Joy Oladokun

Joy Oladokun – Proof Of Life (Deluxe) (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:10:29 minutes | 801 MB | Genre: Indie Folk, Indie Pop, Singer-Songwriter, Female Vocal
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Joy Oladokun

Joy Oladokun has the kind of voice that pulls you closer, making even the most grandiose sentiment feel personal. It’s a vibe she embraces throughout her uplifting fourth full-length album, 2023’s Proof of Life. As a Black queer woman raised in Arizona by Christian Nigerian immigrant parents, Oladokun has a lot to write about. There’s a wry sense of irony to her worldview, one she illuminates on the twangy, country-infused “The Hard Way,” singing “Jesus raised me/Good weed saved me.” A former worship leader, Oladokun’s sound fits nicely into the acoustic folk tradition that she initially championed on 2016’s Carry. That said, she has matured and embraced a mixture of indie rock and alternative singer/songwriter influences. On Proof of Life, she continues to expand this approach, working with a small cadre of pop-savvy producers, including Mike Elizondo, Ian Fitchuk, Dan Wilson, and Alysa Vanderheym. Together, they’ve crafted an album that draws upon a mix of classic and contemporary sounds. There’s also a handful of guest artists here — including Mt. Joy, Chris Stapelton, and the Manchester Orchestra — whose stylistic variety speaks to the eclectic influences at play in Oladokun’s work. Cuts like “Changes,” “Taking Things for Granted,” and “Purple Haze” (a bold reference to Jimi Hendrix that purposefully sounds nothing like his song) are lyrical anthems that marry confessional lyrics with big, effusive pop melodies in the tradition of artists like Bruce Springsteen and Tracy Chapman. Elsewhere, as on the breezy, groove-oriented “Friends,” her music achieves an almost perfect amalgam of the old and new, combining the emo- and hip-hop-informed style of artists like Blackbear and Mike Posner with the singer/songwriter folk of Joni Mitchell. There’s also an underlying introspection and angst to Oladokun’s work on Proof of Life that feels particularly millennial, like she’s just trying to be a good person in a world that feels increasingly hostile. On “Somebody Like Me,” she sings “Can somebody say a prayer?/Can somebody light a candle, for a person like me?/It’s the least that God could do.” While she never shies away from explicitly dealing with tough issues on Proof of Life, her writing is always relatable and curative, like a friend bringing you in with a smile and a hand on your back. – Matt Collar

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Joy Oladokun – Proof Of Life (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 47:43 minutes | 547 MB | Genre: Indie Folk, Indie Pop, Singer-Songwriter, Female Vocal
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Verve Forecast – Republic Records

“My only intention,” Joy Oladokun told The New York Times of her fourth album, “is to make music to help myself process everyday life, and to help other people process everyday life.” There is a remarkable lightness and ease to her music, and a sense of humility in her plain-spoken truths and observations. “Keeping the Light On” has an easy-breezy country flavor and honest, no-drama lyrics about battling darkness. “Found a girl and found a job/ Just like they say good people do/ But every now and then/ I turn to salt inside her wound … Don’t deny that it feels so hard/ When the night gets so dark/ Keep keeping the light on.” She also refuses, pragmatically, to give up on optimism on the John Mayer-esque “Changes,” singing, “I was a baby during the L.A. riots/ And I’ve seen cities burn again … And people still don’t understand/ What it’s like to hope again and again.” Raised in rural Arizona, the queer child of Nigerian immigrants, listening to Green Day and Tracy Chapman and Wynonna, Oladokun has a fresh perspective on worlds that can feel confining. She effortlessly plays with catchy, Bieber-style pop on “Trying,” laser-show riffs on the sassy “Spotlight” and mid-aughts folk on “Flowers” and “Purple Haze.” There are also touches of contemporary, Maren Morris-style country on “The Hard Way”—with its thriller line “Jesus raised me, good weed saved me”—and “Somebody Like Me,” which is punctuated with gospel-choir jubilance and a plea: “Can anybody say a prayer/ Can anybody light a candle/ For somebody like me.” Oladokun has said she rejected an offer to duet with country mega-star Morgan Wallen after he was caught on camera using the n-word, adding, “Country music broke my damn heart.” But she’s found her people in her adopted hometown of Nashville including pal Morris and Chris Stapleton, her duet partner on the incredible and oh-so romantic “Sweet Symphony.” His worn-in, knockout voice seems, on paper, like it shouldn’t work with her purity, but true alchemy is conjured as they harmonize. Oladokun also teams with Mt. Joy on “Friends,” Manchester Orchestra for “You at the Table,” Nigerian-American rapper Maxo Kream on “Revolution” and singer-songwriter Noah Kahan for the infectious, glam-emo track “We’re All Gonna Die.” And her voice is clear as a bell on the simple piano ballad “Pride,” as Oladokun declares “Love for my haters/ Dark in their anger/ We won’t apologize/ Sooner or later/ They won’t be afraid.” – Shelly Ridenour

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