The Riff’s February 2024 Album Club Discussion Recap

Here’s a detailed summary of our enriching and in-depth discussion

What We Discussed

We were a small but mighty crew on February 18th. I had a thoroughly good time talking to this bunch because I admire a lot of their work and opinions. It felt like a tight study group, deliberating before the big final. Special thank you to Terry Barr Charles in San Francisco Jessica Lee McMillan Nicole Brown Jeffrey Harvey for taking the time to digest and absorb the content of Forest In The City.

It was heartwarming to see Nicole pop her head in quickly at the start of the meeting. She couldn’t stay, but I was enthralled to learn she loved the album. I was also glad to know this project was her introduction to Umi.

I started our conversation by asking about how everyone had entered the album. I was happy to hear all sorts of stories, including Terry’s, where he did yoga before the listen. Umi would have been proud. I asked this question because Umi had specific instructions on what mental and physical space she thought listeners should adapt to before listening to the album.

Fishing for the hottest take I could find and pronging when I felt I hit something, I found our discussion riveting. We did a great job unpacking the album’s overall sound and breaking down its sequencing. I loved hearing how Jeffery gravitated toward “Moonlit Room” and the more standard structured tracks. It was also fascinating to hear Charles describe the production style of “Synergy” and how he happily played the album twice.

There were some significant criticisms, notably Jessica noting how Umi may have used the same brush strokes too much on the album. Charles and Terry also wanted to hear more of Umi’s chest voice. At that point, I mentioned how Umi’s Introspection Reimagined project does a great job featuring her chest voice and live performance abilities with instruments.

Discovering My Forest

In my initial story about the album discussion, I talked about how Umi showed me how to live in a city while staying connected to nature. Initially, I thought she was speaking literally. Over time, however, after reading her manifesto, I found that the nature she was talking about was human nature, and the forest she was referring to was inside us. We all have a forest to treat and care for, no matter where we are. Once calm and settled, we can live healthy and productive lives and genuinely interact with others.

More tangibly, I meditated 3–5 times a week after this album. I also took more time to journal and check in with myself daily. Sometimes, I would ask myself, “How are you doing?” especially after I got through a stressful period or finished a high-stakes task. The more feedback I give myself and the ability to get my thoughts out of my head, the better I feel and the better my forest is.

I start all my discussions with a PowerPoint summary of the artist’s career. My mission was to lead the audience to the moment the album was released. Further, I worked to give them more language and context about the artist and their career. This backstory helped our conversation a ton because, like each time, the attendees used some of the references I added to the PPT in their comments or riffs during the chat.

So, without further ado, enjoy Umi’s story below. I hope to see you at the subsequent Album discussion in April!

Umi’s Story

A Songwriter’s Journal

Music has been a part of Umi’s life since she was young. Born Tierra Umi Wilson in Seattle, Washington, the young singer grew up with two musically talented parents. Her dad played drums, while her mom was a pianist. Several other family members sang as well, including one notable aunt who was a blues singer.

Since Umi was 5 years old, she would write songs in her journal. By the time she was a teenager, she had written through dozens of notebooks. At around 13, she discovered YouTube and Soundcloud and started releasing covers on those platforms. Crippled with stage fright she found the two music platforms easy ways to release her creativity into the world, anxiety-free. Unfortunately, her songs kept getting dinged for copyright infringement and were consistently removed from the platform. To adapt, Umi started creating original songs and uploading those instead.

Spirituality also played a huge role in the early stages of Umi music career. While her African American father was a Baptist, her Japanese mother was a Buddhist. Growing up her parents shared their religions with her and let her know that as an adult she would have the choice to choose whatever beliefs she wanted. Umi has said in interviews that her spirituality is a fusion of sorts of her parents and that she personalized it to fit her lifestyle.

“Remember Me”

In 2016, Umi dropped some original music, and in 2017, she dropped her debut EP, Interlude. This 4-track EP, in a career soon to be populated with 4-track EP’s, was met with mixed reviews from fans and critics. While some applauded her charming alternative soul sound, others found the tracks too derivative and forgettable. The songs were short, sweet, and wrestled with troubles of the heart. Some of the songs there also dabbled in the soul-searching her budding spirituality sought to answer. Musically, the projects also featured the premature sound of her dulcet vocal tone and sweet brand of R&B.

In 2018, Umi moved from Seattle to Los Angeles to attend school at the University of Southern California on a full scholarship to study business. Despite the prospect of her academic career, Umi spent much of her time making music and doing live shows on the weekend. Building a community with local musicians and refining her craft, Umi joined 408 Records and re-released her Interlude EP.

Dropping standalone records in late 2018 Umi eventually released her breakthrough record “Remember Me.” 6 years later, this song is still her most successful single. The song deals with love lost and questions if her ex still has any fond memories of them together.

Finding Balance and Her Sound In The Industry

Over the next two years, Umi dropped several more projects, including the Balance and Love Language EPs. The latter garnered her critical acclaim and more attention thanks to the popularity of the fun and funky banger “Love Affair.” She released Love Language on the Loud Robot label, and with the increased eyes on her, dropped out of college to pursue music full-time.

Thanks to Umi’s consistent release schedule, numerous viral songs, unique R&B style, and strong brand, she signed with major label RCA Records under their subsidiary Keep Cool in 2020. With this new contract, she released her Introspection EP and dropped the Introspection Reimagined in 2021.

By the time late 2021 arrived, the anticipation for Umi’s major label debut album had grown large. Umi had created a name for herself in the industry and collaborated with considerable names like Clairo and Joyce Wrice.

Searching For The Forest Within Ourselves

Forest In the City was four years in the making and was inspired by…well, I’ll quote Umi’s description of the album instead:

When an interviewer asked her what the message of Forest In The City was, Umi said the following:

“I think that it’s possible to feel peaceful, while you exist in the city because it’s like ‘forest peace’ exists within me, I know it because I can meditate and I can find it again, no matter how chaotic the city feels. And I was like, I’m gonna make a project that can help people access that space inside of themselves

So even if they’re stuck in traffic, in a busy subway, or anywhere, they can put on this album and remember what it’s like to feel peaceful again. And that’s why it’s called Forest in the City. The album itself is this forest that reminds people of that forest that exists within them, which I think is like this big, lush forest that we all can walk in together. So, that to me was the message behind the project.”

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