♫♪  Jelani Sei - “Telephone”

With a turbulent lift-off, heavy compression puts pressure on the brain right below the part that feels a deep emotional connection to animals/plants and around the corner from the synapses that remind you to take a few deep breaths before experiencing something new. Everything mellows out, quickly shifting into interplanetary cruise control, as the Oort cloud passes by the starboard side. Out of all the phone-related pop songs that have come out recently — some more reliant on the “phone” trope than others — Jelani Sei’s “Telephone” is by far the farthest out, as glittery as George Clinton’s shoulder-padded space cadet suit. Which is to say, the most futuristic, even if the refrain “I ain’t havin’ it” is a familiar one. The latest from the young group is coming off their upcoming second EP, LVNDR TWN. Over the course of a couple singles, Jelani Sei have developed a sound that marries funky afro-futurism à la Janelle Monae with the neo-jazz chops of BADBADNOTGOOD and Kamasi Washington.

Listen to Jelani Sei’s “Telephone” below, and look out for their upcoming EP LVNDR TWN, out September 15. You can keep up with them on the band’s Facebook account, where they recently announced a show for September 2 at the University of Hartford with Chicago rapper Noname, who released a fantastic mixtape last year incidentally called Telefone.

Chocolate Grinder

CHOCOLATE GRINDER is our audio/visual section, with an emphasis on the lesser heard and lesser known. We aim to dig deep, but we’ll post any song or video we find interesting, big or small.

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