Courtney John - Ecosystem (2017)

In an era where genre mash-ups and hybrid music are becoming commonplace, it may be difficult for the seasoned aficionado to really be startled, or positively moved by new music.
But such is the case with the "Rootstronic" offering of The Courtney John Project. Since 2013's "Future", Courtney John founder and lead singer, admittedly more well-known in Jamaican music circles for a more conventional lovers rock (though "Lucky Man" from his "Made in Jamaica" disc, placed in Axe/Lynx UK campaign, Jon Favreau critically acclaimed "Chef" and Julianne Moore's "Still Alice") has been unabashedly taking Jamaican music into a more global theatre of ideas, with results that are causing folks on all sides to take note.
This kind of "global-local" duality is in fact nothing new for the singer-partly schooled overseas, (Canada) but still very much in touch with his rural St Mary roots. "I grew up in much the same way doing the same things as all my peers, but i also had the opportunity to experience a different culture, a more cosmopolitan outlook where it isn't just one set of beliefs that prevail."
Through the Rootstronic project, John has vibrantly linked Jamaica's glorious (if somewhat fading) musical past and its gritty origins with today's technological advances springing from the fast-paced ethos of the developed world.
The interplay between these forces is brilliantly captured in the latest single and video "Live a Blast". The sonic density very much in evidence from John on the previous set, has been transmuted (note: not eliminated) into a more calibrated intensity. John's trademark near breathless falsetto cuts unapologetically through - basically in step with a minimalist keyboard signature that is re-stated until the other elements creep in and the whole sonic vehicle gathers momentum towards the more "tronic" part of the expression.
Similarly, the video for Live A Blast continues what for John is a fast-building tradition of snappy narrative treatments (see the aforementioned "Lucky Man" and also "Rain Like Gold") that have multiple visual dimensions and references and feature not established TV or film personalities, but regular people. "The point of the story in this video," he points out "is to show that we don't have to allow our origins or circumstances to limit us. More than that, if we really consider it right, our beginnings have a lot of the key to a better life - as I state in the song the future's in the past."
Initial response to the Live A Blast record is already vibrant, and John who by his own admission has been extremely prolific, is looking to similarly be busy over the next few months. "I am inspired by all that is around me. It's just that the types of songs like Live A Blast with a particular kind of message is what I've been dominantly hearing."
And though he never writes from a demographic or market-driven point of view, one can argue that with increasing chaos in all forms around the world, there has never been a more ideal time for the kind of uplifting message that Live A Blast offers. There is much interest in Europe, especially in France, but also in the more conventional markets and from as far afield as Australia.
And, as his network broadens, John says fans can expect the musical forays to become even less inhibited, more textured, and indeed, more personal. "I recently did a project in France; it was really some next-level terrestrial kinda stuff. We always looking for the opportunity to re-form and reconstruct and build on what is. Rootstronic is just a more modern interpretation of reggae/dub music, influenced by EDM that represents Jamaica."
TRACKLIST:
01. Courtney John - Southern Wind
02. Courtney John - Paper Dolls
03. Courtney John - Yes We Are
04. Courtney John - Jah Love Is Waiting
05. Courtney John - Never Get Weary
06. Courtney John - All the Way
07. Courtney John - My Love Is Real
08. Courtney John - Easier to Walk Away
09. Courtney John - It's for Real
10. Courtney John - Free for All
11. Courtney John - Cold Feet