GeeJay - Debut Album ‘What’s the Sun Without the Rain?’

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GeeJay - Debut Album ‘What’s the Sun Without the Rain?’

London / Bournemouth based indie-soul group ‘GeeJay’ have announced the release of their debut album ‘What’s the Sun Without the Rain?’, out in full on May 28th 2024.

 GeeJay, comprising of vocalist Gina Jane, and producer & multi-instrumentalist Jacob Lobo, have crafted their own recognisable style of music. The sleek, soulful, and powerful vocals of Gina marry perfectly with Jacob’s classy piano chords, groovy rhythms, and flurries of saxophone and flute. GeeJay find themselves being a part of a new wave of artists emerging out of the UK who have a soulful, emotive, and melodic approach to their music. GeeJay have garnered widespread critical acclaim from the likes of The Guardian, Fearne Cotton (BBC Radio 2), BBC Radio 1, BBC 1Xtra, Jamz Supernova, and CLASH to name but a few. With two EP releases under their belt, GeeJay have managed to amass over 12 million streams: quite the feat for an independent project.

After going viral on Instagram during the height of the pandemic, their soul-filled tracks reached audiences worldwide, and their fan base is now equally spread across America, Europe, and the UK. In October 2022, GeeJay received the news that they were to be having their first child together. This prompted them to pause both performing and posting publicly, so that they could plan for the arrival of the new one. What this news didn’t do however, was to stop GeeJay writing music. If anything, the hiatus allowed them to be more focused and productive with their songwriting, and the pair quickly got the foundations of their album ready. After the birth of their daughter via emergency C-Section in July 2023, the pair returned to the studio to record the final vocal takes for the album whilst Gina was still very much in recovery. As a result of the operation, Gina was not able to sing with as much diaphragm support as on previous records: the result, however, is a more delicate, subtle, but yet ever commanding vocal performance.

In addition, many of the takes were recorded whilst the baby slept at the back of the studio. Sometimes, the baby’s cry would interrupt the recording, and the take would have to be scrapped and started from the beginning. In other moments, the moving and cooing of the baby would add a real-world depth to the record, and so would be kept in. In one instance, a cry came on the microphone at the moment of a bridge breakdown, enhancing the transition: the pair decided to keep this in the final recording, and can be heard in the track ‘I’ll Be Your Best Friend’.

Entirely self written and produced, the pair are now ready to share their body of work with the world on 28th May 2024. The first single ‘Stronger Than you Think’ has already gained the attention of Jack Saunders (BBC Radio 1 Future Artists) and Robert Elms (BBC Radio London). Their booking agent Clem at Wasserman is planning a London headline show to coincide with the album launch in Spring, followed up with a mini EU headline tour in Autumn.

Websites

https://geejay.bandcamp.com/music

https://geejay.uk/