Anxieties and Strange Vibes Abound. Dru Chen and Juju B. Goode Can Help.
Two forward thinking independent artists release fresh takes on love, loneliness, and anxiety.
Juju B. Goode (left) and Dru Chen (right)
A year after the release of his eclectic, free-wheeling album “Smile! You’re On Camera”, Juju B. Goode returns with “Greetings from LA”. The two-track EP is a return to form for the singer-songwriter who burst onto the k-indie scene in 2020 with his debut EP “Future Boy” before finding success with his second release, the dreamy bedroom pop sounds of “Garden”.
“LA”, the EP’s title track, chronicles Juju’s first year in Los Angeles, where he moved in 2023 after living in New York for four years.“That is the longest I’ve lived anywhere,” he told me recently, admitting that he was still getting used to having a home base. For a long time, Juju told me, he lived as a nomad: moving to the U.S. for college, returning to Seoul for a shot at corporate life (which he hated) and, finally, returning to America to invest in his art.
Juju moved to LA to be surrounded by a Korean community, something that he missed while living in New York. “I feel like I can play a concert and sing in Korean here,” he told me over the summer, “and it makes sense. There’s so many other Korean artists performing here.” He looked around blasely as he continued, “In New York, I’m alone.”
Yet Juju knows that his move to LA puts him in a pool of hundreds of other musicians gunning for a shot at the top. This is something that makes him uncomfortable. Selling himself, as he’s told me before, has never been something that Juju has enjoyed. “How the hell am I still here?” he asks in the first verse. “LA, am I just one of many?”
“Miss Atlanta”, the second song on “Greetings”, places Juju across the coast as he navigates a long distance relationship. “I miss you,” he sings over heavy reverb and a hazy chorus. “Stars in the sky/ When I dream, we’re never far apart.” The irony of “Greetings” is that Juju might have moved to America for a shot at success in music, but what has sustained him is perhaps more important: He found love.
Like Juju B. Goode, Singapore-based musician Dru Chen shares an academic mind when he’s creating music. His work is steeped in a deep tradition of American rock and R&B artists, from the smooth sounds of Maxwell's to Jeff Buckley’s fierce experimentation.
Perhaps that’s why his new single, “Please Mister (Won’t You Play the Blues)” is such a fine homage to blues music’s rich history. At his best, Chen’s music can almost sound spiritual. It certainly feels transcendent. He writes about love with divine reverence: Whether he’s focusing his attention on a woman who makes him believe that love is possible or as he grapples with his own journey towards self-acceptance.
Lyrically, Chen’s newest single is closest aligned to “Why Can’t I Help Me”, a popular track from his previous album “Slower Life” where Chen wondered why he can be his own worst enemy. But “Please Mister” cuts deeper as Chen examines his own shame. “I need someone to save me/ When my head and heart just blames me,” he observes glumly. “The bottom of the ocean’s where I find myself sinking.”
“Please Mister” follows two previous singles from Chen’s upcoming album “Mirror Work 2”. Due to be released next year, Chen’s forthcoming release is a sequel to his seminal jazz-blues album “Mirror Work”. It’s an essential listen, and one that warrants a second look alongside the new singles, “These Chords Will Do” and “Make It Alright”. Those tracks share a blend of R&B and southern blues, and are excellent examples of Chen’s evocative songwriting that touch on the anxieties of love. The music is also a return to form for Chen who cut his teeth as a jazz and blues musician, and is now a music educator.
If the theme of “Please Mister” sounds like a heavy topic, know that Chen has never stuck to creating easy music. Part of what makes him such a dynamic artist is his go for broke attitude. Chen may not know how to heal his own blues, but he trusts something instinctual: That these chords might help.
