Browsing Tag

neo-soul

South Australian soul singer, Bree Gregory, has made her sultrily smoky debut with Only You

Posted on 1 July 2022

With a vocal timbre as smoky as the bluesy RnB groove pockets, The South Australian soul singer, Bree Gregory, is the epitome of seductive soul in her debut single, Only You.

Inspired by contemporaries such as Black Pumas and Erika Badhu and the icons of soul, her soulful love letter fuses nostalgic warmth with cutting style while delivering an open invitation to drink in the highs of affectionate intoxication that ebb and swell through the soundscape.

By the time the outro rolls around any sense of pretence or restraint tears away through the intensity of Gregory’s strident vocal dynamism. So yeah, it is one hell of a debut from one exceptionally talented artist. We can’t wait to hear what follows.

Only You will officially release on July 1st; you can hear it for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Beth Macari bites Ouroboros’ tail in her Indie RnB single, Circles

Posted on 1 July 2022

To say that Beth Macari’s latest single, Circles is one of the best UK RnB singles from the past few decades doesn’t come close to hyperbole.

“I don’t think you know what it’s like to be a woman” is something that every woman will have felt in her lifetime. That makes it no less profound when Macari uses it to let solidarity spill from her soundscape, which proves that soul and emboldening energy fit hand in glove; when the grasp of the gravitas is so tight.

The jangly indie-pop elements in the emotion-driven single are nothing short of electrifying as they find their charge through creating friction between the sonic past and an empowered future. We honestly couldn’t love her more.

Circles drops on July 1st; check it out on SoundCloud or by heading to Macari’s official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Canadian originator, Ethan Mark opened his jazzy neo-soul in his album ‘The Concept of You’

Posted on 23 June 2022

After teasing us title single from his 2022 album, The Concept of You, we eagerly awaited the full length of Ethan Mark’s sophisticated psychedelic-soul experimentalism.

With the opening single, The Unravelling of Every Day, equally as sublime as the openers on your favourite 90s Shoegaze albums (surely, everyone has some of those!), it is instantly affirmed what kind of production the Canadian artist constructed. One that is defined by its quiescence and the ability to hold your attention through the jazzy indie-soul juxtapositions.

Track 3, Gunslinger, is a trippy ethereal masterpiece, colourful enough to rival the fantasy-like escapism in tracks from Cosmo Sheldrake. Reminiscences fall by the wayside in the boundlessly experimental world music title single which breaks the monocultural mould with the percussion and throws in some flamenco guitars around the RnB grooves.

Not that The Concept of You has any skippable tracks, but special attention should be paid to Weight of it All. The lofty intricate work is a sublime pool of lyrical vulnerability, Avant-Garde ambience, and quintessential folk escapism. It is gravitas sonically personified.

Here is what Ethan Mark had to say on his album

“The Concept of You, and the upcoming album, came about from a challenge from my partner. She, a listener of neo-soul and jazz, challenged me to pare my usually elaborate and busy musical style down to something more organic, soulful, and pretty.

The result was a series of love songs encompassing many facets of love. The title single refers to her, the sepia-toned memories of summers, the roots we have put down together, and the love for home.

These themes felt especially important after a long period punctuated by isolation, introversion, and cabin fever. It’s accentuated by nylon guitar strings, cascading violins, gentle pianos, and the frailties of harmonised vocals.”

Concept of You is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: rise and shine with the soul in Laraland’s latest single, In the Morning

Posted on 20 June 2022
Laraland

Ahead of the release of her third LP, the Melbourne-based singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, Laraland has unveiled the soul in her latest seductive jazz-pop serenade, In the Morning, featuring bassist Nama.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. ‘They’ have never succumbed to the succinctly revelatory lyrical style of Laraland. “In the morning you won’t know my name but I’m the same” perfectly encapsulates the hangover from the cocktail of alcohol, fleeting affection and amicable rejection. At least the love affair with this loungey jazz revival is built to stand the test of time.

With all the timeless class of Ella Fitzgerald nestled up against the modernist resonance in the groove-deep production, easy listening just became infinitely more arrestive. Voices like this don’t emerge every day; Laraland is notably a golden souled diamond in the superficial rough. Get her on your radar.

In her own words, here is what Laraland had to say about her latest single,

“In the Morning was written during another long lockdown in Melbourne in late 2021. It reminisces on the idea of being able to go out and meet new people at a bar, club or anywhere the night takes you. I am drawing on the idea that sometimes you form a connection with a stranger in a bar and want it to last longer than its bitter-sweet one-night expiry.”

In the Morning will officially release on June 20th. You can hear it for yourselves via Spotify.

Follow Laraland on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Get secondary highs from Cedric B’s latest contemporary kick of RnB. Love=DRUG

Posted on 14 June 2022
https://soundcloud.com/dreambiggggggg/love-drug/s-RWg2g8CbJ9U?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

The evolution of RnB may have been fairly stunted since the 90s, but one artist taking the genre into the sonic future with his distinctive hard-kicking spin on contemporary RnB is the Dallas-based crooner Cedric B.

His latest single, Love=DRUG, taken from his sixth independent album by the same name, is a stridently evocative work with melodies that seduce as much as the high-range vocals around the hip hop elements. Even if you’re not getting your own love fix, you will easily get high on the vibes in Love=DRUG.

Love=DRUG will officially release on June 14th. You can check it out for yourselves via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: You’ve gotta ‘Feel It’ for yourselves in MDMelo & Francis’ standout electronic soul single.

Posted on 7 June 2022

With its kicking beat, shimmering sonics and the effortless resonance of Francis’ vocals, MDMelo’s title single from his collaborative album, Feel It, rhythmically commands you into an evocative appreciation for the aural delivery of oxytocin.

It has been a while since we have heard funk-riding electronic beats with such deep seductive grooves; the euphoric aesthetic of the collaboration is nothing short of electrifying. The zealously infectious track marries old school soul with new-age electronica to achieve an uplifting effect that can scarcely be put into words; you just have to feel the disco synthetics up against the funk, soul and RnB textures for yourselves.

Here is what MDMelo had to say on his latest collaboration with vocalist, Francis

“Feel It, featuring Francis, is a breakthrough for me; it was a long-term project which focuses on production, composition, harmony, groove and sonics. My main objective is to make sure that Francis gets the notoriety he deserves; he transformed my music world.”

Watch the official music video for Feel It, which dropped on the 20th of May 2022, via YouTube.

Before the release of the 11-track soul album, Feel It, in May 2022, MDMelo & Francis caught up with A&R Factory. Check out the A&R Video Interview with MDMelo and Francis here.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Basia Bartz has released her feverishly pure piano-pop score, All Your Pages (Read Like Mine)

Posted on 6 June 2022
Basia Bartz

After an outtake-y intro which strips any air of pretension from the soundscape from the outset, the Poland-born and raised, London-residing singer-songwriter Basia Bartz careers into a smooth experimental jazz-pop ensemble with her latest single, All Your Pages (Read Like Mine).

Even though it’s scarcely imaginable that a contemporary artist can conjure as much soulfully demure alchemy as Peggy Lee did with Fever, that is exactly what Basia Bartz beguiles with.

Her name as a solo artist may be relatively unheard. As a violinist, she’s worked alongside Boxer Rebellion, Maisha, Ben Walker and Josienne Clarke, Dan Raza, The Penny Black Remedy, Cherise Adams-Burnett, Tankus The Henge, Trent Miller, Ian Prowse, Tom McRae, Jamie Lenman, Ferries & Sylvester, Catherine Rudie and the Kisses, Jason McNiff, The Clientele, ESE & The Vooduu People, Gabriel Moreno, Adam Beattie and many more.

Inspired by those very same artists, she started training as a vocalist and composer before releasing her debut single, A Girl at Dusk, in 2022. Her third single, All Your Pages, is her soulful take on a groove-led feat of piano pop which unravels as an honest expression of female sensuality. God knows we needed someone to put the innocence back into affection after Nikki Minaj defiled all that was sacred about those moments that are just as tenderly captivating as the swinging piano riffs in All Your Pages.

All Your Pages will launch on Bandcamp on June 3rd before releasing across all other platforms on June 21st.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

DRCY preserved the timelessness of old school soul in ‘Small Talk’

Posted on 6 June 2022

Pairing old school Olivia Dean soul vocals with contemporary and conversational lyrics, the Liverpool/London-residing singer-songwriter DRCY brought a resonant air of modernity to the timeless style in her latest RnB pop single, Small Talk.

The sophomore single is a natural continuation of the artist’s debut single, Butterflies, which also mused on the honeymoon phase of new relationships. This time, there is a particular focus on the addictiveness of small talk during the early stages of a relationship, where every trivial fact feels like a new beguiling piece of the puzzle.

Her radiant vocals paired with the bass-carved grooves and jazzy instrumentals don’t make for the average 2022 love song; DRCY could never be that unauthentically pedestrian.

In her own words

“For so long I have cared about what other people think of me. Insecurities held me back for so long, I just need to own it now. I want my music to inspire people to feel good in their own skin, to feel sexy in their own skin. And I hope that everyone who listens to my music knows that life is not as serious as you’ve been told.”

Small Talk is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: Archpalatine delivered riotously seductive soul in their latest single, Hypnotized

Posted on 26 April 2022

Riotous and seductive aren’t usually adjectives that you would see side by side, but the histrionic cosmic soul outfit Archpalatine defies convention in a myriad of ways. Especially through their latest single, Hypnotized, taken from their upcoming third album.

The after-effects of Hypnotized are just as sweet as the timeless sonic experience itself. You’d need a considerable concussion to forget the sweetness in the strident vocal hooks and the cinematic old school soul that lingers in the alchemically arranged funk-blistered instrumentals.

Few artists have what it takes to capture visceral emotion so concisely and euphorically, but notably, that wasn’t a concern for the Philadelphia-based soul-pop powerhouse which has been steadily gaining traction since forming in 2018. There’s nothing like the real thing, and they’re soulfully just that.

Here is what Archpalatine had to say about their latest release.

“Written in a dream on Valentine’s Day, Hypnotized represents the wonderfully woozy feeling you get when you are on the dancefloor and someone you’ve been eyeing all night gives you a taste of their amazing energy and chemistry.

We’ve all been there. And once you enter that zone, they are the only person to exist in the building. The message is one of fun, joy, and letting everyone know that some styles of music are timeless. All art forms, songs are up for interpretation, but the feeling of timeless music is transcendent.”

Hypnotized is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Follow Archpalatine on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The RnB-inclined fusionist, KaEl has released his alchemically intimate single, LondonTowne

Posted on 24 April 2022

‘LondonTowne’ is the standout seminal release from the RnB-inclined genre alchemist, KaEl. At the start of his career, the Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter committed to expressing his life, epiphanies, and afflictions through his music; he definitely came through in LondonTowne.

The low honeyed bass guitar and soft bluesy electric guitars create a stunning dynamic to the instrumentals that mellifluously flow under KaEl’s passionately demure classic-style RnB vocals. Any fans of Prince, Frank Ocean, Ye and Tyler, The Creator won’t want to miss out on this euphonically unforgettable release.

The official music video for LondonTowne is available to stream via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast