Slept On Sunday shines a light on the best of what’s slept on in music and culture.
It’s Sunday and Joy Crookes is still slept on.
Joy Crookes is a London born singer-songwriter who started releasing music in 2016 at the age of 17. Just a year later, she was getting recognition through magazine write-ups in both the UK and the US. Since then she has steadily been releasing music, from singles to EPs and even medleys. If you’re a fan of R&B or Neo-Soul, then she should most definitely be on your radar. Her talent is undeniable.
There’s a lot to love about Joy Crookes. Her voice is warm, smooth, and pretty, surrounded by dreamy production of the same characteristics. Her sound selection and instrumentation create a comforting world that can be hard to leave.
Her subject matter often revolves around mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, fear, and sadness. While these topics are nothing new, her approach is both powerful and refreshing. The words that she uses, and the way she expresses herself, are open and honest in a way not many other artists achieve; perhaps because it’s too scary to do so. In her song “Anyone But Me,” she describes her experience with depression and therapy in a very vivid way. She says:
“Seven years strong with my therapy.
Making mosaics of my memories.
Puzzled with doubt, I’m my closest enemy.
It’s like this girl is squatting in my identity.”
Simple, yet powerful expressions of self doubt and anxiety. It can be hard for anyone to discuss these topics, yet here Joy Crookes does it so openly and so melodically. Especially on the chorus where she says: “I’d rather be somewhere else with anyone but me”.
We cannot recommend Joy Crookes’s music enough. If you’re sleeping, now’s your chance to wake up.
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