Ondara, Kiely Connell

J.S. Ondara’s third LP, last year’s Spanish Villager No. 3, opened up new sonic territory for the Kenya-born, Minneapolis-based songwriter. Although still anchored in his warm tenor and deeply poetic imagery that earned 2019 debut Tales of America a Grammy nod, the new album expands with lusher sounds and heavier percussion, bursting with a more vibrant pop playfulness. Ondara excels in surfacing a universal connection through tales of displacement, a loneliness filled with joy of discovery and evolution. Ondara’s latest tour returns to his early solo roots, with Nashville’s Kiely Connell opening behind 2021 debut Calumet Queen. – Doug Freeman