Happy New Year and happy new decade! In honor of kicking off 2020, I thought I'd preview a few projects due out this year that I'm excited about.
Moses Sumney - græ
If you're a fan of KCRW you are probably familiar with Moses Sumney. We've championed this local artist since he burst onto the scene in 2013. Moses is a phenomenal talent! Angelic voice, exquisite songwriter, great stage presence and is simply striking to look at. As each year passes he not only fine-tunes his craft but also expands his skill set.
In November, he announced his sophomore full length, græ, due out this year. The announcement was accompanied by the video for the first single, "Virile", directed and co-choreographed by the man himself. By the way, græ, is a double LP with part one coming out next month and the second part in May. Moses just released the video to the first single of Part Two earlier this week. Check out the visuals for "Me in 20 Years."
Frank Ocean - ???
Though there hasn't been any official announcement of a project - the usually reclusive Frank Ocean has been quite visible the last several months. He dropped back-to-back singles in Oct and Nov of last year, with "DHL" and "In My Room" respectively. This past October, Ocean also opened a queer night club in NYC and at the beginning of January, he was announced as one of the Coachella headliners.
Considering it's been almost 4 years since Blonde was released and with all his recent activity, I'm getting the feeling that we will be getting a new Frank Ocean album soon. Don't be surprised if it drops right around Coachella...
Khruangbin & Leon Bridges - Texas Sun EP
While on tour together in 2018, Khruangbin crafted an instrumental track that Leon took a liking to. He wrote some lyrics and that one track blossomed into Texas Sun. An EP that is an homage of sorts to their collective Texas roots.
In fact, Khruangbin's bassist Laura Lee said of the project,"If you just let the music do what it's supposed to do, it will reveal itself. We tried to take that same approach with Leon. For us, it was opening up our world to have another person in it. But all of it feels like Texas to me."
Thus giving birth to a Texas two-step we didn't even know we needed. Check out the first single and title track from Texas Sun EP, which is due out Feb 7th.
Also something that may not be on your radar...
J-Felix - "Mind Up" feat. Andrew Ashong
My love of producer and multi-instrumentalist J-Felix is only eclipsed by that of singer-songwriter, producer and DJ Andrew Ashong. J-Felix has a unique ability to seamlessly blend boogie, p-funk, disco and soul. All of which is on full display with this first offering from his album Whole Again Hooligan, due out Feb 21st. "Mind Up" is a tough love anthem or as Ashong states:
“It’s about the personal responsibility to do your own best, in any way, and in any realm. The gift, potency and potential of creation, elevation and generation in all dimensions is truly never-ending. You can be the passive passenger or the active navigator, seeking and finding. Your vehicle is only waiting for a destination or at least a direction of some sort. Don’t let distraction, indecision and overthinking restrain, restrict and even paralyze your movement or action. Mind is creative. Make your mind up. Let’s go!”
When this hit my mailbox a couple of weeks ago, it was one of those rare "WOW" moments. The only thing that held me back from sharing it with you then is that it wasn't out until today :)