JONATHAN ROY
Following the same commitment to raw authenticity that fueled 2021’s My Lullaby, Jonathan has further honed his singular sound in the upcoming Life Distortions, the fullest expression yet of Jonathan’s evolution as both a person and artist. While still featuring the strong hooks and melodies that made his music so popular in the early years of his career, the sonic terrain of this album is truer to Jonathan than anything else he’s done to date. Emblematic of the fresh new sound is his latest single, “Stay in Bed and F*** (While the World Burns),” a vintage Motown-like tune with a contemporary R’n’B backbeat that adds edge to his soulful vocals.
Jonathan tapped Juno award-winning musician/producer Brian Howes (Hinder, Skillet, Nickelback) to help produce the EP, along with Marc Beland, the drummer/percussionist in Jonathan’s band and one of his go-to creative partners for years now. Other producers on the Life Distortions include Tee (Drake, Alessia Cara), Stevie Aiello (Thirty Seconds to Mars, Of Mice & Men), Drew Polovick (Oston, Friday Pilots Club), and Heavy (lovelytheband, Dirty Heads). Surrounding himself with collaborators he trusts, Jonathan is following his own vision and eager for fans to experience what’s ahead.
“I think people will connect with what’s real,” says Jonathan. “People have bullshit detectors. I’m playing what I like in the songs. I’m trying to grab all the things I like from bands and people that I admire and I’m trying to put it in my soup, in my writing and melodies. I feel like I’m an old-school cat creating this weird pop alternative music and I love it.”
Life Distortions featuring “Still Holding On” is it now.
Portair encodes ponderous thoughts inside of cinematic soundscapes stitched together from analog synthesizers and live instrumentation. Generating millions of streams and earning widespread acclaim from Rolling Stone, American Songwriter, Atwood Magazine, Paste, and Variance, the Australia-born and Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist provokes big questions by way of intimate songcraft on his 2023 EP, Learning How To Die. “On the EP, there are philosophical themes of existentialism,” he observes. “Many of the songs are about the acceptance of death, what life is, and why we’re here.” The record was recorded in Joshua Tree and features collaborations with VÉRITÉ, Wynn, and Emily James. Portair began to incite conversation with a series of independent releases in 2018.
Emerging as a sought-after songwriter and producer, he composed original score and contributed music to programming across NETFLIX, NBC, MTV, CBS, and beyond. His 2020 solo single “Lying To Myself” amassed millions of streams and paved the way for The Light That Gives EP [2021] and The Ice That Breaks EP [2022]. Meanwhile, “Gloaming Hour” unassumingly achieved viral impact on TikTok with millions of plays. In the end, Portair connects through examining what it means to be human.