Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by Gabriel Teodros, host of Early on KEXP, is "Thrive, Despite" by A. Billi Free & The Lasso, from the 2022 album Holy Body Roll on Mello Music Group.
Holy Body Roll, released this March, is a collaborative record between New Mexico vocalist A. Billi Free and Michigan producer The Lasso that leans into the duo’s love for funk, pop, hip hop, and R&B for a record that’s free-flowing and boundaryless. Joined by The Lasso’s studio team made up of saxophonist The Saxsquatch, cellist Jordan Hamilton, and pianist Grayson Nye, Holy Body Roll is meant to serve as a “groove-filled guidebook for healing, the soundtrack to help you move from tear-streaming breakdown to full-body boogie.”
Our Song of the Day, “Thrive, Despite,” embodies this both in title and spirit. Led by a jazzy piano line from Nye, the song morphs into a downtempo R&B track that has incredible warmth as A. Billi Free croons, “I know you carrying this weight /This thang so deep can’t touch the base /After you take a little break, get up and face another day.”
“We’ve been building this project since late 2020,” explained Free in an interview. “We used this record to process difficult personal/collective feelings and embody the celebration of little victories with honest lyrics, layered vocals and a unique sonic homage to R&B, funk, rock and pop using our shared love of hip-hop as a foundation.”
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