Welcome to the December 2022 edition of Emerging Talents’ Tracks Round-Up, where I pick three songs from different artists each month and briefly review them!
All artists were selected and contacted on Musosoup. If you’re an artist and would like to know how to submit your track/EP/album/music video on Musosoup, check my referral link right here.
The bios were kindly provided by the artists themselves.
“God Complex” – Mirnaz
Iraq-born singer Mirnaz recently released her hypnotic acoustic track “God Complex.”
The lyrics to the track are very simple and informal as if she’s talking to a close friend: “[…] I’m here to tell ya / Your complex problems / Are not mine to fix,” she sings, very bluntly. In the chorus, she talks about her “God complex” and her “manifesting everything [she] can’t express.”
Her delivery is definitely what gives the most meaning to the lyrics: her sweet voice perfectly melts with the guitar arrangement; the echoes and subtle beat we hear in the background also add to this auditory experience. the whole ensemble is, as I said, hypnotic and intimate.
Mirnaz’s “God Complex” is a promising track that introduces her style and voice, and I truly hope she will record a studio version of it in the future.
Bio: Mirnaz was born in Baghdad, Iraq. She began singing at age 3. She moved to the United States in 2009 and later started making music in high school at 16 years old.
Instagram & Twitter: @mirnazzle
“DaPassion” – Jay D’Andre
Starting with what sounds like a sample taken from an 80s song, Indiana-based Jay D’Andre goes all in in “DaPassion,” his latest single. His high-pitched rapping is clear, and the artist enunciates every word at a consistent speed throughout the song, sometimes reminding me of one of Kendrick Lamar’s many voices.
The base gives out retro vibes as Jay sits out one bar after the other. Like any respectable MC, his lyrics are filled with word plays and random references to pop culture, mythology and religion, without forgetting to hype himself up in the process (it’s no coincidence that he starts with “Dope in my DNA”).
He knows his bars are fire (“Metaphor my pen is Darren Sharper” and “I perform like a gun,” among others) when he says playfully cocky things like “Look in my eyes and you’ll see the sun / Stare too long and ya corneas done,” which is actually a very funny line.
However, my favorite wordplay in the whole track is “Every rhyme Quasimodo / Like I got a hunch,” which refers to Novel Prize-winning Italian writer Salvatore Quasimodo and the main character of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Quasimodo. Alongside these cultured references, we also find more mainstream mentions of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.
Last but not least, he shares some of his insecurities as an artist, like the fact that he “Had to push through the perfectionism and fears that so many years,” but now he “don’t give a damn if this go platinum / I do it for the passion / I ain’t ate in the last 24 years and I’m 24 now.”
“It’s bout to go down,” he promises in the end. I’m sure it will.
Instagram & Twitter: @jaydeeandre
“SEAMANSHIP” – Chet Bucke
Chet Bucke‘s latest track “SEAMANSHIP” is a slow ballad carried forward by the artist’s low and hypnotic vocals.
Starting with a single note played on the piano alongside some unintelligible filtered vocals, Chet’s singing kicks in–pure and naked–as more and more elements are added, like string and rhythmic instruments. The chorus features some of my favorite harmonies in the entire song as Chet sings in a higher tonality over this ensemble of elements.
There’s a brief silence before we head into the bridge leading to the last chorus, which is pretty much a “summary” of the song, encapsulating all the elements and melodies we’ve heard throughout. The title “SEAMANSHIP” is very fitting to the song: the minimalist and purity of the elements then turning into a firework of sounds remind me of a sea breeze blowing on my face. Finally, Chet’s track is a masterpiece in structure and harmonies, and I look forward to hearing more of his music in the new year.
Instagram: @chettyboy_
Cover image credits: Mirnaz
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