Brooklyn’s Gabriel Garzón-Montano has shown us (and Drake) that he’s a master at creating laid-back, spacious R&B, but we’re digging how much funkier and retro the French-Colombian songwriter is getting on his new single “The Game.”
The track is the kind of buoyant theme song that eternal optimists of the world can groove to: “You don’t have to lose the game/Have heart like a tangerine,” Garzón-Montano advises blithely. The old school vibe is more “Everything is Everything” than “Six Eight”— cheerful, chill, and designed to add some serious pep in your step, all while suggesting you take life’s challenges in stride.
“We all play the game. We can make the best of it and we can make the worst of it. I wrote this as a reminder not to take myself so seriously. It’s easy to grow solemn and boring. This song says be brave and show your joy and give your love,” he told The FADER.
“The Game” is the second track off of Garzón-Montano’s forthcoming album Jardín, which will be released on January 27 through Stones Throw Records as a follow-up to his 2014 EP Bishouné: Alma del Huila. Last month, Garzón-Montano debuted Jardín’s first single “Sour Mango,” an equally lighthearted break-up track that indicates he’s playing with a few different flavors of R&B and soul on this new effort.
Make sure you catch him celebrating the release of Jardín at Music Hall Of Williamsburg on January 26. See more upcoming tour dates below:
1/26: Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg
2/18: Paris, France @ La Bellevilloise
2/19: Brussels, Belgium @ AB Club
2/20: Amsterdam, The Netherlands @ Bitterzoet
2/22: London, United Kingdom @ Jazz Café
2/24: Dublin, Ireland @ The Workmans Club
2/25: Cardiff, Wales @ Wales Millennium Centre (Jazz Club)