Two-time Juno Award-nominated Canadian pop singer Ryland James has unveiled his new single “3 Purple Hearts” through 21 Entertainment/Republic Records/EMI Universal Music Canada. Listen to it HERE.
Ryland publicly came out via a letter on his Instagram earlier this year. The new song reflects the same level of candor as he authentically discusses his current relationship over delicately plucked acoustic guitar. Through a show-stopping vocal performance, the theme becomes embodied in the refrain, “Tell me that what we have scares you, I’d be lying if I told you that I wasn’t scared too.”
Of the single, he explained, “‘3 Purple Hearts’ is the most personal song I’ve ever written about my love life. Early last year, my boyfriend-to-be commented three purple heart emojis on one of my Instagram pictures. I noticed it and somehow immediately knew he was someone special. We started chatting and eventually met in Toronto one beautiful June evening. We fell in love really quickly and spent almost all of our time together over the summer. Due to circumstances brought on by the pandemic, he had to move home to Thunder Bay at the end of that summer, so we did long-distance during the fall and winter. It was one of the most difficult growth periods of my life, but I’ve never experienced anything so rewarding or fulfilling. This song is me telling the story of how we met and how I was honestly feeling about everything in our relationship back when he had to leave for that first scary time.”
This week, he promoted the release with a series of international media appearances, including the Marilyn Denis Show in Canada and a three-song acoustic set on the special pride MTV Jam Sessions IG Live.
More music is to come from Ryland James soon.
In 2020, he released a self-titled debut EP. In addition to peaking at #1 on Shazam Canada’s Top 200 chart, the lead single “In My Head” recently picked up a platinum certification in Canada, while his catalog eclipsed over 700 million global streams in a little over a year. In 2019, he performed in venues across North America supporting Alessia Cara.
New York-based multilingual singer Kentö has a new dance/pop single out called “Silhouette.”
The LGBTQ artist has been creating his own music for the past eight years, developing songs that tell stories about his own life experiences, and the inspiration for this song came to fruition while watching Olympics interviews.
Says Kento, “I saw Adam Rippon in an interview during the Olympics. He was full of joy. The best. The coolest. Unafraid to be so visibly himself. If I was younger and I saw someone on TV representing such freedom and self-love, I would be inspired by that. I aspire to be that. I wrote this song imagining myself as a kid and thinking about what I would tell my younger self.”
“Silhouette” is the first single off of Kentö’s upcoming album release, Strangers, slated for release later this year. Inspired by the likes of Duran Duran, Tears for Fears, Kate Bush, and Peter Gabriel; Kentö states “I feel like I'm finally making music that is really expressing the sounds that have been in my head all along.”
Born in Northern Maine to a half Japanese/half French Dad and a Brazilian/French Canadian Mom, Kentö’s upbringing and travel have shaped him into the artist he is today. While living between Maine, Brazil and Canada, Kentö predominantly spent his childhood and teenage years in Japan, where he learned about music from all over the world at a young age.
After working on a punk/pop project for four years in Japan, Kentö realized he wanted to branch out and discover a more timeless sound that felt more authentic to him, rather than what managers and labels decided on his behalf.
In 2012 Kentö decided to take a chance, move to LA, call his own shots and start diving into a more diverse range of music. While doing so, he met artist/producer Frankmusik [Ellie Goulding, RuPaul, Erasure], and recorded/released his debut EP Complicated. From there Kentö was born, and his electro-edged pop music started grabbing attention.
In 2019 Kentö was selected to join Them [Condé Nast], as one of the first of 30 LGBTQI+ ambassadors for the launch of their new publication and initiative. Being a strong voice for others to receive inspiration from has always been a shining light throughout any project he takes on.
Kentö elaborates, “I am LGBTQI+ and I'm on the autism spectrum, and I think these are all my superpowers. I think pop music tends to have trends that all sound like one thing, and then someone comes along and shakes things up with a timeless sound. That's the kind of music I want to make. I have overcome a lot in my life, my parents passed when I was young, I’ve battled Cancer, and navigating the world not only as an LGBTQI+ person, but also one on the spectrum has really given me a lot of perspective on the world, life, and music. The amount of joy I feel being able to even be writing this right now that I have is immense. I'm so proud of myself, and I want to just share my music and positivity to the world.”
Philadelphia pop singer Vincint's debut album There Will Be Tears is available on all digital streaming platforms now.
The album emerged from a period of deep personal soul searching during a tumultuous summer 2020. The new collection sees Vincint joined by special guests such as Alex Newell, Qveen Herby, Parson James, and Tegan and Sara (who contribute harmonies to “Getaway”). With songs produced by Grammy nominee JHart (Camila Cabello), John Greenham (Ashnikko), Storyboards and more, the album is heralded by the singles “Higher (featuring Newell),” “All Over Again,” “Kill My Heart (featuring James & Herby)” and “Getaway (featuring Tegan and Sara),” all of which have earned over one million streams on Spotify alone and over two million across all streaming platforms combined.
Earlier this month, Vincint made his TV debut on the Today Show performing “Getaway” with Tegan and Sara.
In a recent episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, Vincint told Meghan Trainor, “I don’t see popstars who look like me - no one’s as dark as me, no one’s as gay as me - well that's not true, but, you know what I mean? I want people who are like me to see me and say, ‘Damn, I can do that.’” The full podcast episode is available to stream now HERE and sees both discussing their favorite collaborators, mutual acquaintances and advice on dealing with stardom.
“The first time I listened to the full album top to bottom, by the time it was over I was just sitting there with my face drenched in tears,” Vincint says. “I went through all of the emotions I was missing and realized that this is what it feels like when you make something you love. It’s not just something I felt like I wanted to create, but something I needed, craved and desired for my soul.”
Vincint was previously heard on his debut EP The Feeling, available now via AWAL for streaming and download. The EP – which features collaborations with producers John Greenham and Alex Psaroudakis (Cher, M.I.A.) – includes the singles, “Someday,” “Please Don’t Fall In Love,” and “Save Myself,” the latter joined by a companion video, streaming now at YouTube.
In the recent past, Vincint has performed at New York City’s Governors Ball, headlined performances at Los Angeles Pride, had multiple sold-out shows in New York City and Los Angeles, appeared at the 2020 Academy Awards (as a member of Cynthia Erivo’s gospel choir), the United States Conference on AIDS, SXSW, and the 2019 GAY TIMES Honours 500 in London.
Though it all, his mission has been clear: “I make music to make you cry and make you dance,” Vincint says. “But most importantly, to make you feel something.”
Grammy Award-winning multiplatinum duo A Great Big World teamed up with Emmy-award winning choreographer Travis Wall for a music video of their new single “Boys In The Street.” Click HERE to watch.
Directed by Se Oh (Troye Sivan, AJR) and choreographed by Travis, the video brings the song’s story of a father’s journey accepting his son for who he is to life with an emotionally raw performance. Travis also stars in the video.
A Great Big World vocalist Chad King (who identifies as gay) shared his thoughts behind the video with HuffPost Entertainment saying, “I would love for people to connect with the honesty and authenticity of the story behind the song and video, and to maybe have an awareness and appreciation for someone else’s struggles and differences in a way they haven’t had before. I am so proud of the video and how it captures the feeling the song gives me. I hope others will connect to it in a similar way.”
Additionally, on the inspiration behind incorporating dance into the video, A Great Big World vocalist/pianist Ian Axel said, “The dance world has always embraced our music, really since we started making music together and we can’t think of a better way to visually tell the stories of our songs. We’ve been fans of Travis’ for a while now and have always wanted to work with him. We’ve just been waiting for the right moment, and this felt like it. There are few choreographers who make our hearts burst like Travis does. We’re so honored and thrilled that he was open to be a part of this."
“Boys In The Street,” a rendition of Greg Holden’s song by the same title, follows A Great Big World’s “Fall On Me” with Christina Aguilera, both of which will be featured on their third full-length album due out this August. The latter has generated more than 30 million streams worldwide and reunited A Great Big World with Aguilera following their seven-times-platinum Grammy-winning hit “Say Something.”
Electronic music artist
John Roberts has released debut album, Lights Out (via X-Bop). It was produced by Junior Sanchez and features guest appearances from Debbie Harry, Beth Ditto and babydaddy (Scissor Sisters).
Lights Out is a collection of 13 songs influenced by electronic, pop, and new wave of the ’80s and ’90s. It features the Depeche Mode-fused “Divide People. With a video directed and choreographed by Nina McNeely (Bjork, Banks), Roberts explores the world under the microscope of former administration and coming out of that “hateful, divineness, racism, homophobia, and anti-semitism, Asian hate and kids in cages.” Motioning ahead, Roberts insists the song is beyond “him” now.
Then there is “Nobody.”
“Beth Ditto’s voice is church-like. It’s an uplifting song,” Roberts said in a statement to Rolling Stone, adding of the track. “When I was a kid, I used to jump on a mini trampoline in front of the mirror to Janet Jackson and it just reminds me of being alone with yourself, spazzing, and dancing. It’s about showing the world that you’re kind of capable of things that they don’t expect. It’s having those moments alone with yourself where you kind of gain confidence, then bring it out to the rest of the world, and just being a little different, confident, and knowing there’s other freaks out there.”
Ultimately, Roberts—who also is an Emmy-nominated TV star, LGBTQ artist and comedian best known as the voice of the lovable Linda Belcher on the hit TV show “Bob's Burgers”—has crafted an album that is the truest representation of his love of music.
Track list:
1. Lights Out Feat. Debbie Harry
2. Freaks
3. Nobody Feat. Beth Ditto
4. Divide People
5. Stoned In Love
6. Lose Your Mind
7. The Wave
8. Thought Control
9. Hyper Critical
10. Love Electric
11. Our Vibe
12. Here It Comes Now
