On August 22, Toronto DJ producer and musician Gee released his self-produced album Lovesounds.
Growing up, Gee wanted to pursue visual arts. He describes himself as a shy kid who started to get out of his shell in his teenage years. His interest in music peaked when his cousins introduced him to hip-hop music and music production. He also experimented with DJing and participated in a rap battle in late elementary school. At age 19, he studied the Independent Music Production program at Seneca at York and played his first DJ gig a few years later. His DJ Highlights include DJing at a Daniel Caesar concert and for the Toronto Raptors. In 2016, Gee signed with Trifecta Sound Company, giving him the opportunity to perform his vocal music that he started releasing around that time, as his previous releases were instrumentals. His first vocal release was The Avatar EP, which dropped in 2018.
In his latest album, Lovesounds, Gee explores the elements of love while sonically showcasing his musical range. This range is demonstrated both in his album and in live performances. The album contains seven tracks, (including one double-track) and each is a different style of R&B.
Gee describes Lovesounds as a “spiritual sequel” to The Avatar EP with a similar format, but Lovesounds is more concise.
Another fun fact about this record is that lots of these beats were made years prior, with others produced either this year or last. Gee grouped these together as he loves the flow between these songs and how it enhances the cohesive theme. The opening track “Reconnect & Rewind” is a double track as there is a beat switch. It opens with haunting harmonies. The dark mood of this section of the songs reminds me of a horror film score.
The introduction is one of Gee’s favourite elements of the track. He reflects, “My favourite part of doing this song was recording the intro, and having all these lyrical harmonies and making it sound dark but enticing.”
This ominous intro is followed by a wicked beat switch, where it feels to me that listeners are seamlessly transported into a night club. Gee lays down his rap verse with upbeat drums that keep the momentum going.
One of the challenges was figuring out where the song should go next. The solution was enlisting a long time friend/music influence rekast who filled out the song with a vocal verse.
For the ending, Gee found a female vocal sample which had the theme of “Rewind.” He layered some of his own vocals on top of it. I love the cool reverse sound effect towards the end of that section. “Reconnect & Rewind” instantly hooked me as it is not the standard pop song structure of the verse chorus format. I also love how it is two songs tied into one.
Another mood on this album is driving down the 401 to see someone late at night. The song “401” is also a collaboration with rekast. (Speaking from experience I recommend listening to this one in the car.) I also love all the Toronto references such as “driving down the DVP,” Which is referenced in rekasts verse. with rekast being based in Scarborough he incorporated his geography to the song. Gee says, “I love how he was able to generalize it much more and make it about more than just this one highway. I love having a song where you can relate to it.”
Another song that captured my attention was “May Queen” as it is based on the movie Midsommar. The line in the song “Does he feel like home to you?” is a direct quote from the movie which is poetic and clever. One of my favourite parts of the song is the guitar solo at the end, as it is calming and gentle.
This album is a 10/10 as I love how every song is unique both socially and lyrically yet tie into a cohesive theme, and I love how the final track “Reset” is like a fun break up anthem.
To celebrate the album release, Gee will be performing a show on August 29th at Canvas Art Bar where he will play all the songs from Lovesounds.