Introducing local songwriter Meet the Bug, aka Cariahbel Azemar. She’s a triple threat singer-songwriter / multi-instrumentalist / producer who started her synth-based project around this time last year. New to the Philly scene, Meet the Bug is already active in the DIY community, getting her start at house venues like South Philly staple Tralfamadore. Her new 7-track EP Beet the Mug is available now, and it’s a vibey meditation on keys and glimmery vocals that tackles heavy childhood trauma from the perspective of an emerging artist realizing the power of her voice.
“I used to learn everyday, everyday / that I was a quitter” Azemar sings in Beet the Mug’s opening track “Cold in the Summer.” But she’s not stuck in that thinking anymore. She rejects over and over the harmful things she heard growing up, and even asks “When did we agree to teach our kids to hate themselves as much as they do?” on “Person is a Person.” The beautiful thing about adulthood and independence, Azemar realizes, is that there’s not one rigid reality. In the EP’s refreshingly upbeat song “Maybe I’m Asleep,” Meet the Bug closes out a distorted, Alex G-reminiscent blast of fuzz with the ethereal line “I’ve got something to say / If I’m real today / I hope you’re all real, too.”
Listen to the full album at the Bandcamp link below. Meet the Bug’s next show is on August 25th in West Philly at the Calvary Center for Culture and Community. Tickets and more information are available at the WXPN Concerts and Events page.