Earlier this summer, Chicago soul artist Christian JaLon released “Getting to Know Vinyled Love,” a short behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of her 2017 EP Vinyled Love. On that EP, she’d tried to convey what love means to her—though it was inspired by a specific relationship, she connected those feelings to her understanding of divine love, which has its roots in her connection to the church. But now that relationship is over, and on her latest EP, If You Let Me (released August 20), JaLon is ready to cleanse her musical mind of love—at least romantic love. It’s the last project she has planned before her debut album, due in 2019.
“I didn’t even begin with this idea until I was scrolling through Melvin’s Soundcloud page and heard the instrumental that would become the title track,” she says. “From there I kind of just called on these people who I’d met earlier through mutual friends or collaborated with in the past. I’m happy we were able to make the record cohesive, especially considering that none of them had heard the songs produced by any of the other guys.”
