Jessy Lanza

R&B-inspired vocalist, producer, and songwriter Jessy Lanza earned a music degree from Montreal, Quebec's Concordia University and worked toward a Master's degree in musicology at McGill, but she left the program to make (and teach) music rather than write about it. She met fellow Hamilton, Ontario native Jeremy Greenspan when she was suggested as a background vocalist for his Junior Boys recordings. Lanza contributed to the 2011 album It's All True and had the favor returned with synthesizer lessons. Lanza and Greenspan developed a creative partnership that evolved into Pull My Hair Back, Lanza's debut album. Co-produced with Greenspan on gear left by Lanza's deceased father, the set was issued on the Hyperdub label in September 2013. Prior to its release, she remixed Matthew Dear's "Earthforms" and provided vocals for Hyperdub labelmate Ikonika's "Beach Mode." She later continued her string of collaborations with work beside Caribou, Morgan Geist freestyle outlet the Galleria, and DJ Spinn and Taso, the last two of whom helped her make the 2015 12" "You Never Show Your Love." Lanza and Greenspan reconvened for Oh No, a comparatively upbeat set of material released through Hyperdub in May 2016. ~ Andy Kellman