by Jane Lambert

Debo Ray’s Self Titled Debut Shines with Bold Emotion and Limitless Sound

With her self-titled debut album, Debo Ray, the Boston based powerhouse vocalist delivers a soul baring statement of intent. And it is one that refuses to be boxed in by convention.

Known for her virtuosic collaborations and genre blending performances with artists like Terri Lyne Carrington, Esperanza Spalding, and the band Screaming Headless Torsos, Ray has now stepped fully into her own creative spotlight, and she brings with her a striking voice and a fearless approach to storytelling through sound.

Listen here:

From the opening track “Tell Me What You Want,” it’s clear that Debo Ray is not interested in playing it safe. The opener fuses classic R&B sensibilities with a whip smart rap verse, immediately signalling that Ray is here to challenge expectations.

She follows it up with tracks like “Feelin’ Lucky”, which swaps intensity for lightness, dipping into pop’s playful textures without ever losing her signature vocal presence.

Throughout this album there is an energy of total freedom, with each song like a different room in a beautifully lit house.

Drawing directly from her life experiences, tracks like “Gaslight” and “You Read Me Wrong” confront toxic relationships and emotional exhaustion with an unflinching honesty. “Take That”, which is the album’s final track, could have veered into cliché territory in lesser hands, but Ray has transformed it into a moving meditation on solitude and survival. Her vocals here are rich, sincere and even the simplest lines resonate.

One of the most striking things about Debo Ray though is how cohesive the project feels despite its stylistic elasticity. Whether its pulling from rock guitar rifts, jazz harmonies or gospel style vocal layerings, Debo connects each choice back to the core truth of each song.

The other thing to note here is that whether Ray is pulling from rock guitar riffs, jazz harmonies or gospel style vocal layering, she connects each choice back to the truth of the song. Her voice is a thrilling instrument in its own right, morphing from silky smooth phrasing to more gritty soul belts with a total command of her voice without ever losing warmth or clarity.

What makes this debut especially compelling is its balance. It contains joy and pain, vulnerability and confidence, and tradition and innovation all live comfortably side by side. It’s a full picture of who Debo Ray is as a musician and a person. She is complex, radiant and rooted in truth. As she herself has said, “After years of interpreting the music of others, I felt it was time to tell my own story.”

This album is that almost certainly telling that story. One of reclamation, celebration and a declaration of creative freedom.

Find out more about Debo Ray on her Website

Stream music on Spotify and Apple Music

05.14.25

by Jane Lambert

No More Holding Back: Grace Elly Drops Soulful Anthem “I Don’t Care Anymore”

Grace Elly’s latest single, “I Don’t Care Anymore,” has struck a powerful chord with listeners, delivering a haunting, emotionally raw experience wrapped in gorgeously layered pop vocals. Marking a significant moment in her evolution as a solo artist, the track blends ethereal production with a sense of cathartic release—offering both nostalgia and empowerment in equal measure. Today, we’re thrilled to sit down with Grace for an exclusive interview that explores her creative process, the inspiration behind the single, and how she’s come into her own as a solo musician.

Grace’s passion for music began early—at just six years old—when she first dove into a wide spectrum of genres including folk, pop, rock, and classical. This eclectic foundation helped shape the distinct sound she’s known for today: a seamless fusion of atmospheric textures and emotionally resonant storytelling. “I Don’t Care Anymore” is a testament to that sonic versatility, showcasing Grace’s ability to turn vulnerability into strength.

Before stepping out as a solo act, Grace was part of the girl group Chosen5, formed during the height of the pandemic. Their debut project, The Every Christmas Album, and performances across the country not only gained them a loyal following but also gave Grace invaluable experience as both a performer and songwriter. As the group evolved into The Chosen Girls, Grace’s individuality and artistic vision began to take center stage—ultimately paving the way for her solo debut.

Now forging her own path, Grace Elly is creating music with a clear purpose: to uplift, empower, and resonate with anyone navigating life’s emotional landscape. In this interview, she opens up about her journey from group member to solo artist, the personal truths behind “I Don’t Care Anymore,” and the creative principles that continue to guide her.

From discussions about musical influences to reflections on self-discovery, Grace shares what it means to stay authentic in an ever-changing industry—and how music has been both her outlet and her anchor.

Don’t miss this candid conversation with Grace Elly—an artist whose voice is as powerful as the story behind it.

05.12.25

by Jane Lambert

“Save the World” by Madame Z – A Hymn of Hope in the Face of Planetary Despair

In a world overwhelmed by environmental catastrophe, humanitarian crises and collective heartbreak, Madame Z emerges with a brand new single that’s as musically gripping as it is emotionally necessary.

Called “Save the World,” the single was released intentionally on Earth Day, 20th April, and it’s a powerful, aching anthem that channels personal grief into a global plea for unity, compassion and action.

Listen here:

It opens with a haunting and sparse arrangement that immediately places the listener in a contemplative space.

There’s a steady, pulsing undercurrent, like a a heartbeat, that anchors the track from the start, a subtle metaphor for the planet’s own fragile rhythm. Madame Z’s voice enters with clarity and conviction, rich with emotional texture. And it’s the vocals that elevate everything – a soulful delivery, blending vulnerability and strength into each line. This is not performative pain, but a lived experience transformed into melody.

Written during a time of profound personal overwhelm, the song grapples with the heavy realities of genocide, war, famine, ecological collapse and the slow poisoning of the earth’s most basic life sources: air, water and soil.

But rather than becoming mired in despair, Madame Z creates something rare. It’s a protest song that is simultaneously a mantra for survival. “Save the World” is steeped in sorrow, yes, but it is also a vessel for change.

The song strikes a good balance between introspection and uplift – its layered instrumentation with guitar, atmospheric keys and percussion has a tribal feel and builds gradually, creating a sense of momentum. By the time the chorus fully blooms, the listener is immersed.

But “Save the World” is not just a general statement. It is also intimate. Madame Z is able to make something deeply political feel personal. It’s as if you are listening in on a whispered conversation between her and the earth, or between her and her own soul.

For those who know Madame Z’s earlier work, particularly her debut album ”Down the Rabbit Hole”, this track continues her signature style – unflinching emotional honesty, poetic lyrics and a commitment to turning lived experience into a form of healing.

Her background as a fierce advocate for women’s stories, especially through deeply personal tracks like “Unwanted”, is present here as well reminding us that caring for the earth and caring for each other are deeply connected acts.

In an intense political and cultural moment filled, “Save the World” is a song that cuts through the noise.

Keep up with Madame Z on her Website

Stream music on Spotify and Apple Music

04.25.25

by Jane Lambert

VIDEO VOYAGEUR: 3 Q’s WITH REEYA BANERJEE

Reeya Banerjee’s new single “Misery of Place” isn’t just a standout moment on her upcoming album “This Place”. This is the album’s emotional thesis, wrapped up in crunchy guitars, sharp lyrics and a healthy dose of self-aware swagger.

Inspired by a haunting question that first surfaced in her teenage years – “Are you experiencing misery of place, or profound, lifelong misery of self?” — the song digs into the complex relationship between geography and identity, asking how much of our discontent is rooted in where we are. And, how much in who we are.

To bring those layered themes to life visually, Banerjee teamed up with longtime friend and visual literacy expert Kelly Kingman-Joslyn, whose work translates complex ideas into striking hand-drawn images.

The result is a music video that’s anything but traditional. It is more of a moving sketchbook full of flickering memories, half-thoughts, bold colors and scribbled commentary. It’s part animation, part stream-of-consciousness and entirely unique.

In this exclusive interview, Banerjee explores the origins of Misery of Place, the question that’s haunted her for over 20 years, and the deeply personal (and creatively rich) process of making the video with Kingman-Joslyn.

1. Tell us the story of this song, Why did you choose to visualize this song specifically in this way?

“Misery of Place” is essentially the thesis statement of my upcoming record, “This Place” — a collection of songs exploring how the places we live leave emotional imprints on us.

The song was inspired by a question that’s been rattling around in my brain since high school — over 20 years ago(!): “Are you experiencing misery of place, or profound, lifelong misery of self?”

It came from a teacher, passed along through a friend, and at the time, I was furious. I was 17, and it felt cruel and unhelpful — like, what kind of teacher says something that brutal to a kid still figuring out who they are?

And yet… the question stuck. Through every move and transition in my life, I kept coming back to it. It shaped how I think about identity, belonging, and change — how much of what we feel is about where we are, and how much is about who we are.

This song wrestles with that tension — between geography (physical and existential) and self — and it does it with crunchy guitars, narrative lyrics that nod to Bruce Springsteen’s character-driven storytelling (with a smirk), and the sonic swagger of the 90s power pop I grew up on. It felt right to kick off the album cycle with this one, because it asks the question the rest of the record is trying to answer.

2. What was the inspiration behind this new video (visuals, storyline, etc.)?

I didn’t want a traditional narrative video for this song — the song itself is full of characters, but it’s also packed with doubt, cheek, and internal monologue. So I teamed up with my dear friend Kelly Kingman-Joslyn, a visual literacy expert whose job is literally to transform spoken ideas into powerful, hand-drawn visuals. She works with keynote speakers at corporate events, sketching huge live illustrations on whiteboards or easel pads to help visual learners absorb complex ideas — and she also creates animation videos for clients like Goldman Sachs.

That combination of clarity, creativity, and abstraction made her the perfect person to bring Misery of Place to life. I wanted the video to feel like flipping through someone’s subconscious — a swirl of memory, sarcasm, self-doubt, and scribbled footnotes.

Instead of telling a linear story, the video leans into abstraction: sketchbook textures, bursts of color, and hand-written text that echo the psychological layers of the song. It’s part inner monologue, part visual essay — and it adds a new dimension to the song’s central question.

3. What was the process of making the video?

The video was a true collaboration, but also an act of deep trust. I gave Kelly the track and a brain dump of what the song meant to me — a mix of stories, reflections, and the emotional weight behind the lyrics. Then I stepped back.

I trusted her completely to take all of that and filter it through her own artistic lens. Her ability to translate words and feeling into image is extraordinary, and I knew the best thing I could do was give her the space to do what she does best.

There was also something quietly full-circle about working with Kelly. She’s married to one of my closest friends — we met freshman year of college, and after graduation, we were roommates for nearly a decade. He moved out when he married her! So asking Kelly to make this video kind of felt like calling on family. That trust wasn’t just creative — it was personal.

Kelly is based in Beacon, NY — a small city in the Hudson Valley with an enormous artist community. It’s a place filled with visual artists, filmmakers, photographers, writers, and musicians, many of whom I’ve crossed paths with over the years. I lived there for a long time, and it was one of the most creatively rich chapters of my life. So in a way, this video wasn’t just a collaboration between two artists — it was a product of a larger creative ecosystem I was once part of.

A community-rooted project in every sense. We didn’t storyboard it traditionally. Instead, Kelly treated it like a live sketchbook in motion, responding to the song’s tone and energy in real time. What she created was a moving mural — quirky, emotional, and raw — that mirrors the rhythm and spirit of the song itself.

Keep up to date with Reeya Banerjee on her Website.

04.11.25

by Jane Lambert

Brooks John Martin Steps into the Light on His Most Personal Album Yet

There’s a quiet kind of confidence in Brooks John Martin’s self-titled album. This is a gentle culmination of stories, years and identities and it is all laid out in this richly textured and deeply personal collection.

Listen in here:

After years of recording under names like Toast and Frank Hansen, Martin drops the masks. He is not hiding behind a character anymore. What we get instead is a record that’s stripped down emotionally, even as the music swells with orchestral grandeur and noir-folk atmosphere.

The opening track “Tide Will Carry Me Away” is the perfect opener, with rich textures and a chorus that feels dreamy and distant.

“Clear Blue Waters” captures the tension further. It’s soaked in longing, built on stacked harmonies that drift somewhere between the Beach Boys and a heatwave hallucination. Inspired by a cold winter night and a dream of Malibu, this song is escapist in spirit but haunted by real-world context – the fires that have since scarred the coast where its video was filmed.

Throughout the album, Martin brings a sound palette that is both nostalgic and cinematic. You can hear echoes of The National’s emotional weight, Radiohead’s spacious intensity and the stylized drama of Bowie’s later work – but it never feels derivative. This is a record with its own internal weather system, slow-moving and thunderous.

The haunting “Straight Over Me” plunges into brooding, noir-lit depths with its hypnotic chord progression and mournful strings echoing the album’s overarching themes of introspection and reckoning.

“Millions” hits especially hard – equal parts weary and anthemic, it is like someone trying to remember what hope feels like. And the orchestration across the board? Lush, deliberate and gorgeously produced, thanks to the production at Martin’s own Catamount Recording studio.

What makes this albums stick though is the feeling that this may be Martin’s final musical statement. There is a gravity to that, and also a freedom. These are not songs written to chase trends but they are here because they had to be. Because Brooks John Martin needed to say them, finally, in his own name.

Whether this is truly the end or just the end of a chapter, Brooks John Martin is definitely a record that lingers. It is not trying to impress, but just trying to be understood. And it is!

About Brooks John Martin

Brooks John Martin is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Cedar Falls, Iowa, whose work blends cinematic folk, abstract lyricism with lush orchestration. With a deep baritone voice and a stream-of-consciousness writing style, Martin writes emotionally resonant songs that feel both timeless and otherworldly.

After years of performing under various monikers – Toast, The Blue Danes, and Frank Hansen – Martin sheds all aliases on his fifth and most personal album to date, “Brooks John Martin.”

Raised in a musically rich household and trained on piano and guitar from a young age, he combines a lifelong passion for melody with the maturity of lived experience. The result is an album steeped in Brian Wilson-like grandeur and grounded in folk tradition, with nods to Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and the atmospheric stylings of Radiohead and The National.

Now the owner of Catamount Recording, Martin brings a producer’s ear and a poet’s heart to his music, favoring analog imperfection over digital polish. His latest album is more a statement of his art, a moment of artistic unmasking and, possibly, a final chapter. Honest, unfiltered and wholly himself.

Keep up to date with Brooks John Martin on his Website.

Stream music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music.

03.31.25

by Jane Lambert

Amanda Abizaid’s “Hold On My Heart (Bilingual Remix)” – a Transcendent Journey Through Love and Sound

Amanda Abizaid has always been an artist unbound by borders, whether cultural, linguistic or musical.

Her latest release “Hold On My Heart (Bilingual Remix)” has taken on many forms, evolving across languages and styles. Originally written as a pop folk ballad in English through Sundown Sessions in Los Angeles, the song which was co-written with Lindsay Gillis, has since blossomed into a bilingual marvel.

Winning Best Folk and World Music Song awards from the Indie Music Channel, this track further cemented Abizaid’s place as a global artist. Now, with a fresh remix produced by Dave D’Addario, “Hold On My Heart (Blilingual Remix)” shows Abizaid’s talent for fusing world music with neo-soul and cinematic electronica into a mesmerizing, emotionally charged experience.

With lyrics that seamlessly transition between English and Arabic, this song re-invents the wheel of remixes and transforms it into a re-awakening of passion and purpose.

Listen in here:

https://amandaabizaid.bandcamp.com/album/hold-on-my-heart-bilingual-remix

Abizaid’s ethereal vocals pull you into a dreamy landscape where Middle Eastern melodies intertwine with lush electronic beats.

Producer Dave D’Addario expertly amplifies the song’s intensity, layering hypnotic rhythms with a pulsing and danceable energy that builds towards a climactic release. This is certainly a song that lingers with the listener long after listening with its gorgeous fusion of nostalgia and modernity.

Abizaid, a Lebanese-American singer-songwriter, is no stranger to crafting music that resonates across cultures. Best known for her Emmy-winning theme song A Place in Time from The 4400, she has collaborated with legends like Stephen Stills and performed alongside Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. Her music, which is often a vehicle for storytelling and activism, has found its way into film, television as well as and international humanitarian efforts, where she has used her platform to promote peace and cross-cultural understanding.

“My multicultural upbringing has enabled me to adapt to different types of people. I’ve always had different kinds of friends, inviting them all to my shows and discussions which I love because it creates an international fanbase and audience allowing for a diverse dialog.”

“My hope is to open our minds to accepting our differences by having positive experiences together and to have my fans have an opportunity to experience my native Country Lebanon in a different light than what they might typically hear on the News. After all, don’t we all want to be happy and enjoy the time we have?”

With “Hold On My Heart (Bilingual Remix)”, Abizaid takes another step in that mission, using music as a universal language. This remix breathes new life into an already memorable song, and offers a fresh take where heartbeats of different worlds come together in harmony.

Listen to “Hold On My Heart (Bilingual Remix)” and let it take you somewhere new.

Find out more about Amanda Abizaid and her music on her Website