I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: SiR-Tiny Desk Concert #941 (February 3, 2020).

I had never heard of SiR, the R&B singer from Inglewood, CA.  That’s not surprising since I don’t listen to R&B.

But as I often say I’m always surprised to read that someone is very successful and yet I have never heard of them.

Since signing to hip-hop juggernaut Top Dawg Entertainment in 2017, Sir Darryl Farris has been the most consistent, most reliable player on the roster outside of its original four.  His output has further solidified the label’s stake in spaces outside of just rap music.

He sings four songs, all ballads.  His voice is somewhere between speaking and singing with an interesting raspy quality.

The songs come from his latest LP, Chasing Summer.

Themes of regret loom throughout the album and he’s never shied away from writing about personal flaws. His depiction of misdirected desires and heartbreak on “John Redcorn” and “The Recipe” reveal a cruel honesty that couples grapple with at times.

“The Recipe” has some really nice backing vocals from Davion Farris, Jacquelyn Farris and Zyah Belle.

“New Sky” has a pretty piano melody from Ledaris “L.J.” Jones with some nice fat bass from Samuel Davis.   I quite like like the vocals on the chorus.

When he introduces the band he reveals that Davion Farris is his older brother and Jacquelyn Farris is his mom.

The set was also a family affair with his mother and older brother offering support as two of the three background vocalists. We get a glimpse of his upbringing in the gospel choir once those harmonies open up.

The set proves to be unexpectedly emotional

About halfway through the performance, SiR revealed that he’d lost his infant godson a few days prior and dedicated the performance to him. “We’re doing this for him. I didn’t want to come… It took a lot for me to be here today …but we’re gonna get through this.”

He plays the spare “Wires in the Way.”  It’s just his voice with some quiet jazzy guitar from Terrall Whitehead.  Midway through some lovely jazzy piano is added.  Throughout, you can see how emotional SiR is while singing the song and then he needs a moment at the end before they start the last song.

Woah.

He is able to bring the happiness back for the last song.  He says “It’s my favorite song off the album.  Hope you like this last one.”

“John Redcorn” feels like a culmination of the other songs, with everyone playing or singing to make this song very full.  I especially like the way Roger “Jooseondrums” Benford makes the cymbals sound like they are filling up the room.

Many Tiny Desk Concerts are emotional and you;d have to be stone cold not to be moved by this one.

[READ: February 20, 2020] Princeless: Raven Book 3

Book Two ended with a cliffhanger–would Raven be able to save Ximena?  She needs to take Ximena for medical care, but she knows that she can’t go anywhere on the island, since her brothers rule everything there.

Katie looks at the maps that Ximena has been making and sees that there’s an island not too far off.  It’s a spa for people who are really injured.  They set sail immediately and Katie is put in charge while Raven stays with Ximena.  Raven reveals that she is in love with Ximena (which most of the crew guessed anyway).

Raven is told that Ximena needs to hear her voice if she is to recover and so Raven tells the story of how her mother and father met.  It’s a pretty wonderful story and is beautifully drawn by Sorah Suhng.

All this time, Sunshine has been listening at the door.  It turns out she’s quite jealous of Ximena because she has a major thing for Raven.  So when Raven asks Sunshine to tell Ximena a story, Sunshine is really torn.  But she knows how important it is so she tells the story of how her parents met–that a human and an elf could conceive.  It’s a pretty great story drawn in a very different style by Jason Strutz.

Both of these flashbacks give a wonderfully different look to the book.

After Sunshine finishes, Ximena, still unconscious, raises her head and kisses Sunshine.  “Ximena says I’ve always wanted to do that.  I love you Raven.” This sets Sunshine off and she has to leave the room.

There’s trouble on the island though, because the healer refuses to see pirates.  She feels that pirates have done more damage than anyone else so she won’t see any of them.  Even if Ximena is just a navigator.

Of course, Raven can’t take no for an answer so she goes on the attack. She fights with most of the guards and defeats (but  does not kill) them all.  She even assists one of them who has an asthma attack when she inhales one of Jayla’s smoke bombs.

After many pages of impressive and cool fight sequences (wonderfully drawn by Rosy Higgins), Raven comes face to face with Leilani Iona, Our Lady of the Healing Island.

Raven tries to plead with Leilani, but the healer will have nothing to do with pirates.

Finally Raven gets aggressive and Leilani fights back saying, “Do not assume that because I wear a dress and laugh and like things that are feminine that I am weak.”  And indeed she is not weak at all.  Then she decides.  If Raven can defeat her in a fight, she will help Ximena.

The fight begins and it s a good one–well drawn with some very cool action sequences.  Leilani is impressive and makes quick work of Raven.  But we couldn’t have Raven defeated for good, right.  So as Raven reveals how much Ximena means to her–saying it out loud for the first time–she is able to fight back.

When the fight is over and Leilani concedes, she then magically heals Raven’s broken nose.  Raven says, “I know this is weird but I don’t mind you punching me nearly as much as what you’re doing right now.”

There’s not a ton of comic relief in this book, but it comes in a big way when everyone is listening in on Zoe telling stories to Ximena.  Her stories are all embarrassing ones about injuring herself.

-My butt was so sore I couldn’t sit down for two weeks!  I had to sleep on my stomach because I had a cast on my butt.

-Girls! Don’t laugh!  Can you imagine her poor little bandaged toosh stuck up in the air.

The book ends with Leilani healing Ximena.  Raven has something very important and personal to tell Ximena, but Sunshine bursts through the door and crowds the room with the crew so Raven and Ximena have no time alone.

In the last panel, Leilani looks at Raven and says, “You better not chicken out.”