Kevin Bronson on April 30th, 2020

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St. Panther is the nom de tune of Irvine native Daniela Bojorges-Giraldo, who started young as a singer, songwriter, rapper and producer and is now working with Ricky Reed’s Nice Life Recording Co. and Nate Mercereau’s How So Records.

The name? “My dad used to call me ‘​Little Panther’​ in middle school,” the songwriter recalls. “I was bullied a lot, so he was like, ‘​Instead of being a little cat, you have to be strong like a little panther.’​ The name stayed with me. It ties everything together.”

St. Panther’s first single for Nice Life, “Infrastructure,” seethes with that strength. The tune, which appeared on HBO’s “Insecure” and is the first from a forthcoming EP, isn’t short on moxie. A warm funk-soul-jazz jam with rap verses thrown like darts, the song came a a moment St. Panther “was in a post-Stevie Wonder kick headspace,” the songwriter said in an interview this week.

Co-produced with the artist by Mercereau (who’s worked with Reed and Teddy Geiger, among many others), it’s a big step up from St. Panther’s self-produced work (see less extravagant but no less fun “Playa”) and the songwriter’s long-ago work in the band Quiet Girl.

St. Panther is a solo act right now, but this week a live video of “Infrastructure” was released, hinting at what a force Bojorges-Giraldo could be live. It features Mercereau on guitar synth, Reed on drums and sampler, Zack Sekoff on bass, Steve Wyreman on guitar and Serena Emtiaz and Conrad Kisunzu on backup vocals.

||| Stream: “Infrastructure”