Jess Knights keeps you coming back for more with her latest single Baby, Won’t You Stay — premiering exclusively on Tinnitist.
The latest preview of the Calgary soul-roots revivalist’s upcoming debut LP Best Kind of Light, Baby, Won’t You Stay showcases Knight’s dynamic vocal prowess — she can move from a sweet purr to a fierce growl at the drop of a beat — set against a vibrant background of surging, old-school soul-rock.
Filtered through transcendent hip-swaying instrumentation from some of Toronto’s best songsmiths and sidemen — including R. Grunwald, Dean Drouillard, Mark McIntyre and award-winning producer Joshua Van Tassel — the track is a playful plea to hang back after the sun’s come up. Brimming with soulful throwback energy and Knights’ coy vocal conviction, Baby, Won’t You Stay muses on love in the moment.
“When we were making the album, Josh, Robbie and I all bonded over our love for soul in the vein of Sharon Jones, Donny Hathaway, and Sam Cooke,” Knights said. “That’s the music that I love the most, so this is really a tribute to that world. I wrote this song on an island in the Bahamas called Eleuthera, which translates to “freedom” in Greek. I was in a really free and easy state of mind when I was writing this, and I hope it makes listeners feel the same urge to let go and feel good.”
The simmering cut is just one of several gems to be found on her upcoming debut LP Best Kind of Light. Set for release on a new postponed date of June 19, Best Kind of Light brings into focus the moody, dimly lit spectrum of Knights’ classically trained voice, which has drawn comparisons to U.K. luminaries Amy Winehouse and Eliza Doolittle. Able to traverse sultry ballads and raise-the-roof-off-the-church soul with ease, Knights is a dynamo performer that’s bound to leave an impression.
Upon the release of her decade-in-the-making debut 2018 EP, Won’t Wait, Knights landed on several year-end lists that named her one to watch. The EP received significant play on radio and charted on college stations throughout Canada.
Check out Baby, Won’t You Stay above and keep up with Jess Knights via her website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
And don’t miss her upcoming livestream, Jess Knights: From Her Home to Your Home, on Wednesday, May 20 at 7 p.m. MST. Tickets are $10 at Side Door Access here.
