Browsing Category

Best Neo Soul Music Blog

Visit ‘Valencia’ Via the Neo-Jazz Pop Grooves in George Bone’s Evocative Masterpiece of a Solo Release

Posted on 24 November 2023

George Bone stripped everything back but the soul in his latest single, Valencia, which encompasses the 00s indie pop aesthetic while pushing it forward with the ardency in the wistful yearning, the colour in the neo-jazz pop grooves, and the instrumental sparsity which ensures every instrumental works with a singular agenda to amplify the disarming effect of the emotionally raw ballad.

Valencia is the first single released by the Essex-based evocateur after stepping off his tour with The Voice UK 2019 winner Molly Hocking. If Bruno Major and Conor Albert heavily feature on your playlists, you’ll easily find space for George Bone’s sonic signature, which scribes itself through emotionally provoking lyricism and easy-listening melodies.

George Bone Said:

“Eponymously named after the city it takes inspiration from, Valencia transports listeners on a Mediterranean journey of both loving and longing. It encapsulates the joys of travelling with ‘The One’ – summoning wonder, happiness, and the connections you feel rarely in a lifetime – and yet the wishful thinking of those who know that ‘drinking wine and [hearing] the breaking of the tide’ is only a feeling experienced in imagination. The song represents a bond in a relationship, where memories – both good and bad – are intertwined; where hopes and dreams are dashed and made; and where love is lost and found.”

Valencia will hit the airwaves on November 24; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Nyasia Chane’l narrated a story of love and longing in her latest Neo-Hip-Hop-Soul release, Rain

Posted on 20 November 2023
Nyasia Chane'l

“Rain” by Nyasia Chane’l transcends your archetypal RnB track to narrate a profound lesson in seduction and soul. The trappy backbeat and tinges of 80s nostalgia create a beguiling blend of modern rhythmics and caressive old-school style as Chane’l’s honeyed vocal lines glide over the equally as smooth instrumental layers with a grace which is as powerful as it is tender to embody the track’s theme of deep, yearning lust.

Drawing inspiration from the likes of SWV, Ashanti, and New Edition, Nyasia has created a song that stands tall among classic elemental love songs. Co-written with the talents of Dajour Neufville and Jayson “J-Didda” Butler, “Rain” captures the essence of longing and connection in a way that feels both timeless and irresistibly new. It is guaranteed to strike a chord with anyone with a pulse and libido.

Nyasia Chane’l, with her multifaceted talents in singing, songwriting, and acting, emerges as an essential artist in today’s musical landscape. Her Neo-Hip-Hop Soul signature is one that any RnB fans will want perpetually etched in their memory.

Listen to Rain on Tidal and Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Misty Drinx reinvented 80s nostalgia with his soul and funk-wrapped RnB pop hit, You’re So Cool

Posted on 1 November 2023

After bearing witness to a Toto show in LA, the up-and-coming singer-songwriter and pop icon-in-the-making Misty Drinx Americanised his infectious perception of pop and lavished his sophomore single, You’re So Cool, with layers of soul and funk-wrapped RnB that radiate reinvented 80s nostalgia.

With lustfully intoxicated exoticism oozing from the pores of the sax lines and synth-driven melodies, Drinx brought swathes of colour to UK shores with You’re So Cool. Fans of George Michael and Boy George will undoubtedly want to savour every drop of the delicious aural cocktail which envelopes you in the hazy hues that transform the mind’s colour palette when you’re lucky enough to be ensnared by someone.

With the eclecticism Drinx has already exhibited in his sound, we’re stoked to hear what will follow.

You’re So Cool was officially released on October 20; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

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