JOVM's William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month -- and the 74th anniversary of the birth of James Ingram.

JOVM's William Ruben Helms celebrates Ice-T's 68th birthday.

JOVM's William Ruben Helms celebrates Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor's 65th birthday.

JOVM's William Ruben Helms celebrates Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd's 50th birthday.

JOVM's William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month -- and the legendary Brian Holland's 85th birthday.

Paris-based outfit OOMA -- Irish-born singer/songwriter Tansy Greenlee (vocals), Nicolas Bauer (bass), Hélios Mikhaïl (drums), and Florian Berret (piano, synths) -- have developed a sound that meshes elements of soul, jazz and trip-hop, featuring ethereal synth laters and intricate grooves paired with mesmerizing moments of improvisation. Each member of the band leaves their own imprint on the project's constantly evolving sound, while blurring the lines between structured composition and songwriting and open-ended exploration and improvisation. At the core of their creative process, is the Parisian quartet's fluid and ever-shifting chemistry, which helps their work be collaborative -- and seemingly in perpetual motion. Lyrically, the band's material is informed by Greenlee's existential crises with the music as a refuge, and as an intimate space where she could try to make sense of a world that's crumbling apart. And in that refuge, raw emotion outweighs certainty. OOMA's latest single "A Timeless Echo" is a gorgeous yet meditative track that features Greenlee's expressive, jazz-like vocal effortlessly dance over a mesmerizing arrangement that blends elements of jazz, trip-hop and pop. Inspired by a striking image of a bird's song echoed by others until it outlives the bird that originated it, "A Timeless Echo" thematically explores the passage of time, our own impermanence and mortality. The new single reflects Greenlee's deep-seated belief in music as a way to leave a trace of one's existence.

JOVM's William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month -- and belatedly celebrates Freedom Williams' 60th birthday.

With the release of their first three albums, 2017’s Rites and Rituals, 2018’s Butcher’s Coin and 2021’s Horses in the Abattoir, Toronto-based coldwave duo TRAITRS — longtime friends Sean Patrick Nolan and Shawn Tucker — have firmly established a sound that blends horror-based imagery with anthemic choruses and cinematic, atmospheric soundscapes. During that same period, the duo evolved from bedroom pop artists selling cassette tapes to amassing millions of streets globally and playing hand hundreds of shows internationally. The Canadian duo’s highly anticipated Josh Korody-produced, Matt Colton-mastered fourth album Possessor is slated for a March 13, 2026 release. According to the band’s Shawn Tucker, Possessor is “the most personal record I have ever written.” The album was written during Toronto’s coldest winter months, informed by storm battered days and a heavy emotional landscape. The pair focused on capturing precise moods, with lyrics serving as the material’s driving force with the surrounding soundscapes grew to mirror the bleak beauty of the writing process.  Possessor will include the previously released “Burn In Heaven,” “i was ill, you were wrong,” and the album's latest single "Dream Drowning." Featuring eerily atmospheric and brooding synths, propulsive beats as a lush goth/horror-inspired bed for Shawn Tucker's yearning delivery. Continuing a run of chilly yet achingly heartfelt, intimate material, "Dream Drowning" thematically delves into the subconscious, with the duo aiming to analyze the emotion and meanings behind their dreams. But at its core, is a deeply uneasy sense of one's desires and motivations behind shrouded in mystery. \

JOVM's William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month and pays tribute to Billy Ocean.

JOVM's William Ruben Helms celebrates Peter Gabriel's 76th birthday.

JOVM's William Ruben Helms celebrates Henry Rollins' 65th birthday.

JOVM's William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates Michael McDonald's 74h birthday.

JOVM's William Ruben Helms celebrates the 84th anniversary of the birth of The Monkees' Peter Tork.