Certain connotations come from naming a record Liquid, all of which apply to Toronto-based band Unbuttoned. Vocalists Kamilah Apong and Casey MQ’s harmonies mellifluously play with, and against each other, floating atop MQ’s production work and bandmates Miles Gibbons and Alexei Orechin’s musical contributions. Unbuttoned’s free flowing style blends social activism with R&B’s soul, pop’s playfulness, and arresting visuals into a consistently compelling, always shifting artistic collaboration.
Apong assumes core vocal duties on “Womxn Cry”, a song she describes as “A breaking, a snapping, dying, resurrection. A deep love for self, and a deep hate of self. What it looks like, sometimes, when I lose my mind. What it sounds like to fall back in love with myself.” On its own, “Womxn Cry” intensely pulses, powered by Apong’s insistent refrain: “Sometimes I cry, cry, cry / like my life depended on it”. Paired with the striking visual presentation director Victoria Wong brings to its video, “Womxn Cry” reveals the complicated dance between the internal struggles Apong describes, wonderfully brought to life through choreography and movement.
