Nuela Charles continues her vibrant ascent with the release of her affirming self-titled album and its focus track, ‘Heavy’. Following on from the release of her highly-impactful offering ‘Top Of The World’, the 10-track album brings the singer’s fiery brand of cinematic soul pop to life. It’s been quite some time since an R&B album resonated with me, from track 1 to track 10.
The album represents a change for Nuela in terms of both how she views herself and the creative process.
“When I approach an album I want it to be a complete body of work,” said Nuela Charles. “Everyone, especially recently, has needed affirmation,” including herself, she adds, a way of reminding herself to “be proud of my accomplishments, instead of letting the inside or outside voices deter me or try to convince me otherwise.”
Alongside the record release, the focus track, ‘Heavy’, sees the singer and songwriter in carefree spirits, delivering fresh and clear vocals along with an encouraging message that there is “light at the end of the tunnel”.
‘Heavy’ was written solely by Charles, with the production by Parad, allowing the track’s deep vocal textures and intimate feel to shine through.
Speaking about ‘Heavy’, Charles said, “‘Heavy’ like most of the songs on the album, started out as a voice memo. This time I was staying at my grandparents’ horse farm. I was in my room in the basement just thinking about certain situations in my life and even though they felt like I’d never get through them, something in my head just said – it’s gonna get heavy sometimes, but then we’ll get to the good part. I quickly looped a 4 chord piano progression on my laptop and the rest flowed out. I actually think this was one of the first ones I brought to Matt (Parad) at the beginning of summer 2021 when we started working on this project, and it really fueled the rest of the songs, and the direction of the rest of the songs.
“I hope this song brings people comfort or some sort of re-affirmation that even when they’re going through the thick of it, that there’s hope, and things will get better eventually,” Charles added.
Nuela Charles is an alternative/soul singer-songwriter known for her soulful vocals and captivating stage presence, solidifying herself as a Canadian music staple. Born in Kenya, raised in Switzerland, Canada and the Bahamas, Charles’ music is infused with her multicultural upbringing, giving a fresh and diverse flair to her sound.
Nuela has brought her distinct voice to various stages over the last several years – having performed notably at Reeperbahn Festival, making her UK debut in London, and making her US debut at the uber-coveted “It’s A School Night” by personal invitation by tastemaker and KCRW radio host Chris Douridas. Nuela has shared the stage as direct support for some of Canada’s musical icons – including Sam Roberts Band, Jann Arden and Stars.
With a nod from tastemaker The FADER, 3x JUNO nominated and placements on the hit shows Jane the Virgin and Tiny Pretty Things plus some comfortable real estate on the CBC Music (Radio 2) charts, Charles is ready to release more of her incandescent brand of cinematic soul.
Nuela is set to perform at Supercrawl Festival in Hamilton, Canada, Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, Germany, and Breakout West in Calgary, Canada.
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