Canadian R&B artist with smooth lyrics
Street corners, coffee shops and college dorm rooms are just a few natural habitats of aspiring musicians.
And they don’t have to produce fancy-labelled albums to amass fan bases. All they need are a few hours in a recording studio, a SoundCloud page, a suave vibe and a dash of patience.
This recipe has created plenty of stars in the music industry. I happened to stumble upon one of them, Canadian R&B singer and instrumentalist Johnny Balik. I was immediately intrigued and, frankly, hooked.
Interestingly enough, I definitely wasn’t the most important person to stumble upon Balik’s unique musical talent. In fact, a video of Balik playing his guitar fell into the lap of Chance the Rapper’s manager, the hilariously-titled Pat the Manager.
Pat was also impressed by Balik and got him into a studio with Peter Cottontale. The two created the single “I Need It.”
I cannot stress enough how much you should absolutely pause whatever you’re doing and listen to “I Need It.” There is your excuse to procrastinate your homework, courtesy of yours truly.
If you like R&B, romantic honesty, pop-culture references or music in general, this song will dig somewhere deep in your musical soul. The lyrics are about the intense pull of romantic attraction and the promises that tend to accompany it.
As much as I love “I Need It,” my favorite Balik single is the more recently released “Honey.” The song is simple, catchy, engaging and smooth as honey. Balik slides from impressive, gentle falsettos to his full voice. The chorus, preceded by plenty of anticipatory buildup, repeats, “Oh, but honey don’t taste like summer no more/Stick around now, I miss you every night.”
The song “Honey” has the repetitive, easy-going energy of pop and the soulful lyrics and vocals of R&B. Balik’s pop edge is especially notable in the single “Take My Hand,” a simple, lovable track about dancing the night away with someone special.
Similarly, “OMW” is a repetitive, pop-esque single about going the distance for a love interest. (Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles,” anyone?)
Another favorite is “U Make Me Feel,” a lighthearted track with orchestral underpinnings. It has a unique beachy vibe, accompanied by artwork of two people on a hammock between palm trees. So, the point is, if you want to escape to the tropics for three minutes and 44 seconds, this is the song to get you there.
At the end of the day (the busy, stressful, mentally exhausting day), discovering artists like Balik makes me so grateful to be alive during the age of the internet. For all its shortcomings, the instantaneous connections allow for a girl from Cow Country, Pa. to jam out to a Canadian’s original R&B singles.
There is my moment of gratitude for the day. Anyway, listen to Johnny Balik, and, while you’re at it, find some other obscure, small-name musicians to spark your day’s good mood.
