Singer-songwriter Johari Noelle lives in a South Shore apartment that’s filled with art. Colorful paintings—slices of nature, simple human figures, abstract symbols—cover the wall between her kitchen and living room, most of them her own work. They’re complemented on the adjoining wall by an array of black-and-white photos and several photography backdrops, courtesy of her boyfriend and manager, James McCarter. Noelle’s resumé includes acting, musical theater, and reality TV, but for the past 18 months, the 23-year-old Chicago native has focused less on bringing other people’s visions to life and more on creating a musical statement of her own. Her resulting debut release, due May 31, is the sleekly produced EP Things You Can’t Say Out Loud, whose five soulful songs dissect relationships with conversational ease.
During her junior year at NIU, Noelle got a message from someone claiming to be a producer who’d noticed her through one such cover. The alleged producer complimented her sound and invited her to audition for a group that Destiny’s Child alum Kelly Rowland was assembling. Noelle was initially skeptical. “I thought it was a big scam, and I was like, whatever,” she says. She was convinced only after hearing from multiple people affiliated with the project, who sent her information and forms for setting up an audition.
Johari Noelle, Christian JaLon, Krystal Metcalfe Wed 6/5, 7 PM, the Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. West, 312-801-2100, promontorychicago.com, $7, all ages
Noelle spent the first six weeks of 2016 in Los Angeles, competing with 17 other women for a spot in the final group and learning from famed choreographers Frank Gatson Jr., JaQuel Knight, and Chris Grant. “It was really cool to learn from all of them, and just be a sponge,” she says. Though she was eliminated from the show five episodes into its ten-episode run, Noelle appreciated the grueling rehearsals, which typically ran from 10 PM to 4 AM six days per week. They taught her the importance of preparation, and she emerged more confident in her own talents. “Being picked out of all those girls—and they’re all so talented—I often had this feeling of, like, ‘Why did you pick me? I’m just starting. I’m not classically trained. I just sing because I love to,’” she says. “It really taught me to recognize that I have my own gift, and I have my own message, and that’s what makes me special.”
The arresting background vocals on Things You Can’t Say Out Loud were arranged by local musician Manasseh Croft, though Noelle overdubbed them herself (except on “Release,” which uses both their voices). Croft recalls his thought process while working on “CrazyLonely”: “If the conversation of the song was a hallway, what would you hear walking through that hallway?” He picked up a “spooky” vibe from the song’s second half, and decided to draw on the horror-film trope of off-screen singing by creepy, wispy children’s voices. “It’s like in scary movies when you walk down the hallway and it’s like, ‘One, two, buckle my shoe.’”
Show Me by Johari Noelle
“Release” is a classic slow jam. It’s about opening up to emotional and sexual intimacy, and Noelle’s voice cycles through a tension-building tune, accompanied by sticky, sensual 6/8 guitar lines. Croft contributed relatively minimal backing vocals: “The empty spaces in the song actually allow the song to breathe,” he says. He was pleasantly surprised that Noelle didn’t replace his voice with hers in the final mix.
