Browsing Tag

neo-soul

Tweety became soul’s new sensation in ‘Ultra’

Posted on 18 September 2026

‘Ultra’ breathes pure soul seduction through a sense of irreplicable aphrodisiacal grace, introducing Tweety as an artist drawn to the rare moments where vulnerability becomes beautiful and connection starts to feel almost sacred. The single carries that intimate, bigger-than-ordinary atmosphere from the outset, letting contemporary soul glow with cinematic poise.

Chamber orchestral strings euphonically cut through the funk and grooves beneath Tweety’s vocals, which are enough to leave you breathless with their smooth, smoky timbre. The arrangement feels lush without becoming over-polished, allowing the strings to lift the sensuality into something more spiritually charged while the rhythm keeps the track close to the body. Ultimately, Ultra proves how thin the veil between desire and devotion can be.

Tweety’s vocal delivery sits in the same after-hours emotional climate that surrounds Sade, Snoh Aalegra and Cleo Sol, while the orchestral soul finessed touches brush close to the kind of widescreen feeling Alicia Keys can summon when intimacy meets grandeur. Still, Ultra keeps its own temperature: warm, poised, slow-burning and heavy with poetic intent.

It is impossible to come away from Ultra unaffected by the assurance that Tweety is moving towards becoming the ultimate conduit of contemporary, cinematic soul. See for yourselves on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jazzy neo-pop RnB gets its old-school sweetheart fix in Max Goldhirsch’s ‘Cheetah Print Blues

Posted on 6 September 2026
Max Goldhirsch

With his jazzy neo-pop, RnB-gilded sonic signature and his ability to imagine what it would be like if titans were conduits of soulfully feverish passion instead of muscle-wrought aggression, Max Goldhirsch is set to shake up rhythm and blues in a way that feels way overdue. Forget the neon-washed, oversaturated trend of The Weeknd and his army of assimilators; Max Goldhirsch is taking it right back to the old-school, allowing listeners in a mostly loveless era of ever-increasing digital dating jargon a taste of what it was like to be someone’s sweetheart in the 50s.

The atmosphere in his seminal upcoming single, Cheetah Print Blues, is thick with electricity, emboldened by bluesy grooves that hit all the right swanky, seductive spots as Max Goldhirsch’s vocals refuse to pour soul through a façade. The unique inflections in his voice give the single from his upcoming album an affecting accessibility that’s strong enough to make you forget your crush and fixate over his fiery proclamations of passion instead.

The independent Buffalo, NY singer-songwriter and guitarist has been writing and releasing music since he was 14, and now, while studying music education at the University of Hartford, he’s ready to push his jazz-pop/RnB vision further. Fans of Leon Bridges, Laufey, Bruno Major and early Amy Winehouse will want to keep Goldhirsch on their radar.

Connect with Max Goldhirsch on Instagram to keep up to date with news of his latest releases.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sun-bleached tropical-house electronica is served serotonin-soaked in tuftyhead’s next big hit, ‘See U OTW’

Posted on 5 September 2026

Berlin-based producer, instrumentalist and songwriter tuftyhead moved tropical house to the leftfield of electronica with his latest single, See U OTW. Swathed with soul, style and heat, the temperate grooves in the oceanically melodic release arrest your rhythmic senses, while the sticky-sweet, unfeigned accessibility in the vocals puts a humanistic touch at the front and centre of the single, ensuring summer is never truly over as long as you have the sun-bleached and serotonin-soaked single on your playlists.

The solo project of Max Hirtz-Wolf, tuftyhead carries the cross-continental current of a California-to-Berlin artist whose sound stretches through dark-disco, neo-soul and alt-pop without losing its melodic ease. Since relocating to Berlin in 2018, he has kept one foot in restless production and another in community-driven musicianship, also playing bass and composing in Meagre Martin while co-organising the Souljam jam-session collective.

See U OTW feels like all of that movement distilled into one heat-hazed release. The grooves stay fluid, the vocal hooks land clean, and the production has enough leftfield texture to keep its tropical-house sweetness from becoming obvious. Fans of SG Lewis, Roosevelt, Jungle and Kaytranada will feel right at home in the atmosphere of See U OTW, which is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

coquette-coded old-school soul blooms into smoky RnB self-worth on CTLN’s ‘Deserve It’

Posted on 5 September 2026

CTLN made old-school soul blossom into a brand-new brand of coquette-coded, intimately authentic RnB with her latest single, Deserve It. The NJ-born, NYC-based singer-songwriter, pronounced Caitlin, brought emotional clarity and the melodic discipline sharpened through mentorship with Stargate into a track that explores desire, self-worth and radical honesty in real time.

Across smoky, jazzy, ornate and atmospherically lush instrumentals, Deserve It pulls echoes of myriad genres in as easily as pulling petals from a rose; the devoutly stylistic touches allow the single to unravel as a hypnotically all-consuming aura, which is all too easy to get addicted to, especially when CTLN lets lyrical volition arrive by the smorgasbord.

There is melodically rhythmic fluidity that makes you feel as though nothing was off limits in the studio, combined with her expressively chameleonic vocals that drape over your soul and move through the track with enough intimacy to feel close to the skin, while the production keeps its velvet-lit polish intact; Deserve It is an incantation of pure self-possession.

Deserve It speaks to anyone familiar with the law of attraction, but its real force comes from the belief that wanting more and knowing your worth can occupy the same breath.

Deserve It is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

R&B Remembered the Blues: Darién Castro Put Vintage Soul Back on the Turntable with ‘Out of Control’

Posted on 4 August 2026

The glamour of old Hollywood shimmers through the neo-pop stroke of soul, Out of Control, by New England singer-songwriter Darién Castro, who holds the grace and poise of a Parisian chanteuse in the same proverbial hand as her radio-ready, swoon-worthy sensibility. Yet it feels blasphemous to play Out of Control on anything but a vintage turntable; even without static catching on the needle, warmth permeates the single made for anyone who orchestrates a private mythology in their bedroom with the door closed.

Castro finds the middle ground between reverie and the stridency of a starlet coming into her own once every prying eye falls away. The way her vocal phrasing carries composure through each emotional tremor allows desire to breathe through the intensity of her vocal melodies. The production gives her voice room to luxuriate, surrounding it with polished pop clarity while keeping the soul foundations tactile enough to almost touch.

Out of Control reminds us where R&B started and restores the blues to the genre’s bloodstream. The blues guitar solo absolutely seals the genre reverent deal, arriving with enough emotional eloquence to make a single bent note feel scandalous. Castro began performing in New Hampshire theatre companies and later worked across film and stage production, experience that explains the cinematic assurance within her performance.

Out of Control is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Cali Heat, Neo-Soul Glow and Oceanically Lush R&B Ebb and Flow Through J. Jeaux’s ‘The One’

Posted on 13 May 2026

Latin guitar flourishes, deep grooves of 90s RnB nostalgia, and one of the most distinctively smooth vocal timbres define The One, the latest single from Los Angeles-based independent singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist J. Jeaux.

Cascading Cali heat onto the airwaves, the up-and-coming trailblazer attacks his progressions with a soulfully fluid ease, allowing the tone, style, and tempo to shift synergistically, giving the melodies a lighter-than-air sensibility that feels destined for summer R&B pop playlists. It is an oceanically lush triumph, sun-warmed and silk-lined, with organic instrumentation rippling through the intimate analog-toned production.

The One carries the emotional immediacy of a confession caught beneath golden-hour light;  Jeaux leans into the intricacies of human connection with a literary tenderness, giving the track a romantic charge that could light up a power grid. His alternative R&B and neo-soul grounding gives the single its sensual architecture, while the songwriting keeps the centre human, tactile, and bruised with feeling.

Fans of Sunni Colón, Leon Thomas, and JayDon will find plenty to sink into here, from the polished vocal phrasing to the spacious melodic movement and heat-hazed groove work.

The One is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Simmer in the Slow-Burn Soul of Wolf Richards’ Latest Single, Take It Slow

Posted on 13 May 2026

Wolf Richards poured RnB, old-school hip-hop, and sun-kissed polyphonic afrobeat catharsis into one simmering pot on Take It Slow, a track that moves with the confidence of an artist who already knows the temperature of his own sound. There is soul in the grain of it, in the pacing, in the way the arrangement opens its arms and lets the temperate groove do the heavy lifting.

The independent instrumentalist and songwriter has always exhibited a superlative ability to find the warmth in nostalgia and reshape it into retro-futuristic neo-soul while holding tight to the rhythmic backbone of hip-hop, but with this release, he reached his steamy zenith.

Take It Slow works as a slow-burn invitation into his world, shifting from gritty, grimy bars into soul-swallowing harmonies with the same rich reach that makes Teddy Swims such a force. The track has that rare alchemic elasticity where one texture never cancels another out. Instead, the elements lean into each other and deepen the pull.

Born in Munich and now based in Brazil, Wolf Richards started out on guitar and bass before studying at GIT in Los Angeles and writing across pop, rock, jazz, fusion, bossa nova, hip-hop, and RnB; that breadth and proof he’s cut his teeth to a razor-sharp level of prestige runs through Take It Slow.

Take It Slow is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

 Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jafar Curry turned disco-dripped RnB nostalgia and rap-shot conviction into the luxe sonic labyrinth of ‘Dangerous Love’

Posted on 4 March 2026
Dangerous Love by Jafar Curry

RnB, hip-hop, funk and pop all find their place within Jafar Curry’s Dangerous Love, a swanky groove-soaked single that radiates soul as soon as the arrangement begins to unfold. The Thai genre-fusionist has built a reputation for weaving eclectic influences through his catalogue, yet nothing about his approach feels forced or experimental for the sake of spectacle. Everything moves with organic melodic momentum and sonorously rich passion, giving the impression that earworms such as Dangerous Love exist as natural extensions of Curry himself.

The track wraps listeners in the warmth of nostalgia while still carrying the exhilaration of discovering an artist capable of making familiar textures feel freshly minted. There’s a strange thrill in imagining what the Bee Gees might have sounded like had they steered toward disco-dripped contemporary RnB, punctuated with a rap verse that strikes the production with sharp conviction, acting as a contrasting juxtaposition against the dreamy hues of the RnB instrumentation, creating a tension that keeps the groove alive The production itself feels massive, a labyrinth of layers that gradually reveals its depth the longer you sit with it. Synth accents, rhythmic flourishes and velvet vocal harmonies ripple through the mix, building a luxe sonic environment that rewards attentive listening.

Curry’s broader body of work reflects the soul of a musician raised on blues, jazz, funk and rock alongside RnB and alternative hip-hop. As a singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist with international performances behind him, he carries a musicality that flows through his piano work and vocal delivery. Dangerous Love captures that full spectrum, pairing rhythmic drive with storytelling sensitivity in a way that resonates to the nth degree.

Dangerous Love is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Bandcamp. 

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