Dip your toes into these releases for a taste of what blanketed my ears throughout the year. 

~~~

The First Dance

The shutting of my eyes
Cloaks me with disguise
From the surrounding people
So I can escape to my steeple.
Heavy vibrations of bass
Create an emotional maze
Of oscillate bodies
And tasteless toddies.
I transcend into the chapel
Where vocals help me grapple
Fears of the unknown future.

~ Savannah Rose, Nowadays NYC, 19.09.21 ~
Cover art is a snippet of a picture by Paloma Garcia de Juan

~~~

The one release that took the cake for me was FEMINISTA by Tomu DJ. I had a spiritual moment listening to this LP through downtown NYC’s empty Sunday evening streets after seeing Patti Smith in Central Park. The full harvest moon guided me from the park’s sleepy trees and desolate benches and onto the city’s lonely sidewalks. I put my headphones on, and my finger subconsciously went to Tomu DJ. When the first track greeted me with its gentle and welcoming beat, I knew I made the right music choice for my late-night walk past some of New York’s most famous sites. Her emotions slyly begin to peak out when her distinct staggering rhythms slowly appear. Throughout the LP, I felt like she whispered her deepest secrets of pain and hopefulness without using any words. I connected with the fragility you can hear in the faint melodies and the frustration of loss in the footwork beats of my favorite track, “Exposed Nerve.” Give the album a spin, and let me know your thoughts!