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Best Neo Soul Music Blog

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

Posted on 13 October 2023

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

Remmorii is visionary in his fear and faith-mused alt-hip-hop release, Before I Drown

Posted on 12 October 2023

Toronto’s most captivatingly introspective artist, Remmorii, used faith and fear as a muse in his latest organically electrifying release, Before I Drown, which lets candour cascade around the multicultural synthesis of style.

The experimentalism which breathed visceral life into the single to juxtapose the ennui in the lyrical delivery ensured that no one has a stronger stake in the claim of being one of the most authentically dynamic artists on any scene.

Before I Drown is beyond genre boundaries; it transcends them through the depth of the exploration of personal struggles. To balance the dark with the light, Remmorii infused incandescent optimism around the soulful hip-hop and RnB layers by sonically paving a path towards providence and hope for better days when you’re not treading water for survival, you’re making major strides towards personal growth.

Before I Drown was officially released on September 29: stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Murphy put her jazz and soul into existential philosophy with her latest single, Glitch

Posted on 9 October 2023

The NYC-hailing soulstress Murphy brought in a new era of indie soul pop and added a new trajectory to the evolution of existential philosophy with her latest slicked with jazz and hooked with funk single, Glitch.

Traversing everything from the meaning of life to its origin, Glitch is a deeply introspective hit which infectiously explores the potential of a society-shaking glitch to set us free. If the soberingly sublime single doesn’t leave you deep in thought, that may just be a sign you need to stop swimming in the shallows of perception and start swimming in infinitely more profound pools; diving in with Murphy is the perfect vantage point to take the plunge.

She’s got the voice, a mind that would make Sartre quiver, and a golden ear for a melody; it is safe to say that she’s the epitome of a triple threat; we can’t wait to hear what comes next.

Glitch was officially released on September 29; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Susie McCollum – New Year’s Eve: part love song, part soulful indie-folk ode to bitter-sweet tradition

Posted on 28 September 2023

If it isn’t too early for commercial stores to deck their aisles with items that prove we’re in the midst of a consumer-industrial complex, it isn’t too early to pontificate on what will be the staple fixtures on our holiday playlists, especially when the singles are as superlatively resolving as New Year’s Eve from the folk singer-songwriter Susie McCollum.

Part love song, part soulful indie-folk ode to bitter-sweet tradition, the loungey and luxe feel of the NYC singer-songwriter’s debut single allows you to slip into a reflective sanctuary of a soundscape. The gentle piano keys against the minimalist acoustic guitars construct an absorbing platform for McCollum’s endlessly sonorous harmonic notes to drift into as the lyrics go beyond the commodification of the holiday, which, whether we like it or not, forces us to take sentimental stock of the year gone by and anticipate what we’ll be grateful for next year.

However you choose to spend it this year, there isn’t a situation McCollum can’t elevate with her Joni Mitchell, Norah Jones and Janis Ian-esque sound.

Add New Year’s Eve to your Spotify playlists now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dara Blaxx poured straight from the soul in her stripped-back Afro RnB single, In My Cup

Posted on 24 September 2023

If you take your Afro-fusion tracks stripped and laid back, you will get right into the mellifluous groove of the latest single, In My Cup, from the breakthrough soulstress, Dara Blaxx.

Setting the mood for seduction, the British Nigerian singer-songwriter pulled out a front-row seat to a hot date you will want to be a voyeur for. With the smooth cadence in her crooned vocal lines, you couldn’t ask for more sensual proof that pace is the trick.

The independent artist may be reigning supreme in the underground right now, but it is only a matter of time before she ascends the charts with her velvety rich vocal register and her playfully compelling melodies that bring a touch of exoticism to our blighted and often bleak British waters.

Listen to In My Cup on all major streaming platforms from September 15 via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Janockeil transcended with his standout RnB single, Heaven for Two

Posted on 13 September 2023

In the standout single, Heaven for Two, from Janockeil’s debut RnB LP, Wait for the Day, the intricately upraising instrumentation is stripped right back, enabling the singer, songwriter, and musician to lead his listeners to transcendence through his luxe with ethereal soul vocal lines.

His high vocal register effortlessly compliments the timbre of the indie RnB instrumental arrangement, featuring swooningly guitar work, shimmering organs, and steady percussion which beats sensuality into the soundscape that wraps around the roots of the RnB genre.

The Charleston-born, Newark-based artist found his voice by singing gospel in church before evolving into an originator within the realm of RnB, pop, and soul. His debut LP is a testament to how honed his sound has come; the catchy melodies and lyricism, which are never shy on the topics of love, intimacy, and self-examination, hit the spot in the same cathartic way as an elixir alchemised to stir your soul and lead it on a transformative journey.

Stream the Wait for the Day LP in full via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Emissary of Impassioned Nostalgia, Donnell Isaac Has Come Through with His Latest RnB Single, Through Love

Posted on 13 September 2023

If your 80s & 90s RnB playlists need a fresh kick of soul, the latest single, Through Love, from the emissary of impassioned nostalgia, Donnell Isaac, will deliver a potent shot of sweet sensuality.

The Portsmouth, Virginia-hailing singer-songwriter and composer allowed RnB fans to delve far deeper than Frank Ocean hits with the staunchly traditionalist track that reaches the epitome of cinematic soul.

Through Love, which explores the all-consuming gratitude love evokes, pays an ode to the celestial capacity of true love; in an era of superficial connection, the single is a testament to the rewards for romantic vulnerability. Between his Gospel-grown vocal lines and the arresting electric guitar solo towards the outro, Through Love efficaciously leaves the senses alight.

Through Love dropped on September 8th; stream it on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lyra unleashed Medusa in their latest funk-pop-RnB alchemic amalgam.

Posted on 1 September 2023

With powerfully alluring vocals slipping into an amalgam of funk, pop and 90s RnB, the latest single, Medusa, from the London-hailing prodigal children of soulful experimentalism, Lyra, is a boundary-breaking triumph.

With vocal lines that are as resonant and sonorous as the timbres you would expect from Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus and intellectually enlivening lyricism bolstering the track that is rich with lush reverb, disco grooves, and rhythmic alchemy, Medusa is a track that could easily help Lyra make an even bigger mark on the RnB map. I mean, have you ever heard a stronger opening lyrical line than “I slept with my demons, they never called me back”?

Since forming in 2016, the outfit has brought its live sound to many of the most prestigious venues, including The Bedford, The Camden Assembly, and 99 Feet East; they have also received the Track of the Week accolade from BBC Introducing. We’re sure that even greater things await after Medusa is unleashed.

Medusa will be available to stream from the 1st of September; hear it via this link. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ericalisa created a vignette of pure passion for her latest single, For the Moment

Posted on 30 August 2023

The San Francisco Bay Area got even hotter when the DZN Records-signed RnB trailblazer, Ericalisa, dropped her sensuously stylised single, For the Moment.

Since 2015, Ericalisa has been creating a new trajectory in the evolution of soul; instead of reinventing the wheel, she found new ways to elevate the genre by caressing her downtempo melodies with her honeyed harmonies and adding moody elements to her mixes to accentuate her distinctive sonic signature.

Before stepping into a studio, the independent artist used poetry as a creative outlet, which more than shows in her lyricism; the verses flow just as smoothly as the lush reverb-soaked instrumentals around the imagery she conjures to captivate you in her vignettes of pure passion.

Stream the official music video for Ericalisa’s latest single, which premiered on August 18th via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Rya welcomed in a dreamy new era of electro-soul with his latest single, SHOW OFF.

Posted on 25 August 2023

With his latest single, SHOW OFF., the trailblazing emissary of soul, Rya, wrapped the roots of RnB around modernist electronic dream pop tones and created a solid backbeat by infusing the track with rhythmically tight hip-hop nuances.

Rather than attempting to be everybody’s cup of tea, the London-based electro-soul singer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer chose to take the visionary path to explore his experimental sound and create escapist worlds that you won’t need inviting to twice.

The emotion implanted into his singles may be raw, but by staying true to his distinctive production style, which melds jazz, R&B, and neo-soul tendencies, he always delivers ear candy sweet enough to give you a sugar rush.

SHOW OFF. Will hit the airwaves on the 25th of August. Hear it on SoundCloud first.

Review by Amelia Vandergast