SZA - "Drew Barrymore"

She's got that untouchably cool aesthetic that not only raises her up, but also makes her feel immediately familiar. Her sound is relaxed and yet still driving, and so while her music is always in control it's the kind of sound that can turn promptly into a wild ride.

As I listened to her music yesterday, noming on tacos and reveling in my purchase from the vintage shop next door, I thought to myself that this was a perfect bubble of moment. It was lovely little locket of time to tuck away and hold on to for always. SZA's music was an integral part of it.

 SZA describes her vocals as having a "rasp" which she initially tried to "tenderise". Her vocal style has been described as taking on the "lilt" of a jazz singer. According to Marissa G. Muller of Rolling Stone magazine, Rowe's vocals alternate between a "vapory husk and a sky-high falsetto." Jordan Sargent of Pitchfork magazine labelled Rowe's vocals as being "chillwave" and "ethereal."

SZA musical style is described as "alt R&B". SZA songs are built over "layers of sliced, delayed, and reversed vocals" and contains "twists and mutates".[ Reggie Ugwu from Billboard finds her musical style to feature an "agnostic utopia dripping with mood", that straddles the "line between minimalist R&B, '80s synth pop and soul".  Rowe's music is predominately PBR&B and neo-soul, but has been noted for taking influences from a broad variety of genres including soul, hip hop, minimalist R&B, cloud rap, ethereal R&B, witch house and chillwave elements. Michael Madden described SZA's musical genre as being "agnosticism corresponds", noting that her work is not just one style of music and is versatile, noting the musical style is not just "R&B, pop, soul, or one thing at all."

SZA began writing songs due to being "passionate" about writing and enjoyed poetry, when writing lyrics SZA "freestyles" them in order to express whatever comes to her "mind", noting that it does not always make sense to herself.[5] Thematically, SZA work contains "unravelling lyrics", that touch upon themes of sexuality, nostalgia, and abandonment.[35] According to Michael Madden from Consequence of Sound, SZA lyrical is sometimes "purposefully general" and sometimes "an ambitious but quick reference", which Madden compared to the rapper Angel Haze and her debut album Dirty Gold.

So, today, with sunlight dancing on the water, I choose SZA's "Drew Barrymore"  as my, like eagles in the sky, hummingbirds in the garden, swallows on the wind, song for a, drive down the coast, salt air on my skin, mist rising from the water, Tuesday.

Bette Midler - "Friends"

After a weekend like I've just had it's an incredible moment to reflect and see what amazing people you have in your life. My friends build me up, they hold me up,  and they never let me down. The long and short of this story is that they make me a better man, and I am utterly overwhelmed with gratitude. 

So today, with grace and laughter I choose Bette Midler's "Friends" as my, hold on to what's important, grace comes in many forms, life happens in the moments in between the big things, song for a, find your joy, light up their lives, you can fly if you just leap Monday. 

Léon - "Surround Me"

Lotta Lindgren was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1994. The product of a musical household, though she’s only 22, she has been writing songs for more than a decade. Growing up in Stockholm as the daughter of a composer and a cello player, she estimates she penned her first tune at age 8 or 9. “I had never had a boyfriend or anything, but I wrote love songs,” she remembers. “I was so inspired by Motown, I was like, I’m going to write about love too—even if I was 8. I did a song when I was 11, and I called it ‘As I Am With You.’ Really corny title.” 

Léon began her musical career as front-women of a hip hop and soul group in her teens before embarking on a solo career with producing partner Agrin Rahmani in 2015. She has cited Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin, Beyoncé, Etta James, Sam Cooke, and Stevie Wonder as musical inspirations.

Her first single, "Tired of Talking", off her debut release, Treasure - EP, gained the support of Chris Anokute and the singer Katy Perry, and most recently appeared in Vogue Italia.

Léon subsequently signed with Columbia, and she hopes to release her debut album, already finished and entirely produced by Rahmani, this fall. “I knew about Columbia for years, because I knew that Beyoncé was signed there,” she says. “I’d be like, ‘One day, I'm gonna be at Columbia.’ My mom was like, ‘we’ll see.’ ”

In October 2016, Léon was confirmed to play at the 31st edition of Eurosonic Noorderslag in Groningen, Netherlands. In February 2017, Léon began her first North American headline tour in Boston. Her second EP, For You, was released on 3 March 2017.

So, today, with hazy skies and a warm heart, I choose León's "Surround Me" as my, all around and inside, from the inside out, you find it leaking out of the cracks in your heart, song for a, break open and laugh, shake out the sillies, fall into the wonderful Friday!

Haux - "Touch"

Quietly emerging at the end of 2015, the New York-based trio Haux, evokes the likes of Daughter, London Grammar and early Bon Iver. While they may be camera shy, Woodson Black, Emily Brouwer, and Mike Wagz instead bare themselves through the lyrics and music of Haux. 

With earth shattering lyrics and sensual beats, their music makes you remember a lover's touch, and forgotten kiss. They've got something at once solid and smoke. You can't pinpoint them and that makes the sound that much more enticing. Like a kiss that you let linger longer than you planned, you won't be able to get enough of this Berkshire-based band. 

So today, with skin on skin, I choose Haux's - "Touch" as my, let it drip slowly, find it on your lip and on your fingertips, on the nape of your neck, song for a, slide down my side, into your hand, onto the next laughing all the way, Thursday. 

Maya Jane Coles - "Weak"

She's got a sultry soulful vibe and her sound is something between old house and R&B dance and it edges on that nineties dance culture. It's all my favorite things. Get into this track and see if it doesn't make you want to dance with your hips against someone elses.

British-Japanese house producer Maya Jane Coles is full of surprises. On "Cherry Bomb," the first single from her second album Take Flight (out via her own imprint I/AM/ME on August 25), she showcases her melodic bass sensibilities. But its follow-up "Weak" is a more low-key, emotive track, and its video — premiering above — shows Maya singing to camera for the first time.

Born in London of British and Japanese descent. Under her real name Maya Jane Coles mostly composes and plays house music, while her alias Nocturnal Sunshine is dedicated to dubstep. She also takes part in an electronic dub duo called She Is Danger with Lena Cullen. Having already remixed acts such as Massive Attack and Gorillaz with her duo She Is Danger, Maya gained her breakthrough exposure in 2010, when she released a four-track EP on Franck Roger's label,  Real Tone Records. She was then named by DJ Mag as one of the best newcomers that year, as her track "What They Say", taken from the eponymous EP, was also one of the most playlisted by DJs on Resident Advisor.

Maya's début album Comfort was on her own I/AM/ME label and Kobalt Label Services internationally in summer 2013. It featured guest appearances from artists such as Tricky, Miss Kittin, Nadine Shah, Alpines, Thomas Knights and Karin Park.

So today, with pressure making diamonds, I choose Maya Jane Coles' "Weak" as my, make yourself stronger, believe it into being, weak is a state of mind, song for a, vulnerable strength, open secret, wink and laugh, Wednesday.

Amber Mark - "Lose My Cool"

Two months ago, Amber Mark clicked and uploaded her first song to Soundcloud. Just like countless aspiring artists, she was dreaming and hoping her bedroom beats and lyrics channeled from her heart might make the requisite ripples online to catch someone’s ear. Anyone’s. "Lose My Cool" is simultaneously insistent, fresh, and classic, and in the two months since she pressed publish, the song’s been pricking all the right ears, specifically radio producer JJ Corsini who was instantly captivated. He nudged the song in DJ Zane Lowe’s direction, who in turn cued it up for his Beats 1 show. Then Apple placed it on the iTunes homepage, with the Hot Tracks accolade, where it stood shoulder to shoulder with Bieber, Swift, Drake, Rihanna, Future, and Ariana—pretty top-notch company to be keeping—and thousands of downloads were purchased. Today she's nipped up to number 35 on Spotify's Global Viral Chart.

Mark lives in New York City with her godparents and sister. She wrote 3.33am, out today, in her bedroom, before recording it in SoHo and flying to London for its final mix. She’d find solace in New York City’s sedated nights. The title refers to Mark’s nocturnal writing state. “I was living with my godparents. We all live in separate apartments but we were always in and out of each other’s apartments like one big house in the city. I liked to write at night because I felt the most alone.”

Her isolation was more than just annoyance from family members. She was recovering from a reality-shattering loss. Mark remembers receiving an educational pamphlet about the stages of grief when her mother began hospice shortly before passing in 2013. None of the bulleted states matched her own. With the making of her first song “Can You Hear Me?” followed by “Space” and “Monsoon,” she realized that she was developing her own steps of overcoming bereavement. There’s no correct way to lose someone, especially when you’re a young adult still shaking off teenage growing pains. It’s an enigmatic transition that we all have to experience, passing through to another understanding of life.

3.33am embodies that process of major loss, Mark honoring her mother through her own personal list of emotional checkpoints. While making music, she was exposed to the vast amount of emotional stress. She wrote out her own list of what she went through following her mom’s passing. “It was regret, anger, isolation, sadness, questioning — like a lack of faith, questioning, Is there a god?-type feeling — and kind of overcoming and all that stuff. Once I wrote down that list I was at that stage of, not feeling better but, like it was easier to deal with the fact that my mom was gone. That feeling of her gone was always there but it is almost easier to live with it.”

Each track that she wrote and continued to write would correspond to a feeling on the list. “Regret is called ‘Regret.’ Anger is ‘Lose My Cool.’ Isolation is ‘Space.’ Sadness would be the interlude into ‘Monsoon’ and also ‘Monsoon.’ ‘Can You Hear Me?’ is lack of faith and questioning. ‘Way Back’ is overcoming. It was definitely interesting to look at that list and, ‘Oh wow, this is really how I dealt with it without even realizing I was going through it, until I made a list.'”

The whole album, filled with tribal clapping and Indian beat-influence is fresh, fun, and lovely. get behind these summer jams cuz they will have your toes tapping and your face smiling. 

So today, with expectations out the window, I choose Amber Mark's "Lose My Cool" as my, hope for everything - expect nothing, never stop believing, give yourself the gift of 'maybe', song for a, broken doesn't mean forever, fragile doesn't mean weak, happy doesn't mean forgotten, Tuesday.

Haim - "That Don't Impress Me Much"

I first wrote about them in 2014. I was obsessed with their sound, their blood harmony, and their unique take on so many musical styles. They've recently resurfaced with a new album, and although it's great, what touched me most was their simple and honest telling of their love for Shania Twain, and their live cover of her classic. 

Check out my first article about them here: http://song-and-soul.com/www.Song-and-Soul.com/Song_%26_Soul/Entries/2014/3/5_HAIM_-_%22The_Wire%22.html

The band consists of three sisters: Este Haim (bass), Danielle Haim (guitars and lead vocals), and Alana Haim (guitars and keyboards). In addition to their primary instruments, each member is also proficient in several others. The group's pop sound on their studio work stands in contrast to the more rock-based music of their live shows.

The sisters grew up in a musical family, and began playing instruments from an early age in the cover band Rockinhaim, fronted by their parents, Moti and Donna. The sisters began performing with the group Valli Girls in 2005, and released a few songs on soundtrack and compilation albums under that name. They formed Haim initially in 2007, but did not seriously consider it a professional career for some years. After Danielle became a successful touring guitarist, first with Jenny Lewis and later with Julian Casablancas, Haim reformed as a full-time operation in 2012.

The group's first release, Forever (an EP released as a limited-time download), combined with positive reception at the South by Southwest festival, led to a deal with Polydor Records and a management deal with Jay Z's Roc Nation group in mid-2012. The band began recording material for their first album, Days Are Gone, in sessions between touring dates, including appearances at the Glastonbury Festival. The album charted in the top ten in several countries, including the number-one spot in the UK, and the group had won several "best of" awards by the end of 2013. The group was nominated for Best New Artist at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. Their second album, Something to Tell You, was released in July 2017

So today, with blood and magic all around, I choose Haim's cover of Shania Twain's "That Don't Impress Me Much" as my, make your own magic, opportunities grow where you plant them, find the finding path to success, song for a, where your road leads, hands to hold along the way, find all the pretty horses, Monday.

Reid Lee - "You Don't Know Me"

I am so excited to share this song with you all!

I have been in love with it since I first heard Jann Arden sing it in "My Best Friend's Wedding". I loved the ambiguity of it, the idea of a woman singing it to another woman as she walks away with another man, and the idea that queer love was out there, around every corner, possibly invisible but still there, just waiting to be found.

It's held a special place in my heart ever since then, and when I eventually heard Ray Charles' incredible classic version, it stole my heart and melted it all at once. Such simple, true, and effective words. Clearly someone I am both in awe of and inspired by.

Thank you for letting me give you this.

So today, with magic and laughter in air like fireworks, I choose Reid Lee's version of the Ray Charles classic "You Don't Know Me" as my, it's everywhere if you just look, like invisible golden skin, the heart will find you song for a, the truth will out, you can not hide this kind of light, like so many eager fire flies reaching for the stars, Friday.