Jade Oracle Gears Up for New Music and Festivals

Photography by Erik Fellenstein

One of Denver’s best kept secrets is a neo-soul band by the name of Jade Oracle. Currently made up of Coy Lim (vocals and piano) and Calvin Davis (drums and electronics), Jade Oracle is rooted in the local music community and held together with spiritual energy. As tides shift within the band, Lim and Davis are thrilled to keep their summer busy with two festival performances, and a brand new project.

“Veiled Shadows” drops July 17 and will be celebrated at Cap Hill Confidential with performances from Luckiee B, Geo Conjure Oddly, DJ Bugs Honey and Lady Los. Lim is particularly excited about sharing the stage with these local gems after building the line up herself.

“When I’m given the opportunity to select the folks on the bill, it’s a thrill to build a show that I know everyone will love. These divas are some of the smartest, most capable people I know, while also being some of the most talented,” emphasized Lim.

The upcoming “Veiled Shadows” project fits perfectly into the Jade Oracle mystical aesthetic and ties into very important emotional themes for Lim.

“‘Veiled Shadows’ are people who cannot see that they aren’t who they say they are,” explained Lim. “Veiled Shadows are people who don’t know how to be accountable, and who make others repair the problems that they cause.”

Much of the Jade Oracle discography points toward finding one’s inner power, divinity and the weight of love. Lim’s journey as a BaZi practitioner and relationship with Chinese metaphysics glimmers under the surface of much the band’s sound. “Veiled Shadows” takes these themes into an even more relevant field with a call to the revolutionary soul.

 “I want to write songs that give my audience permission to feel everything. Joy, rage, despair, hope— it is all part of what brought our souls here in the first place,“said Lim. “I have learned that peace isn’t the absence of negative emotion or circumstances, it is the capacity to handle difficult things with grace, empathy and softness. This is the type of message I believe so many people desperately need to hear. The world is often cruel, I want to make art that reminds us to be kind.”

This complexity is portrayed through webs of jazz and soul, intricate lyricism and hypnotic harmonies. Local features add extra moments of richness and depth to the established sonic dynamic between Lim and Davis, built through their years of working together.

“I think that doing the work to heal oneself and to try and bring light into our communities can feel so overwhelming sometimes,” said Lim. “So it was important for the chorus to remind me (and my audience) that even when it’s hard, it’s worth it.”

In addition to their album debut celebration, Jade Oracle will perform at Denver’s Underground Music Showcase on July 25 at 7 p.m. and at a secret location set during the first official Blucifer Fest. Despite these more commercialized shows at upcoming festivals, Lim continues to point toward the hyperlocal and underground scene with every turn.

“I hope that someday, Denver at-large recognizes that you don’t need to buy a sold-out $500+ ticket to have a life-changing musical experience,” said Lim. “I am in awe of how we speak about this world, and of how we listen to each other. There is something special here about the way people in this town play music together.“

Through all the greater turbulence, Denver always seems to find a home for music and musicians always seem to find each other. Jade Oracle is just the tip of the local iceberg and an excellent way to stay tapped into local scene.

Grab tickets to shows or pre-save the upcoming album on the Jade Oracle website.