RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

The US Supreme Court's recent overturning of Roe V. Wade has left many Americans frustrated and angry. This disturbing turn of events has inspired many artists to creatively express their feelings about this decision, some through music. Pink had tweeted strongly worded opinions regarding this reversal of abortion rights, then was told by some online trolls to just "shut-up and sing". So the singer promptly went and did just that, writing "Irrelevant" with Ian Fitchuk who produced the track. This protest song pushes back against people telling her that as a woman or entertainer, her thoughts and opinions are not important and feels she has every right to be heard. The music video for "Irrelevant" visually displays various protests from many different movements, ranging from civil rights, LGBTQ, #MeToo as well as a call to end gun violence.

Billie Eilish was in the middle of her world tour in support of her second album, "Happier Than Ever", performing in Manchester, England when she received word of the Supreme Court's decision. She had debuted a new song, "TV" during the concert, which had been written with her brother, Finneas O'Connell. They had written part of the song earlier and after Roe V. Wade was overturned, "TV" was completed to include their distressed thoughts about what has happened to women's rights. The song was recorded along with another new track, "The 30th" but instead of waiting until the next album, they were promptly released as an EP, "Guitar Songs".



Here is a collection of some new music from some of my favorite artists:

And a tribute to William "Poogie" Hart, the smooth lead vocalist for the soul group, The Delfonics who has passed away on July 14th at the age of seventy-seven. With his brother, Wilbert Hart and Randy Cain, the trio enjoyed their biggest success during the late 1960's and early 1970's with the hit singles, "La-La (Means I Love You)", "Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide from Love)" and "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)". Founding member "Poogie" Hart (who had co-written many of the band's songs with their producer, Thom Bell, one of the creators of the "Philadelphia soul" sound) had continued performing with The Delfonics over the years, most recently in 2020.

PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION TOO

Muni Long seemed to come out of nowhere earlier this year with her sultry hit single, "Hrs and Hrs" but that is far from accurate. The soul artist has actually been creating music professionally as a singer and songwriter under her real name, Priscilla Renea Harrison since 2009.

Born and raised in Vero Beach, Florida, Priscilla Renea began posting videos on YouTube of herself singing as a teen, performing covers and original material. This lead to her being signed to Capitol Records at twenty-one and she released her debut album, "Jukebox" in 2009. This pop-soul collection had Priscilla Renea writing half of the songs on the record with Soulshock & Karlin and Benny Blanco producing tracks. But the album didn't attract much attention. Despite this disappointment, Priscilla Renea did attract attention for her impressive skills as a songwriter, leading to her writing material for a wide range of musicians in pop (Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Madonna, Kelly Clarkson, Fifth Harmony), r&b (Chris Brown, Chrisette Michele, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey), rock (Train, Sabrina Carpenter, Charlie Puth) and country (Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Florida Georgia Line).

But she still was not done with trying to perform her own songs and released her second album, "Coloured" in 2018. This album was more personal, with songs involving relationships, childhood trauma and racism in a mix of classic R&B and country. "Coloured" failed to bring much notice to Priscilla Renea as an artist so she decided to try a different approach. 

In 2019, Priscilla Renea became "Muni Long" (pronounced "money long"), with a new sexy, fashion-forward image. She dropped several singles before releasing an EP, "Public Displays of Affection" late in 2021. This collection of hip-hop flavored soul featured "Yrs and Yrs" (detailing what she'll do for hours with her partner) and the rest is history. Now Muni Long has just released a follow-up EP, "Public Displays of Affection Too", a five-track collection featuring more intimate, love songs and bass-thumping jams