#Neo-Soul

[haveyouheardthisband]

#Alternative R&B #Neo-Soul #2010s #2020s #UK #poll

[possible-streetwear]

AMY WINEHOUSE

#Amy Winehouse #soul singer #neo soul #neo-soul #Soul #soul music #r&b #rnb #rnb soul #rnb singer #r & b #noir et blanc #2000s #2000s nostalgia #2000s aesthetic #2000s music #Singer #r&b music #r&b aesthetic

[haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll]

Tracklist:

Supermodel • Love Galore • Doves In the Wind • Drew Barrymore • Prom • The Weekend • Go Gina • Garden (Say It Like Dat) • Broken Clocks • Anything • Wavy (Interlude) • Normal Girl • Pretty Little Birds • 20 Something

Spotify ♪ YouTube

#hyltta-polls #polls #artist: sza #language: english #decade: 2010s #Alternative R&B #Neo-Soul #R&B #Psychedelic Soul #Trap Soul

[oldestsoul]

#Kali Uchis #I Wish you Roses #Red Moon In Venus #Neo-Soul #Contemporary R&B #Psychedelic Soul #Smooth Soul #Funk #Music

[ambitious-az-a-outlaw]

#musiq soulchild #music #neo-soul #R&B/Soul

[jaygaeze]

#music #hip hop #soul #neo-soul #common #erykah badu #the rza #rza #method man #nostalgic #nostalgia #classic #90shiphop

[lovejustforaday]

2023 Year End List - #6

Red Moon In Venus - Kali Uchis

Main genres: Neo-Soul, Contemporary R&B, Psychedelic Soul

A decent sampling of: Synth Funk, Smooth Soul

Coming out as a Kali Uchis stan.

But for real, the Colombian American singer/songwriter seems to be the one artist that music hipsters, the English mainstream(ish), and the Hispanic mainstream can all collectively agree upon. Part of this is most definitely owed to Kali's versatility as an artist, with a primary basis of sound rooted in R&B (particularly neo-soul) but regularly dipping her toes into the waters of reggaetón, hip hop, bolero, and afrobeats.

Kali is also a definite lover of retro chic, given her clear appreciation for mid 20th century easy-listening pop and old Hollywood glamour. She cites artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Celia Cruz, and Curtis Mayfield as some of her biggest influences. At the same time, she modernizes these influences and aesthetics with a post-sexual revolution ethos of overpowering feminine-centred eroticism and fiercely wielded confidence and self-love.

Her voice is pleasant, mature, and strikingly womanly, in that same kind of way when you first discover as a child the sensation of being struck by the awe-inspiring beauty of a grown woman. Even as a gay man, I can confidently say that I think this is a sort of universal childhood experience, right?

Actually, I think a lot of Kali Uchis' success as an artist can be attributed to just how likable her musical persona is. I think that deep down, many of us want to be a Kali - completely liberated, in touch with our sensuality, and going through life as a warm and confident optimist. She makes music that isn't just well-written; it makes you feel good about life.

After making a big splash with her stellar 2018 LP Isolation and following it up with the success of 2020's Sin Miedo which was more invested in her Latin American roots and corresponding following, I was very curious to see where she would take things next with her career.

In the end, as it would turn out, Kali Uchis' 2023 record didn't really amount to anything that surprising. Instead, we were treated to a progression and evolution in her sound that feels very natural to her, culminating in an album that makes good on the typical promises of a Kali Uchis project.

That is to say, Red Moon In Venus exists in a rose-tinted world bedecked with lush palm trees and populated by curvaceous mermaids. The record is a creamy cocktail of smooth and funky soul jams with the sweet taste of cinnamon kisses and strawberry wine. A true musical oasis of the richest fruits.

Kali really is at the top of her game here. Everything is a subtle improvement on what already mostly worked for her on past projects, with a little more psychedelic flavour added into the mix, resulting in a final product that just sounds and feels really gorgeous and summery to listen to. Not all great music has to be challenging; this just does incredibly well at what it is already comfortable doing.

The record's first song proper is the lead single "I Wish You Roses", a beautiful parting gift to an ex-lover she holds no grudge towards. Petals flutter past the mind's eye as the world of this neo-soul paean springs to life with all the shades of a summer's rainbow. This song is a soft sigh of relief, heard quite vividly in the actual noticeable sighing melodies of those psychedelic keyboards in the chorus. A very classy song, expressing a sentiment not nearly heard often enough in most music about breakups.

"All Mine" is a lights off "wah-wah" slow jam describing a greedy lover's fantasy of having someone completely to themselves. The sound of the passionate id taking over the superego's domain.

Fans of the big city pop explosion that happened on the internet with the surge of Mariya Takeuchi's "Plastic Love" a few years ago may get a lot of mileage out of "Endlessly", a synth funk track that captures a similar kind of metropolitan utopianism. Kali really knows how to bring the kind of riding-passenger-in-a-red-convertible energy that a track like this one needs to really all come together.

"Moral Conscience", in mild contrast to "I Wish You Roses", is a cautionary tale of karma hunting down an ex-lover who hurt her. Even still, there's more of an air that she's simply warning the wrongful party here - it's not a threat, she's just stating a fact about how the world works (as she sees it anyway). Still keeping it classy. Musically, this is thick and fleecy, lounging languidly in a boudoir sofette with low humming synths.

"Deserve Me" is an elegant and drip-droppy hip hop soul duet with Summer Walker, who is now officially my new favourite random feature after previously popping up on last year's Kendrick Lamar record. Very killer refrain on this cut, almost as addictive as the track that follows it. Speaking of which...

"Moonlight" was quite possibly my SOTY for 2023. A lot can be said for how erotic round shapes are for basically all genders and sexual preferences, and I don't know how to explain this but the song simply sounds ROUND in every possible way. The funk bass is so bubbly and horny and sopping wet that it's probably illegal in many parts of the world. Kali is giving it her ALL on those verses. Absolutely luxurious production. The chorus has that subtle air of mystery that really ensnares the erotic imagination. I can't even remember the last time I heard a song that positively oozed sex like this, while also describing such a clearly healthy relationship. Is it possible to be getting drunk off of flowery bubble bath fumes? Because this is precisely what it would feel like. Interstellar spa getaway for two in the neon pink galaxy of Aphrodite. Perfect fucking song. A++ goddamn.

I could say a few words as to how this is a back-loaded record, but I think y'all have heard me call something front or back loaded at least a dozen times and I'm struggling to find original ways to express this sentiment. Either way, this is a milder case - more just that the second half is so consistently brilliant that it kinda blows the first half out of the water, particularly that early-mid section. The weakest moments here are the least imaginative ones.

But a very good chunk of this record is just pure gold. Red Moon In Venus is a vibrant and aesthetically immaculate R&B record, possibly the best of the new decade thus far.

As I publish this review, Kali has already dropped another album in the first few weeks of 2024 and it sounds almost as good as this one. I don't know how exactly she's doing it but she makes exploring a variety of genres and killing it at every one of them look so easy. Kali Uchis is the queen of her medium right now.

9/10

Highlights: "Moonlight", "I Wish You Roses", "Deserve Me (with Summer Walker)", "Moral Conscience", "All Mine", "Endlessly", "Not Too Late (Interlude)", "Love Between", "Happy Now"

#album review #music review #list #aoty #year end list #2023 #aoty2023 #neo-soul #soul #psychedelic soul #R&B #contemporary R&B #Kali Uchis #red moon in venus

[reckonslepoisson]

Lahai, Sampha (2023)

One can only imagine having so much confidence in one’s own taste, in the dependability of appetite and decision-making of one’s brain as Sampha. Lahai sounds like it has been spent time on (and, six years since Process, it may well have been), a work that is thoroughly detailed, luscious, intricate and thoughtful and yet somehow not overwrought. Unadventurous it may be, but Sampha’s sophomore is undeniably satisfying.

Pick: ‘Spirit 2.0’

#lahai #sampha #pop #soul #R&B #alternative R&B #neo-soul #art pop #2023 #music #review #music review

[batteredshoes]

Leon Bridges | Details

#SoundCloud #music #Leon Bridges #Neo-Soul #soundcloud

[kdo-three]

Fine Young Cannibals - Johnny Come Home (Extended Mix) David Steele / Roland Gift from: "Johnny Come Home (Extended Mix)" / "Good Times and Bad (Extended Mix)" (12" Single)

New Wave | Neo-Soul | Ska

JukeHostUK (left click = play) (320kbps)

YouTube: Fine Young Cannibals - Johnny Come Home (Extended Mix)

Personnel: Roland Gift: Vocals Andy Cox: Guitar / Organ David Steele: Bass / Piano

Graeme Hamilton: Trumpet Martin Parry: Drums

Produced by FYC

Recorded: @ Power Plant Studios and @ Sound Suite Studios in London, England UK 1984

12" Single Released: on May 29, 1985

London Recordings (UK) I.R.S. Records (US)

#FYC #Fine Young Cannibals #1980's #Johnny Come Home #Johnny Come Home (Extended Mix) #Roland Gift #David Steele #Andy Cox #I.R.S. Records #Graeme Hamilton #Neo-Soul

[haveyouheardthisband]

#Neo-Soul #Alternative R&B #Contemporary R&B #Psychedelic Soul #2010s #poll

[possible-streetwear]

AMY WINEHOUSE

#Amy Winehouse #soul singer #neo soul #neo-soul #Soul #soul music #r&b #rnb #rnb soul #rnb singer #r & b #noir et blanc #2000s #2000s nostalgia #2000s aesthetic #2000s music #Singer #r&b music #r&b aesthetic #black & white #black and white

[haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll]

Tracklist:

Suite II Overture • Dance or Die • Faster • Locked Inside • Sir Greendown • Cold War • Tightrope • Neon Gumbo • Oh, Maker • Come Alive (War of the Roses) • Mushrooms & Roses • Suite III Overture • Neon Valley Street • Make The Bus • Wondaland • 57821 • Say You'll Go • BaBopByeYa

Spotify ♪ YouTube

#hyltta-polls #polls #artist: janelle monáe #language: english #decade: 2010s #Contemporary R&B #Art Pop #Neo-Soul #Funk #Psychedelic Soul #Progressive Pop #Neo-Psychedelia

[oldestsoul]

#NxWorries #Anderson .Paak #Knxwledge #H.E.R. #Where I Go #Bandcamp #Neo-Soul #Music

[ambitious-az-a-outlaw]

#musiq soulchild #R&B/Soul #music #neo-soul

[jupiterrjazzz]

#lalah hathaway #r&b #neo-soul