic racism in this country, and if we’re going to talk about it, we have to also talk about how it affects our relationships — how we communicate, how we see ourselves, how we treat each other. It’s not always good, even though maybe it could be.”

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents...2020: A Playlist - #38.

#38. “Savage Remix” by Megan Thee Stallion & Beyonce

The first time I heard Megan Thee Stallion was at work a couple of years ago. My job practically requires music to stay motivated and energized. Depending on the setting, the employees often get to play music in the workplace. At this time, one of my co workers was going on about some of the up and coming artists she was into, and Megan Thee Stallion was one of them. That was the first time I heard “Big Ole Freak”, a soul sampling, sultry bop with up-front & in-your-face sexual confidence and braggadocio. This song became a sex positive anthem for me that ended up making the top ten of my year end list in 2019. 6 months later, I managed to see her live (for very cheap, mind you) at the Vanderbilt Langford Auditorium here in Nashville, Tennessee. Despite the awful acoustics, she was already performing like a veteran, and made sure we heard every word of every lyric, and gave us opportunities to sing them back to her. 6 months later, Megan is sitting on the top of the Billboard with multiple singles, making conservatives and hypocritical men equally uncomfortable. Megan Thee Stallion preaches sexual autonomy, freedom, as well as advocating for sex workers in every project she releases. Her confidence is infectious, and her brand is necessary. Much of the energy that Megan puts into her songs isn’t just sensual, but is also about empowering women and giving them the confidence they need to be themselves. Both versions of Savage bring that confidence to the forefront, but the remix with Beyonce, adds so much more to the song. She trades rap verses with Megan, and adds some strong melody lines and ad libs to the chorus. It’s an explosion of sass, confidence, and exclamation that not only feels empowering, but also SLAPS!

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents...2020: A Playlist - #39.

#39. “Keep It Going” by dvsn

Singer & producer duo dvsn has been banging out their own brand of atmospheric R&B since Drake signed them to his label back in 2016. They’ve crafted some sonic masterpieces that combine the balladry of 80s R&B, the swag of the 90s era, and the modern & alternative takes on the genre that have surfaced in the 2000s and 2010s. Despite not having garnered any massive hits or recognition outside of being associated with Drake, they’ve consistently delivered on each of their 3 albums, while evolving their sound. Their 3rd release, “A Muse In Her Feelings” comes off to me as a day in the life of a relationship that’s going through growing pains. In an effort to reconnect as lovers, the characters of the album go out to dance and experience night life. This switch in setting is reflected in the genres of songs on the album, We start and end on ballads, but on the way there we get to hear some dancehall, some trap influences, and even some EDM. This is where we arrive with the track “Keep It Going”. Featuring a throbbing club beat, and an emcee/hype man that sets the tone of the track all the way to high on the energy level, the song has the all makings of a club anthem. However, if you pay attention to the lyrics in the verses, the narrator is running through a laundry list of all the problems in the relationship, but when it comes time for the chorus to come back around...he throws caution to the wind and says “Let’s keep it going...” anyway. The contrast between the tone of the lyrics and the energy of the record creates an interesting dynamic of tension, and overall gave me the life I missed out on in 2020 by not being able to go to any clubs anymore. If you just like straight R&B, this album still has plenty of ballads and mid tempo grinders for your enjoyment, but dvsn is committed to pushing the boundaries of the genre, and I feel the album is better off for it.

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents...2020: A Playlist - #40.

#40. “Enemies” by Terror Jr

Terror Jr is an indie pop band that I’ve followed and admired for the past few years for their ability to make quirky, catchy pop songs that are as ridiculous and socially aware all at the same time. While I don’t come to their music for the social commentary, it makes their tracks bite just a little bit more than their peers. The glitchy and auto-tuned electronic sounds of their first EPs have slowly unraveled to full fledged ballads, urgent raps, and production mirroring the experimental flavors of SOPHIE on their recent releases. They’ve touched on topics like agnostic atheism, body positivity, and homophobia without derailing the momentum of a zany dance pop song. It’s a refreshing take on the bombast of what the pop scene has been, with a meta twist.

“Enemies” finds the band on a smooth synthpop groove, while the lead singer contrasts the negative effects of social media, former president Donald J. Trump (in the lyric, “there’s a shitty person that we’ve all been worshipping”), and societal expectations of women with befriending and sleeping with an enemy of hers. This conflation with things that don’t seem to go together, but end up working well as metaphors is a common theme for much of the band’s songwriting. What I appreciate the most about this band is their ability to continue to reinvent their sound, and their commitment to having something worthwhile to say, while having an insane amount of fun doing it. There were one of the last concerts I got to see before the pandemic hit, and they brought that same wild energy that comes through on the records to the stage.

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents...2020: A Playlist - #41.

#41. “Say So” by Doja Cat

Despite the fact that we were (and still are) stuck inside the house for the majority of 2020, and weren’t able to enjoy things like live music at clubs or even the benefit of live award show performances without them being pre-recorded or virtual, there was one artist that managed to thrive as a new pop star.

Doja Cat.

Owing much of her aesthetic to the early pop adjacent theatrics of rapper/singer Nicki Minaj, she embodies a character that is part animal, part rapper, part old school Hollywood/Marilyn Monroe archetype. She can hang with the rest of the new wave of female rappers that have had doors opened for them by the unprecedented success of Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, but she can also sing quite well, in addition to having a flair for dance and performance reinterpretation that continues to make her stand out from her peers. She raps better than the rappers, and she does pop better than anyone else with real estate on top 40 radio right now. She also doesn’t take herself too seriously as evidenced by the viral, self released “MOOO” track that brought her to the spotlight where she pretends to be a cow. As ridiculous as it sounds, it still works as a fun pop song/meme.

“Say So” is a throwback to 70s disco with modern production, and finds Doja crooning for most of the track about getting her partner to ask for what they want and claim their sexual autonomy. It’s a light tease, until she gets to her rap verse where she pretty much spells it out for them. Her animated delivery really makes the track pop, and stands in contrast to her subdued & smoothly sung vocals. Doja keeps finding a way to reinvent herself as time goes on, and has been working singles off of the same 12 track album for the last year and a half...but it’s working. It’s always fun to watch an artist come along that thinks outside the box and re-defiines it, and I think Doja has been and is continuing to prove herself a strong new player on the scene,

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents...2020: A Playlist - #42.

#42. “I Can’t Breathe” by H.E.R.

Gabriella Wilson has been perfecting her musical skills since she was a child, but didn’t breakthrough into the mainstream until 2016, when she began releasing mixtapes to the internet without her real name or any pictures of herself. Instead, she went by the stage name H.E.R. (which means Having Everything Revealed). Her original motivation to keeping her identity a secret was so that listeners could focus on the music, the emotion, and the stories she was telling, rather than her appearance, clothes, or who she was dating at the time. The strategy paid off well as her music picked up enough traction to get recognition at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. Whether she’s pouring her heart out vocally, shredding on the guitar, or behind the keys of a piano, she has proven herself to be one of the most versatile R&B artists out in recent years. This eclectic nature comes through in her songwriting as well. She is perfectly capable of writing a ballad, or a hip-hop banger for the radio, but I find her most compelling material to be when she speaks on the social issues of the times.

“I Can’t Breathe” is a blues/spoken word tune that targets police brutality and systematic racism without pulling any punches. After composing a strong melodic chorus, and presenting her audience with verses that ask biting questions about the role of policing towards people of color, she takes things a step further. She breaks the song down and does an extended spoken word verse that gets in your face. Expressing anger and frustration at the murder of black people at the hands of police, white supremacy, and the hypocrisy of Christians justifying the situation while at the same time claiming all men are created equal in the eyes of God. While there is definitely an edge to her delivery that might make some listeners uncomfortable, she brings home the point that injustice has been happening in front of our eyes, and will continue if nothing changes from this point onward. The death of George Floyd ignited a fire across the world. It’s a shame to think that it might have been another statistic we would’ve glossed over if we hadn’t been living through a global pandemic at the time. H.E.R. is begging us to confront the issue, echoing the cries of black and brown people across the nation of the United States and the world over. 

We are tired.

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents...2020: A Playlist - #43.

#43. “I Don’t Think I’m Okay” by Bazzi

When Bazzi came on the scene, I’ll admit I wasn’t immediately impressed. Over time, his brand of optimistic, inspirational, ‘heart-on-his-sleeve’ R&B tinged pop won me over. In a scene where pop music isn’t as relevant as it used to be, he sticks to his own bright sound and doesn’t allow the trendy influences of the moment to water down his style or his message.

“I Don’t Think I’m Okay” finds Bazzi trying out acoustic pop balladry, and digging into his personal life even deeper than he has on previous releases. He misses his mother and his family, and realizes he’s lost part of himself trying to be a successful pop star. He wants to slow down and reconnect with who he is as a person. He recognizes that he’s not doing okay, and that admitting that fact is the first step to moving forward and finding himself again.

Life changes in many ways, and it did for me in this past year. I sought out therapy and life coaching in order to try to sort out my own issues. I’m still on a journey, but the moment I stopped pretending that everything was okay was the moment that I began to see change and progress in my life. If you’re in need of an honest look at yourself, I hope that this song can help point you in that direction.

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents...2020: A Playlist - #44.

#44. “Timeless Interlude” by Bryson Tiller

Bryson Tiller, a clear descendant of Drake sonically and artistically, has been on hiatus as a solo artist for the past 3 years since he dropped “True To Self”, a album which didn’t live up to the expectations of his well received debut, “TRAPSOUL”. After taking some time off, he returned with a short project titled “ANNIVERSARY”. There’s something about the way Bryson’s melodies sit on top of the modern electronic trap & soul sampled production that has become a mainstay for my regular music diet. Bryson knows how to cut through the aesthetic and feed the soul with lyrics about love, friendships, relationships, and break ups, while still remaining catchy and assessible.

“Timeless Interlude” marks a moment halfway in the project where he gets personal about his life and the changes that fame and success have brought him. Bryson talks about his mental and spiritual health as he tries to manage his responsibilities that he has to his family and his daughter, while maintaining a career as an artist and living a creative life. There’s something about the tone of this piece that feels urgent. In a time when the world feels colder and darker than it has in recent years, sometimes just maintaining is a struggle. Bryson speaks to that emotion on a sparse track that mostly just consists of piano and pitched up vocal samples floating around before we get some trap percussion on the back end of the song. If you’ve ever struggled or have had the need to assess the direction your life is going, I promise you you’re gonna feel this one.

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents...2020: A Playlist - #45.

#45. “DYING 4 YOUR LOVE” by Snoh Aalegra

Snoh Aalegra continues to deliver some of the highest quality R&B I’ve heard in recent years consistently. Coming all the way from Sweden, and having been signed ever since she was 13 years old, she’s put in lots of hard work to get where she is now. In recent years she’s become a go to artist to sample, feature on a hook of a hip hop record, or duet with. Stylistically she’s a pure descendant of Alicia Keys (just try to tell them apart on this recent duet), but she has done enough with her sound to set her apart from her influences. Her initial EP, “Don’t Explain”, along with her debut album “Feels”, found her swimming in the sounds of the past like Billie Holiday, and other blues and soul legends...shined up with a light modern touch of hip hop and ambient production. Since then she has completely moved into a more modern sound, and has sharpened her songwriting as well. 

“DYING FOR YOUR LOVE” is a mental meditation on a failing relationship. The dynamics have changed, but her lover still wants everything to remain the same. The confusion and the frustration of the breakdown of understanding troubles her, especially when she has been honest and open the whole time. At the end of it all, all she wanted was love and still wasn’t able to receive it. Maybe it’s because I love her voice. Or maybe I like the slow burn of the melody and the groove paired together. Or maybe it’s because this song sounds exactly like what I felt in the breakdown of my relationship/friendship with my ex. Whatever the case, this song hit me square in the face when I heard it, and I haven’t been able to stop running it back.