Growing up in the church is a common backstory for black R&B and soul musicians. The choir director is often their first vocal coach, and “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” is often the one of the first songs they learn, second only to the ABCs. For Chicago soul artist Christian JaLon, the church is a house of worship, a springboard into musicianship, and something greater than both—it’s the home of love.
JaLon uploaded the album’s eight tracks to SoundCloud late last year, but she wasn’t finished with the work of making people feel its message. She plans a vinyl release for the record (naturally), and last month she released the short documentary “Getting to Know Vinyled Love.” The film cuts carefully between shots of JaLon explaining the inspiration for each track and clips of her (with bandmates Melvyn Knight, Christopher Hogan, Sam Glover, Ryan Alexander, Brother Jeff, and Tony Fitten Jr.) playing songs from the album just in front of the gallery of a softly lit church.
“More than anything, I wanted Vinyled Love to convey what love means to me using songs—hence the name,” she explains. “And to me, God is love.” She drives this message home on the track “Love Is . . . ,” a song she describes as an ode to God: “Lord, had it not been for you,” she croons, “tell me where would I be.”
