Our regular look at artists worth paying attention to now.
Three acts with new music, growing momentum and a reason to get on your radar before everybody else catches up.
– WORDS BY JAMBALOO EDITORIAL TEAM
Liv East
London’s Liv East has spent the past few years developing a sound that moves between the intimacy of classic soul and the physical energy of club music, bringing together influences from funk, R&B, house and jazz without allowing any one of them to dictate where a song should go. Her voice has a wonderfully unhurried quality, capable of delivering something deeply personal while the music underneath remains irresistibly danceable.
Her debut album, FUNKSOULSEX, arrived September 18, bringing that musical curiosity into sharper focus. Produced with Brighton duo AMIcity, the ten-track record explores desire, romantic expectations and the complicated business of connecting with other people, pairing vintage synthesizers and warm basslines with beautifully detailed contemporary production.
There’s plenty to get into here. “Sugar Rush” is a wonderfully confident piece of funk-driven pop, “How Many Nights” finds an appealing middle ground between late-night R&B and dance music, while “Projections” examines the uncomfortable realization that sometimes we’re more interested in our own idea of another person than the person themselves. Across the record, East demonstrates an instinct for making sophisticated arrangements feel remarkably effortless.
Having already attracted attention from the likes of Moodymann, Jayda G and Theo Parrish, East is beginning to connect with audiences on both sides of the dancefloor. FUNKSOULSEX gives her a distinctive musical identity that should carry considerably further.
NOONZY
Belgian songwriter Arnaud Stockbroekx, better known as Noonzy, has made an interesting discovery about his own music: sometimes the best thing you can do with a carefully considered idea is pull it apart and see what happens. His debut album, Plan Is Bad, released October 2 through Play It Again Sam, takes that philosophy quite literally, transforming the intimate, guitar-led songwriting of his earlier releases into a brilliantly unpredictable collection of electronic pop.
Working in London with producer Nathan Jenkins, better known as Bullion, Stockbroekx began reconsidering almost everything about his arrangements. Acoustic guitars made way for synthesizers, drum machines introduced unexpected rhythmic possibilities, and songs that had already been meticulously demoed found themselves heading somewhere completely different. The resulting album retains a strong melodic foundation while continually introducing peculiar little details that reward closer attention.
“Easy” develops from a gentle opening into something considerably more animated, while “If I Were You” introduces clarinet into a wonderfully unusual electronic arrangement. “Yeah (I’m In)” has the immediate appeal of a great pop single, and across the album there’s a playful willingness to leave familiar song structures behind whenever something more interesting presents itself.
There’s a particularly appealing sense of humor running through Stockbroekx’s approach, from the album’s deliberately pessimistic title to his acceptance that even the most carefully constructed plans rarely survive contact with reality. Plan Is Bad sounds like an artist discovering just how much freedom comes from giving up a little control.
DOGS ON SHADY LANE
What began as a collection of intimate solo recordings by songwriter Tori Hall has gradually developed into Dogs on Shady Lane, a four-piece whose music draws from indie folk, understated alternative rock and the wonderfully imperfect tradition of homemade guitar records. Originally emerging from the New York and Providence independent scenes, the group have spent several years developing a sound that feels deeply personal without ever becoming overly precious about its own emotions.
Their debut album, Knots, arrived September 25 through Lauren Records, bringing together material written and recorded across seven years. Alongside Hall, the current lineup features Evan Weinstein, Calder Mansfield and Grace Goss, whose contributions have expanded those early acoustic foundations into arrangements filled with intertwining guitars, delicate harmonies and moments of considerable volume.
“Grow” is a particularly lovely introduction, approaching the experience of watching a child become their own person from the perspective of an aunt. Its gentle acoustic opening eventually gives way to a much heavier chorus, capturing something of the complicated emotions involved in recognizing how quickly people change. Elsewhere, “Find You,” “Prom” and “Colors” reveal the group’s ability to build remarkably affecting songs from relatively simple musical ideas.
There’s a sense of shared history running through Knots, both in the relationships explored across its eight songs and in the collective effort that brought the recordings together. With the band currently taking the album on an extensive American tour, including an October 30 stop at Zounds Sounds in Dallas, this is an excellent opportunity to discover a group whose quiet persistence has resulted in a genuinely rewarding debut.
