Cassowary, aka 25-year-old artist and multi-instrumentalist Miles Shannon, opted for an alternative music education by cutting his teeth on New York’s jazz club circuit. Rather than the constraints of music college, Cassowary has absorbed the grit and living structure of live performances into tracks like ‘Belt Notch!’ Where a more contemporary recording may run the lines of choruses and verses with [maybe] a small instrumental break, the finest feature of ‘Belt Notch!’ is the expansive and creative jazz breakdown. Cassowary absolutely slays the saxophone, while allowing space for his other musicians to express themselves as well. Speaking about the motive behind this groovy number, Shannon tells us that: "I wrote the song while reentering the dating scene after a relationship 'Belt Notch!' is about wanting more from a one night stand, and looking for love in the wrong places, how two people can hook up and walk away feeling differently. The notion that you’re marked as a trophy is a common one in communities dominated by heartless dating apps and surface level interactions.” This original track is set to feature on Cassowary’s debut self-titled album out on April 24th via Fat Possum. - Hannah Thacker [Photo credit: Kristy Benjamin]