Jamila Woods // Water Made Us LP [COLOR] / TAPE

This is an album released by Jamila Woods, a poet/pop writer from Chicago, USA, on the indie label Jagjaguwar in Indiana in October 2023.

Contains 17 bangers ranging from acoustic folk rock to autotune R&B to ambient folk.The record comes with a DL code. 

*If you would like a digital sound source, please feel free to contact us.

Below is a commentary by the label.

"Chicago musician and poet Jamila Woods shines anew in her new album, Water Made Us, as she questions what it means to surrender completely to love."Incorporating new genres, playful melodies, and hypnotic wordplay, Jamila navigates the exhilarating turbulence of love's wreckage and refuge.

In “HEAVN” in 2017,Jamila celebrates her community within the organizing lineage of the Black feminist movement, and in 2019's Legacy! Legacy!!!, she retells her life experiences through the luminous personas of iconic Black and Brown artists. Despite its framing, Water Made Us is self-revelatory in a whole new way.Her next album isIt's Jamila's most personal album to date, revealing a new side of her that hasn't been fully shared in her previous work.

After wrapping up Legacy! Legacy!!!'s touring schedule and entering the Covid2020 quarantine period of 19, Jamila wanted to challenge herself to write as many songs as possible and spent several months in a state of deep creativity and self-reflection. .But even though she gave herself the freedom to write without worry, she yearned for a story to tie the disparate songs together, a clear message to hold at a distance to guide her.Her early songs "Bugs" and "Thermostat" revealed a simmering commonality.Her journaling, therapy, and frequent consultations with a trusted astrologer all began to reflect Jamila's own patterns of love and intimacy. "I was able to understand little things about myself." Okay, I always write down every feeling or pattern I notice that keeps coming back, and I like to put it into words. After connecting with LA-based producer McClenny, the album's story began to take shape, and the two worked together from 2 to 2021, first virtually and then in person at McClenny's Haven Studio in LA. , we created each song together from scratch.And the album's sequences were carefully and cleverly designed to reflect the various stages of a relationship.In the early days when it's easy to compromise, flirt, and have fun, when you carefully negotiate conflicts and hurtful moments, when you grieve the loss of something, and at the end of it all, the person who's gone is never truly gone. Instead, the gentle realization that you are with me when I find myself refreshed, relieved, and ready to try again.

But Water Made Us makes a powerful and captivating re-emergence.It's not just Jamila's introverted attitude.This album isIt makes you throw away your preconceived notions of what kind of artist Jamila is.The album's 17 songs range from the autotune R&B of "Send A Dove," to the gentle, heart-wrenching acoustic folk-rock of "Wolfsheep," to the bubbly dream pop of the dance anthem "Boomerang." , covering all genres.

In "Water Made Us",Jamila openly admits her mistakes and uncertainties."Tiny Garden" is a shimmering percussive track.It depicts Jamila's efforts to prove her commitment to someone."I love you but I can't show it," she sings over her bouncy percussion.The spoken word interlude "I Miss All My Exes" is a solemn and poignant ode to the most perfect moments spent with the loves of her life.Every tender memory we shared, every inside joke, every word of care,It is carefully bound and sealed in Jamila's heart."Headfirst", which concludes the album, features a stable groove with shimmering guitar and resonating bass.Jamila seems to graciously accept her own imperfections.Every time he shows a new development,Jamila's heart opens and we see her at her strongest and most vulnerable.

But she never navigates the abyss of love alone.Fatima Asghar, Indya Moore, Christa Franklin, Jasmine Fire, and a particularly charming Great Uncle Quentin.Personal voice memos from people close to Jamila during a period of deep introspection pepper Water Made Us.Friends from Chicago, Saba and Peter Cottontail, and New York-based singer and producer Duendita also participate, adding to the family atmosphere.It reminds both Jamila and listeners that the places and people we come from can be a steady source of strength and guidance even in our most difficult moments.

The album title is "The good news is water always runs back where it came from/The good news is water made us."The song is taken from a line from "Good News," which Jamila sings with a sense of security.This line is a quote from Toni Morrison in a 1996 lecture at the New York Public Library. "They straightened the Mississippi River in places," he says, "to build houses and to make land more habitable. Sometimes the river floods. "They use the word flood, but it's not really a flood. It's remembering. It's remembering where it used to be. All water has a perfect memory and it's forever trying to go back to where it was. This feeling of memory, place, and going back. serves as the pillar of the album's arc.Jamila says. "We're all babies when we're born, and we're all happy beings. "It's something that's always inside us, a perfect contentment to just exist. But we're on our way back there. We just have to surrender and get out of the way."

``Water Made Us'' reminds us that the best love is a warm, calm ocean.Something deep, mysterious, and endlessly mysterious.And the worst kind of love is the rapids that take us so far away from ourselves that we don't know how to get home or even remember how to swim.neverthelessJamila surrenders to the waves - waves and ebbs and all. "

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Available on 12" black vinyl or 12" 'Arctic Swirl color vinyl or tape.

Includes DL code.

Jagjaguwar:

"On her expansive new album Water Made Us, Chicago musician and poet Jamila Woods shines anew as she asks the question, what does it mean to fully surrender into love? Across Water Made Us, Jamila embraces new genres, playful melodies, and hypnotizing wordplay, as she wades through the exhilarating tumult of love's wreckage and refuge.

While 2017's HEAVN saw Jamila celebrating her community within a lineage of Black feminist movement organizing, and 2019's Legacy! Legacy! reframed her life's experiences through the storied personas of iconic Black and brown artists, Water Made Us is self-revelatory in an entirely new way . The upcoming album reveals a new side of Jamila never fully shared with her previous work, making this her most personal album yet.

Coming out of her Legacy! Legacy! touring schedule and into 2020's Covid-19 quarantine, Jamila wanted to challenge herself to write as many songs as possible, and spent several months in a state of deep creativity and self-reflection. But despite giving herself this freedom to write without worry, she still yearned for a story to tie her disparate songs together, a clear message to hold in the distance as a guiding light. Early songs “Bugs” and “Thermostat” revealed a simmering common thread: love, relationships, and the hard lessons learned in their wake. Journaling, therapy, and frequent consultations with a trusted astrologer all began to reflect Jamila's own patterns in love and intimacy back to her. “I was able to understand these little things about myself and say 'Okay, I want to write about every one of these feelings that I always return to, or patterns that I notice, and give language to them.'” After being connected with LA-based producer McClenney, the album's story began to take shape, and the two worked together building each song from scratch across 2021 and 2022, first virtually, and then in-person at McClenney's Haven Studios in LA. The albums sequence was then carefully and cleverly designed to echo the different stages of a relationship: the early days of easy compromising, flirtatiousness, and fun; the careful negotiation through moments of conflict or hurt; the grieving of something lost; and the tender realization at the end of it all that the person who is gone never really leaves, but stays with you as you find yourself ready to try again, refreshed and paralyzed.

But it's not just Jamila's turn inward that makes Water Made Us a forceful and captivating reemergence. This album invites us to relinquish any preconceived notions we may have built about what kind of artist Jamila is, with a widespread range of infectious, resplendent production styles. The albums sprawling 17 tracks span everything from autotuned R&B on “Send A Dove”, to gentle acoustic folk rock on the heart wrenching “Wolfsheep”, and bubbly dreampop on dance anthem “Boomerang”.

Across Water Made Us, Jamila admits unflinchingly to her mistakes and uncertainties. Twinkling percussive track “Tiny Garden” chronicles Jamila's effort to prove her commitment to someone, despite the ways she struggles to make it clear. “I'm falling hard for you but I know I don't show it” she sings over bouncy percussion. Spoken word interlude “I Miss All My Exes” is a solemn and aching ode to the most perfect moments spent with a lifetime of lovers. Each tender shared memory, inside joke , and bestowal of care is kept carefully bound and sealed in Jamila's heart, even after the relationship has faded into the past. By album finisher “Headfirst”, Jamila seems to accept her own imperfections with gentle grace over a steady groove of shimmering guitar and thumping bass. With every new turn, the door to Jamila's heart is blown open, revealing her both at her strongest and most vulnerable.

But she never navigates love's depths alone. In what now feels like a familiar staple to her work, Water Made Us is adorned with personal voice memos from those closest to Jamila during her time of deep reflection – Fatimah Asghar, Indya Moore, Krista Franklin, Jasminfire, and the particularly charming Great Uncle Quentin all make appearances. The family affair is rounded out with features from friends and fellow Chicago natives Saba and Peter CottonTale, and the NY-based singer and producer duendita. Every visiting voice serves as an anchor, Reminding both Jamila and her audience that the place and people we come from can be a steady source of strength and guidance through our darkest moments of uncertainty.

The album's title is taken from a line in “Good News” where Jamila sings with comforting reassurance, “The good news is water always runs back where it came from/The good news is water made us.” The line is a reference to a Toni Morrison quote from a talk given at the New York Public Library in 1996. “You know, they straightened out the Mississippi River in places,” Morrison says. “To make room for houses and livable acreage. Occasionally the river floods these places. "Floods" is the word they use, but in fact it is not flooding; it is remembering. Remembering where it used to be. All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was." It's this sentiment – of memory, place, and returning – that acts as a pillar for the album's arc. “That idea that we're all born, just babies, just happy,” Jamila says. “That's always in us, that perfect contentment with just being. And so no matter what bad days we have, we're on a set course back to that. We can just surrender and get out of the way of that.”

Water Made Us reminds us that at its best love is a warm, still ocean. Deep, mystifying, and endless in its wonder. And at its worst love can be a riptide that takes us so far away from ourselves we can hardly find our way back, hardly even remember how to swim. And yet Jamila surrenders to this surf — every wave and undertow – because maybe even the most painful endings can in fact be an invitation that calls her back home, back to shore, back to herself." 

Artist: Jamila Woods

Label : Jagjaguwar