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Best Neo Soul Music Blog

Tyler J. Thierry Pulled RnB, Afrobeat, Pop and Melodic Trap into One Slow-Burning Lament of Longing with ‘I Wish’

Posted on 23 June 2026

RnB Avant-Gardist Tyler J. Thierry is a master in subversions of sonic soul. His latest single, I Wish, created in collaboration with liam vee, is a nocturnally lit, slow-burning, experimentally lush fusionist triumph. RnB forms the backbone of I Wish, while the independent artist’s sonic signature moves beyond the constraints of one genre alone, pulling in saturated, sun-bleached elements of Afrobeat, stylistic devices from pop and melodic trap, and the occasional Latin guitar groove to lift the production from the moodier and more reverberant elements in the mournfully magnetic single.

The track exhibits the pain and poise of someone who has given their all and still found that it is not enough. Its atmosphere feels caught between confession and afterglow, letting the melody rise through soft-focus production, shadowed rhythm and scarred heartstrings. Thierry’s writing thrives in that liminal space where desire still burns after the damage has already been done; he’s always one to explore wounded elegance and the sublimity of beauty with swathes of nuance to spare.

I Wish is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify and YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Kobie’s ‘Main Thang’ Carried the Airwaves into a Love Bubble of Retro RnB and Indie-Tinted Soul

Posted on 9 June 2026

Kobie’s Just Friends is the ultimate debut album drop for the true romantics; boundaries blur, steam rises, senses are lost, and soul dominates in the smooth, slow-burning album, which reflects contemporary dynamics through the lens of retro RnB aesthetics. That sensibility reaches its most affecting point in the standout single, Main Thang, written for anyone tired of playing it cool and ready for unconditional, undivided connection.

The Latin guitar flourishes turn up the fire that simmers from Kobie’s harmonies, taking impassioned and pure desire to new euphonic heights. As he visualises the transcendence of letting your heart rule your head, you can feel the hazy love bubble wrap around you, softening the edges of hesitation until surrender starts to sound inevitable.

Built from underground culture and internet-era artistry, Kobie moves with the awareness of an independent artist, curator, and creative entrepreneur shaping more than a release cycle. His world spans music, visuals, live experiences, digital storytelling, and direct audience connection, giving Main Thang a sense of intimacy with serious cultural reach. Hip-hop, alternative textures, and modern youth culture ripple beneath the RnB romance, while the production keeps the focus on emotional immediacy.

Main Thang is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Salah Dion Holds Seraphic Sincerity and Modern Loneliness in the RnB retro-modernism of ‘All I Really Want Is’

Posted on 15 April 2026

Desire for a fully sated soul consumes Salah Dion’s third RnB release, All I Really Want Is. From the opening stretch of this slow-burning, trap-tempered retro-modernist rendition of RnB, Dion makes it plain that we haven’t seen the last of the great romantics yet. There’s an ache running through the single that feels painfully current, speaking to a culture hooked on the dopamine churn of dating apps while still starving for something real. Dion steps into that emotional gap with real tenderness, letting the song hold space for longing without dressing it up as something cooler or less vulnerable than it is.

Underneath the surface of disconnection, Dion reminds us that our heartstrings are still tuned to the meaning of passion, and in all of its seraphic sincerity, the track lands as a testament to that truth. His buttery smooth vocal lines carry the weight of solitude with grace, easing into the production with the kind of intimacy that makes the listener feel seen rather than merely serenaded. There’s warmth in the restraint, and conviction in the softness. For anyone feeling cut adrift in the modern romantic mess of it all, this one will hit home.

All I Really Want Is is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Contemporary RnB Artist, Rochone Salaciously Dripped Disco-Glitter Grooves and Aphrodisiacal Harmonies into ‘I Love Sex’

Posted on 10 March 2026

Lust reigns over romance in Rochone’s LP, Love Fails. Guilt-free pleasure takes precedence in the standout single, I Love Sex, where Rochone keeps his cards close to his chest while slipping into the airwaves’ sheets with a luxe contemporary RnB groove. The track bridges the gap between the imprint The Weeknd has left on the genre and the scintillating soul of funk-chopped disco euphoria, delivering a rhythm that feels equally primed for dim-lit dance floors and late-night headphone confessionals.

Through Nile Rodgers-esque staccato guitar chops, synths that deliver disco ball glitter synaesthesia and harmonies aphrodisiacal enough to get listeners on the same salacious page as Rochone, the single moves with a knowing swagger. The groove glides along with silky confidence, while the vocal performance keeps a sly sense of control, teasing out the track’s sensuality without giving away the whole hand. Within that polished RnB-pop framework, the hook lands with sticky-sweet immediacy. .

Rochone’s arrival as a solo artist carries the experience of a seasoned performer. Raised in Los Angeles and steeped in live entertainment, he spent his early years performing with the boy band Radio For People, taking to major stages including televised talent shows that demanded charisma as much as vocal power. That background in dance and performance still bleeds through the production choices here, giving the groove a kinetic charge that feels built for movement as much as listening.

I Love Sex is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Amber Kori seduced Chicago Deep House with her latest mix, Buzz Me In

Posted on 3 March 2026

Amber Kori’s Buzz Me In is as close to ASMR seduction as deep house gets. By choosing romanticism over the superficial sheen of lust-fuelled progressions, she created a soulfully euphonic cut that grows more hypnotic each time the hook returns.

The Chicago deep-house evocateur threads her reprising lyricism through the mix with a breathy confidence, turning “buzz me in” into the ultimate trigger phrase for the steamy atmosphere she builds around it. The effect is practically the sonic equivalent of a handprint on a steamed-up car window; condensed heat meeting the smooth friction of soul-deep passion.

The instrumental minimalism works in her favour. Rather than filling space for the sake of motion, she allows the air between the beats to heighten the intimacy. Her harmonies drip their honeyed timbre through every pore of the extended mix, giving the track a slow-burning sensuality that can only flow through sincerity. It’s romantic deep house distilled to its most potent form, shaped by someone who knows how to make atmosphere feel tactile.

Born in Harvey, Illinois, in a home where house music was woven into everyday life, Kori sharpened her songwriting chops early and carried them into a career defined by sensual imagination and emotional proximity. Now operating through her own label, Feel Hat Music, she moves comfortably between RnB and house; always letting the emotion of her singles guide the melodies.

Buzz Me In is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Soundcloud. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sticky-Sweet Lyricism and Soul-Deep Nostalgia Fuel Scottie Barnett’s Synthesis of Lo-Fi Boom Bap & RnB, Motion to Motion

Posted on 28 February 2026

The Mari Jack Mix of Scottie Barnett’s Motion to Motion has landed with the kind of force that shifts the air around old-school reverent RnB. It arrives with boom-bap beats tucked into a dreamy yet intimately rough around all the right edges mix, tapping into that bruised warmth you expect from a track dragged through time. From the first spin, it carries the rebellious spark of an up-and-coming artist pushing off mainstream RnB gloss to remind the airwaves of the visceral potential that built the genre in the first place. Between the subtly sultry lyricism, the unflinchingly sticky-sweet sentiments, and the deep cut tone that feels like a lost relic lifted from a 90s tape deck, Motion to Motion becomes an invitation to slip backwards while still firing up your present tense soul.

As a Scottish songwriter, producer and composer, Barnett draws from the deep wells of Neo Soul, Boom Bap, Lo-Fi and 90s RnB, internalising the essence of the greats without ever dipping into imitation. His sound carries the warmth of Motown and Stax, charged with a modern spark that keeps everything fresh rather than frozen in nostalgia. In 2025, he joined forces with Victoria Sola, whose intuitive vocal arrangements and razor-sharp melodic sense add another dimension to the project. Their creative partnership shapes a dynamic that leans into classic songcrafting with contemporary confidence, letting Motion to Motion breathe like a conversation between eras.

The Mari Jack Mix stands as a reminder of how RnB thrives when it honours its roots while letting imperfections breathe. It’s soaked in feeling, roughened in all the right places, and rich with the kind of emotional weight RnB fans will sink into without hesitation.

Motion to Motion is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Love Ladda Sanctified Desire in the Warm Glow of RnB Nostalgia with ‘Dreaming of You’

Posted on 16 February 2026

In Love Ladda’s Dreaming of You, the release unfolds like a dream in itself, guided by a timbre and tonality that coax you into a semi-lucid state before you’ve even realised you’ve surrendered. The breakthrough singer-songwriter leans into powerhouse harmonies that imbue the love song with a sense of stridency that has felt curiously absent from 21st-century RnB. While modernism sits firmly in the production, the instrumental stylings read confidently from the 80s and 90s RnB playbook, delivered in her own unmistakable voice. There is a clarity in the arrangement that allows affection to build into a scintillating glow, illustrating the sanctity of desire when it is still burning hot, sweet, and pure.

As the single resolves, its atmosphere lingers rather than evaporates. The tonal shifts move with quiet intention, allowing the harmonies to swell and settle in equal measure, forming a space where longing feels elevated rather than diluted. Dreaming of You succeeds in reminding listeners how potent romantic adoration can be when handled with conviction instead of cliché. It carries warmth without slipping into sentimentality, grounding passion in something tangible.

Detroit-born and shaped by roots in Kalamazoo, Love Ladda approaches RnB with the perspective of an English major steeped in creative writing, as well as a performer trained in classical ballet and contemporary technique. That artistic discipline informs her approach to Contemporary RnB, RnB Soul, and darker-leaning textures, where velvety vocals meet emotionally rich, narrative-driven songwriting. Her early traction, reflected in a steadily growing listener base and streaming figures, signals a rising presence that feels earned rather than engineered. With Dreaming of You, she positions herself within a lineage of soulful storytellers while restoring a sense of romantic intensity that refuses to dim.

Dreaming of You is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Rich Delinquent – Heartbreak Afterparty: An Ethereal Shimmer of RnB Emotion and Melancholic Dopamine Spiral

Posted on 13 February 2026
Rich Delinquent

Rich Delinquent dialled into his most luxuriant RnB release to date on Heartbreak Afterparty, teaming up with Tyla Yahweh to pour an ethereal shimmer of sonic emotion into a track shaped for late-night unravelment.

The Melbourne-based rising artist has been blazing through the ranks since his debut, but with Heartbreak Afterparty, he sealed his fate as one of the most promising RnB revolutionists operating in the shadows of the mainstream. The way he takes trending aesthetics and transforms them into haunting spectres of emotion that linger within his hyper distorted harmonies and within the oscillations of melancholic reverb proves that he is not here to play it safe. He is here to cut through the monotony with sincerity and a sense of style that could never be anything but authentic.

The track’s lyrically messy core orbits the dopamine chasing that follows a breakup, the way we toy with pleasure and pain to numb the persistent ache of disconnection. Heartbreak Afterparty hits like the aftermath of a night spent trying to outrun the truth, coating each line in a kind of foggy intoxication that feels painfully familiar. Rich Delinquent’s instinct for melodic tension gives the song its addictive pull, while Tyla Yahweh’s presence adds a slick sheen that wraps around the emotional volatility rather than smoothing it over.

Rich Delinquent refuses to polish the rough edges of heartbreak, instead choosing to sit inside the emotional spillage and let the reverb-soaked production echo the inner discord. His rise has been fast for a reason. Heartbreak Afterparty shows he is more than a trend watcher, he is a world shaper with an ear for emotional truth and an eye on RnB’s future contours.

Heartbreak Afterparty is now available on all major streaming platforms. Find your preferred way to listen on the artist’s official website. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Kinju – Double Life: An Alt-RnB Unravelling of Duality, Desire and Diaphanous Introspection

Posted on 8 February 2026

In Kinju’s latest release, Double Life, he explored the contours of duality with a pensively powerful alt-RnB touch. Through crystalline falsetto harmonies, beats that bleed reverberance, and modernised nods to boom bap nostalgia, the independent RnB experimentalist and evocateur lets his vulnerability take full shape. He wears his heart on his synth lines, allowing the fragility in his delivery to colour the entire atmosphere. The woozy textures, the slow-burning ache in the production and the suspended air around his vocal phrasing turn the track into a confession cushioned in hazy melodic light.

As the narrative unfolds, Kinju charts more and more unexplored aural territory, paying a fitting ode to the authenticity of his voice and lived experience, which often jars against itself. He channels the moments when the bitter trails the sweet, when regret sidles up to the act of following your heart and when desire mutates from self-fulfilment into the self-sacrificing wish to see someone thrive even if it nudges you out of the frame. The emotional turbulence sits against the softness of the arrangement, heightening the shadowed sting that sweeps through the track.

The diaphanous quality of the track eclipses much of contemporary RnB’, leaving a lingering shimmer that almost refuses to settle. Double Life feels like a shifting light source, revealing new angles of pensive despair, devotion and introspective reckoning every time it loops back around.

Double Life is now available on all major streaming platforms via this link. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

When the Morning Comes unveiled BERENA’s firebranded Neo-Soul fever in full bloom

Posted on 1 February 2026

BERENA pour grooves that spiral their way through the kaleidoscope of colour, warmth and soul on When the Morning Comes, a constellation of pure feeling from the Liverpool-based Neo-Soul powerhouse. After a scintillating stream of reverb leaks into your synapses, the guitar licks prove that with BERENA, harmonic transcendence always arrives with a firebranded fever. Their latest single is shaped with the kind of decadence that compels you to move to it, no matter how many times you have soaked in the richness of their tonal command. The hypnotic constellation of ambience they chose to serve as the middle eight folds seamlessly into the melting pot of expansive influences that touch and tantalise the sound orchestrated by the six-piece act who choose to take Liverpool and beyond by soul instead of by storm.

The depth behind that sound speaks to how the collective formed. Emerging from the creative pool of university life, BERENA grew into a six-strong unit anchored by the classically trained vocals of Josie Lomax. The rhythm section of Daud Kay and Tom McNally reinforces the foundation with prog-rock grooves fused with Latin nuance. Guitars from Sam Devonport and Isaac Tingay add experimental textures shaped by blues-rooted instinct, while Charlie Corry steers the melodic core with jazz-schooled command.

.Following their debut single, Just a Boy, and their self-produced 2025 EP On-Set, When the Morning Comes confirms that their boundary-pushing ethos is far from spent.

When the Morning Comes is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast