Joyce Wrice is shifting the emotional and production language of her R&B catalogue on sophomore album MACHIKO, arriving October 9 via BMG Records.
The follow-up to 2021 debut Overgrown is partly produced by D’Mile, Lido, Jay Versace, Malik Ninety Five and Mack Keane, giving Wrice a wider production framework for a record centred less on heartbreak and more on confidence, vulnerability and letting control slip.
MACHIKO takes its title from Wrice’s Japanese middle name, meaning “city girl”, given to her by her mother. Wrice says:
I’m not heartbroken and jaded anymore. This era is about living fully, confidently, and fearlessly.
That change is already audible on new single Fly (Someone You Love) featuring Salimata. The track keeps things light and suspended, matching the rush of early attraction with the lyric:
…the way your eyes looking at me right now got me thinking I could fly.
The album will also include previously released singles Break Me In and Crack The Code, moving between more forceful seduction and softer Y2K-influenced R&B.
For Wrice, the project arrives after a debut era that established both her vocal identity and her ability to move between classic R&B language and contemporary production. Overgrown was executive produced by D’Mile, while subsequent collaborations have included Kaytranada, Freddie Gibbs, Lucky Daye, Masego, Westside Gunn, Jordan Ward and UMI.
Her catalogue has now passed 180 million global streams, alongside live appearances including NPR’s Tiny Desk, COLORS, Roots Picnic and Day N Vegas.
MACHIKO looks less interested in repeating the emotional architecture of Overgrown. Instead, Wrice is opening the production and writing towards movement, risk and attraction; letting a more playful version of herself take up the space.