Moël - Votk

And as if from nowhere: Moël.

I don’t know much about Moël. According to the few sources I could find, he was born and raised in Addis Ababa before relocating to Calgary in 2014. According to From The North With Love “Votk”, the name of his first single, stands for “Valley of the Kings”. Now - lacking an extensive bio - we can cut to the good stuff: the single.

Oh boy. Soulful, modern, heavy, alt-R&B. Immediately my mind went to The Weeknd. No, not because they have Ethiopian backgrounds and live in Canada – although fun facts – yes I know The Weeknd was born in Canada just...okay – but because of the slow-tempo, the popping kick and crunchy snare that cut through without overwhelming, the strong falsetto often characterized by long, rapturous, melisma… and probably some other similarities. Hi-Fi vocals soar over muted instrumentals and wavy synths. It’s also notable how assured Moël is, not shying away from risks – like the breakdown about two-thirds of the way through the track, which begins with four measures of the uninterrupted drum-track, before he enters with just his voice and the guitar-track, gradually adding more layers.

Did any of that help? Did that make sense? No? Well

I’m into it. So please listen. Please clap.