Daughter to the late legendary Regional Mexican artist, Jenni Rivera, Jacquelin Melina Rivera, better known as Jacqie Rivera, is one of today’s most promising artists. Jacqie has been forging her own path in music by combining many sounds into what she calls “Fusion Music.” Her previous singles include “Existo Yo”, “Defender” and most recently “Ex Factor”.
Jacqie’s latest single is a cover of the Nine Inch Nails song “Hurt”, via Soundflower Publishing and My Grito Industries.
Coinciding with the 9 year anniversary of her iconic mother’s passing on December 9th, Jacqie’s cover of “Hurt” takes on a moving sentiment and serves as a memorable tribute to her iconic late mother. It is hard for a child to fill such large footsteps, and we look forward to seeing Rivera grow.
Driven by an uncompromising introspection as she explores themes surrounding her racial identity, love, and personal growth, Montreal’s Magi Merlin sprinkles her ethereal aura and thoughtful lyrics over a unique style of alternative R&B and neo-soul. She recently signed to Bonsound after the release of her Drug Music EP. One look at her “To The Beach” video and you can see why:
Merlin is an artist to watch for 2022. @magimerlin
Weakened Friends is songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist Sonia Sturino is supported by Annie Hoffman (bass/vocals) and Adam Hand (drums), filling out a mature and emotive sound. They are releasing Quitter November 19 on Don Giovanni Records. They released the single “Tunnels.”
Central to the record thematically is the empty threat of quitting music and “getting a real job.” Sturino wrestles with her relationship with music on the title track, shouting “I love it, but it never really feels okay” over scorching guitars. Despite the implications of the title, quitting is not an option for the band. Even as friends settle into adulthood, Weakened Friends find themselves trapped in a fortress of their own creation, inseparably attached to the eternal youthfulness of life in music. In this liminal zone, life passes by and friendships are weakened, and Quitter takes plenty of time to mourn these losses.
Though the record acknowledges a perpetual state of arrested development that comes with being a musician, the band is anything but stagnant musically. Opening themselves up to ideas outside the constraints of their slacker rock sound, Weakened Friends puts the full force of their creative ambition into Quitter. Inspired by watching peers go above and beyond what is expected of them, the band sought to explore each song’s fullest potential, with their most extensive pre-production and arrangement work to date. Incorporating banjo, pedal steel, horns, extensive synth arrangement and a number of non-instrumental sounds such as ovens and camera flashes, Weakened Friends expand on their universe of sounds on their new LP.
NYC-based synth-pop trio, Moon Kissed, are gearing up to release their sophomore album, I’d Like To Tell You Something Important, due out October 22 — which also happens to be the night of their sold-out album release party at Elsewhere in Brooklyn, NY. Their latest single is “Strange Satisfaction.”
On the new single, Khaya Cohen says, “Strange Satisfaction is another ode to masochism; to a sexy, deep attraction that makes no sense and which you know will hurt you in the end. The verses are about the allure of attraction that is addictive despite the consequences, the chorus is the candy that you can’t leave, and the song builds to a sweet melancholy release much like the experience of being with someone who is “no good for you,” but yet you are strangely satisfied by the whole experience. The dark production mixed with the pop-cutesy vocals shows the confusion and multifaceted nature of a deeply human experience.”
The sultry and soft video mirrors a trio that is not Moon Kissed but who embodies the same energy of the band — proving that this truth is not just for them, but for everyone. Cohen says, “This video is about sweetness and messiness, beauty and nerves. Visually, it is polished and performed, but there are also moments of pure human interaction that are impossible to direct.” The video embraces the beauty of bodies, which is also something that is a signature for anyone who has ever been to a Moon Kissed show, where nudity is not something to be apologized for, but rather embraced and welcomed.
Cooper’s anticipated new album, Hot Sass, will be released September 3 via Thirty Tigers. Produced by Benny Yurco (Michael Nau, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals), mixed by Dan Molad (Lucius, Emily King) and recorded live at Little Jamaica Recordings in Burlington, VT, the new album marks multiple departures for Cooper—from her nine-year home of Nashville, from her band addendum of the Stampede, and from the genre-based expectations she’s accumulated throughout her career. With these twelve new songs, Cooper comes into her own—both musically and as a person—embracing a newfound sense of independence, honesty, maturity, and creativity. In addition to Cooper and Yurco, Hot Sass also features Cooper’s longtime bandmates and collaborators Joe Bisirri (bass), Ryan Usher (drums, percussion), and Michael Libramento (guitar, synthesizer).
The album features singles “Slice of Life”, “Getting Closer”, “Hot Sass” and “Feeling Good”
Of the album, Cooper shares, “It’s me learning about what kind of woman I am and it’s not pretty all the time…I’m still processing these songs. Still reflecting. And I think that’s the thing—Hot Sass is just a stamp in time of what was happening in my life. I just want to continue making art that displays myself, the moments, and the people around me.”
Broadcasting from a 10′ x 10′ box room in Seoul, Korea, Su Lee writes, produces, designs, and directs all her music and content. Her box room is where she eats, sleeps, and creates, and Su uses every surface to build the world that exists in her imagination, far beyond the confines of her surroundings.
Korean singer/songwriter Su Lee announced her upcoming self-produced Box Room Dreams EP (out August 26th) and shares the first single “Socially Alive.” After over a year of being cooped up, having a conversation with another human being in person can be a struggle, and Su knows this all too well. “I think I’ve forgotten how to smile (crap),” she jests in the track’s opening. Su harnesses her anxieties, loneliness, and embarrassment over a wistful dream-pop arrangement to create an emotionally resonant track for anyone who’s felt uncool. The accompanying self-filmed and directed music video sees Su stepping outside her box room. Here we see the essence of Su – silly, quirky, and dressed in a knitted monster hat with overalls – traversing around her hometown of Seoul with an ugly flower-faced cardboard friend. It’s an eccentric reminder that getting reacquainted can be uncomfortable and awkward, but it sure beats being alone.
Su shares about the song: “‘Socially Alive’ is my confession of what goes through my mind when I’m around people. Regardless of how it may appear on the outside, I’m always terrified that I’ll say or do something stupid.”
About her upcoming Box Room Dreams EP, Su adds: “Having had my career as a musician launch almost simultaneously with the pandemic, this EP is kind of like my quarantine journal as a baby musician. It’s mostly a jumble of my heightened sense of loneliness, uncertainty, and anxiety. But I also wanted to add a hint of some magical daydreams and high hopes for the times ahead.” https://twitter.com/suleesususu?s=09
Frances Lion has been making music for most of her life “Music was just there,” she says, however, Frances knew that her small hometown of Hampshire, England wasn’t going to be the place for her to grow as an artist, so the moment she finished high school she set off to explore the world. Her travels took her to places like France, and the Austrian Gold Coast, among others where she was able to branch out and grow as a musician. Through performing her original songs, as well as covers at local bars and venues, Frances’ demo made its way to Los Angeles and into the hands of 4 Non-Blondes frontwoman and hall of fame songwriter Linda Perry (Pink!, Christina Aguliar, Adele, Gwen Stefani). Once connected with Perry, Frances jumped right in and imminently began to write and create new music and that has pushed her to be the powerful singer-songwriter she is today.
When asked about her new single Frances Lion said, “I wrote ‘Home’ a few years ago about the small town I grew up in. Even though I always wanted to move away from it, it’s forever remained a huge part of my identity. My brother produced this song at our parent’s house during the lockdown, and with a lack of resources we even had to rope my parents into being backing singers so it has even more of a ‘home’ feel than I had ever imagined.”
“Home” will be the first single release via a new partnership between Frances Lion’s mentor Linda Perry and Repost, where they’ll be working together to identify breaking artists and create customized creator service programs to develop their careers both on and off SoundCloud,” Perry said. “Breaking a new artist in any situation needs patience. Breaking a new artist in these times needs a fucking miracle. If you don’t have the financial muscle pulling weight then you must rely solely on stretching the imagination and thinking outside the box. Planning, strategy, development, nurturing the art, and allowing the creative to take the driver’s seat to plow over conventional formula and that fear that has infested the true beauty of a rockstar and the art of rebellion. Frances Lion will be the first artist signing under our partnership with SoundCloud’s growing distribution and artist services business Repost, and as A&R I plan on exploring all the possibilities and bringing back the art of risk.” Stay connected with Frances Lion (below) as she has a lot more planned for 2021 following the release of “Home”.
Japanese Breakfast aka Michelle Zauner is releasing her 3rd album Jubilee on June 4. She also just released her book Crying In the H Mart. She will be part of the Doomin’ Sun Fest and her own tour starts soon. FEMMUSIC has followed her since 2016. We’ve already featured her singles “Savage Good Boy”, and “Posing In Bondage.” Here we have the 1st single from Jubilee “Be Sweet”
Mui Zyu is a Hong Kong British artist now based in London. She was just signed to Father/Daughter Records, home to Diet Cig, Pure Bathing Culture, Vagabon, and lots more. Her debut track is “Pour A Brain”
“pour a brain is the thirst-quencher we manufacture, shake up and sip on when we need help but are lost for answers,” explains Liu.
Mui Zyu takes inspiration from video games, films, and her family’s Cantonese pop collection. For fans of Broadcast, Mort Garson, Kelsey Lu, DRINKS, Oneohtrix Point Never, and Satoshi Ashikawa.
Linda Perry recently put on the Rock N Relief Festival to benefit CORE. Perry is a legend as a singer-songwriter, producer, and icon. Perry just released her first new music in 15 years with “The Letter”
90’s child star Soleil Moon Frye has created an original Hulu documentary, KID 90 about the coming of age. Composed of hundreds of hours of real footage as a kid in that era serving as a blueprint of Frye’s life. At the end of kid 90, a 40 something Soleil Moon Frye is confronted by a letter she wrote at 16 years old. Asking her now self a list of questions and hoping she feels loved. Perry was inspired to confront those questions by writing THE LETTER. Perry asked Director, Don Hardy to shoot the video as she knew he would deliver something beautiful. “The colors were influenced by the movie projections that filled the room and that consumed my body. My studio was the backdrop to capture this raw and emotional performance. The visual evokes
Caiine is a R & B synth artist who weaves poetry into her lyrics. Caiine is fascinated by the complex ‘inner workings’ that come with being human. She grew up in South East London before moving North. She is a 2021 SXSW Showcasing artist. Her latest single is “Drown”
On April 30, Marianne Faithfull, with composer and multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis, will release She Walks in Beauty, one of the most distinctive albums of her long, extraordinary life and career. Recorded around the earliest days of the COVID-19 lockdown — during which the singer herself became infected and almost died of the disease — She Walks in Beauty fulfills Faithfull’s long-held ambition to record a full album of poetry with music, and features musical friends Nick Cave, Brian Eno, cellist Vincent Ségal and producer-engineer Head. Faithful is the original Ye-Ye Girl and is known as much for her films, as her music. mariannefaithfull.org.uk/
Liz Barak artistic goals are “to tell stories through music and help reach a much need equality in the music business for women.” To achieve those goals she has created the Liz Barak’s Project. The project began with a book called Ballad to the North Wind that Barak wrote. It is now followed up by an album of the same name featuring collaborations with women around the globe on cover songs. All participants in the album have agreed to donate the revenues to fight global warming. One track on the album is Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” featuring G’emma.
Kinlaw is an artist, composer, and choreographer. The productions had contributions from Devonte Hynes, Caroline Polacheck, SOPHIE, Dan Deacon and many more. She has been in charge of productions with over 200 people. Now she breaks new ground with her debut album, The Tipping Scale coming in January. She released the debut single “Blindspot” earlier in October.
“Blindspot is an excavation of the psychological mind that analyzes the link between our relationships with the people around us and our acceptance of self. I started doing a really cool therapy called EMDR while in process of developing this video with director Kathleen Dycaico and was able to recognize that the refusal to accept time, mainly myself during some of those times, was reflected in the way I was speaking about relationships. Our child selves are so brilliant – they are resilient, tricky, explosive, expressive. I needed to start off this album by giving a nod to the dynamic ways we perceive not only the people around us, but our integrated self.” says Kinlaw. For info visit https://www.instagram.com/kinlawww/
Beabadoobee is releasing her debut album Fake It Flowers on October 16. She released “How Was Your Day?” , the 4th single from the album this week.
“Worth It”, “Sorry” and “Care” are previous single from Fake It Flowers. Born in the Philippines and raised in London, Bea Kristi began recording music as beabadoobee in 2017. At just 20 years old, she has built her huge, dedicated Gen-Z fan base with her flawless output of confessional bedroom pop songs and DIY aesthetic. https://www.instagram.com/radvxz/?hl=en
Rene Kladzyk, Ziemba is not your average singer-songwriter. In 2019 she released Ardis, a science fiction adventure. On September 25 she releases True Romantic a decidedly different album. She has already released the singles “True Romantic” and “If I’m Being Honest.” Her latest single is “Harbor Me”
“Vocals and nearly all synths were recorded on the boat, that first day that I wrote it,” says Kladzyk. “This song took me by surprise, it has an energy to it that I don’t entirely understand, and it doesn’t fully feel like it came from me. I guess that’s why I feel tempted to credit the boat itself as a co-author. I wanted the music video to have that same immediacy and visceral presence that the song has. It was exciting and fun and a little scary at times, dancing through the streets at night. We rehearsed over the course of two evenings until we got it right. I think ‘exciting, fun, a little scary’ is how I’d hope this song would be described, or at least is how I perceive it, so the video is fitting.” https://www.facebook.com/theziemba/
Reyna Roberts is a new country artist ready to blaze a trail. She has done fundraising efforts to support veterans. Something of a natural for a child of veterans. She didn’t record her first song until 2014. Her latest single is “Stompin Grounds”
When asked about the story behind the song, Roberts shared, “I remember when me and Noah Henson (my producer and co-writer), first started writing “Stompin’ Grounds.” He and his family (I think of them as my family, too) had just moved into their new house. We were sitting on the floor because his studio wasn’t set up yet. There was nothing in the room – just me, him, and his acoustic guitar. Noah was playing a riff, and I immediately loved it. So, we began to write. We laugh about it now because we didn’t even have chairs. So, we recorded a voice memo of the session, and he put parts of the voice memo in the song. We took my influences of Chris Stapleton, Carrie Underwood, Brantley Gilbert, and Brothers Osborne, and put it in a song.” https://www.facebook.com/TheReynaRoberts/
Helen Ballentine is a LA songwriter who will be releasing her debut EP on Secretly Canadian on June 26. She released her first single “Places/Plans” last month. The second single “Day of Show” just came out.
Skullcrusher seems more the name of a heavy metal act than Ballentine’s melancholy ballads. She fills a shadowy place between acoustic and dream. Her videos are self-directed and show a range of experimentation. For info visit https://www.facebook.com/SkullcrusherLA/
Spin Magazine