Off-Season Bonus: Yazmin Lacey

Photo by Nina Manandhar

Aw man, here we are at the last off-season pod before the start of season 6. Honestly, it’s wild how much getting to do these episodes have reignited my love for this series. When this started back in 2020, there was this overt understanding that getting to connect with people in this medium could act as a companion to others; especially during a time when we all felt disconnected from each other. The feeling hasn’t only persisted, but it’s grown substantially due to meeting so many people who’re living vastly different lives than me and people who’ve also learned life lessons that I’ve yet to learn myself.

My next guest is a striking example of this, say hello to Nottingham-based singer-songwriter, Yazmin Lacey. I immediately fell in love with her music after seeing her perform at C’mon Everybody (a cozy venue in Brooklyn). Yazmin’s talent of blending R&B, soul, jazz, and electronica with her voice is massive, both on record and on stage. A major fixture of her art is her ability to be direct with her thoughts and feelings, which is heard all across her debut album, Voice Notes. Easily one of the major triumphs of the year, that album echoes what I mentioned above, it operates like a companion to your life. We chat about the importance of that, having music with us during the good and bad times, along with what it felt like for Yazmin to be so direct with her insecurities and doubts.

After you hear the episode, be sure to check out Yazmin Lacey’s track Late Night People on the official New Exchange Playlist. Also, be sure to follow Yazmin Lacey on Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.