JonPaul Wallace is a singer-songwriter from Detroit, MI. His style blends current pop and hip/hop sounds with the Motown soul of his hometown. JonPaul’s career got its jumpstart at age 17 when he rewrote the lyrics to Lukas Graham’s “7 Years” and convinced his high school administration to let him sing it at his high school graduation. The video of that performance went viral and accumulated more than 20 million views across all platforms. Since then, he has been releasing singles and building his live and online audience. JonPaul mainly sings, writes, and plays piano, while also earning production credits on some of his work. The artist’s latest endeavor is his self-titled 5 track EP “JonPaul Wallace”.
Overall “JonPaul Wallace” is a personal album in which JonPaul muses about his life, his grind and love experiences. Here he is able to fully demonstrate his skills as a songwriter and singer, something that he already showcased in the past.
Each track gives us an insight into the artist’s versatility, offering up elements of RnB, soul, and pop, alongside electric guitar-led beats, old school keyboard-driven vibes, upbeat bangers, and slow-burning stripped back atmospheric offerings.
The one common element, running through each of these songs, is JonPaul Wallace’s amazing voice. From a whisper to a roar, and from his low register to a high falsetto, JonPaul’s vocals guide and dominate each track with surefooted bravado. And it is perfectly matched to his intuitive and highly catchy songwriting.
The EP kicks off in the perfect way with the last instantly gratifying track, ‘Here We Go’. It’s impossible not to be completely hooked on the infectious slapping beat, which opens the track and drives the momentum throughout.
On ‘I Am Built To Win’ Once again, JonPaul Wallace manages to capture us from the first few seconds thanks to the incredible bass and percussion lines which runs throughout.
JonPaul’s smart arranging skills are very much evident here as he layers the lead and backing vocals with captivating motifs to induce you to sing and chant along. It’s a track that builds into a series of euphoric passages which will drag listeners along for the high-energy ride. It’s a positive self-empowering song.
‘Say No More’ is a high-level standout cut, if not the absolute best of the bunch. The track is downright funky and in terms of melody, it is filled with incredible pop hooks, making it completely irresistible to the ear.
JonPaul Wallace’s voice manages to be even more sublimely supreme than it already is on the previous tracks. The fact of the matter is, moving forward, you’ll discover that the final three tracks are all superb, as the EP just seems to grow stronger – rhythmically, musically and vocally.
‘Speechless’ is laced with resonating vibes thanks to the warm, shimmering guitars and soul-stirring melodies, while also showcasing elements of pop and RnB throughout. Resulting in a track which is extremely intoxicating to the ear.
‘Underlying Feelings’ begins as a bit of a slow burner before blossoming into mid-tempo banger, you cannot help but be taken in by JonPaul Wallace’ vocals which ride the beat, with effortless transitions from low to high, and everything in-between.
There is no doubt that JonPaul Wallace put his heart and soul into this recording and it leads to a definite growth and maturity in his sound, both lyrically and melodically. The instrumentation throughout is particularly striking, in addition to JonPaul’s vocals, which really get the chance to shine everywhere.
It’s pretty obvious that JonPaul Wallace is a great singer and songwriter. However, with this self-titled EP, he has managed to push his creative and performance boundaries, taking his sensational talents to new heights.
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