You know something’s really, really special when other people have to ask “Who is THAT?”. This was my experience jamming to Brenda Carsey’s “Just Trying To Do My Thing” with the speakers on, I’ve been mulling over it for about a week now, and I still find myself feeling thankful that I got to have this song on my plate earlier than most other people, sometimes I’m privileged like that I guess.

Brenda Carsey is a Los Angeles-based vocalist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. And after listening to her it came as no surprise to find out that she's been studying music since the tender age of 5, which comes with performing on all sorts of stages as well. Her career has led her through choirs, orchestras, and marching bands. Her repertoire of sounds also includes soul, jazz, rock, pop, folk, hip hop, electronic groups, cabaret stage shows, and various other solo projects making her a true veteran with a wealth of knowledge and experience that have shaped her into the kind of musician that could probably fit anywhere in music. She's also been featured as an instrumentalist and vocalist on many projects in partnership with Netflix (Babysitter’s Club, Better Call Saul, Tiger King The Musical), The Voice, Joy Ride (award-winning short film), Rapture (Versa Media show), as well as on albums by Whitney Tai, Cesar Saez, Phoebe Silva, Kid Lightning, Clark Chimp, and Feral Kizzy.

The most amazing aspect of “Just Trying To Do My Thing” is how it is obviously a very personal song for Brenda Carsey yet it translates perfectly to your own life, not through banal truisms, but as a manifestation of something deeper, something shared with so many others and that I think it's almost impossible not to relate on some level at least. Brenda wants to do her thing and do it her way, she doesn't want to compromise her artistic vision and her morals along the way and that's, if nothing else, a beautiful sentiment worthy of contemplation and celebration.

Brenda's new song is described as Neo-Soul, but the most "Neo" aspect I can appreciate is the fact that it is brand new, and I wonder if simply calling it "Soul" would be a better way to honor and describe what this fantastically talented artist is bringing us today. “Just Trying To Do My Thing” is not retro either, it is just genuine and pure in its intent and identity, which makes it uniquely powerful because there's a timelessness to it that you can't simply achieve by making a trope-filled throwback song or a stylistic approximation; this isn't to disparage the Neo-Soul label at all, of course, but I think that in this case we're all best served by throwing away hyper specificity of subgenres and just looking at merits of the song and the artist.

As far as first impressions go, Brenda couldn't have asked for a better one with yours truly, and I went back digging through her discography to pick up on what I've been missing for what turned out to be *years* of refinement and evolution on her part. What's gotten me more excited though, is the fact that this new song is just the tip of an oncoming iceberg in the form of a full album release, of which no doubt we'll be getting more preview singles before the whole thing is dropped.

I think it's fair to say that she's set the bar very high for the rest of her forthcoming album with this single, and though you gotta judge each song in its context, I gotta admit this one's got me very hyped for what is to come; I've no doubt she's yet to truly amaze us.

Oh, and if' you’re in the L.A. Area this Sunday , She’ll be on the Moroccan lounge, go check her out live!

Brenda Carsey is Just Trying to do (her) thing and we're here for it.

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