Jeeni Blog

Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

Alana Sukul, ‘Good to you’ - Single Review

/ By Doug Phillips
Alana Sukul, ‘Good to you’ - Single Review

Although released in the shadow of Alana Sukul’s previous huge success, ‘Closer’, the newest track from the singer, songwriter and producer is an impactful genre-blurring feat in its own right. 

A newer addition to Jeeni, Alana has already added five tracks to Jeeni’s database in a sweep of popular genre channels. Learn more about Alana’s creative mission, her inspirations, influences and attitude as an artist with our recent Artist Focus blog all about her: https://jeeni.com/blog/alana-sukul-artist-focus-blog-jeeni/  

This new single shows a moodier side to Alana that demands your focus and attention. The reversed piano melody, heard first, is eerily beautiful and sets the tone of the track incredibly naturally, despite the artificial sound of a backwards piano. Alana’s approach to the percussion is subtle, yet constant; instead of a steady, imitable beat, understated rim hits decorate the offbeats with almost irregular patterns. This embrace of more interesting percussion is most likely a prime example of Alana’s Caribbean heritage and influences shining through, resulting in her music completely breaking the mould from other popular music. 

Alana regularly flaunts her adaptive and impressive vocal control in ‘Good to you’ as she dips lower than ever with the lyrics, ‘so heavy’ and then instantly soars upwards with a warbling and composed ‘closer to being buried’ delivery. Her fluent and gliding voice is perfect for communicating the angsty yet tuneful melodies that she’s designed here.  

The lyrics here address something deeper than just relationship turmoil. Alana uses her craft to process dark and consuming thoughts, ranging from depressive apathy, the incessant passing of time and overwhelming pressure weighing her down. Through the darkness, Alana does try to maintain optimism, “I deserve so much more than what I’m really settling for”, however, it can’t help but feel hopeless at this point in time that she’s addressing. The lyrics do a heartachingly accurate job of narrating a dark moment in one’s head and adds introspective layers to what could be mistaken as just a heart-break song.  

Check out this incredible track on Jeeni here: https://jeeni.com/good-to-you-alana-sukul/?channel=alana-sukul&rtn=btasc&artist=alana-sukul  

And check out Alana’s Jeeni Showcase here: https://jeeni.com/showcase/alana-sukul/  

How can Jeeni support artists like Alana Sukul?  

JEENI is a multi-channel platform for original entertainment on demand. We’re a direct service between creatives and the global audience. 

• We give creatives, independent artists and performers a showcase for their talent and services. And they keep 100% of everything they make.  
• We empower our audience and reward them every step of the way.  
• We promise to treat our members ethically, fairly, honestly and with respect.  
• Access to artist liaison and a supportive marketing team. 

12
Jul

The People's Lounge - The Turbans

The Turbans is an international musical collective bringing together exciting music from traditional near-eastern and eastern-European styles and their own compositions. To create a modern and energetic performance with reverence for its ancient roots. Growing from the intertwining paths of many talented musicians travelling the world. This extraordinary project has grown in a few years from very humble beginnings, into a progressive name on the London music scene. You can catch The Turbans at the Global Bandstand Weekender presented by The People’s Lounge. At the Southsea Bandstand Portsmouth. It's members have gathered from countries such as Turkey, Bulgaria, Israel, Italy, Greece and England to perform in concerts and festivals around the UK, Turkey, India and Europe. The Turbans is independent and run by the musicians themselves, bringing music to the public, young and old alike. Meanwhile mixing vibrant spontaneity and authenticity with multi-genre instrumental and vocal excellence. Drawing on the rich cultural heritage of the Levantine and Balkan regions and their roots in Turkey, Bulgaria, Iran, Greece, Spain, Tunisia, Morocco and London. To create a high energy blend of original music for the 21st century, inspired by ancient melodies. Artists The Turbans are the type of creative talent that Jeeni supports on our platform. By creating showcases, supporting creative talent and promoting them to an audience on jeeni.com In a politically divided time, it’s hard to imagine a band comprised of members from across Europe and the Levant as not being inherently progressive. However, transmitting a political message was not their initial impulse. It was simply music. As well as friendship, as it turns out. Oshan Mahony, the “seventh best guitar player in the band” says the core group is seven members — met violinist Darius Luke Thompson in Kathmandu. The two half-Iranian, half-British nomads immediately hit it off. They began busking throughout India, picking up musicians along their Journey. The Turbans is rounded out by vocalist and guitarist Miroslav Morski, a former Bulgarian pop star who previously fronted the band. Django Ze, and has been described as a “musical tornado” with a broad range of musical styles; Greek folk music expert, vocalist Pavlos Mavromatakis; cajon player and flamenco guitarist Pablo Dominguez, whose father, Chano, is a well-known flamenco pianist; Israeli guitarist Moshe Zehavi, who parents are from Turkey and Tunisia; and oud player Maxim Shchedrovitzki, a native of Belarus. In addition to beyond the core group, the band is always playing with other musicians. Seven years later The Turbans delivers to global audiences the same high-energy blend of Balkan, klezmer, Gypsy, and sundry other styles they’ve been bringing to venues around the world for years. In India, Hong Kong, the Middle East, and all throughout Europe and North America. JEENI is a multi-channel platform for original entertainment on demand. We’re a direct service between creatives and the global audience. Firstly we give creatives, independent artists and performers a showcase for their talent and services. Secondly we empower our audience and reward them every step of the way.Thirdly we promise to treat our members ethically, fairly, honestly and with respect. Lastly and most importantly they keep 100% of everything they make. Check out Flamingods showcase here on Jeeni: The Turbans | Showcase | JEENI. Along with other showcases to add to your playlist. Also, you can find out more about their appearance at The Global BandStand Weekender. Presented by The People's Lounge, at the Southsea Bandstand Portsmouth. Sunday 1st August at 17:00

05
Jun

6 of the best music related sites and blogs

We have been scanning the internet and asking members what they think are the very best music-related sites and blogs. Basically, what's hot and what's not! Our choices may well differ from yours, so let's have the debate. Many things have changed in recent years and will change at an even greater pace now. With online streaming services we can enjoy our music for free or a low cost. So let's get started with the ones we love. We love Vampr. Vampr is an app that helps you discover, connect and collaborate with fellow musicians, the music industry and music lovers alike. Vampr stats show 33,798,736 swipes and 5,017,135 connections made in 198 countries worldwide. Pretty impressive stuff, so check them out here. https://vampr.me/ We also love Pitchfork. Pitchfork has some awesome features such as best new music, and we really like the music reviews. The writers seem to be in the know and very much "thought leaders" in the music industry. They are continually updating the website with the latest information related to the music industry. Unfortunately one of Pitchfork's main features is that they have their own music festival, this year to be held in Berlin which would have hosted over 40 bands across three different stages, but now cancelled. Check out Pitchfork here: https://pitchfork.com/ We also love Hypebot. Hypebot is one of the most well-known online music sites in the industry, and there is good reason for that! This site is updated very regularly so you know you are getting all the latest information possible. They also cover other areas such as “Music Tech”, “DIY” and “Charts”. You can also sign up to the Hypebot newsletter to get the daily lowdown on everything happening straight to your inbox! Hypebot covers a wide variety of topics in the music industry, so no matter what you are looking for, you’ll probably be able to find it here. They also have a charts section where you can filter by “emerging artists” or “established artists” as well as the country and city. And of course you can play artist tracks. Check out Hypebot here: https://www.hypebot.com/ Our next site is Your EDM, dedicated to Electronic Dance Music. Everything you need to stay up to date with the latest in this music genre can be found here. This includes all the latest news as well as featured articles and sub-sections/ genres of EDM, like house and bass. On this site you even have the ability to download free songs, from a variety of different artists trying to make a name for themselves in the industry. All the different sub-genres are listed on the site as well, so even if your taste is really narrow in EDM, you can still find some great information. New info is updated almost daily. Make sure you follow them on social media as well, so it is even easier to get updated on the latest information. Check out Your EDM here: https://www.youredm.com/ Next on our it's-gotta-be-hot list is All Music. All Music doesn’t really have as much news on the music industry as the others listed here, but their focus is mainly on providing information in new music and helping visitors discover their next obsession. They also provide recommendations if you create an account, and once you have rated albums, you will get recommendations on what to listen to next. They cover music from all common genres including pop, rap, electronic, classical, blues, country and more. They provide an in-depth review of all the latest albums and give options on how to stream the tunes, if you want to. There are three different ratings available to view, “All Music Rating”, “User Ratings” and “Your Rating” so you can have a more detailed view on what people think about a particular album. Check out All Music here: https://www.allmusic.com/ Last but not least we love Jeeni. Jeeni is a new platform that we are developing for Independent Musicians and Performers and is in beta testing phase. JEENI is a multi-channel streaming service for original and unsigned talent. Jeeni provides a showcase for musicians and performers to put their talent in the spotlight, giving superfans the power to make them stars. The Jeeni promise is to treat their creative talent ethically, fairly, honestly and with respect. Most importantly Jeeni is committed to – No hype. No adverts. No rip-offs. No Fakes, and making sure that the artists get 100% of their direct sales. Jeeni is presently looking for beta-testers to help us improve the site. A beta-tester simply registers for a FREE account, then designs their own showcase by uploading their music and videos and give us feedback on their user experience. Please contact Shena@jeeni.com or call 07703567196 if you are interested and want to find out more. Check out Jeeni today: https://jeeni.com/ That's all Folks!

07
Dec

Amba Tremain - 'Baby You're Gold' Single Review

Amba Tremain’s new single ‘Baby You’re Gold’ is a graceful, yet energetic addition to her family of Soulful songs with heavy R&B and Ska influences. Any Amy Winehouse fan would very much enjoy the Soulful, Ska aura of the song, starting with a dreamy intro featuring chords on a Rhodes type electric piano and a classic Ska guitar part on the offbeat. The harmonizing, tremolo backing vocals paint a beautiful vibration in your head.   The chorus features a dramatic build to a loving call and response between Amba and the backing singers. Amba’s voice is a powerful instrument, used here in a tender way through her affectionate lyrics to display a kinder side. The vibrato keys throughout the chorus help synergize the bright, sunny tone, alongside the higher end magical sounding key scales.  A breakdown into a relaxing Ska middle 8 consisting of engaging guitar delay and a smooth bassline prepares you for a last booming chorus. The structurally brilliant song finishes with a sharp, exuberant ending. Amba has certainly got the knack for writing engaging and well written music, here she has grown her range with an undeniably catchy and jubilant song.  Check Out Amba Tremain's BRAND NEW single 'Baby You're Gold' here: https://jeeni.com/amba-tremain-baby-youre-gold/ How can Jeeni support artists like Amba Tremain?   JEENI is a multi-channel platform for original entertainment on demand. We’re a direct service between creatives and the global audience.  • We give creatives, independent artists and performers a showcase for their talent and services. And they keep 100% of everything they make.  • We empower our audience and reward them every step of the way.  • We promise to treat our members ethically, fairly, honestly and with respect.  • Access to artist liaison and a supportive marketing team.  Check out Amba Tremain's Jeeni page: https://jeeni.com/?s=amba+tremain