Allysha Joy's voice is a force to be reckoned with. I know of her unique abilities because of Australian 5-piece 30/70 where she takes on the important role of a lead singer. Today, however, the spotlight shines entirely on her.
"Raise Up" taken from Allysha's upcoming album The Making of Silk scheduled for release via our friends at First Word Records later this year. The track kicks off with a simple, but very effective tight drum pattern before her husky vocal emerges with a powerful message.
There's a lot to unpack when it comes to "Raise Up" and I loved Allysha's staking a stance on an important issue in Australia. She elaborates, "This music was written and recorded on stolen land, rightfully owned by the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and to all First Nations People in the ongoing battle for sovereignty."
-via stereofox.com

‘ACCEPTANCE’ is about learning to ride the turbulent nature of life with flexibility, compassion and joy. It is soulful melodic soaring atop of fluid grooves that the 30/70's rhythm section is known for.

-via 30/70 Bandcamp

In the tradition of great singer-songwriters, Justin Carter seems to stick out like a sore thumb. Not because he’s better than the ones who have come before him, but it’s because although he’s traversed ground that’s been treaded previously, with his new album The Leaves Fall (Mister Saturday Night Records) I’m hard pressed to squeeze him into just any old sub-genre. No, some know Carter by his collaborative efforts with Eamon Harkin, as half of popular New York party and record label Mister Saturday Night but this release here, really isn’t much of a part of it. While it may be released on the label, The Leaves Fall is occasionally a haunting affair, with Justin’s sweet voice throughout it...

The opus, “The Great Destroyer” opens the album with a simple and catch finger-picked guitar line with a cello suddenly entering as Justin’s delicate vocals sound like they would break apart at just about any moment. I can’t get enough of this song. Now while you may believe there’s more of the same to follow, that’s not what happens. The beat drives a number of these songs but fortunately it’s Justin Carter’s voice that reels everything in to streamline The Leaves Fall into a cohesive album. “Infinite Pieces” drown out the world with its syncopated rhythm over the rest of the music. Carter begins showing his easy flowed range here, and it doesn’t even sound like he’s trying too hard. It works though. And then it dips into “Know It All” where it goes back to the basics again with one instrument under his vocals. THIS is how we know there will be a reckoning with Justin Carter
-via ghettoblastermagazine.com

Recorded in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador with a Zoom recorder, Àbáse worked with diverse artists from the Brazilian scene, including Letieres Leite, Luciane Dom, Dofono d'Omulo, Afrojazz and more, as "Laroyê", his first solo project, began to take shape, an intricate audio diary of his travels. "Exploring the rich heritage of afro-brazilian culture through samba, MPB and Candomblé," and "[blending] these with [...] broken beat, hip hop and afrobeat, the album is a contemporary homage to the classic Brazilian sound." Indeed, "Laroyê" makes for tight listen, sonically dense and multifarious, with manifold musical treats and delicacies along the way, inviting listeners to a lush 55 minutes of 'headnoddery' and incredulous listening amidst"[an organically diverse] artistic dialogue of seemingly distant cultures" united in groove.
-via greedyforbestmusic.com

Align (Energy)" is a combination of Neo Soul, Hip Hop, Spoken Word, Jazz, and Electronic music made in outer space. A human chant for conexion, an inner journey or meditation, a poem about the key behind every meaningful story within our lives, because love ... is a blessing.

Before Gut Busters, there was Phyton, a brilliant offering by the multi-talented producer, vocalist, and Error Music founder from Berlin. Sound synthesis added an extra dimension to tracks like "Serious People Chuckle", adding some sounds in the mixing process and infusing the music with personalized unique sonic textures.

The multi-instrumentalist/composer Miguel Atwood-Ferguson lends his one-man orchestra to the expansive interlude The Lung. Molasses is musical treacle. Shaolin Monk Motherfunk is some weird-shit boogie. Only Time All the Time: Making Friends With Studio Owl is self-explanatory.
-via theguardian.com

What The Epic does come to sound like, over the course of its significant running time, is a generational intervention—an educational tool that widens the definition of styles that fall under "jazz classicism." With his writing for string sections and chorus, Washington even flirts with that most dreaded of appellations: smooth. But these specific choices also wind up paying dividends: The calmly spiritual voices and Washington's wailing playing during the back half of "Askim" feels novel.
-via Pitchfork

Running just short of three hours in length, this new Kamasi Washington album lives up to its name.
-via theneedledrop