…This is the Inbox Jukebox:
Thomas Day – “not my job anymore”
Sad songs. Sometimes they do the opposite and lift you up. Thomas Day is giving us the biggest heart-hug with “not my job anymore”. If bittersweet were a melody this is it. The lyrics are straight out of a diary confession while the music wraps itself around you and spins you around.
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Ruelle – “Self Sabotage”
“Self Sabotage” is as sultry as a siren song. Ruelle’s vocals, the strings, the saucy bop of the beat—everything tempts you to slow snap while you sway. It’s the kind of song that makes you feel sexy, like getting dressed in the mirror and warning yourself to be good tonight (but knowing you never could). Ruelle is such a good musical enabler—“guess I’m always gonna be my own worst enemy.”
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Omar Apollo – “ARCHETYPE”
Once again Omar Apollo paints a target on our emotions and his aim is true. “ARCHETYPE” is a buzzy, melodic, relaxed-tempo love song; as real as those late phone calls neither one of you wants to hang up. It’s soothing and smooth but stank-face-making too. You could glide-n-bounce along with Omar for the rest of the day and never get “ARCHETYPE” out of your head.
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Joesef – “East End Coast”
Sometimes love makes a mess of us. It’s an obsession with the wrong things, cutting ourselves on broken relationships, and singing ballads into empty spaces. That’s the story Joesef is telling on “East End Coast”. It’s a sad song that makes you want to move but never go too far away. The beat keeps count of a lover’s transgressions but the sonics are buoyant, even anticipatory. Above it all, Joesef’s vocals are filled with the ultraviolet hope that this time might be different. If not, we’ll remember the bad as if they were good times and we’ll dance slow enough to make it last.