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For years, the music of UK vocalist Olivier Daysoul has been burning bright. A deep-voiced songwriter with a penchant for collaboration, the man has worked alongside Onra, Bibio and Hudson Mohawke in the studio and logged many a mile on the road with Oddisee‘s live backing band. If R&B were a kitchen, Olivier could rightly say that he’s worked every single station, from savory to sweet. But now, a change is happening. For his new Black Music project, the “Daysoul” moniker is being shed; Olivier is taking up his proper surname – St. Louis – as his new artistic identity, and from the sound of things the effect has been one of revitalization.

It only takes a few seconds for opener “Ain’t Cool” to find its stride, coasting Curtis Mayfield-like on the breeze. Things time travel to the late 90s on “Dog In Man,” which features a Dilla-level drum chop and more syrupy vocals. “Ship is Going Down” is an all-sneering strut, while EP closer “The Proud” gradually unfolds as a patient, tender ballad. With just one short and sweet record, the new Olivier St. Louis has already proven that there’s no groove he can’t bend to his melodic will. - Okayplayer

Funky, groovy & packed with important lyrics! Fresh hip hop from Ghana!

Brooklyn-based, Ghanaian-born Blitz the Ambassador, aka Samuel Bazawule, takes listeners to school with his particular brand of pan-African hip hop, simultaneously directing attention to key political moments and injustices, and throwing a contagious sonic dance party. His latest release, Diasporadical, is a work of prolific collaboration with artists from several metropolitan areas of the African diaspora: Blitz has sought out the younger generation of jazz musicians in New York (Igmar Thomas, Asante Amin, Christian Mendoza), producers (Optiks), and MCs hailing from his native country (M.anifest), South Africa (Tumi), Germany (Patrice), Brazil (Kamau), and even New Haven, Connecticut (Akua Naru). The unique perspectives of each performer at once shine through and contribute to the complex whole, a singular vision of Black energy and excellence. - Rootz World

In 2017, we’ve only caught a few glimpses of what Ivan has been working on, namely the soulful Kaytranada x Kiefer produced loosie “Also” and the jazzy MNDSGN produced single “Young Eye”. As it turns out, these two cuts are a good indication as to what the Oslo based artist has in store for us with his next LP release. On November 10h of this year, Ave presents his sophomore LP “Every Eye”.

“Every Eye”, with its symbiosis of different producers, musicians and vocal styles puts Ivan Ave in his own lane. Leaving behind the sample heavy sound he’s gained recognition with, Ivan embarks on his first musical journey free of chopped up jazz, soul and funk records. But it would be an understatement to say that “Every Eye” still has jazz, soul and funk for days. Enlisting musical homies like Fredfades, MNDSGN, DJ Harrison, Kiefer, Kaytranada and Dâm- Funk on the production side, Ivan carves out his path as an ever-growing MC and singer.

All-though “Every Eye” sometimes hovers in a state of weightlessness genre wise, there is no shortage of gravity in Ave’s lyrical universe. Ivan seems to have written this record as his own self help book, dealing with the mechanisms of the mind, the heart, and the world he sees (or doesn’t see).The title “Every Eye” refers to our various angles of view; the ones we choose and the ones we are assigned to. – Ivan Ave | Bandcamp