All the Latest Music News on Nagamag

Toronto-based singer-songwriter and musician Adam Jesin is back with ‘Imprisoned’, an inspiring pop rock track about the great things that can happen for/to us when we let go of our fears. He sings, “When we choose to be afraid, well then our fear becomes our fortress… and when we choose to be afraid, we become imprisoned”. Just last year, he released his two biggest records to date - ‘Cracked Open’ and ‘Big Shot (Remix)’. Adam Jesin has performed at venues all over Canada and the US, including historic venues like the El Macombo in Toronto and the Viper Room in Los Angeles. Several of Adam's Toronto sports parodies have gone viral on YouTube and have over 3 million combined views. He has appeared on local radio and television talk shows including Tucker in the Morning on Virgin Radio and CP24 breakfast several times.

https://www.facebook.com/adamjesinmusic

Internationally acclaimed singer, songwriter and musical artist I Used To Be Sam (aka Annie Goodchild) announces their self-titled EP, set for release on 16 September. I Used To Be Sam also shares their last single, ‘Grateful’, before the release of the EP out on 16 June.

With their latest single ‘Seamstress’ championed by COLORSxSTUDIOS and Notion, and their track ‘Gentle,’ landing a premiere on Wonderland, I Used To Be Sam steps into a complex journey of transracial adoption and self-discovery on their new EP ‘I Used to Be Sam’ – an explorative new collection of deeply personal, cinematic, left-field pop, all wrapped up in the singer’s distinctively illustrious voice.

Originally written on piano, I Used To Be Sam continued work on the track with producer Novaa, adding further layers and movement. Something about it’s droney playfulness just felt right – “This whole experience of coming into my adoptee identity, DNA tests, and heartbreaking rejections have been a real journey and I wanted the song to have a fairytale wandering through the woods kind of vibe.”

An apt final single before the release of the full record, ‘Grateful’ is a song of reflection; for the work that she has done to get here, and also a thank you to the people in her life who have helped her get to this point.

They continue, “my chosen family has really stood by me throughout this process, both artistically and personally. So I needed to have a song that was a ‘thank you’ to them and that part of myself. The other aspect of this song is about being ready to walk away from my own damaging cycles, and other’s toxicity. I feel like I have enough perspective now to start seeing how some of my trauma responses attract toxic and manipulative people and thought patterns. And that’s something I not only want to change, but also need to change to keep evolving.”

Previously known for her work as Annie Goodchild and as a featured singer in the musical collective Postmodern Jukebox, the new project sees a shift in musical direction for the multi-faceted artist, as well as a deeply personal exploration of their identity and adoption journey. The devastation and passion pours out of every track on this complex and enchanting record.

On a gruelling songwriting trip to Berlin in 2020, I Used To Be Sam had a life changing experience working with a queer, female, POC producer. Up until this point, they had primarily only worked with white men, given the lack of diversity within the music industry. However, after meeting this new producer, who they more closely identified with, I Used To Be Sam felt comfortable enough to open up about their adoption story, speaking candidly about meeting her birth father for the first time, and the agony of trying to reconnect with her biological mother which was met with hostility and rejection. As the artist recounted their experiences, she confirmed her birth name had been Samantha, “After telling my story, I looked up at the producer and she was crying. In that moment, the name I Used to Be Sam came to me. I decided I couldn’t make Annie Goodchild music anymore, because Annie was who I had to be to get to this point. This new project was something I needed to create so I can continue to grow and evolve.”

Following this life-altering moment, I Used To Be Sam became impassioned to use their music as a vessel to bring people with shared experiences together, and to open up the narrative around transracial adoption from the perspective of the adoptee, which is very rarely heard and explored. She has created a community with other transracial adoptees (TRAs), many of whom she has interviewed for this project. Fragments of their stories can be heard throughout this new record.

I Used To Be Sam’s self-titled debut EP is set for release this Autumn, and marks a pivotal moment for the artist making the bravest, freest and most confronting music of their career.

https://linktr.ee/iusedtobesam

Already the previous single successes are impressive and DRAMAS reinvent themselves once again, surprising with a great throw and hypnotic melodies. Reduced to the essentials, DRAMAS again indulge in the matter close to their heart on their new single "Fame" – the fascination with opposites.

This time, the focus is on a bipolar personality and the associated oscillation between the extremes. It’s also the opening single of the artpop duo’s new album, due out in spring 2023.

"Fame" is about a bipolar personality: the melancholic "dreamer in the school yard" and the exalted "unborn star". Even though the two can’t live with or without each other, they are lost without each other. For us, the song is also a love song to our own selves."

http://www.dramasmusic.com/

This epic heroic orchestral track was written with a powerful, hopeful and drama settings in mind. Features an horror / frightening bridge section. The track ends and resolves with transcendence which is the track title.

Let Down Your Guard is a song written for someone that wanted to show appreciation for their friend that completely changed their life. It is the first single from a collection of songs written as gifts for people during the lockdowns in 2020.

https://www.instagram.com/jackinwatermusic/

Jack in Water is the artist name of William Clapson. He was brought up in a little village in Essex, UK and grew up listening to the different musical influences of his parents. His Dad introduced him to a whole host of melancholy and drama created by bands such as Radiohead and the Blue Nile. Whilst at his Mum’s house, the living room was mostly full of the powerful R&B and soul voices like Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross. It was this mix of post rock melancholy instrumentation, partnered with the emotional soulful voice of some of the greats that really drove him to make the music he does today.

Throughout the development of his songwriting and sound during his teenage years and early 20’s, the reasons for making music and the subject matter of his lyrics remain the same. He uses music as a way of communicating emotions and ideas with himself and the world around him. He writes to connect and reconnect with himself, those close to him and those whom he may never meet but are connected by the pain and joy of what it means to be alive and be a human being. In the same way that he identified with his favourite songwriters growing up or that he felt reached out to by certain lyrics in songs, he hopes to continue this in whatever particular style of music he makes.

It is because of this drive to connect with people through music and art that William is so often drawn to collaborate with friends such as Oliver Chapman. In 2012 William and Oliver wrote a song called “Made of Ghosts” and recorded at Abbey Road with The London Symphony Orchestra. It was in this same year that William released an EP titled The Meaning of Events which has now gone on to accumulate over 10 million streams collectively. William follow up EP was a 3-track live piano and voice collection titled The Piano One that was recorded in a church close to where he was brought up. Each song was addressed to a different generation of his family, the Matriarch, the father and the child to be born.

Jack in Water signed to Nettwerk Records in 2018 and released his warmly received EP Absence with the label late the same year. A poignant release with its theme primarily focused on the risks of being absent, whether that be in a romantic relationship, friendship or with people you admire. His second EP Presence, made in conjunction with Ben Christophers (best known for his work with Bat for Lashes), was released in June 2019. The theme running throughout this body of work is honesty and remaining present, whether that is getting over pride and taking accountability for your actions, tackling male repression or just allowing yourself to be in love and be loved.

He’s currently set to release an acoustic EP entitled Mole Hill Green, which is the name of the village where William grew up and due to be released in August 2020. The EP includes acoustic versions of three original songs ("Monster", "Everyone Will Be Lost", "Step Down") and a cover version of "Wise Up" by Aimee Mann, a song that reminds William of his childhood in the mid-90s and that deals with social issues close to his heart, such as addiction and alcoholism. The original version of the acoustic tracks will be included in Jack In Water's debut full-length album, which is scheduled to be released in 2021.

This is a very personal work, where he looks back on his childhood memories and relationships, digging back into uncomfortable emotions and abuse, in order to process past traumas and appreciate the new and strong person he is now. “When you’re no longer tangled up in its ups and downs but you’re still able to see that you’re inevitably a result of everything that’s happened to you so far” William explained. “Being able to reflect on my upbringing has been quite therapeutic, and also difficult at times.”

The Norwegian vocalist drops a stirring comeback album following the teaser single ‘Breathing in Breathing Out’ released earlier this year. She channels the very best of her near 30 year music career in this latest release, with stunning vocals and rolling melodies reminiscent of her earliest ‘art-pop’ era.

Former lead-singer of indie band Velvet Belly, Almedal delivers delicately crafted song-writing and soothing lyrics all wrapped in a newly-found (distinctly dancey) electronic sound. Orchestrated by chill-step producer EvenS – armed with the piano musings and shoegaze electric guitars of Almedal’s partner and film composer Nicholas Sillitoe – the 10-track album adds saturated beats and synths to atmospheric soundscapes.

It harks back to her dream-pop days – certainly distinct from previous ‘female Nick Drake’ folk-pop releases. Through captivatingly emotional lyric delivery, the project treads the line between happy and sad, effortlessly flitting between both. Recording for ‘We Dance Alone’ began with Almedal’s shocking diagnosis of breast cancer – it’s this devastating news that informed the rousing, up-lifting and brilliantly inspiring song-writing heard in full voice on the album.

“The songs are about survival, never giving up, dreams and hopes,” Almedal says. She adds that the harrowing experiences of breast-cancer treatment and recovery render the messages “unmistakably female.” The album is a perfect score to the movie that has been her recent life; while she went on to write a collection of songs that could very well have been her last, she was mercifully greeted with the ‘all clear’ from doctors upon the project’s completion.

Flagship track ‘We Dance Alone’ is a solemn nod to the “best-forgotten lockdown where we were all faced with dancing alone.” So too is the hazy, post-industrial ‘Freeze The Moment’ – a song that speaks to feelings of despondent isolation. “I wanted to capture something where my lonely scandi-noir could feel equally at home in some imaginary futuristic factory landscapes,” the Norwegian says. “It’s a song for those inner moments.”

‘Runaway Turnaround’ stays true to the album’s philosophy of raw emotion; its heavenly electronic textures lay the foundations for melancholy memories of Almedal’s youth: “It’s like a burnt-out polaroid of all my favourite mystical 80s synth-pop moments – distant memories of youth, love affairs… wrapped with the (thankfully) wiser know-how of who I am today.” She notes that the track contravenes her instincts of seeking solace in “folksy” sounds, instead opting to create a powerful, energising synth-driven mood.

‘We Dance Alone’ is a beautifully conceived comeback album from an accomplished musician aiming to match the heights of previous music successes. The Norweigan’s fifth solo album was mixed by British producer Tim Bran, and is out now on all major platforms with a vinyl release also available in the UK.

https://www.instagram.com/anne_marie_almedal

https://www.instagram.com/millarjukes/

Single on upcoming 5th album "Chemical Crash" that is slated to come out Fall 2022