Nashville-based queer genre-bending singer-songwriter Joy Oladokun returns with her sixth album, Hope is a Heavy Thing, a twelve song odyssey that looks both outward and inward as it tries to make sense of the world we currently live in.
Oladokun grew up in Casa Grande, Arizona, in a Nigerian immigrant household, soundtracked by country, folk, Bob Marley and Lauryn Hill. She picked up a guitar after seeing Tracy Chapman on TV at ten, led worship at her family’s church, then left when the church began limiting her creativity. Since 2016’s Carry she’s built one of the most emotionally honest catalogues in American songwriting, including gems such as protest anthem ‘I See America’ and queer-Christian lifeline ‘Sunday’ along the way.
Self-produced by Oladokun with additional contributions from Nigerian producer Spellz, Hope Is A Heavy Thing was recorded in Nashville, New York and, as she puts it, the back of a speeding tour bus.
The album opens with strummed acoustic guitar and Oladokun’s plaintiff voice on ‘Raised By The Radio (A Reintroduction)’, where she/they ask what song you put on repeat when you need to disappear. Whilst lead single ‘Kind’ is a slow-burner with some of the album’s sharpest lines:
I think I’m too much like my mother / I give more grace when I should let things suffer
Elsewhere, ‘TOGIAIM’ (The Only God In America Is Money) updates Joni Mitchell’s ‘Woodstock’ for the billionaire/trillionaire era. ‘The End Of The World’ pairs an upbeat tempo with fears about the climate, whilst ‘Sage‘ — featuring Nigerian artist Adekunle Gold — combines West African rhythms with American folk and delves into grief and living in a world that can’t be controlled.
‘Zombie’ is another poignant highlight, a burnout confession in gospel-tinged soul with lyrics such as:
I feel like a zombie in a beautiful world / Locked out of Heaven, but too broken for Earth
The album closes with ‘Time is a River’, a gentle almost hymnal lullaby which ponders upon the nature of both time and rivers to carry us along.
As Oladokun says,
To understand your future you have to confront your past. This is the driving theme behind Hope Is A Heavy Thing. It’s a collection of 12 songs that I wrote to help myself find my light again after burning out. It is a record I wrote for anyone who finds themselves wondering how to hope in these times. Sometimes it means looking back and digging through the muck to find what’s worth fighting for again.
Digging through muck has rarely been so enjoyable.
Catch Joy Oladokun on tour:
- October 16, 2026: The Heights Theater – Houston, TX
- October 17, 2026: Scoot Inn – Austin, TX
- October 20, 2026: Crescent Ballroom – Phoenix, AZ
- October 21, 2026: The Observatory North Park – San Diego, CA
- October 23, 2026: The Bellwether – Los Angeles, CA
- October 25, 2026: The Castro Theatre – San Francisco, CA
- October 27, 2026: Aladdin Theater – Portland, OR
- October 29, 2026: Hollywood Theatre – Vancouver, BC
- October 30, 2026: The Moore Theatre – Seattle, WA
- November 2, 2026: The Complex (The Grand) – Salt Lake City, UT
- November 4, 2026: Paramount Theatre – Denver, CO
- November 6, 2026: Granada Theater – Lawrence, KS
- November 7, 2026: Palace Theatre – Saint Paul, MN
- November 8, 2026: The Vic Theatre – Chicago, IL
- November 11, 2026: Warsaw – Brooklyn, NY
- November 12, 2026: The Ardmore Music Hall – Ardmore, PA
- November 13, 2026: Howard Theatre – Washington, DC
- November 15, 2026: Haw River Ballroom – Saxapahaw, NC
- November 17, 2026: Neighborhood Theatre – Charlotte, NC
- November 18, 2026: Variety Playhouse – Atlanta, GA
- November 19, 2026: Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, TN
- April 10, 2027: Roundhouse – London, UK
- April 12, 2027: Òran Mór – Glasgow, UK
- April 13, 2027: Band on the Wall – Manchester, UK
- April 15, 2027: Les Étoiles – Paris, France
- April 17, 2027: Le Botanique – Brussels, Belgium
- April 18, 2027: Paradiso – Amsterdam, Netherlands
- April 19, 2027: Club Volta – Cologne, Germany
- April 21, 2027: FRANNZ Club – Berlin, Germany
- April 22, 2027: Knust – Hamburg, Germany
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