Introducing 25-year old Kambui Chui-Moore from Houston, Texas. When I asked Moore to tell me a little more about himself and the music he makes under the name My Valuable Recordings, one of the first things he mentioned was that his father is a pastor and he grew up listening to harmony-driven music, specifically gospel which channels a lot of emotion without too many parts. This has led him to take the same approach with his own music. He explained “Dynamics are important. I would be moved to tears randomly and I thought that was amazing. My parents loved funk and Motown. Being from the south, we only listened to our music. Rappers sung their own hooks and talked about their life. So that original formula sticks with my stuff.”
His debut EP, ARIA features three songs ” and while his church background has clearly had an impact on some of his music, other influences like Frank Ocean, Justin Vernon and James Blake weave their way in and out of his sound. Showing his versatility ‘For Me By Me’ is a spacious, downtempo number with crisp instrumentation, and forthright attitude. Whilst ‘Yoga Class’ takes things to a different place with its eerie touches, otherworldly soundscapes and sad lyrics, “How can i be in love, i never even touched your face.” The last song and my personal favourite is ‘Live Up To Your Name.’ With hazy vocals weaving their way through the ethereal backdrop, the song goes from a smooth R&B cut to space-age brilliantly changing the tracks entire persona.
“I feel like music should challenge your current mood. I only really get inspired by musicians if that makes sense. The improvisation element of creating things you’ve never done. I don’t want to repeat anything I’ve done before. The Bruner Brothers/Hiromi Uehara are some of the best.”
Moore is one of those jack-of-all-trades artists; he sings, produces, and writes songs and over the course of the EP he gives us an idea of how talented he is. While he’s clearly not the most gifted singer, the faulty afflictions in his vocals can be heard but yet still there’s something fascinating here. Enjoy the EP and be stay tuned as we await Moore’s next musical moves.
