GREENTEA PENG, TELL DEM IT'S SUNNY

Greentea Peng is the kind of artist that grabs my attention. Self-describing as a psychedelic R&B artist, her genre-fluid experimentation with neo-soul and alternative R&B and fusion of spiritual consciousness and street realism makes her stand apart from easy categorization. 

Tell Dem It’s Sunny, her third studio album, Peng, whose real name is Aria Wells, turns inward. Where 2021’s Man Made responded to lockdown with outward protest, this record reflects on motherhood, mental health, and a growing skepticism toward mainstream ideas of healing. Despite its title, the album leans grey in both tone and sound. The phrase “Tell Dem It’s Sunny” began as irony but became a reminder of inner light. Moving away from the flower-child image often attached to her, Peng focuses on what she calls “the politics of the personal”—emotional unrest, identity, and staying grounded in a chaotic world. 

Musically, the album follows Peng’s intuitive process. Dub, soul, and psych elements drift through the tracks, with songs like “TARDIS” emerging through what she describes as channelling. The sound is loose and unpolished, with a great groove that’s more concerned with feeling than perfection. 

Reflection on parenthood, inner conflict, and staying present in a restless world, Tell Dem It’s Sunny is full of hope. For Peng, hope isn’t a pose—it’s something practiced. And she practices it here with feeling and great strength.

Sad Night Dynamite, Sad Night Dynamite

I have always been a bit enamored with artists who can mash-up samples and music genres successfully to create something new and moving. They're a bit like music magicians with me asking 'how did they do that?" Enter Sad Night Dynamite. 

Childhood friends Archie Blagden and Josh Greacen love film scores and film makers like Quentin Tarantino who play with contrasts between beauty and violence. They also 'adore' bands like The Clash, Stone Roses, Portishead, I Monster and MIA. So why not throw all of this together and see what happens? So they did. The result is Sad Night Dynamite, the duo's debut mixedtape.

Described as a nightmarish trip through hip-hop, dub, Britpop, punk, electronica, and beyond, Bladgden and Greacen have created a fully realized other-world. It's one that 'tries to pull you out of real life and take you somewhere else.' Ever evolving and changing, but always 'dark and sexy' the duo's music is a thrill to listen to. And while it doesn't take itself too seriously they say, it has heart which is ultimately what they hoped to achieve.   

ON ROTATION

The Decemberists, The King Is Dead
The Decemberists are back!! After the very ambitious rock opera-like The Hazards Of Love, The Decemberists have stripped their sound back down and set sail on a new musical direction. The King Is Dead, rooted in a kind of folk-rock Americana, stays away from the grand story telling that was seen on The Decemberists' last few albums. Each song here is allowed to stand on its own, yet collectively they deliver a rich and near perfect album. I know that it is early in the year, but I expect to see this album on my list of top albums for 2011.


Empresarios, Sabor Tropical

This album is just down right cool. Grooving to a mix of cumbia (a form of traditional Latin American dance music), reggaeton, dub, and house music, Empresarios have released an impressive debut album. The layering of sounds, beats, and rhythms of traditional instruments and electronics is flawless here. I found myself moving to these songs the first time I played this album. Yet, what really moved me was the shock that I got when I learned that Empresarios hail from Washington DC. Just goes to show that great music can come from the most unlikely of places.
Cumbia             

Sabor Tropical