Local Spotlight | 5 local songs out this week

Jacksonville artists would not let June go quietly. The month started off with a slew of new and very good releases from Northeast Florida musicians working in a variety of genres. (You can listen to some of our local and non-local faves on June’s Fresh Squeeze playlist).

Just as we prepared to coast into the month of July, an equally delicious mix of pop, rock, R&B, hip-hop and singer-songwriter-y fare came across the JME team’s desk in the last week of the month. Here’s five tracks that turned our ears, most of which can be heard on July’s Fresh Squeeze playlist.

“Florida Motel” by DL is OK from Gravy Days

In the City of St. Augustine, New York City transplant DL is OK has found a formidable foil. On “Florida Motel” the Americana-aesthete presents a diaristic narration of his adopted town, with a vibrant––and very Florida––collection of visuals: deco pink flamingos, buzzing neon signs, guns, stucco, “square grouper” (AKA a bail of elicit flotsam) and the kind of day-to-day that involves weekly dive bar gigs and numbing oneself with hard alcohol; all of which constitute what Tashjian calls “a good Hell.”

-Read the full review

“Not My Way” by Denver Hall and WowJus7in from Painting With Prostitutes

Set and setting, as ever, are always key. Within the first 15 seconds of “Not My Way,” the cornerstone of Chic-style funk is the established foundation and in the opening salvo of the lyrics, weed is smoked, and lines are chopped. Four-on-the-floor and a bassline that bubbles from tentative to the propulsive are lit up like a match. Party song? Undoubtedly.

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“Just Do You” by Jesabel

It’s often the breeziest songs that can blow off your lid. A new and uplifting tune “Just Do You” finds singer Jesabel dispensing her mantra in a sugary, digestible package that’s bound to gust through a club (or a convertible) near you. For dessert, Jesabel teamed up with Jax’s open-air, open-minded Hamburger Mary’s and prepared an unimpeachably fun visual.

“Van Nuys” by Tenny Rudolph featuring Leo Sun and Indy

Jax-based multi-hyphenate Tenny Rudolph has followed up a diverse collection of single releases that range from sultry R&B to ’90s-esque Deep House with a sparse and earnest duet. Featuring fellow indie standout Leo Sun on guitar, Rudolph settles into the low end, letting Indy’s versatile voice fill in the figurative gaps in Rudolph’s lamentations. It’s the kind of collab taken on by three Duval wunderkinds that we’ll be spinning endlessly; even though the track cuts deep.

“Run Up A Check” by L.O.V.E. Culture

Standout Duval hip-hop collective L.O.V.E. Culture continues its upward trajectory (and penchant for prolificness) with a new single, the first since 2020’s Vol. 2 EP. What “Run Up Check” lacks in BPM’s, the individual members make up for in adrenaline, each artist offering spitfire verses, then meeting up for a breather on the song’s catchy hook.

All of the above songs can be heard on JME’s July Fresh Squeeze playlist, except for DL is OK’s “Florida Motel” which is available for purchase on limited edition vinyl on the artist’s bandcamp page.