NFV Song Spotlight: Warm Human's Maybe

How did I cross paths with Warm Human (Meredith Johnson)? If you've come across my Instagram page or even this blogsite, you know that I enjoy a good Janelane set. Just a few months back, Janelane had a record release party at Zebulon for the album Love Letters. Scanning through Zebulon's website, as I so often do, I noticed that Janelane was once again playing at the venue on November 10th. The band was opening for Warm Human who I had never heard of, but was also having a record release party that night for Hamartia. That was a double reason to head on out. 

Warm Human at Zebulon

You may ask yourself, as I did, what is hamartia? I was thinking maybe it was some sort of made up word. I had no idea. Per the Oxford Dictionary, the word means "a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine."

As for those living in Los Angeles, you may not be familiar with Warm Human who hails from Chicago. Hamartia is her 6th album release that started off with Sad Songs for Sad People in 2017. She actually opened up her set with a song from that original album called "The Eminem Song That Mentions That Phil Collins Song." Wait, what? Yes, in the song "Stan" Eminem has the following lyrics, "You know the song by Phil Collins, 'In the Air of the Night' . . . "

Warm Human at Zebulon

Fun moments occurred early in the set as Johnson found herself playing the wrong tracks. I'm sure she didn't find it all that funny, but it got some laughter from the crowd. 

Johnson's sound is electronic based that she describes as "pop music for deranged people." It was a solo set and that might result in a less experienced musician staying next to her tracks setup or the microphone stand. She was having nothing to do with that. She danced across the stage and occasionally sprawled on the floor. One of those moments of sprawling on the floor occurred during the song "Pussy" that you can find on the current album. She introduced that song by saying, "My brother was going to come to the show, but he didn't ended up not coming. I'm really glad." There are some instructions in that song about grooming for the pussy eater. The women in the audience appeared to agree 100%.

Warm Human at Zebulon

For the song "Love 2 Hate," she took her performance out into the crowd and those in the crowd took the opportunity to dance to the beats. In an interview with me, she mentioned about her title track, "My song 'Hamartia' is extremely tough vocally. It took me about a month and a half working with my vocal coach to be able to hit the high F#!" Johnson has a way with lyrics. The song "Y U" has the lyrics, "Why are you always looking at your phone instead of me?" 

Warm Human at Zebulon

What song did I enjoy the most? "Maybe" takes a break from the electronics and focuses on emotional vocals. It also closed out the night. It is a song that focuses on the negatives that she feels towards herself. 

I could be someone pretty
If I wasn’t already me
She would be graceful and never
Raise her voice or get angry
She’d be happy
Maybe

There is a hopelessness in those lyrics and yet self-realization. 

Setlist: That Eminem Song That Mentions That Phil Collins Song, Quar-N-Bass, Wait, Hamartia, Father Father, Y U, My Moods!!, Pussy, Rave-N, Love 2 Hate, Mercy Me, Maybe