Cloudy Galvez: new single ‘Energy’ is released at the end of September
Cloudy Galvez is a London–based singer and songwriter currently touring London and America. Back in July she hit iconic Bath music venue St James Wine Vaults with Soul Infusions. milk writer Rose Parish reviews the gig and hears from Cloudy about her happy music with a serious twist.
Soul Infusions is a collaboration between Cloudy and Carys Calling with musicians Az Khan, Jono Powell and Karan Master from The FortySix. It’s based around a bunch of up-and-coming musicians with big voices and big hearts.
Carys Calling was up first at the Wine Vaults. Carys has a gem of an act. An independent singer-songwriter originally from Newcastle, she starts the gig with her own ‘Seeing Red’, moves on to a cover of Manchester pop band The 1975 and finishes with her own ‘Honest’.
Next was a set combining Cloudy and Karan Master from TheFortySix – both on guitars – Jono Powell on the bass and Az Khan on the drums. This was a real treat, as Cloudy and Karan were playing some new songs to be released over the coming months – so as part of the audience you got to experience it first hand.
Cloudy Galvez played ‘Level’ and ‘Karma’, and both songs created a brilliant atmosphere on stage. Along with rap vocal in between, the music from Cloudy was ripping the space apart. Jono and Az at first seemed to be backing Cloudy – but it was soon clear there were no separate parts to play here.
When we chatted, Cloudy and Karan explained that they have been playing genres of ‘pop soul’ and ‘neo-emo-soul’, which created the idea for Soul Infusions. To which Jono chipped in: ‘Before or after finding Nemo?’
OK, so maybe you had to be there – but this is the kind of improvisation that characterised the Soul Infusions gig.
‘Karma’ brings a new direction for Cloudy Galvez
Cloudy Galvez’s music is influenced by Estas Tonne, Tom Misch, The Skints and KT Tunstall, and she has received attention from the likes of BBC Introducing London, The Huffington Post, All Star FM, GIGsoup and Pure M Magazine.
Cloudy says that with ‘Karma’, her music is transforming: ‘“Karma” talks about liberating yourself from a toxic environment, and is the first look into a new direction for us musically. Our music is now built around my original custom tuning that I developed with my 12-string, combined with brutally honest lyrics on how I see the world around us. So “Karma’ is the transition for this, and the response has been great so far!’
Most of her videos are like watching your mates having fun with a bunch of instruments, trying to make a comedy sketch show in the middle of a park. The video for ‘Karma’ is no exception. But don’t be fooled. Cloudy says there is a lot of improvisation on stage: ‘I love playing live but I love encouraging people to come. A big part of the set is improvising. There’s a lot of energy behind both performances.’ This is how she makes a big ‘hippie’ heart impression as a young musician.
As Jono said at the Soul Infusions gig: ‘I’ve known Cloudy a year. I’ve jammed with her before. I play in TheFortySix with Karan and we [Jono and Az] are the foundation – we are the substance of the cake. They are the icing.’
Karan responds with: ‘A lactose free icing.’
‘Yeah, we’re the cake mix, like Betty Crocker style,’ Jono comes back. There’s a bit of that improv-vibe again.
Cloudy Galvez’s new single ‘Energy’ is out on Friday 28 September.
You can find her on Spotify and iTunes.
