Blackbird Blackbird’s “This Is Nowhere” is one of the most melodically stunning songs of the year. BB’s Tangerine Sky is due in May on OM.
Blackbird Blackbird 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.3
Blackbird Blackbird’s “This Is Nowhere” is one of the most melodically stunning songs of the year. BB’s Tangerine Sky is due in May on OM.
Blackbird Blackbird (Facebook)
Rating 8.3
New and from our friends across the pond, Jungle has release their first XL Records single and it reminds us of why we fell in love with this London duo in the first place. “Busy Earnin'” drips of soul and groove from the very first notes struck via horn section. It fits immediately in their self carved formula of short, sweet, and exploding with electronic soul — and of course extremely catchy. Reviewed by Brian Litwin
Jungle 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.4
Weeknd collaborator Illangelo links with the uber-talented Rochelle Jordan for the grimy R&B of new one “What The Fuss”. Melodically in lane somewhere between Ciara and the late Aaliyah, Ms. Jordan’s rhythmic and diction choices fit Illangelo’s creeper percussion matrix in a close to symbiotic manner. We NEED more!
Rochelle Jordan
: (Facebook)
Rating: 8.7
New favorite Bo Saris channels pre-“Blurred Lines” R. Thicke and mid-career Timberlake for the falsetto-y love paean “Tender”. Deriving its rhythmic rudder from more classic R&B (Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues” quickly comes to mind), Saris on “Tender” does an able job of merging the classic and contemporary to push his own sound.
Bo Saris 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.49389
The minimalist R&B-influence songwriter genre seems to be here to stay (or is at least a trend with some longevity). Its latest talented purveyor is 23 year old Nick Hakim, who’s sumptuous, soulful, vocal-harmony heavy “Pour Another” is simply stunning. You need “Pour Another” in your life right now.
Nick Hakim (Soundcloud)
Rating 8.4
And the blogosphere went “sheeeeeiiiittt”. Back in March of last year, everybody’s favorite looks like his name is misspelled R&B star Jeremih collab’d w/ hoodie-wearing languid dark instrumental chief Shlohmo for “Bo Peep” which blew up The Internet, won a Grammy, and became Pharrell Williams’ favorite song. The S & J combination are back w/ “No More”, a grimy moody bit of neo R&B that will put the serious-face head-nod on just about any music bro. We’re into it.
Shlohmo (Facebook)
Rating 8.4
“Reins” is the brand new track from Bay Area R&B artist Tyler Coolidge. The Chloe Martini-produced, “Reins” strikes that quiet storm/88-bpm money groove right at its center. And while sonically the palette of influences on “Reins” is clearly of the early to mid 90’s (Jodeci!), there’s a realness and of-the-moment-urgency to the track that makes it infectious and not like a pastiche. Fresh out the gate.
Tyler Coolidge (Soundcloud)
Rating 8.3
The all-star squad of SoCal-based singer Gallant and producer Felix Snow knock out another lesson in how this neo-neo-R&B thang is to be done with latest track “Forfeit”. A neat blend of the Prince palette with contemporary production sounds that may remind of Oceaán or Shlohmo, “Forfeit” is a beautiful, accomplished track by two artists at the top of their respective games. Don’t sleep.
Gallant 
(Soundcloud)
Rating 8.3
Miguel is back today with new track “Simplethings”. Excerpted from the soundtrack to the third season of HBO’s Girls, “Simplethings” continues stylistically on a similar lane to the Kaleidoscope Dream sound that led to Miguel’s breakout. <3 U Miguel.
Miguel (Facebook)
Rating 8.5
“She Dried” is the latest bit of brilliance from UK singer Jamie Isaac. A simple but heart-wringing melody wrapped around a winding piano figure; “She Dried” stands out, additionally, on the sophistication of its arrangement – rises of vocal harmony and electronics build and ebb w/ excellent pacing and a highly talented sense of theatrics. “Blue Break” is the new EP from Jamie Isaac and it’s out March 24th.
Jamie Isaac (Facebook)
Rating 8.4
Burger Records got soul! The venerable L.A. label links up w/ Atlanta singer (& former back-up vocals for Cee-Lo Green) Curtis Harding to release his debut LP, Soul Power. “Keep On Shining”, the album’s lead single is an excellent blend of classic soul sounds like The Four Tops & The Dramatics with the more contemporary tones of an artist like Anthony Hamilton. It’s a really good record, don’t sleep. Soul Power is due April 22.
Curtis Harding 
(Facebook)
Rating: 8.6
New from Ninja Tune is the indie 2014 quiet storm of UK artist Actress’ track for “Rap”. From Actress’ upcoming Ghettoville LP (the follow-up to the very long time ago 2008’s Hazyville), “Rap” while modern in its syrupy R&B references is special/worth your time because of Actress’ command of mood and pacing (and production) which are all truly standout (as is the track). Ghettoville sees a release on January 28th via Werkdiscs/Ninja Tune.
Actress (Ninja Tune)
Rating 8.4
