Willie J Healey shares new single ‘Woke Up Smiling’
Singer-songwriter Willie J Healey has returned with a brand new single, ‘Woke Up Smiling’. The new track is the latest preview of his upcoming third studio album Bunny.
‘Woke Up Smiling’ infuses old-school drum machines, wah-wah pedals, and layers of harmony vocals that radiate hot fun in the summertime. Unsurprisingly, Healey acknowledges the influence of Sly and the Family Stone on the song’s creation, with the atmosphere channelling the murky funk workouts found on their classic 1971 LP There’s a Riot Goin’ On.
“The whole era is something that I love,” Healey explained in a press release. “Long before making Twin Heavy, I had always listened to funk, soul and R&B, but for some reason it never translated into my own music. Really my inspiration was just the feel of things.’’
“I wrote this during a glorious period of my life,” Healey explained about ‘Woke Up Smiling’. “I was living in a studio flat in Bristol, it had these huge sash windows which let huge amounts of morning sun in. I’d make coffee and sit with my guitar & cat, I’m pretty sure my cat helped me write that song.”
Healey, who recently wrapped up a series of tour dates supporting Arctic Monkeys in Europe, has been staring down the release of Bunny for at least a few months now. ‘Woke Up Smiling’ is the fifth preview of the album so far, with previous singles like ‘Little Sister’ and ‘Dreams’ also falling into the sunshine funk subgenre that Healey has been keen to explore.
One of the major driving forces behind the album’s musical style was Jaime T, who sat in with Healey on the single ‘Thank You’. It was Jaime T who loaned Healey a drum machine during the Covid-19 pandemic, helping shape the sound of Bunny.
Check out the video for ‘Woke Up Smiling’ down below. Bunny is set for an August 25th release.
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