*LOS ANGELES – Notable Music Supervisor Carolyn Richardson – a/k/a Music Carolyn – has stepped on stage as a jazzy soul singer after working behind the scenes of the music industry for Entertainment Tonight and Fox Sports.
Her recently released debut solo album, FIREWORKS AND OCEAN WAVES (Music 4 Scenes), comes after being featured on Lukas Graham’s “3” album as a background vocalist and soloing alongside Kathleen Battle last year.
This is her first full-length album since the release of hip-hop soul duo Taniq’s LIFE AND TIMES OF LOVE ten years ago. Her moving new single, “Satisfied,” is available to fans who pre-order the album.
With 11 soulful, jazz-tinged songs, all written or co-written by the artist, FIREWORKS AND OCEAN WAVES displays the growth Music Carolyn’s life has gone through in the past ten years: from newlywed to working mother of three. “Satisfied,” is the first official single from the release and recalls Sade’s “Sweetest Taboo,” both in message and chill vibes. With its syncopated rhythms, smooth delivery, and laid-back backing vocals, the gift of security and fidelity of a new couple in love is explored.
“It’s a song of appreciation for all the things a good relationship offers. I was intentional on this particular song not to mention sex, or intimacy. Real love is practical and there are so many things that make life easier when you’re with the right partner, that I wanted to just say thank you, about those little things we sometimes take for granted,” says Music Carolyn.
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The tune was produced by Ty Macklin who has worked with the likes of Erykah Badu, India Arie, and fellow indie soul singers N’Dambi and Sy Smith. Macklin also produces, “Fire and Rain,” an overtly seductive R&B tune specifically for late nights and early mornings just for two. A groovy cover of the Gershwin brothers’ jazz standard “Love is Here to Stay,” released in 2018, is featured on the album as well. Additional vocals from producer Will Lee B add to making this classic tune, introduced in the film “The Goldwyn Follies” (1938), feel soulful and current.
“Walls Fall,” produced by Grammy-nominated Cori “Fader” Jacobs speaks to the comfort found in intimacy between a loving pair, where “feelings flow and thoughts let go” as the walls of both mind and body come down. The slow swing ballad pairs a jazz trio of upright bass, warm piano, and drums that lull you with a sweet brush pattern. The vocals rise and fall through a florid and meandering melody that moves effortlessly through this sultry tune. The vamp is Music Carolyn at her sexiest and the scat solo at times feel like a trumpet. Other songs on the album include “Rising to the Surface,” an up-tempo metaphorical song that uses the “deep sea” to speak to physical arousal. Adriohn Richardson, Music Carolyn’s husband, produces the unique sound on this track, as well as “Just So You Know,” and “I C Me and U,” an infectious ballad that carries a couple from their first meeting through “exchanging vows,” having kids, then “in rocking chairs, with all gray hair.” The hook is sing-songy and is sure to be a hit during wedding season as it catches on. Three songs, “Sunrise,” “A Summer in Zimbabwe,” and “Breakin’ The Rules” are re-releases from Taniq’s debut, but they fit right in with the subject matter and feel of the newer tunes.
“Love Funk,” produced by William Washington, who’s worked with Lukas Graham and performs as Christian Hip-Hop artist B.A. goes for a mid-tempo funky side of soul. With warm Rhodes keys, live drums, guitar and bass, it squarely fits in as a neo-soul groove that stands out as the only acknowledgment of trouble in the paradise of love that the rest of the album lives in. But even this tune, which speaks of forgiveness, dead butterflies, and picking up the pieces, gets to a resolution to “try to love again,” before it ends.
FIREWORKS AND OCEAN WAVES is an ode to a couple that has no second thoughts about their union, and is in the thick of life together with no signs of the end in sight. “It was important to me to write and sing songs that were positive about marriage,” says Music Carolyn. “I had grown tired of trying so hard to find songs that weren’t about cheating, or breaking up, and I needed these songs in my own 13- year marriage, so I’m glad to now share them with people who aspire to a healthy, lasting partnership,” she adds. Music Carolyn will perform April 29th at 7 pm at The Mint in LA, 6010 Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035, where she will be interviewed about her 20-year career in the music business, and host a DJ set of her favorite tunes.
Follow Music Carolyn on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube @musiccarolyn. On Facebook find her at Facebook.com/musiccarolynofficial.
source:
Anasia Obioha
Ascend Communications
[email protected]
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