ALBUM REVIEW: SV & Alyssa Jane – Neo Phily

Boston producer and Jim’s Pool Room Records co-founder Sean ‘SV’ Veligor and New England rapper/singer/songwriter Alyssa Jane join  forces on their debut joint record “Neo Phily”, which serves as both a follow-up to Alyssa’s 2021 debut album “grey area” and SV’s 2023 compilation project “My Corrhiza”. In my review of the latter, I stated that Alyssa was THE (yes, this word will be presented yet again in caps) standout performer on “My Corrhiza”, thanks to her diverse range in rapping and singing. She also displayed a willingness to wear her heart on her sleeve, even when she’s going hard on solo cuts like “Dopeness Right There” (whose chorus alone is still lodged in my brain since I first heard the song back in JANUARY of last year) or collabs like “Without You” and “The Tree” featuring Jim’s Pool Room artists Capo and Gage respectively.

Going back to Alyssa’s debut record, it’s interesting – and probably intentional – that it bears the same name as the excellent 2019 album from British rapper/singer Little Simz. Not only was that album my official introduction to Little Simz’ work, but it presented a rapper unafraid to address her flaws and insecurities through engaging and relatable introspection whilst showcasing her truly impressive lyrical dexterity. After the first few listens I gave “Neo Phily”, I checked out Alyssa’s “grey area” and from a production standpoint, I can see how her penchant for smooth, low-key beat selections fits so well with SV’s moody, mid-tempo instrumentation.

What’s interesting about “Neo Phily” is that it feels like a thematic expansion of “grey area” and a thematic / sonic expansion of the SV and Alyssa Jane tracks on “My Corrhiza”. Therefore, fans of Alyssa who were probably expecting her 2023-released singles like the respective smooth jazz and bossa nova crossovers “Karma Suits Ya” and “NEW PR!” to be packaged into a new album may have to wait a while longer. This is entirely an Alyssa and SV presentation to the extent of having NO guest features, not even from Jim’s Pool Room.

The album’s rewording of the term “neophilia” (love or enthusiasm for what’s new) and the juxtaposition of diurnal and nocturnal imagery in its cover art hint at the journey the listener is about to embark on. It’s a journey where the ‘new’ is right in front of us but the ‘old’ is not that far behind, and where light and dark co-exist, both externally and internally. From the opening track and third single “Kerosene”, SV and Alyssa establish the emotional ‘grey areas’ the listener will experience on this journey. The post-hook alone sets up the album’s main theme of emotional duality (“Tonight, I be quick to remember that I live two lives / Not talking about a disguise”). Though SV’s beat on this track is smooth, wavy and laid-back with some pleasantly jazzy horns and guitars in the mix, Alyssa wrestles with her own self-doubt while presenting herself as unwavering in her pursuit towards greatness in her life and career. She accepts her imperfect self, but the only way for her to attain some level of perfection in her life is obviously to move forward.  Performance-wise, Alyssa sounds so natural over SV’s production, effortlessly switching between rapping, singing and even vocalizing, as she does on the pre-hook after the first verse.

Compared to SV’s last instrumental, the production on the following track “Leave” sounds moodier, darker and significantly hypnotic, with its synth keys, drums and occasional embellishments of sax. It’s as if something unnerving – an emotion or memory perhaps – is creeping into Alyssa’s subconscious. Thematically and lyrically, this is one of the album’s darkest moments as Alyssa finds herself stuck in a particular rut in her life, desiring to leave everything behind in search for answers. 

Her emotional burdens get heavier on the next track “Pressed” where on the beat, we get this odd, brief skipping effect on the drums during the non-vocal sections of the track. It’s a subconsciously self-aware aspect of the song, as I saw it as a representation of how unclear Alyssa’s life path is. I will confess that during my first listen to this track, I swore some background process on my laptop was causing the song to stutter while I was playing it on Spotify. Sporadic Windows 10 annoyances aside, “Pressed” is easily one of the album’s best songs! Yes, the beat is great – even with the ‘skips’ – but it’s Alyssa’s vocal range that makes this song work. She embodies the emotional baggage she’s dealing with at this point in the record through her vocals, whether it’s the smoothly-sung, catchy-as-hell hook, the slightly heightened expressiveness of her raps, or her gradually aggressive post-chorus after the first verse.

Up next is the album’s second single “Trip on Me” which features this dreamy mix of R&B-styled drums, trap percussion and retro-80s synths. As the title implies, someone’s emotionally tripping on Alyssa  (a fan, a friend, a potential partner perhaps) and as the superbly trippy animated music video suggests, she’s taking this person on this psychedelic, mental journey through her highs and lows. Once again, she’s embracing her flawed, imperfect self and in the context of the song, hopes that this ‘visitor’ gains a deeper understanding of who she is before taking their friendship or relationship one step further.

Speaking of relationships and ‘tripping’ on people, there’s the album’s lead single “Down to Zero”, where Alyssa raps and sings about not being able to get her ex out of her mind and wanting to rekindle their obviously fractured relationship (“I just need you to know that you’ve been on my mind / Ever since the second we decided to break the bond”). SV’s instrumental perfectly sets the melancholy tone of the song with its somber piano keys and light snares and synth notes in the background.  The hook is well thought out, as Alyssa flips the “ready or not” kid’s game into a heartfelt plea that not only will her ex be close by when she finishes her count from ten to zero, but she’ll be capable of finding him before he’s considered ‘lost’. If I have one gripe with “Down to Zero”, I felt it deserved a second verse, given how exceptionally well-written this song was.

The album’s final leg begins with “How it’s Made” and “If You Been Bad” where Alyssa picks herself up from the lows she’s been experiencing on this record thus far. The former track features a droning ambient beat laced with boom-bap drums and a pitch-shifted vocal chop. Alyssa puts this beat to great use as she reduces her self-loathing and regains her confidence through some much-deserved self-affirmation. Her opening lines establish the mindset she’s in at this stage on the album: “Sympathetic to the ones before you / They got a side of me I can never undo / Had to pick up the slack to be something / Now I’m working overtime to deliver my cool”. And throughout this song, she’s boastful with her bars, vulnerable with her emotions and grateful for the support she’s received from her fans and loved ones during the mentally tumultuous times in her life.

We then get what is my opinion the BEST SONG on this record: “If You Been Bad”. SV’s production has a distinctly dramatic flair to it, as if I’m  hearing a spacey, boom-bap version of a spaghetti western theme composed by the late, great Ennio Morricone (kids, ask your parents). Alyssa delivers what is essentially a therapy session on wax, with these freestyle-like raps centered on how her music has helped her cope with mental, emotional and even spiritual loss over the years. The second verse shows a startling amount of growth on the record, as Alyssa mentions the recent support she gave to her father and acknowledges the creative medium of music as a true blessing in her life. And yet near the end of the song, she shows awareness of how easy it is to slip back into the darkness, breaking hearts and burning bridges in the process (“Staying out of trouble cuz the karma’s active”).

With the inspirational highs given by those two tracks, I guess it’s fitting that “Neo Phily” concludes on a dour note with “Slow Motion”. I say ‘guess’ because while a part of me wishes we got a brighter, optimistic ending to the record – with Alyssa’s confidence back up and her life back on track – the reality is that life itself doesn’t play out like that. Try as we may, there will be moments of uncertainty, pain and stress that will inevitably pop up after the moments of joy, happiness and peace of mind. And I have to applaud Alyssa and SV for concluding their project with that harsh truth in mind. SV saves his most somber instrumental for last with a beat consisting of frail, disenchanted piano keys, amplified quite effectively by vinyl crackle.  As the title suggests, Alyssa finds herself moving in slow motion thanks to the “creeping” demons she’s been addressing and fighting throughout the record.  Like the equally distressing “Down to Zero”, this is another track where I felt a second verse was absolutely needed. With its near-minute and 45 second runtime, making it the shortest track on the album, “Slow Motion” feels more like a ‘To be Continued’ than a ‘The End’. But maybe that’s the point. It’s not supposed to be the end of this neophilic journey. There’ll be more pain and struggles to endure on this path but there’ll also be more blessings and achievements to be had on it as well. In other words, this Neo Phily story is still being written, and each page begins with one step forward.

Overall, “Neo Phily” is yet another top-quality album from Jim’s Pool Room Records and a thoroughly entertaining project from Alyssa Jane and SV. It’s also a remarkably cohesive record, thanks to the seamless blending of SV’s mood-inducing instrumentals and Alyssa’s reflective lyrics and heartfelt vocal performances. Creatively, the sky’s the limit for these two and I can’t wait to hear what they put out next!

OVERALL RATING: 8 out of 10

Now available on Spotify and neophily.com

BBB RADIO / RETROSPECT REVIEWS: SUPERBOWL SUNDAY SPECIAL III – RIP Carl Weathers, The Greatest Night in Pop, Hazbin Hotel, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Argylle, Orion and the Dark, The Lego Movie (2014)

For the third Super Bowl Sunday Special (recorded, ironically, a week before the actual Super Bowl Sunday event), Matthew, Ricardo and special guests Ashton Menzies and Tracy Hutchings pay tribute to the late, great Carl Weathers, discuss the Netflix doc “The Greatest Night in Pop”, adult animated series “Hazbin Hotel”, action-comedy-drama series “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”, action comedy “Argylle” and Netflix-released animated film “Orion and the Dark”, in addition to celebrating the 10th anniversary of the 2014 animated comedy “The Lego Movie”.

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE HERE

TRACK & MUSIC VIDEO REVIEWS: Echo Strike – Rabbit Hole, Not Going to Follow, Hit or Miss, Infection & Running on Empty

For the first time on my blog, I’ll be reviewing a literal handful of promotional singles and their accompanying visuals for an upcoming studio album. The album in question is “Wonderland” from international pop rock / alt indie pop band Echo Strike, a follow-up to their breakup-themed record – and one of my favorite albums of 2022 – “Can’t Do Anything Right”. As you may have guessed, “Wonderland” is inspired by the beloved children’s novel “Alice in Wonderland” and like its predecessor, a concept album of sorts.

Based off the tones and sounds presented on these five singles, in addition to the final moments of my album breakdown of “Can’t Do Anything Right” with Echo Strike’s lead vocalist Randy Van Gelder from last year, I can report that “Wonderland” will be a substantially upbeat record. And though it will undoubtedly explore similar themes of love, heartbreak and moving forward from said heartbreak, the vibe will be mostly, if not entirely, dancefloor oriented thanks to the electro-pop sounds utilized by Echo Strike on this album.

Expanding on the “visual album” approach of “Can’t Do Anything Right” where a majority of tracks were given distinct visual treatments, these five music videos play out like narrative short films. Two of them are practically experimental films, which is funny since they’re both animated. For me, the incorporation of animation into the promotion of this album proves that Echo Strike’s music video for “Never Too Late” off the “Can’t Do Anything Right” record wasn’t a one-and-done attempt at using animation to articulate their lyrics and themes. And with the exception of one video, the Echo Strike band members appear in some shape or form in this anthology / visual EP of sorts.

I’ll kick things off with “Rabbit Hole”, the first of the two animated videos and the beginning of this journey into Echo Strike’s Wonderland. Like Alice’s descent into the rabbit hole led by the White Rabbit, this song involves the protagonist (portrayed as a lonely young man in the video) exiting his humdrum reality through a literal leap of faith. The song’s piano-driven electronica beat and expressive lyrics (“Come now, heart is pumping / Blinding lights, get jumpin’ / This place, got to know / Call it the Rabbit Hole”) help convey the sense of excitement and euphoria the protagonist feels along the way and upon arrival at this mysterious, extraordinary world.

Given the cyberpunk aesthetic of the music video, you can picture Randy on the track as this Morpheus-like character – who just so happens to do gigs at this nightclub which serves as the centerpiece of the video – beckoning the protagonist and the listener to take that life-altering plunge. On the subject of Randy, the AI technology used to craft this genuinely stunning video is so impressive, I assumed upon first viewing that the shots of Echo Strike performing were REAL! And speaking of “The Matrix”, I couldn’t help but be reminded of, yes, the nightclub scene from that film but also the premise of “Kid’s Story”, a standout segment from the “Animatrix” animated anthology film. Of all these videos, “Rabbit Hole” exhibits the perfect blend of sound, tone and visual in the sense that the video looks exactly the way the song sounds and feels like! Already, this is one of my favorite tracks off the record and I imagine it’ll be the same for many people who hear this song and watch its video.

In addition to one’s escape from reality, another theme established on “Wonderland” is resilience against the harshness of one’s environment. The live-action music video “Not Going to Follow” delivers a delightfully colorful take on rebelling against the external forces meant to destroy one’s individuality. In a dull, sepia-colored town, one of its citizens, played by a flamboyantly-dressed Randy, leaves his home and magically spreads color to the lives of his fellow townspeople. The end result is a joyous outdoor celebration that perfectly matches the song’s vibrant, sunny instrumental. The lyrics to this song are appropriately self-empowering as they encourage us to follow our own life paths and reject the man-made ones that go against our values and beliefs.

During my first listen and viewing, I admittedly felt a sense of thematic dissonance hearing these lyrics and seeing Randy’s Pied Piper-like character working his magic. But if you dig deeper into the video and song, you realize that Randy ISN’T a Pied Piper at all. Like Neo in “The Matrix”, Randy’s character broke out of his mental and emotional prisons and influences the townspeople to do the same. Of course, not everyone will understand, let alone take that leap, and that’s where you get a climactic moment in the video involving a bearded man resisting Randy’s magical charms via a hilarious dance-off. In short, the video is irresistibly fun but the lyrics, which I suspect will relate to a particular moment or song earlier in the tracklist, demand a little extra focus.

Sticking with live-action a bit longer, we have “Hit or Miss” which, from a production standpoint, is a continuation of Echo Strike’s occasional dabbles into decade-defined genres and sounds, like the disco throwback “1978” off their “Dirty Clean Sexy Mean” record. In this case, we’re treated to a gleefully retro synth pop anthem that, if it was recorded in the 1980s, would’ve fit nicely over an energetic film montage like the “Scarface” sequence set to Paul Engemann’s timeless “Push it to the Limit” for example (the sonic influence of which I couldn’t help but notice – as a huge “Scarface” fan – on this track).

Funny enough, the song and video actually owe a lot to classic, pop-driven combat sports films of the 80s, the three most notable being “The Karate Kid”, “Rocky III” and “Rocky IV” (Sorry, “Raging Bull” doesn’t count! I said POP-DRIVEN!). The video, filmed entirely in Argentina, begins with a prizefighter bribed to take a dive in his upcoming match by a gangster played by a Marsellus Wallace-channeling (sans the bald head) Randy Van Gelder. And like Bruce Willis’ character in “Pulp Fiction”, our hero ignores the bribe and focuses on the match and the pride his loved ones will feel if he wins it.

Lyrically, Randy (not the gangster) is facing an opponent of his own: the insecurity he feels over losing his recent love interest. Driven by the song’s warbly synths and throbbing percussion, he gets into training montage mode on the pre-hook (“I gotta run, run, run / Gotta catch the sun / So I light the fire, to take it higher”) and, adopting the courage and focus exhibited by many a boxer in the squared circle, makes a valiant effort to reclaim this girl’s love on the RIDICULOUSLY CATCHY chorus! The second verse adds an extra layer of depth to what could’ve been a simple ‘give love a try again’ song. Randy recalls his first bout with regret at the age of 5 and how, over the years, he learned to cope with regret through confidence and determination to do and be better. And thanks to the message of the aforementioned “Not Going to Follow”, the hook on “Hit or Miss” takes on a more self-affirmative meaning.

Which leads to the BEST live-action video in this package, “Infection”. If “Hit or Miss” involves a second chance at love, “Infection” deals with the enamored feeling that, depending on how you deal with heartbreak (more on that in a bit), may spur someone to try again – or try at all – at the game of love. Using a zombie-creating virus as the driving theme of the video and song is PURE GENIUS! As the title states, Randy’s INFECTED by this woman, and not only is he incapable of shaking her off his mind, but he’s changing into someone completely different. In zombie terms, swap the word “brain” with “heart” and you’ll know exactly what this song is getting at!

Randy wisely keeps the intent of this lovesick man open-ended, as we’re left to ponder whether his attraction towards this potential love interest is healthy or not. This is reflected in the subtly salacious tone of Randy’s songwriting and vocal delivery, particularly in the song’s bridge where he sounds rather……hungry for this woman. But despite the ‘undead’ imagery woven into the lyrics, the song’s main theme of infatuation is universally relatable, which in turn adds to the magnetic appeal this song has and will continue to garner. As I stated, “Infection” boasts the best live-action music video in this collection, and that’s due to the loving homage to the zombie genre it delivers from start to finish. From the IMPRESSIVE zombie makeup and simplistic, post-apocalyptic setting (think of the events leading up to “The Walking Dead” or “The Last of Us”) to the references to memorable zombie moments in film, like the iconic “Thriller” dance to the zombie/human love story presented in the 2010 zom-rom-com “Warm Bodies” (take note of the final shot before the end credit / blooper reel sequence).  And you can tell that everybody, zombie and human, had a BLAST on-set and it shows in this delightful, witty and entertaining-as-hell video!

And last but not least, we have my top favorite song and music video of the five: “Running on Empty”. This is where this brief journey into and across Wonderland veers into the dark territory of heartbreak. Over an airy, immersive, vaporwave beat, Randy sings from the perspective of a man who unapologetically turns his back on his ex after a frustrating roadblock in their relationship. The verses are delivered in this low register, consisting of brief phrases meant to sound like indifferent responses during a heated argument (“Tough shit, you’re mad / It’s rough, I ain’t sad”, “Now you need to know / What it’s like to sleep on the floor”). The key to truly understanding this song comes in the form of the melancholic vibe hovering over the hook. Yes, he sings “You, you’re running on empty / You gotta be lonely without me”, but you can tell that through all the nose-turning and chest-puffing he does on the verses, he’s actually concerned for his ex’s emotional stability. And despite the ‘toxic’ nature of the lyrics, the song itself isn’t about who’s right or wrong but how we feel, post-breakup, about the other person even if we were wronged in some way.

The animated visuals for “Running on Empty”, presented in a side-scroller video game style, are masterful in their simplicity and effectiveness. Throughout the video’s runtime, we follow a white, cardboard cutout-looking character wearing red shoes running through a series of brightly-colored landscapes. During the second verse where Randy mentions “sleeping on the floor”, the character runs into one of its kind lying on the ground, ignorant at how tired our lead is feeling at this point. After a transitional wipe, it continues running – all alone with no endpoint in sight. And while I won’t spoil what happens to it during the video’s final moments, it’s one of the most emotional and unforgettable conclusions you’ll see to a music video all year!

And to think this collection of songs and videos is but a taste of what’s in store with “Wonderland”. Sonically and visually, these five chapters of Echo Strike’s fantastical journey into electro-pop left me highly entertained and genuinely excited for their upcoming album. Like “Can’t Do Anything Right”, I won’t be surprised if we get more versatile visuals for some, if not the rest, of the other tracks. But for now, these delightful and enjoyable singles and videos should keep us satisfied until the final product drops!

“Rabbit Hole”, “Infection” and “Running on Empty” are now available on Spotify and YouTube. “Not Going to Follow” and “Hit or Miss” are scheduled for release on both platforms.  

ALBUM REVIEW: Franki Love – The Sky

Previously, I covered “Look Up to the Sky”, the lead single from “The Sky”, the latest full-length album from singer/songwriter/producer Franki Love. With its spacey instrumentation, catchy songwriting and smoothly-delivered vocals, all provided by Franki, it was an effective indication of what to expect on this new project.

As I stated in that track review, I expected this album to play out like the third chapter of an unofficial series of albums – the last two being “The Sun” (2020) and “The Moon” (2022) – within the meditative and therapeutic categories of new age music. Maybe it’s the movie trilogy lover in me, but I admittedly went into “The Sky” expecting it to be this climactic culmination of the sounds and ideas presented in its two predecessors. And in a way it is, but instead, we get an album infused with the respective vocal and instrumental-centric DNA of “The Sun” and “The Moon”, but with its own identity and thematic throughline. It even hints at a possible follow-up involving another part of nature, but more on that in a bit!

Like “Look Up to the Sky” which concludes the first third of this nine-track album, the “sky” itself is represented as this celestial vessel filled with the light of love. This light envelops all of us, even in the darkest moments of our lives, and throughout the album, Franki encourages the listener through song to embrace this light, seek it for guidance in our lives and live said lives to the fullest (i.e. ‘spreading your wings and flying’). Like her previous work, Franki once again handles production duties; but this time, however, she sought out three musical icons for instrumental support: Grammy-nominated new age musicians Michael Hoppé and Steven Halpern and Grammy-winning house/trance remixer Hex Hector, the latter of whom was responsible for many memorable remixes of chart-topping songs back in the 90s (his collaboration with the production duo Soul Solution on the “Un-Break My Heart” remix from Toni Braxton instantly comes to mind).

The album opens with the chilled-out, synth-driven “Heaven Flows with You Forever”, an alternate version of the song “Heaven Flows in You” from “The Sun”, which sounds like the equivalent to waking up on a bright, sunny morning. The sunlight in this case is love, as it’s “on the rise” like a literal sunrise and “surrounding you” like sunlit air. And yet there’s this spacey, nocturnal aura hovering over the instrumentation, as if this light of love is being spotlighted onto us by a full moon. Franki’s breathy vocals sound rather heavenly across this track, to the point that even the occasional bits of percussion in the background don’t overpower her voice.  Franki sticks with the heaven theme a bit longer on the short but sweet piano ballad “Walk the Line with Angels” whose radio-friendly, adult contemporary sound alone makes it an aural attention-grabber. Here, she encourages the listener to keep walking in that heavenly light with the knowledge that there will be support, whether physical or spiritual, along the way.

After the serene “Look Up to the Sky”, we get “Fly like the Wonder You Are”, the second longest track on the album with its near 6-minute runtime. Like the preceding and following track, the title is simple and self-explanatory, as Franki beckons the listener to tap into the greatness inside you, “follow your heart” and….you guessed it….”fly”. This is one of a few tracks on the album where the song is mainly driven by its message and the mood of its instrumental as opposed to traditional songwriting structure (verse, hook etc.). And for a message as relevant as this, it actually works! Franki’s production is upbeat, sunny and vibrant, with a little bounce added to the melody to keep your head nodding as you listen to this track and go about your day. Lyrically, she appears at just the right time on this track to deliver some vocalizing, the hook itself or a few extra lyrics here or there.

Up next is a quartet of instrumental-based tracks, beginning with “Just Relax and Flow”. If “Heaven Flows with You Forever” is the sunny start of a new day, “Just Relax and Flow” is the brief spell of rain (the sound of rainfall is actually incorporated into the production) in-between that sunny weather. That rainy sound effect effectively brings a sense of calm to the track, with Franki’s soothing vocalizing hovering over the shimmering instrumentation like a drifting cloud. We then get the first track featuring one of the album’s three guest performers. On “Moon Maiden Tears II”, a sequel and remix to “Moon Maiden Tears” from….you guessed it….”The Moon”, Hex Hector delivers a fresh and distinct take on the original song by replacing Franki’s ethereal production with a low-key, contemporary beat, whilst maintaining her main vocal melody.

The second collaboration comes in the form of “Heidi’s Waltz Beyond”, where Michael Hoppé’s excellent piano solo and Franki’s angelic vocalizing mesh into a genuinely beautiful track that’s easily one of the best songs on this record! It’s so great, I wish it ran for at least a minute more just so I can bask in the warmth of this track even longer! But before the third and final collab, we’re treated to arguably the most downtempo song on the album “It’s Written in the Stars”. With its placement near the end of the record, it’s clear that this track is all about that titular “sky”. Franki takes the listener on what is essentially a journey through space and (most likely) time, both of which are embodied in this expansive, hypnotic instrumental laced with occasional bursts of ghostly vocalizing.

Franki saves her longest and most symbolic song for last with the album closer “Ocean of Bliss and Inner Peace”. Not only is this the climactic culmination I was looking forward to from the beginning, but it takes its thematic throughline of the light of love and applies it to the absolute perfect setting: the ocean. Visually, it’s the middle ground between the earth and sky but, as stated by Franki and her daughter (the album’s sole guest vocalist) through brief positive affirmations, it’s the place where you can finally let go of the things holding you back from living a truly fulfilling life, whether it’s fear, anger, regret or grief. Adding Steven Halpern, one of the proclaimed founding fathers of new age music, to this track is a stroke of pure genius as we’re treated to this grand, near-cinematic masterwork of an instrumental from start to finish. Combined with Franki’s singing, vocalizing and whispered messages of hope, the end result is my top favorite song on this album! And as for the follow-up I mentioned earlier in this review, I suspect this “ocean” will be the central focus of Franki’s next album. Or maybe not, but I guess I’ll see what happens in the near-future.

As a whole, I really appreciated and enjoyed “The Sky”. From a sequencing standpoint, it flows well from track to track. The production is consistent throughout, even with the contributions from Hex Hector, Michael Hoppé and Steven Halpern. And though it’s not a lyric-heavy album, it still benefits from its simple, sincere messages and superb vocals from Franki Love. In short, if you’re looking for an album designed for healing, stress relief, meditation or simple relaxation, look no further than “The Sky”.

OVERALL RATING: 8 out of 10

Now available on Spotify, Bandcamp and iTunes

TRACK REVIEW: Franki Love – Look Up to the Sky

For my latest track review, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on “Look Up to the Sky”, the first single off the upcoming fifth full-length album from Los Angeles-residing singer/songwriter/producer Franki Love entitled “The Sky”. The album itself is a follow-up to both her Kickstarter-funded album “The Sun”, self-produced and released during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020, and her 2022 new age, piano-based instrumental album “The Moon”.

Both records, and Franki’s music in general, center on relaxed, atmospheric soundscapes mostly tuned to 432hz (a calm-inducing frequency) built around moody piano and keyboard chords and soothing lead vocals. On the subject of vocals, even on a majority of the instrumental tracks on “The Moon”, Franki adds a layer of emotional depth to them with some gorgeous vocalizing. A true highlight on that album, for me, was its penultimate track “Mother Love” where Franki’s daughter collaborated alongside her on the vocalizing aspect of that song.

With “The Sun” and “The Moon” serving as my official, two-album introduction to Franki’s work, I get the sense that “The Sky” will play out sonically and emotionally as this overarching third chapter in this series of therapeutic, meditative, life-affirming records. And with a few Grammy-nominated and winning musical artists already added to the guest list (Steven Halpern, Hex Hector and Michael Hoppe), it’s already shaping up to be something truly special. As for this single, “Look Up to the Sky” gives us a solid idea of the themes and sounds Franki will explore on her new album.

Throughout the track’s near 3-minute runtime, Franki constantly switches between micro and macro focus on the world she lives in, the people who inhabit it and the universe in which our world is a part of. The theme of this song is love, symbolized as the air around us and to a larger extent, the sky that illuminates us during the day (“The Sun”) and night (“The Moon”). Of course, we need air to breathe, and that’s where we get a line each in both of the song’s verses where Franki briefly examines the inner psychological workings of the human inhabitants of this world (“Souls inside a costume where we choose our fate” / “Hearts inside bodies of a thousand traits”).

On the chorus, she encourages us to look externally towards this bright light called love for guidance in our lives instead of blinding ourselves by our own misguided selfishness. And in the process of expanding our focus, we’ll find that strength to become better people and help change the world for the better.

For such a poetic and admittedly existential view on love, Franki wisely keeps her lyrics simple and straightforward and her vocals gentle and heartfelt. The song’s instrumentation creates this fitting backdrop for Franki’s lyrics, delivery and overall message, with its pleasant keyboard chord progressions, supplementary drum pattern and ethereal, spacey ambience. I will confess that upon first listen, I did find fault with the use of vocalizing in the fourth bar of each quatrain of the song’s two verses. But with the more listens I gave the track, the more I appreciated those moments of vocalizing for three simple reasons: they’re expanded upon on the tail end of the chorus, they add a great deal to the track’s accessibility and, obviously, they’re catchy!

As a whole, I really appreciated and enjoyed “Look Up to the Sky”! Not only does it work as a perfect introductory track to those unfamiliar with Franki Love’s music, but it also gives fans and non-fans alike a taste of what to expect with “The Sky”. Whether it exceeds the limits (better now than never to drop a sky pun in this review) of her last two previous records or not remains to be seen, but for now, “Look Up to the Sky” is as effective of a lead single as any!

“The Sky” will be released on September 15th.

Listen to “Look Up to the Sky” here: