The 23-year-old singer Lorine Chia has flown relatively underground throughout the past few years, despite having a singular voice and unique talent, and a tone so reedy and specific that when Kanye West sampled Nina Simone for “Blood on the Leaves” in 2013, some people thought it was her. (She also wrote the hook for last year’s “Sweet Life” by Young Jeezy, which was eventually sung by Janelle Monáe.)
Three years on, the Atlanta-via-Cameroon artist is more than two albums and a mixtape deep. Naked Truths, her last full length, was expressly sweet and powerful with a proliferation of hip-hop, but ONO.MATO.POEIC, her 2015 EP with producer Slade da Monsta, found her pressing out in different genres and corners of her gift, an avenue for growth. Today, she’s debuting “Feeling Groovy” with Jezebel, her new song from her forthcoming EP of the same name; it’s a Sunday afternoon slow-rider, and like most of her nourishing, thoughtful lyrics, it speaks to the heart in a visceral way.
“‘Feeling Groovy’ is a song about enjoying life, peace being the reason, without fear,” Chia says via email. “I feel like my life is one big road trip riding with my top down enjoying my own groove. May people listen, enjoy and be fearless.”
In other words, it’s an excellent song for seasonal change, evocative of afternoon sunlight and good feelings emanating from within—a song for a positive shift. Chia promises the full EP will be like that, too: “I’m introducing something sweet. Something new. I’m going to make as much noise as possible. I’m living loud. It’s a new wave,” she says. “I don’t want to talk about drugs, sex, money, and violence to be cool and sell records. There’s so much more to life. Positivity is key. Welcome to sweet noise.” Can’t wait for more.
