Take a large dose of soul, some wonderful pop infectiousness and a whole load of modern R&B grooves and you have the core of Arewa’s sound. And if, on paper at least, that suggests little to make her stand out from the pack she has two secret weapons that really elevate her beyond most of her peers. The first is the slightly hypnotic, offbeat rhythms that she employs, which makes for a wonderful idiosyncratic bohemian neo-soul reinvention. The second is her voice.
Arewa has a voice that is confident in its delivery without losing its sultry, soulful qualities, which melds a modern pop accessibility to some old-school classicism and effortless charm and stands out proudly in the music without dominating and overpowering the trippy left-field grooves being laid down around her. If you are looking for the future of soulful, chart friendly R&B, then look no further than Arewa.