What artist launched his career as a hard-touring heavy metal singer, then switched gears to become a church worship leader, before finally signing a Nashville record deal and making his mark as a songwriter and soulful R&B-groove-pop artist? Well, the answer: Jordan Feliz.
Fronting the West Coast buzz band A Current Affair gave Jordan’s powerful vocals some major exposure right out of high school. As a child, Jordan grew up with R&B artists like Sam Cooke and Earth Wind & Fire providing the soundtrack to his frequent road trips to a ski resort with his family. Those were the sounds and stylings that stuck in Jordan’s musical memory, if he was going to make records, those were the kind of influences he wanted to draw from.
Jordan Feliz’s debut project, “Beloved,” brings the rich influence of 70’s sensibilities into a modern pop context. Intentionally constructing uncluttered tracks free of production tricks and excessive instrumentation, Jordan instead focused on arrangements that were designed to give the vocals center stage. The songs on the Beloved 10 song album are soul-influenced pop numbers, and the instruments present are articulate in their voicings and melodies, saying only as much as they need to.
The best example of his singular vision is the record’s powerhouse single, “The River.” While it sounds like a pulse-quickening mega-hit from the first listen—instantly singable and repeatedly listenable— the song actually rides on a deep current of soul-driven funk influence that serves to set it apart from other contemporary radio fare.
The track ‘Beloved,’ while every bit as soulful and catchy as the first single, was penned from a more personal and autobiographical posture. Jordan’s wife was about to give birth to their first child, and Jordan began to consider what he, as a new father, would most want to communicate to the daughter he was about to meet.
“I wrote ‘Beloved’ before she was born,” he says, “and I wrote it with two guys who both had little girls. The thing I really wanted my daughter to grow up knowing was that no matter what the world tells her, she’s beloved. She’s loved beyond compare. Regardless of what any of the people around her think, she doesn’t have to be concerned with measuring up because I’m gonna love her unconditionally as long as she lives. She’s beloved and that’s a love she was born into without having to earn it. I wrote it for her, but of course the parallel of God’s unconditional love for His children is obvious. Anything I feel for my daughter is just a small echo of what God feels for her and for all of us.”
With its slow build and towering vocal hooks, “Beloved” will doubtless provide one of the cornerstones of Jordan’s energetic live shows, along with “The River,” a festive cut that reveals some of the artist’s roots as a worship leader, and the laid back grooving track, “Simple.” Having just navigated a long and rocky transition after leaving the security of his local music connections, a church staff position, and moving from California to Tennessee, Jordan Feliz and his wife experienced firsthand what it means to learn to rest in the simplicity of faith in a Father who daily provides for the needs of His children. After so much difficulty and uncertainty, God answered our prayers. He is there for all of us and all we have to do is remain faithful.”
The new album, titled Future, hit shelves on March 23rd.
“I’ve had a lot of people asking why the record is called Future. It’s because in my life and a lot of the communities around me, a lot of the conversations have been about how, as a human race, we’re all about planning and about making our lives seem perfect and all these things about what our future holds. It’s where a lot of fear and stress and anxiety comes from in our lives because, as believers, our future is the inheritance of God. He holds our future every single day in His hands and that’s something that was a huge part of where I’ve been in this last year of making this record. It feels really close to home to write these songs,” Jordan shared.
“I’m so excited for you guys to hear these songs, to live with them, to listen to them. I hope that the Lord is able to work in your lives in a big way with these songs and that you’re able to just have fun with them.”