Browsing Tag

RnB Pop

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

Jenn DeSantis made waves in her latest alt-RnB single, splish splash

Posted on 29 August 2023

Jenn DeSantis is quickly becoming a name the music industry cannot ignore; her ability to shift boundaries and move her unique sonic edge into unchartered territory has established the self-produced pop singer-songwriter and keyboardist as one to watch as she works her way up the Billboard charts.

Her latest single, splish splash, is the perfect introduction to her consistently melody-centric genre-melding style. While some artists only succeed in being original, DeSantis allows each of her exuberantly bold hits to unravel as a creatively exhilarating feat of ingenuity.

By constructing her latest track with elements of leftfield electronica, pop, hip-hop and RnB and allowing her dominantly demure vocal lines to become a source of gravity in the experimentalism, you’ll be pushed headfirst into a scintillatingly unfamiliar aural universe, guided by the soul emanating from the fiery vocals.

In this year alone, the independent emerging artist sang the National Anthem for Monster Jam, performed at Pittsburgh Pride, and is set to perform at the Chicago West Loop Art Fest. Get her on your radar before she’s too big for it.

splish splash rippled onto the airwaves on August 18th; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alen Chicco’s RnB Pop hit is anything but just ‘Another Love Song’

Posted on 27 August 2023

If you know exactly how it feels to be caught out as one of love’s fools, the resonance you’ll revel in when the soulfully hair-raising chorus in Alen Chicco’s latest RnB pop single, Another Love Song hits will cut straight to the core.

The definitively 80s synth lines leave the hit awash with lush reverb as Chicco’s dynamic vocal timbre evolves around the tension-fraught build-ups and classic pop crescendos constructed by the funk-laden basslines and atmospheric drum fills.

With some of the juiciest vocal hooks we’ve heard this year, which prove the singer-songwriter’s capacity to incorporate all of the hallmarks of a perennial pop earworm while never compromising on the viscerally raw emotion, the industry should be eating out of the palm of his deft hands and pop fanatic sycophants should be breaking down his door.

Check out the official music video for Another Love Song by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Isohel added nuance to stoic philosophy by embracing negativity in his latest pop hit, BAD VIBES

Posted on 24 August 2023

Billie Eilish gave us Bad Guy; in another pop universe, the luminary who is well on his way towards the one million steam mark, Isohel, gave us BAD VIBES in his latest viral-worthy hit.

While some see negative emotions as something to be repressed, Isohel proved that when you embrace pain, you will find the lesson within it. Consider it a far more nuanced and realistic view than the stoic belief that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Following an angular guitar prelude that sounds like it was pulled from a Slowdive album, BAD VIBES unravels as one of the most progressively electric pop hits the airwaves have received this year. While the guitar tones remain a constant throughout the mix, dance-pop proclivities start to work their way into the melancholia-laced anthem that defies expectation and genre to establish Isohel as one of the most authentic acts on the scene.

The RnB and moody synth-pop nuances infused into the track with all the hallmarks of a pop earworm is a testament to the talents of the Italian singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist who is making light work of breaking into the international music industry.

Stream BAD VIBES on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The San Diego Emissary of Soul, Sedríque, Held No Prisoners in His RnB Pop Hit, Sick Of

Posted on 22 August 2023

Taken from his ingeniously titled debut LP, Seduction, the standout single, Sick Of, which has racked up 50k streams on Spotify to date, is the perfect introduction to Sedríque’s fiery brand of contemporary RnB pop.

Sick Of captures the raw, messy, and visceral emotions that follow a toxic relationship and an even more toxic breakup. Some songwriters write what they think their audiences want to hear, and others stay committed to melodising harsh truths, Sedríque well and truly put himself in the latter camp with the soulful vitriol in Sick Of, which will be a hit with any fans of Chris Brown and the Weeknd. The razor-sharp rhythmics of the lyrical blows against the steady tempo of the soul-heady instrumentals created intoxicating aural alchemy that you will want to intoxicate yourself with time and time again.

After finding his voice at the age of three when he started to perform solos in the church choir and learning how to accompany himself on piano by the age of ten, the singer-songwriter’s teeth were well and truly cut by the time he focused on creating one of the most seminal RnB pop records of 2023.

Check out the Radio Edit of Sick Of by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Move Over Eilish, Rallen is Reigning Supreme as the Ultimate Bad Guy in His New RnB Hit, Berserk

Posted on 10 August 2023

Winnipeg-born, Toronto-based singer-songwriter Rallen caressed the roots of RnB with the dreamily nostalgic melodicism in his latest single, Berserk.

Much like the rest of his discography, the short and salaciously sweet release gives an intimate view into his psyche around the soaring sax notes and 80s-esque synth lines. The contrast between his candour and honeyed harmonies gives the release an oceanic depth as he attests to choosing pleasure over peace and professes to be anything but the perfect romantic protagonist.

If any single proves that we’re all just tormented people trying to get by, using sexual currency to find our worth, it is Berserk. Rallen’s commitment to sonically visualising his experience of adversity and affliction has established him as one of the most authentic acts on the RnB scene. It is only a matter of time before he reigns as supreme as the Weeknd.

Berserk was officially released on July 14th; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Put on Giancarlos Lopez’s latest cashmere smooth pop hit, Designer Clothes

Posted on 9 August 2023

If you want to slip into something comfortable, put on Giancarlos Lopez’s latest dreamy indie R&B pop hit, Designer Clothes. Far from an ode to capitalism, the cashmere smooth single is sweeter than honey for the way it undresses excess and celebrates the person beneath the wearable status symbols that become a façade.

The lo-fi bedroom pop feel to the release only serves to amplify the intimacy of the single that is dripping in romanticism instead of Gucci. If you don’t sonically fall head over heels for Giancarlos Lopez after hearing it, you may want to check your soul’s check engine light; his ability to create a hazy ethereal atmosphere with his vocal lines alone is second to none.

The independent Puerto Rico-born, Tampa-raised artist borrows plenty of inspiration from the Floridian culture before infusing it within soothingly nostalgic soundscapes that reminisce with the works of Mac Miller, Keshi, and Joji. If they are on your playlists, Designer Clothes should be too.

Designer Clothes hit the airwaves on the 28th of July; stream it on Spotify.

 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mainline that ‘Summer Feelin’ with the soul singer, Beth Macari’s latest single

Posted on 6 August 2023

With her latest single, Summer Feelin, the up-and-coming pop sensation and soul singer, Beth Macari, proved that generic pop couldn’t be further from her aural gene pool.

The singer-songwriter pulled the top down and navigated her sun-bleached melodies on cruise control to deliver a tropic slice of pop served with an Afrobeat twist to the beats and a little bit of funk fed through the guitar chops that efficaciously carved the ultimate summer pop earworm that you will want to turn back to year after year.

The timelessly infectious hit carries hints of 90s pop energy while embracing the future of the genre with sonic boundary-blurring instrumentals that will take you to transcendent heights when the chorus hits and you’re exposed to the sheer soulful dynamism in Beth Macari’s vocal lines.

Summer Feelin was officially released on July 28th, stream the official music video on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Fatmowf created an odyssey of romantically die-hard soul-pop fantasy with ‘Imaginary Lover’

Posted on 3 August 2023

Get lost in the romantically die-hard soul-pop odyssey, Imaginary Lover, from the up-and-coming San Diego artist Fatmowf, who established himself as a rap artist before wearing his heart on his hazy RnB vocal lines in this pastel-hued daydream of a release.

Just as we constructed imaginary friends in childhood, who helped us to feel more assured and connected in an alienating world, the tendency to create idealised romantic relationships as our needs become more amorous is more prevalent than we acknowledge.

Who can truly say that the mere idea of someone has never created an obsessive tailspin that becomes all-consuming as a perfect future is depicted while the other person is completely unaware that they’re the co-creator of your sticky-sweet fantasies that will never materialise?

We’ve all been there, and we’ve all dealt with the subsequent disappointment when we note the disparity between idealism and realism. Fatmowf is just in the minority of people willing to admit it. The breezy indie R&B euphonic melodicism of the track is just the added bonus to his vulnerably magnetic candour. Ironically, we are now obsessed.

In his own words:

“I made the song after I met this girl at Starbucks. I got her phone number and started daydreaming about her…. a lot. Probably way too fucking much to be honest. But I did. And the crazy part was I barely even knew her! I knew her name, what she did for work (obviously) and the fact that she likes cats. She could have been a serial killer for all I knew but I was so attracted to her. Wrong, I was attracted to the idea of her, and the person I wanted her to be…”

Check out the official video for Imaginary Lover, which premiered on July 7th on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

THE VISION blurred sonic boundaries beyond definition in his latest rocksteady with vibes production, WANNA KNOW

Posted on 25 July 2023

Sonic boundaries blurred beyond definition in the latest single, WANNA KNOW, from the London-based fusionist artist, engineer, and producer, THE VISION. Instead of pandering to arbitrary stylistic parameters, the alternative artist let rhythm and soul take the wheel and drive with the top down while painting a contemporary love story with more twists than a Shakespearean tragedy.

With so many lyrical layers to unpeel in WANNA KNOW, the trap pop hit spills a narrative that keeps giving with every listen; lock into the lyricism or lose yourself in the steamy synthetics of the hit, that provides the ultimate soundtrack to hazy summer nights with the Afrobeat rhythms, pop hooks, trap beats and deeply reverberant RnB vocal melodies.

WANNA KNOW hit the airwaves on the 14th of July; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast