Umii, the new project of R&B singer Reva DeVito and Los Angeles-based producer B. Bravo (AKA Adam Mori), just released their debut EP, This Time, and itâs already received tons of positive feedback. It was even voted a number-one EP by Jamz Supernova in her weekly roundup for BBC 1Xtra.
DeVito and Mori first decided to make music together after meeting in Portland in 2011.
â[We] were cranking out a bunch of songs and demos, and then I had her featured on my album,â Mori says. âWe were like, âYeah, we got all this music. Why donât we just start a group together?â So we came up with a name and a concept, and thatâs how Umii was born.â
âAnd we became besties in the meantime,â DeVito adds. âAdam also DJs for my solo stuff a lot of the time.... We get along super well and just have a blast. He plays live keys and does, like, little synth solos, and just kind of livens it up a little bit. We love working together.â
Umii resembles the Japanese word for âocean,â which pays homage to Moriâs heritage, and is also similar to the Arabic word for âmother.â
âWhat we were going for is kind of the combination of those two,â Mori explains. âWater is life, you know? And mothers alsoâwomen alsoâgive life.â
âI wanted our tagline to be âUmii gives life,â just in the essence of it being music that makes you feel alive and just... good,â says DeVito. DeVito says they donât like to limit Umiiâs sound to one genreâthey love that their project has the ability to be more fluid than their solo work. âI would say melodically, [itâs] very dreamy, and mostly liquid, watery sounds,â she says.
Her description is right on the nose. With funk-infused, feel-good singles like âMasqueradeâ and âDangerous,â and get-loose tracks such as âDonât Let Upâ and âMake Your Move,â Umiiâs concept definitely breaks the surface. Think crisp beats and wave-riding production, sonic drips and ripples, and a light echo on DeVitoâs rich, silky-smooth vocals.
âWe donât purposefully sit down and say, âOh, weâre gonna make something that sounds â80s- or â90s-influenced,ââ Mori says. âThatâs just what comes out, you know? Obviously, we grew up in the â80s and â90s, and that music is what made us fall in love with music.... Michael Jackson was my hero when I was a kid.â
Umii says theyâll play This Time in its entirety at this weekâs release show, but the duo will likely sprinkle in some of their solo work, since the EPâs only eight tracks long. Speaking of which, DeVito and Mori say theyâre currently working on an Umii full-length, and hope to continue working together for a long time.
âYeah, Iâm down to make music with Adam until the day my voice doesnât work anymore,â she says.
Mori adds, âFor life!â