On June 7, 2020, Vagabond Lover, an artist/producer/songwriter out of San Francisco, released a 4 track EP titled “Purple Cali Funk Vol. 1. If you didn’t catch the acclaim to The Artist, himself in the title or the release date (Prince’s birthday), you won’t be able to miss the influence of Prince in the songs throughout this EP. “Prince’s music is hardwired to my DNA,” Vagabond stated as we discussed his music. To label this artist to just one genre of music would be a serious travesty. Vagabond Lover incorporates R&B and Funk Pop, with some undertones of Jazz, into his music.
Upon hearing the very first notes of the first track of this EP, I instantly wanted to get up and dance! The beat will promptly catch your attention, causing anticipation for the beginning of the song. “Bubble To The Top” is an extremely relatable track as he talks about being broke, but not giving up, knowing that he’s going to “bubble up” with his music. The clear 80’s vibes makes this a perfect dance track, easy to groove to and put on repeat.
The 2nd track, “Cali Style,” stays with the same fun and bouncy energy as the first song, as he shouts out all the different areas of California, from LA to Oakland, Sacramento and of course, his hometown of San Francisco. This is a perfect anthem for Californians, making me both proud and a little homesick as I listened to the lyrics. As Vagabond Lover continues with track 3, the tempo slows down just a little, but still maintains a groovy vibe as we get the first love song of the EP, bringing out more of his R&B style. “Curious” is self explanatory in describing what this song is about as he talks about having a love connection he wants to explore. Finally, we get to the last track, “Xtraloveable.” The tempo once again goes back to a high energy, bouncy pop style, and gives off the most heavy influence of Prince out of the 3 songs before it, which I enjoyed. This track is a sexy, classy “shooting your shot” type of song that is easy to play on repeat.
Overall, this EP is a fun, energetic, and refreshing project from an artist who not only has his style locked down, but creates solid music from the beat and lyrics to the delivery and flow. The sound quality is perfect and the sequential order of the songs were clearly well thought out. I especially enjoyed “Bubble To The Top,” and “Cali Style,” with “Xtraloveable” following closely behind. Although released last year, “Purple Cali Funk Vol. 1” is definitely an EP I would easily add to my playlist for years to come.
