JOBA ANNOUNCES DEBUT ALBUM RUSSELL BORING

JOBA by Vincent Elijah Lobato

ANNOUNCES UPCOMING SMILE TOUR

Russell Boring, the Los Angeles-based vocalist, producer, and songwriter— known as JOBA professionally — announces his debut solo album. Self-titled Russell Boring, the 9-track full-length will be released on September 13th in partnership with ADA.

The album follows the first taste of JOBA’s solo music, “American Fever” and “People Need People,” which arrived earlier this summer. Along with the album’s announcement, JOBA announces the SMILE tour, a string of solo shows that will see the artist showcase his new catalog of solo work in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City. Tickets for the SMILE tour will be on sale Friday, August 23rd at 10AM local at here. Sign up for early access now at here.

The Russell Boring LP soars with the restless excitement of a genreless artist, moving from classic pop ballads to introspective funk-jazz with little more than a moment’s notice. Boring has a knack for ear-candy hooks and songs that are deftly complex but easy to digest. He’s a songwriter’s songwriter, the sort of artist who makes chameleonic music that means vastly different things to different people. But before this record, Russell Boring was lost. The album is the result of him figuring out a few things, sure, but more importantly, it’s a triumphant confirmation of music’s healing power. Russell Boring is an entrant into the canon of great American storytelling albums.

The creation of this new album also honors Boring’s childhood in Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. His older brother gave him the nickname JOBA, and his family inspired his love of music. “My dad put me on to so much music growing up, like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd,” he recalls. “I’ve always had a ravenous appetite for music, and I still do.”

Before stepping out on his own, Boring was one of the sonic architects of Brockhampton, one of alternative rap’s most innovative and successful collectives. Brockhampton was the center of Boring’s musical and social life for more than a decade, so when it ended, he was left feeling unsure about his place in the world. “It was frightening to imagine life without the creative accountability of some of your closest collaborators and friends,” he says. “I just had no idea who I was anymore.”

He took some time to discover a new creative headspace that gave him the exploratory freedom to write his debut album. Boring returned to his first love, the piano; found some brilliant and inspiring new collaborators like keyboardist and composer Benny Bock and producers Rex Kudo and Jason Lader; and penned his debut solo album, Russell Boring. Armed with seemingly endless musical ideas and a newfound clarity, JOBA hasn’t just reintroduced himself: He’s framed himself as a fresh voice in a whole new style of music.