Los Angeles-Based Afrobeats and R&B musician, Floyd Miles, has compiled his last several singles into a new EP titled No Place Like Om with a few new tracks to round out the 8-song collection. With previously released songs “Don’t Play”, “Attract”, “Afraka”, “Insomnia”, and “Nasty” spanning an impressive diversity of Afro-diasporic influences, the new interlude and bonus tracks “Heaven”, “Still Mine”, and “One of One” bring a sense of fullness to Miles’ year-long musical journey.
Thematically, Miles plays with elements of spirituality, ancestry, and the idea of divine partnerships between this world and the next. You can hear it in the new vocal samples used in both “Heaven” and “Still Mine” – the transcendence of elderly wisdom across multiple generations. No Place Like Om feels very meditative in nature as it genuflects and makes space for homage to this generational wisdom. A deep sense of reverence carries through each song, so that when we arrive a more pop-oriented songs like “Afraka”, we get a clear foundation of the deep Black roots that create feel of each song. As much as the music takes center stage, it is done, primarily, to uplift those who came before.
As a mutli-genre artist, Miles does a lovely job distilling everything down to a core sonic essence that resonates deeply. The lyrics are poetic and expansive which complement the meditative and repetitive backbeats that loop into the cosmos. It is well worth the listen as both an album of easy listening that brings elements of jazz, house, Afrobeats, and pop to the forefront in a calm and thoughtful mixture that feels good for the soul.
No Place Like Om is available now on major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. Listen to “Don’t Play” on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture playlist on Spotify (and be sure to like/follow the playlist to keep artists like Floyd on your radar).
Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.
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Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
