Tropical Dancer šŗš»
Shuffle Sundays #63 ā¢ Charlotte AdigĆ©ry & Bolis Pupul, Koffee, Tobe Nwigwe, David Ward, All Creatures Great & Small, The Durrells, The Midnight Library, Hanna Lee Joshi, and more!
Greetings from New York City!
This week Iām featuring music from artists that were completely new to me until recently, and I hope you end up enjoying one or all of them too. Enjoy the read!
š½ Ā» Charlotte AdigĆ©ry & Bolis Pupul - Topical Dancer
electro-pop, dance, art-pop ā¢ 13 songs ā¢ 51 minutes
Have you ever fallen in love with an album that didn't really grab your attention the first time you hit play? See, for me, albums can be a lot like books sometimes. There are albums that I get all excited about listening to, but for some reason, it takes me a few tries until everything clicks, almost magically. It could be because of the time of the day, mood, environment, distractionā¦ who knows!?
Well, thatās exactly what happened to me with Charlotte AdigĆ©ry & Bolis Pupulās Topical Dancer. I came across this album while doing my weekly Friday research on new releases and immediately fell in love with the album art, besides being curious after hearing lots of praise from some of the sources I follow.
Tropical Dancer is a very heavy-themed album disguised with well-produced electronic dance beats. As a Brazilian living in the US for almost a decade, I particularly got very impacted by some of the politicized lyrics exploring subjects like xenophobia and racism. Not an easy listening experience for sure, but a very necessary one!
š¶ Ā» Koffee - Where I'm From
Mikayla Simpson, a.k.a. Koffee, is a 22-years old Jamaican singer whoās been getting lots of attention recently, especially since winning the Grammys for best reggae album1 with her 2019 EP Rapture. Last week she released her debut LP Gifted, which includes āWhere Iām Fromā, seen here in a great live performance. Although she can be labeled as a reggae artist on a surface level, itās great to see her bringing a modern twist to the genre while still paying homage to its roots.
š¶ Ā» Tobe Nwigwe - Fye Fye (ft. Fat Nwigwe)
I have never heard about Tobe Nwigwe when Arjun recommended him on 3 by 7 almost a year ago, and since then itās been sitting on my list of things to recommend until now. As Arjun said back then āIām getting āThis Is Americaā energy from this, mixed in with some Sunday Service influenceā, and I couldnāt agree more. Itās impossible not to get hyped up while watching this video, even if rap is not your cup of tea.
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š§© Ā» Random Bits
šā¢ Musician and fellow Substacker David Ward reached out to me and shared his great new single Castle in the Sky beforehand, which has been on repeat here for the past few days and itās not officially out in the world;
šŗ ā¢ Iām normally not that interested in period pieces, but after devouring both seasons of PBSā All Creatures Great & Small, I binged all four seasons of The Durrells in Corfu and now Iām desperate for more heartwarming and human stories alike. Any recommendations?
š ā¢ And speaking of devouring, I canāt remember the last time I read a novel that caught my interest so much as The Midnight Library, a book that ponders the infinite possibilities of life. It can sound a bit self-help-ish at times, but Iām a sucker for stories that incorporate parallel universes or time-traveling in some capacity;
š ā¢ I know that Aprilās Fool continues to be popular, but Brent and Michael announcing a new sponsorship for their travel publication was the first prank I saw on a newsletter and I couldnāt stop laughing about it!
ā”ļø Visual Inspiration
Hanna Lee Joshi is a Korean-Canadian artist whose practice primarily involves depictions of the female form. Check out her website or Instagram for more. Here are some favorites:
š¶ Ā» New Music
this weekās new albums I'm curious to check
Also, new singles from David Ward, Harry Styles, Superorganism, Everything Everything, Flume, Maglore, and many more. If youāre curious to hear some of these songs and more, make sure to followĀ my 2022 playlist on Spotify, updated weekly with new releases:
making Koffee the youngest person and only woman to be awarded in the Best Reggae Album category!
You could try Doc Martin https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0408381/
I need to check out the Durrels of Corfu!