Joni Payne's birthday is today, so, before you dive into her excellent third effort below, make sure to drop her a line on one of her social media platforms. She's been absolutely killing it this year out of the blue, and, really, as soon as we heard the icy "Must Have" from her three months ago, we knew big things were in store. "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" proved our premonition true one month ago, and now, with a completely spontaneous effort in "Contemporary Love", Joni's proving without a reasonable doubt that she is, in fact, the real deal. As was alluded to above, Joni made this one on a whim, and, incredibly, only one take on her vocals was had. She tells us she created melodies as she sang, and that the track in its entirety was made in one afternoon sitting a couple weeks ago. That's pretty fresh stuff, and, despite the rawer undertaking, the effort stills sounds nice as hell. It may not be as polished as her other two for the reasons described, but it's still got every bit of admirable soul we've detected from her before. Honestly, that's enough for us.
Joni Payne