Singer Jhelisa to Release New Single “Oxygen”

JHELISA
hugely respected maverick returns with career opus
“Oxygen”
Released on Dorado Records
June 15, 2022

A law unto herself, the maverick Jhelisa Anderson has been marching through unchartered territories, expressing her freedom since the mid-1990s when she stunned both audiences and critics with her extraordinarily powerful voice and deliciously daring music.

Through the course of 4 solo albums, Mississippi-born Jhelisa has journeyed through soul, trip hop, jazz, avant-garde, gospel and more recently, esoteric sonic experimentation. She’s been the go-to vocalist for the likes of Bjork, Massive Attack and The Shamen and Chaka Khan has covered one of her songs. But one thing has remained constant; her unwavering, uncompromising artistic vision. Her thrillingly genre-smashing approach to music subverts her sweet, sensual voice with emotionally raw, often dark, yet spiritually resonant lyrics and a musical sophistication seen nowhere else. It comes as no surprise then, that Jhelisa’s remarkable new project, ‘Oxygen’ is a breath-taking, expansive, unapologetic 11-minute opus. Released on Dorado Records on June 15, it paves the way for her forthcoming album, ‘Wild Orbits,’ but is also a stand-alone piece.

‘Oxygen’ is a richly nuanced track of storytelling that snakes through sections of hypnotic rhythms, infectious hooks, probing jazz lines, African chanting, blues-drenched harmonica, pacey percussion and slower slices of sweet soul jazz. The sound is an exciting sonic assault underpinned by a masterful band that includes legendary bassist Oteil Burbridge (Grateful Dead) and long-time band member Greg Osby, whose piercing alto sax brings an intensity that takes the track to another level. It is a compelling, intoxicating and dazzling tour de force of sounds and emotions that sees Jhelisa’s voice soar and swoop, soulful and seductive with a bite that’s never far behind.

Originally a four-minute piano and vocal song, when recording ‘Oxygen,’ Jhelisa began to “push it around” challenged by unknown territories. “I felt compelled to stretch it” she says, “twist it, extend it, so its journey would continue. I wanted to discover the new things the song could do”. She adds, “I’ve taken the freedom because I have it!”

‘Oxygen’ is, as Jhelisa admits, “my outpouring of growth; my influences, perceptions, my angles and transitions that began with surviving Hurricane Katrina in 2005, to navigating the hyper-polarized fragments of American politics over the decades.” ‘Oxygen’ has breathed life into these once suffocating events so that she now looks back with a broader eye, and is able to observe, as she says, “clarity through the chaos”.

‘Oxygen’ is a triumphant masterpiece marking the return of one of music’s greatest mavericks with a track that just isn’t quite long enough.

www.dorado.net

Joining Jhelisa on’ Oxygen’ is Landon Anderson (India Irie) on drums, Donna Hawkins and Oteil Burbridge (Grateful Dead) on bass, Rafael Pierra (Janelle Monae) on percussion, Marcus Reece Jr. on piano and Greg Osby on saxophone.

‘Oxygen’ is released digitally on Dorado Records on June 15 and is available through all usual streaming and download platforms.

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