Browsing Tag

Soul Singer

Charlotte Forman opened a gateway to the golden era of soul with ‘Make Me Your Girl’

Charlotte Forman opened a gateway to the golden era of soul with the superlatively timbered harmonies in her seminal single, Make Me Your Girl. It’s one of the few instances in the landscape of contemporary music where authenticity doesn’t play second fiddle to commercial appeal.

The UK songstress always puts her intricate imprint on her blends of soul, pop, jazz, and RnB. Make Me Your Girl, which unfolds as a compelling journey through the nuances of old-school soul is no exception. Forman’s voice, a potent blend of power and vulnerability, carries the song with an effortless grace reminiscent of the genre’s legends. The single’s cinematic quality is undeniable. Each crescendo and harmony is crafted with precision, enveloping the listener in a hauntingly warm tapestry of sound.

The lyrics, a poignant reflection of Forman’s personal experiences, speak of love and longing with an honesty that is both rare and relatable – despite our contemporary fear of rejection getting in the way of candour.

With Make Me Your Girl, Charlotte Forman not only cements her place as a rising star in the British music scene but also as a voice for the modern romantic. Her journey from the stages of amateur dramatic groups to headlining sold-out shows is a narrative of perseverance and passion. We can’t wait to see the heights she reaches as one of the most magnetic artists of our era.

Stream Make Me Your Girl on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jones pushed the boundaries of RnB with his latest serenade, Rush

Jones

Jones, an artist who needs only one name to make an impact, went where no RnB artist had ventured before with his latest bold declaration of individuality, ‘Rush’. From the deep south’s heartlands to the pinnacle of musical innovation, Jones has come a long way from the early days of sparking his passion for soulful sonics.

Rush is a masterclass in balancing the old and the new. The track is imbued with echoes of 90s RnB, a nod to the classics that shaped Jones’ early love for music. Yet, the way he weaves these influences into his experimental, pulsating melodies to create an almost discordant backdrop which harmonises perfectly with the smooth, flowing cadence of his vocals is visionary. It’s this juxtaposition that makes Rush a standout track that will capture your consciousness for long after the final note has faded.

Jones’ voice is a revelation as it soulfully pays homage to his church choir days while inscribing sensuously soulful poetry that nods to his determination and passion. His ability to stay true to his roots while pushing the boundaries of RnB will see him go far in 2024 and beyond.

Rush will hit the airwaves on January 26; stream it on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Issara can make any house a ‘Home’ with the soul in her latest single

With all the grace and beguile of a chanteuse fused with a retro soul aesthetic, the up-and-coming singer-songwriter Issara can make any house a ‘Home’ with her latest single, which offers a sanctuary of sound for anyone in search of solace.

By lyrically painting a protagonist who tends to the universal yet unseen needs that we all silently crave, Issara burned bright in the consoling warmth of the vignette of unconditional affection, which spins a narrative with threads of deep-rooted connection and understanding.

Home is a homage to the concept that home transcends physical spaces, echoing Issara’s journey across continents, and encapsulating the essence that home is indeed where the heart resides.

The production is steeped in a lush retro aesthetic, where the luminous timbres of the organ interlace with Issara’s vocals to create an ambience that is both comforting and soul-stirring. The hues of gospel spilling from the arrangement are a nod to her American church roots, bringing forth a nostalgic yet timeless quality that grips the listener’s soul. This track is not just heard; it’s felt, ensuring that by the outro, one’s soul is thoroughly sated.

With an ability to blend soul, pop, rock, gospel, French yéyé, and Thai funk, Issara has created a sound that is as diverse as her heritage. The song is a promise of what is to come from her upcoming debut album ‘222’, set for release on the befitting date of February 22, 2024.

As a mother of two and a beacon for late bloomers in the arts, Issara’s voice transcends mere melody to become a vessel of inspiration, encouraging others to find their place of belonging, their ‘home’, in whatever form it may take.

Home was officially released on November 17; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dom the Composer is Sleepwalking with Streetlights in his honeyed and hymnal soul single

Since releasing his debut single in 2019, Dom the Composer has summoned his signature sound through rhythmic reverence, a never-ending proclivity towards blues and the determination to lavish even his most pensive singles with soul.

His latest single, Sleepwalking with Streetlights, created in collaboration with Novian Wright proves his time with the All Saints Choir of Men and Boys in Ashmont didn’t go to waste. His hymnal and honeyed vocal register instantly arrests the soul as the bluesy melodies work their magic on your rhythmic pulses before Novian Wright brings a sense of dynamism with his rap bars that effortlessly complement the MA-hailing Haitian-American singer-songwriter’s intoxicating timbre.

Sleepwalking with Streetlights is perfect for those late nights when your demons drive you to the point of distraction, retrospective regret wracks you with the compulsion for action and there is no appeasing your restlessly listless mind. It is a sublime testament to an artist who is clear in his determination to let trends pass him by and stay on his own euphonically enlightened path of delivering uninhibited vulnerability and originality.

Sleepwalking with Streetlights was officially released on September 28; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Get close to Kameron Waller with his psycho-sonic soul single, Therapy

As smooth, sultry, and cinematic as the most iconic items in D’Angelo’s discography, the standout single, Therapy, from Kameron Waller’s EP, Rose Coloured Lens, is a postcard to 80s nostalgia, signed, sealed, and delivered with modernist lyricality. If you need a late night soul fix, delve into the smorgasbord of it superlatively laid out in Therapy.

After finding his voice in church choirs while independently writing songs, Kameron Waller was primed to make his unforgettable 2022 debut with his single, Traveler. The Maryland-born and raised soul singer has scribed his unique sonic signature through the amalgam of powerfully smooth vocals, lyrical storytelling and focus on honest emotion and empowerment. All of which are present in the confessionally fervent release, Therapy. By the time you reach the outro, you could very well be left with unrealistic romantic expectations.

Stream the official video for Therapy via YouTube or purchase the single via apple music.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

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

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

The RnB soul singer, Tarnisha Bruce is sensational once more in ‘Keep the Love We Make’

After Tarnisha Bruce wowed us with her alternatively old school take on RnB with her single, Love Therapy, she’s back on soulful form in her seminal ballad, Keep the Love We Make, which finds an impassioned way to pay homage to the beauty in perpetual love.

Scroobius Pip may have said that the idea of unconditional love is simply being in love with the idea of love, but Tarnisha Bruce proves that there’s plenty more to the desire to find a light that will never go out behind someone else’s eyes.

Once again, it’s a stunningly serene release that doesn’t fail to fill you with a flood of warmth from the first jazzy RnB piano progression. As for the lyrics, you’d be hard-pressed to find a sweeter or more sincere proclamation of affection.

Keep the Love We Make is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Patrice Hawthorne seeks to quieten frenetic minds with her single, Peace Once More

With the title of “Peace Once More”, the up and coming soul singer, Patrice Hawthorne’s latest single hits hard before you even hit play. Those three simple words allude to how hard-fought-for peace is in our slightly warped modern age, how urgent the search for it can feel and how sweet it is to find that evasive inner catharsis. That sweetness resonates in the timbre in the modern RnB production, which left plenty of room for experimentalism.

After the spoken word verse, energizingly uplifting harmonies and the reverb-laden sun-kissed melodies, you get a taste of the peace that we’ve all been striving for lately. Top tip, turn off the news and tune into the artists worth paying attention to.

In a time when people are more polarized than ever before, Patrice Hawthorne and her matured songwriting, dynamically powerful vocal range and artistic flair can be considered an essential artist. Get her on your radar. For your sanity’s sake not hers.

Peace Once More is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Maria Manuel takes us to her Happy Place in her soul-pop single

“Happy Place” is the intensely soulful latest single from the up and coming London-based pop singer Maria Manuel. With the opening lyrics, “it was pretty when I thought I could have it all, it was pretty when I thought I could do it all”, you’re instantly disarmed by the vulnerable confession of previous naivety.

What few people prepare you for is how much growth can hurt when we detach ourselves from our innocence and fantasy-like expectations of the world. Maria Manuel softens the blow with the sincerity of her balladic RnB pop vocals and the minimalist yet consumingly resounding score of soft RnB instrumentals against orchestral strings. Happy Place is a track that you will want to delve into time after time for its consoling power and its minor-key earworm potential. You could listen to the radio all day and still never encounter an artist with as much soulful presence as Manuel.

You can check out Happy Place for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud and Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Robbie Maroon paid homage to Prince in his latest single, Take a Bow

For his latest single, Take a Bow, the luminary up and coming soul singer, Robbie Maroon, paid tribute to Prince and shone a light in the creative void he left on our planet when he departed too soon in 2016.

One of the most beautiful kinds of relationships that can exist in our strange and loveless world are the ones that exist between an icon and an ardent and inspired fan. Take a Bow perfectly encompasses this sentiment through the stunning choir vocal that accent the Prince-inspired, endlessly arresting guitar riffs. The single is practically a religious experience – especially for anyone that has previously knelt at Prince’s purple altar.

He may not be with us anymore, but his legacy will always live on through the passion of artists such as Robbie Maroon. While some artists would simply rip off his riffs, Maroon chose to give the icon the credit he’s due; the result is nothing short of breathtaking.

Take a Bow is now available to stream via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast