If you had to distill the island vibe of the moment down to one song, it would be “Paradise” by Moss Henry. Out right now, it’s a breezy, dreamy tale about waking up to life on the Caribbean Sea.
It’s that sound you only get when you’ve been on island a while — rock ’n’ roll that’s been steeped in country, a little bit of Grateful Dead, a dash of blues, and storytelling that puts you right here, right now. Cook all that in the St. John sun and let it dry on the salt air of the Tradewinds and you’ve got what Moss is doing.
It’s part of a stream of singles leading up to his second album, “Alright By Me” later this year, and it features the same island wrecking crew that powered through a Herculean 30-song session in just seven days — Aaron Strickland on lead guitars, Jalil Jahantab on bass, Taylor Lissandrello on drums, Accordion Rob on Rhodes, and Allen Clapp at the mixing board.