Local Spotlight | 4 new tracks from Jax artists out now

We’re always keeping our ear to the ground in order to put the spotlight on the beautiful noise emerging from Northeast Florida. This week, Jacksonville Music Experience contributors share four new songs by local artists that we think you’ll really dig.

Let’s dive in.

“Oodlesofnos” by Paten Locke

This prime cut from Americancer, the posthumous release from the late-and-eternally-great Duval hip-hop polymath Paten Locke who died in 2019, is a poignant reminder of a certain talent who left us way too early. “Oodlesofnos” is resin-thick with dub ricochets of echo and delay, a sinewy bedrock of sampled horns-and-soul riffage, and Locke unfurling his signature style of trippy lyricism and impressive cadence and delivery. The pre-order bundle includes multi-formats of the album; a t-shirt; stickers; coffee mug, and a custom-made blend of Earl Grey tea (among other things, Locke was a tea enthusiast) created especially for the release.–Daniel A. Brown

-Stream on Apple Music

-Stream on Tidal

-Stream on Spotify

“Come2Love” by Daddy

Alexander Eli, the Jacksonville-based multi-instrumentalist and powerhouse producer behind Tomboi –– the seminal trio that brought us Rainbow Warrior –– is back; and you can call him Daddy. The first single from a forthcoming project, “Come2Love” is a ruminative bop that spans a smooth four minutes and twenty one seconds, and leaves plenty room for meditative self-love, while offering guiding mantras like “come to love,” and “think bigger.” The “Come2Love” video, edited by Eli, is a collection of found stock footage that spotlights love in all of its diversity and serves as a gentle audio-visual reminder to bask in the beauty of the moment. It’s a refreshing, timely release for a moment in time where too many people seem to be forgetting the whole point of being alive.–Glenn Michael Van Dyke    

-Stream on Apple Music

-Stream on Tidal

-Stream on Spotify

“MVP Season” by Ashton Chase

The lyrical burn of Ashton Chase’s previous single “Nachos” is a slow, hot simmer on his latest: “MVP Season.” Seagulls and a warbling keyboard fade out to give chill space for Chase’s vocoder-as-aphrodisiac vocals and evident skills at rhyme-to-singing ratio. A collaboration with Dev the Goon, “MVP Season” glides by on inventive production and enough restraint Chase’s his swagger to make the young artist seem more savvy than hubristic. If there’s a hip-hop renaissance fermenting in Duval County, there’s surely room for the Ashton Show in the sonic fresco.–Daniel A. Brown

-Stream on Apple Music

-Stream on Tidal

-Stream on Spotify

“Ahead of My Heels” by Cory Driscoll

After months of teasing listeners with the slow-drip-drip of single drops, Jax-based singer-songwriter Cory Driscoll has released the tall-glass that is his conceptually driven full-length Eureka Springs. Savvy listeners (and readers of JME) were likely able to piece together the narrative from the eclectic sonic crumbs Driscoll dropped via album singles “Hope Changes,” “Promised Land” and “All Great Love.” Eureka Springs’ opener “Ahead of My Heels” is a key (and tasty) piece of the metaphorical pie. Over acoustic guitar chords and a noodle-y electric lead, Driscoll and his band set the stage for the journey to come –– a post-breakup excursion from the East Coast to the American Heartland in search of redemption and understanding. Eureka Springs is available to stream March 18, and available on vinyl in coming months. –Matthew Shaw  

-Stream on Apple Music

-Stream on Tidal

-Stream on Spotify

Drink down a full cup of the best new music from local, regional, national and international artists on our monthly Fresh Squeeze playlist.