Browsing Tag

2020 RnB

West Coast vibes meet Latin urban rhythm in Victor Josue’s latest single, Ad Maiora

Posted on 20 January 2022

The up and coming San Diego born and raised artist Victor Josue’s music spans Latin urban and west coast vibes. His latest single, Ad Maiora, is the perfect introduction to his smooth soul-driven sound that is garnering plenty of international hype for its hazy melodies and evocative punches.

Ad Maiora was the third single released by Josue; his upcoming debut album promises to be a dynamic smorgasbord of multi-genre ingenuity that breaks the monocultural mould. For any urban music fans that appreciate fresh vision and talent, Josue’s sun-soaked contemporary urban sound isn’t to be overlooked.

Ad Maiora is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Demo in The Flesh has released their sonorously smooth RnB Trap hit ‘First Contact’

Posted on 11 January 2021

After making their 2019 debut, Demo in the Flesh made a 2020 return with their sensually soulful RnB Trap hit ‘First Contact’.With their sonorously smooth single, Demo in the Flesh delivers refreshing romanticism which only the lucky find outside of soundscapes. With the repetition of ‘I just wanna be direct’, the artist points out how simple love can be and sends a nuanced invitation to reject inaccessible and undependable love which appears through smoke and mirrors.

The slow tempo single is as perception-shifting as it is indulgent to listen to. Here’s to hoping we’ll hear plenty more from Demo in The Flesh in 2021 and beyond.

You can check out First Contact for yourselves by heading over to Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Angelique ‘Let Go’ the new single from her stunning album ‘Grows Back’

Posted on 26 December 2020

Louisiana-born singer-songwriter Angelique puts her classically-trained, three-octave range to great use on her new single ‘Let Go’, a sultry, sensual R&B number with a serious soulful groove and the clever use of heavily phased synth parts and staccato stop-starts to the bass highlighting the power and timbre of Angelique’s voice.

There’s some serious Toni Braxton, Aaliyah, or the much-lamented Whitney Houston vibes across the track, deep, soaring, overlapping vocals mixing with thumping bass and a trappy little drum pattern, choral backing vocals sitting perfectly underneath Angelique’s lead. ‘Let Go’ is the perfect showcase to Angelique’s new album ‘Grows Back’, a mix of chilled R&B and upbeat disco-influenced groove. The future looks extremely bright for Angelique.

Hear ‘Let Go’, and the rest of ‘Grows Back’, on Spotify. Follow Angelique on Facebook.

Review by Alex Holmes

Isla Croll gives us a soulful lesson in love with ‘Irreplaceable’

Posted on 24 December 2020

15-year-old RnB singer-songwriter Isla Croll proves with her latest single ‘irreplaceable’ that maturity in sound and soul is in no way related to the number of decades you’ve been roaming around the planet.

With her tendency to embrace everything from Jazz to Hip Hop to Pop to Funk in her soundscapes, her resolving, emotional and honest tracks speak directly to the soul. Irreplaceable directly speaks to souls recently maimed by feelings of insecurity. Isn’t modern romance just incredible for that?

With a voice so imploring and an artistic intent so pure, she’s made it difficult for any other RnB artists to follow in her footsteps, thus making her sophomore single somewhat of a paradox. The majority of your consciousness may be drawn to her magnetically velvet vocals, but there’s a lot to be said for the intricate Indie Jazz-laden instrumentals which trickle, swell and soar in synergy with Isla Croll’s pitch-perfect harmonies.

You can check out Isla Croll’s inspiring new single for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Hot and mysterious R&B: The Vibe sings about that sweet lovin’ on ‘Fall Back’

Posted on 10 December 2020

New Jersey artist The Vibe is a motivated individual who has been carefully crafting his music to get that particular ‘wow factor’ in his soul and he might have found the sweet spot on ‘Fall Back’.

The feeling is that he is on his way up the stairs after a few falls and creative differences with himself. It’s how we get back up again and evolve that counts after all. Good music does indeed triumph over everything if polished just right and with extra spray, to add that shine that gleefully captures our attention, from the maze of constant distractions.

The love story is on full display here as his voice illuminates the bedroom while the lights slowly getting lower and lower. His tone is seducing and driven towards falling in love with the mysterious goddess he is crazy about. With a smooth output and lots of lyrics that will have the ladies swooning over his every word, this is a singer that has it all in his locker. You feel like he is expressing himself very eloquently and soon he will get that much-needed buzz by playing live shows after covid-19 finally fizzles out.

If he can build up his community a bit tighter on social media, have almost daily interactions, with friends family assisting to kick-start things, this is a young artist that can fully realize his dreams. The music quality is there and he just needs that push at the start to get the momentum like pushing a car that won’t start. With a big push, original music that is different to the rest, not being too hard on himself, and a loyal team pushing him to greater heights, anything is possible.

‘Fall Back’ from New Jersey R&B singer-songwriter The Vibe is a sexy song and full of lustful innuendos that will have you reaching for that water bottle to cool off. This is a talented artist with a golden voice that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. He has a rare gift that if used right, can shine through bright and inspire so many lost souls out there.

Feel the heat via Spotify and see this young artists career take off on IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Luke Crimiel is definitely not ‘Lost’ with this timeless R&B take on neo-soul

Posted on 8 December 2020

If being born into a musical family in the performance melting-pot of New Orleans doesn’t predestine you to musical excellence, then I’d wager that very little will. Starting out playing drums in his godfather’s church band at the age of four, Luke Crimiel moved to Los Angeles aged eighteen and pushed his focus into songwriting and performance.

It’s certainly paid off; ‘Lost’, from his new album ‘11th Street’, is an impeccable piece of poppy soul-based R&B, reminiscent of neo-soul contemporaries Kadeem Tyrell, [K S R], or SiR. However, there’s elements of older-school cool influences here too, hints of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and even old-time crooners like Sinatra, Sammy Davis, or Dean Martin.

Danceable, catchy, with a pulsating back-beat and bassline but entirely carried along by Crimiel’s soulful vocal delivery, and harking back to the 70’s and 80’s golden age of gospel-influenced soul whilst at once sounding contemporary and timeless, ‘Lost’ could truly be the launchpad that lets the world find Luke Crimiel.

‘11th Street’ is out now. Check out Luke Crimiel on Spotify and through lukecrimiel.com.

Review by Alex Holmes

4N Really Feels Like The Man Right Now

Posted on 28 November 2020

The mathematician Andy Hildebrand might have made his name designing an algorithm to help Exxon find oil drilling sites, but his greatest gift to the twenty-first century has to be Antares and the delivery of Auto Tune. Sure, it might have originally been designed as an aid to correcting ‘bad pitch’ and make vocals more expressive, but – like most music and production technology – artists soon realised the potential for its use as an artistic effect in its own right; through Lil Wayne and Kanye West to the master exponent extraordinaire – the ‘T-Pain effect’ – Auto Tune is to hip hop what the overdriven Marshall is to rock n’ roll.

Here, on ‘I Feel Like The Man’, Ligor Stepanov – a.k.a. 4N – takes that sound – added to a dash of beautifully applied slapback vocal echo – to a slamming, trappy hip hop statement of intent. Thunderous gated bass, cracky, snappy hi hats, snare rimshots, and handclaps sit in a deep, driving backing track behind Ligor’s freestyled rhymes, alternately poetic and melodic and rapidfire and fractious.

“The whole world’s gonna hear my sound” snaps 4N on ‘I Feel Like The Man’; on the basis of this, he’s probably absolutely right.

Check out ‘I Feel Like The Man’ on Spotify; follow 4N on Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Cedriss – Beautiful Queen: Sultrily Flavoured RnB-Inspired Pop

Posted on 16 November 2020

Possibly the most keenly-awaited and anticipated album of Haitian-born singer-songwriter Cedriss’ career, ‘Golden Child’ drops in late November. Following on from the hit lead single ‘Woah’ comes ‘Beautiful Queen’, a deliciously sexy and sultry chilled helping of R&B-inspired pop that’s a perfect flavour of the album.

A mix of Hip Hop, Reggae, and R&B, and taking in Cedriss’ influences such as Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson, ‘Beautiful Queen’ is a gorgeously chilled, expressive love song. The sing-song vocal sitting atop a backing track laced with almost calypso strings, mellow jazzy bass, and snappy snare beats. ‘Golden Child’ is Cedriss’ first full album; ‘Beautiful Queen’ is the stunning, perfect taster.

Find out more about the artist at https://cedrissmusic.info or follow on Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Dez Ali – BARBIE: Amorously Eccentric RnB Pop Hip Hop

Posted on 14 November 2020

Breaking artist Dez Ali has dropped their playfully sticky-sweet standout single BARBIE, prepare to be serenaded by the amorously eccentric energy of the rapper, songwriter and musician while being transfixed by the soulfully dreamy RnB Pop Hip Hop beats.

It’s a time-old tale of boy-meets-girl, told through a charismatically frisky RnB vocal delivery. With hints of Reggae in the mix, you’ll definitely feel the love if you take a chance on the exceptionally authentic artist.  If you don’t crack a smile listening to BARBIE, your soul may have collapsed.
You can check out the official music video to BARBIE which dropped on October 30th via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sedgeley lays down danceable grooves in their latest soul-soaked Pop hit “Dance with Your Lover”

Posted on 22 October 2020

Dancefloors across the globe may remain desolate, but that hasn’t stopped artists such as Sedgeley from producing seductively sweet tracks. Their latest release “Dance with Your Lover” is the amorous escapism that the airwaves have been crying out for.

There’s a beguilingly nostalgic air behind the track which contains plenty of appeal for fans of artists such as Seal, and aural nostalgia is more important now more than ever. It draws us back to a time where our lives weren’t quite so consumed with chaos and uncertainty. The sentimental air to Dance with Your Lover is consuming from the first verse. When the vocal sincerity hits, expect your soul to melt into the organic rhythmic alchemy of this stunningly produced release.

There’s plenty more in the pipeline from the London-based artist in 2020 and beyond. Save a spot on your radar.

You can check out the danceable grooves in Dance with Your Lover by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast