“Mi Alma” (Joel Phil song) – Queen City Sounds and Art

JoelPhil1_sm — Joel Phil, photo courtesy the artist

Joel Phil strikes an air of mystery on the title track of his new album Mi Alma. Guitar accents and swirls up vocal melody like a flowering vine. One imagines Phil, Jonathan Richman style circa Something About Mary, strolling down a boardwalk singing this song and wryly observing people playing out their designs with each other. The soulful song, a blend of styles (perhaps tango, perhaps barchata, perhaps American folk) lends itself to cinematic expression. Like something you’d see in a club scene in an Almodóvar or something from Jim Jarmusch and their international sensibilities. Both exotic and familiar, “Mi Alma” is entrancing whether or not you speak Spanish. Listen to the track and the rest of Mi Alma below and follow Joel Phil at the links provided.