Vol 4 places a large emphasis on low and rhythmic varietal tunes
What cures end-of-summertime blues better than smooth rhythms and soft vocals? Artists Ellyn Woods, daste., Adria Kain, Alana Sukul, and Mae Krell would probably tell say “nothing”. A big thanks to the cohort for elaborating on their tracks.
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Ellyn Woods – Sound of Home
Canadien songstress Ellyn Woods is here to provide some much needed context on the identity struggles that past 2 years has placed on us. She puts you in the perfect environment to reflect and mull over what matters, using her even-paced beat and almost choir-like vocals. If you like “Closer”, there much more where that came from… Ellyn just released her debut album All at Once last week. She had this to say about her tune:
“5 years ago today, I collaborated with Sterling Grove & together we released “Sound of Home” — every song has a story behind it and I wanted to share this one with you. In Parc LaFontaine one summer day I was having a picnic with a dear friend. She was telling me all about her travels to France & stories about her lover. As she talked she painted such a vivid picture with her words it was almost as if I had lived the experience myself. I started singing & wrote some lyrics down in my sketchbook. A few weeks later I met guitarist Billel who invited to his home where we recorded the song in his living room. The song then found its way to the ears of Sterling Grove who fell in love with the recording & produced the house version of the song
The song has since brought us a huge number of fans to which we are so very grateful for & we have been making music together ever since. Every idea no matter has small can transform & evolve into great things.
This experience has taught me that collaboration & community is what creates the most beautiful art”.
daste. – changes
Gold Coast group daste. act as musical therapists on their brand new track “changes”. The boys will be releasing their debut album “dusk / dawn” in October, but before that we have one more little teaser to try on for size. I very much enjoy the lyrics behind “changes” message; they almost calm me down in the moment. They had this to say about the track:
“Changes is a song about those times when life is beating you around and you’re feeling a little bit sorry for yourself. Where things aren’t going as planned and it seems like wholesome days are rare. This song is a message for anybody (including us) going through those changes. It’s about appreciating the little things in life and taking those bad days in your stride. Sometimes that’s just how it goes.”
Adria Kain – Classic
What once was a hidden gem is set to be a household name in a matter of months. R&B and Soul artist Adria Kain has been ON FIRE as of late, now dropping her laid back, yet powerful tune “Classic”. Adria teams up with Toronto R&Bist Leila Dey who delivers and added dimension to the track. I’d love to see more collaboration from both artists! Check out what Kain had to say on “Classic” below:
“I’ve recently entered the stage in my life where I finally feel like I can be completely free and whole within myself, especially as a queer, masculine presenting black woman. I’ve also grown an even higher level of respect and appreciation for black women as a whole due to the simple fact that many of us hold a huge level of strength and perseverance that is unmatched and often unspoken. I wanted to create something not only for myself, but to help uplift and remind all black women that we are loved unconditionally regardless of experience and societal views, and to encourage the idea of continuing forward in all that we aim to do no matter what tries to interfere because we are classic examples of royalty and anything is a possibility. This video represents just that, two classic black women sharing special time together and uplifting one another in as many ways possible during a day in the city.”
and don’t forget to check out her accompanying music video above as well!
Mae Krell – rest stop
New York City’s own Mae Krell takes bedroom pop to a whole new level. Playing on her honest lyrics and pastel vocals, Mae has been able to make quite the name for herself. Producing single after single, Mae has garnered attention from multiple Spotify editorials and has no sign of letting up. This time, Mae gives us “rest stop” – a track that almost fell into her lap. She had this to say:
“rest stop” is about the sudden end of a long term friendship. In writing it, I was learning that sometimes getting healthier and becoming more independent can end in a loss of relationships; which is really odd, since you’d expect people who love you and care about you to want you to be better. As this specific friendship ended, I started to realize that maybe it wasn’t as good for me as I thought it was.”
She elaborated on her video as well:
“I wrote “rest stop” after getting a flat and being properly stuck in the trucking area of a rest stop for hours. I didn’t know where I was, I was sad and still processing a really painful friend breakup and just overall not in a great place. When brainstorming a video concept, Caro (Hallock, who filmed and edited the video) and I thought it could be cool to drive back to where the song was written and document it for the video, which is what we ended up doing! This also included multiple calls to various AAA locations in order to figure out where the exact rest stop was, haha!”
Alana Sukul – Closer
Alana Sukul is West-London’s most promising newcomer in alt-pop. From studying music at a young age to getting plays on top London radio stations, Alana is here to stay. Her newest track “Closer” is a call to action for self-worth’s sake. She had a beautiful one-liner that stuck with us:
“Realizing your self confidence and worth is a beautiful thing. Grasp it, you’ll want to pull it closer.”
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