Three-time JUNO-Award nominated alternative/soul singer-songwriter Nuela Charles released her incredible new single and music video for “Top of The World” via AWAL.
“’Top of the World’ was written with Breagh MacKinnon about this notion of dumbing yourself down for the benefit of others, instead of being the main character in your own life. The production by Matt Parad (Selah Sue, Will Joseph Cook, Catie Turner) definitely gives this song summer anthem vibes,” said Nuela Charles. “I wanted to write a song that was celebrating me, and my awesomeness, and I think everyone can relate to that. We are all unique and special and amazing in our own ways – so let’s celebrate that!”
The music video, directed by Tatiana Zagorac and Nuela Charles, showcases Nuela’s fun personality as she exudes joy and authenticity.
Although super simple in nature, I think videos like that are way more likely to have people watch them. A light-hearted and fun video is so re-watchable and I think it really endears people to an artist,” said Tatiana Zagorac, music video director.
Nuela is known for her soulful vocals and captivating stage presence. Born in Kenya, and raised in Switzerland, Canada and the Bahamas before settling full-time in Canada, Nuela’s music is infused with her multicultural upbringing, giving a fresh and diverse flair to her sound.
Over the last few years, Nuela has brought her distinct voice to various stages, having performed at Reeperbahn Festival in Germany, London, UK, and at the uber-coveted “School Night” by personal invitation by tastemaker and LA’s KCRW radio host Chris Douridas. She has also shared the stage as direct support for some of Canada’s musical icons including Sam Roberts Band, Jann Arden and Stars.
This year the SOCAN Foundation announced Nuela as a winner of the second annual Her Music Awards, in which she received a grand prize of $5,000 during a virtual event on February 25. The Her Music Awards celebrate and support female-identifying, mid-career Canadian music creators who are on the verge of taking their creative careers to the next level.
Nuela has amassed over 4 million career streams to date. With coverage from American Songwriter, Earmilk, and FADER, and placements on hit shows such as Jane the Virgin, Tiny Pretty Things, House of Lies, The Order and Finding Carter, Nuela is ready to release more of her fiery brand of cinematic soul.
CNFLNC producer CONFLUENCE has shared his new single, ‘My Everything’, a song that displays his talents and technique. A musician who knows how to work with vocals, CONFLUENCE gives them their own space in the mix. The vocal line takes center stage, holding the song together as synths dance around it. Full of interesting textures, the song overflows with warmth and volume.
Spilling over, the song is a melting pot of ideas that culminates in a climax that rushes headlong toward oblivion. The pace picks up and carries listeners across a landscape of ecstasy, where we are all too happy to lose ourselves. Finding our way back once more, we follow behind CONFLUENCE as he leads us through his exotic exhibition of auditory nuance.
The artist tells us how his song came about saying, “My Everything is a Progressive House and Melodic Techno track and a vibrant, positive and energetic track and I would describe it as my Summer Hit. I remember opening a random project that I started 2 years ago and decided to develop the idea and one week later, the track was completed. What inspired me when making My Everything is the vocal. At the beginning I wanted to use a vocal sample just to hear how it would sound if I was to work with a singer/songwriter and after finding the vocal line, I thought that this was actually perfect and from there I kept it and it became the official vocal of the track.”
In the brief yet stormy romance that is their latest collaborative effort ‘Where Do You Hide Your Love’, which they have released under Sign From The Universe / Tunecore, Pop creators Cimo Fränkel and Skofee fall in and out of love. Here we have two individual voices that compliment each other like wine and first dates. Textured tones and delicate breaks in Skofee’s pleasantly unique timbre convey heart-tugging emotion, adding sincerity to the song and enlivening its subject matter, while Cimo Fränkel decorates each lyric with a teary quiver. We wanted to know where the duo hide their secrets, so we asked them a few questions:
Can you describe an aha moment you experienced while recreating ‘Where Do You Hide Your Love’?
Cimo Fränkel: The second part of the second verse in the song as it is now was what I started with as a chorus. I wanted to create something like Amy Macdonald’s “This Is The Life”. The aha moment was when I completely let that go and wrote the actual chorus right after that part two days later.
Skofee: Honestly, Cimo agreeing to work on his song as a duet was a big moment for me. In creating the song, it was really cool to hear the original lyrics work from a split perspective.
This track is vocally and lyrically rich. What was your focus when creating this single?
Cimo Fränkel: The focus was to create something that was simple, but hadn’t been said that way yet. Melodically the focus was: no boundaries.
Skofee: I think the focus was to highlight the vocals as a key instrument in the track, the background vocal swells are emotional and give it a lot of power. We wanted it to be different from the original as well, which I think the moodier production as a whole accomplishes.
What are some of your earliest memories of music?
Cimo Fränkel: Dancing to Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson and feeling emotions I had never felt before. I was so into it that it almost hurt, I couldn’t understand why an uptempo song like that would make me cry.
Skofee: My parents would sing a lot around the house, so it always felt fairly normal to have music around. We went to a bluegrass music festival in Winfield, Kansas starting when I was six or so—I remember being pretty taken with the live music there.
Take us through your songwriting process. Are there any particular steps you take when putting music together?
Cimo Fränkel: I usually start with chords and melody, I don’t start with lyrics until everything sounds the way it has to sound, melody is the most important step for me to get excited about finishing a song.
Skofee: It depends! Sometimes I have a lyrical idea and put it to music, others I’ll hear a track or lay down some chords and come up with a lyric concept that goes well with the music. My favorite part of the process is recording harmonies, I could do that for hours and hours at a time.
Studio work and music creation or performing and interacting with a live audience, which do you prefer?
Cimo Fränkel: I prefer studio work, there is nothing more satisfying than the process of creating a song from start to finish.
Skofee: Studio work and music creation hands down. I do love performing in a different way, but writing and creating the music is my favorite part of the process—it’s so fun to go into a session and leave with a song.
What is the most memorable response you have had to your music?
Cimo Fränkel: Somebody told me one of my songs saved their life. She had part of the lyrics tattooed on her leg.
Skofee: Any person who tells me that they listened to a song of mine and it served as a good soundtrack for a specific moment in their life—that sticks with me and it’s a really great feeling.
If you could put together a radio show, what kind of music would you play?
Cimo Fränkel: Disco and ‘80s music. Michael Jackson, A-ha, Tears For Fears, Fleetwood Mac, Crowded House, Stevie Wonder, a lot of Motown songs as well.
Skofee: Probably just what I’m listening to that week! I jump around a lot so it’s probably good that I don’t have a radio show.
Name five artists and their albums who would appear on your radio show
Cimo Fränkel:
Fleetwood Mac – Tango In The Night
Michael Jackson – Off The Wall
2pac – All Eyez On Me
Stevie Wonder – Characters
Dire Straits – Brothers in Arms
Skofee:
McCall “…to be a dream…”
Charli XCX “CRASH”
Christine and the Queens “La vita nuova”
Dijon “Absolutely”
Rosalía “MOTOMAMI”
What would you like to achieve with your music? What does success look like to you?
Cimo Fränkel: I would want people to say, ‘that is a Cimo Frankel song’. Even if someone else does it I want them to recognize it, like Pharrell.
Skofee: I’m open to success looking a lot of different ways. My goal is to play consistent shows to crowds who know my lyrics, work with new people who I’ve been inspired by creatively, and keep evolving my sound with time. I just want to keep building on my career with each release and make people feel heard with my lyrics.
One last thought to leave your fans with?
Cimo Fränkel: Doing what you love is more specific than just a path, yes making music is what I love, but true happiness comes from executing the thing you love exactly the way you want to.
Skofee: I love you! Thank you for listening, it means the world.
Phantoms release “Only You” featuring beloved, long-time collaborator JemCooke, which marks the final single before release of their sophomore album ‘This Can’t Be Everything’ on 12th August on ForeignFamilyCollective.
Speaking on their collaboration, Phantoms say, “Only You” was written on a trip to London where we got to work with the amazing Jem Cooke. This was the first song we ever wrote together, It’s about feeling safe with someone amongst chaos and uncertainty.”
JemCooke adds, “This song was written [about] wanting to fling your arms around the person you love the most. It was about expressing being with that one person who can make you feel amazing and keep you safe inside the chaos when it’s all raging around you.”
Phantoms have come into their own and taken a new approach to their music following monumental personal and professional life changes and through those experiences have created some of their most dynamic and transcendent music to date. The two were officially signed to Foreign Family Collective earlier this year, (founded by electronic giant ODESZA in 2015) and since have had the freedom to explore new and exciting creative avenues with their music.
With previous support from NPR, Billboard, Stereogum, BBCRadio 1, Kiss FM + more and over 125 million streams across platforms, the duo has solidified themselves as one of the most promising acts entering 2022, with lots more on the horizon.
