Awe hits so many sweet spots during its run time, it’s genuinely difficult not to keep hitting repeat as a reviewer. This makes me think real attention has been paid to the arrangement – there’s never a dull moment – and right up to the end, new colours are used to draw us in sonically. Great stuff!
RnB
In a world full of volume and unnecessary quirks designed to grab attention, songwriting and smooth, pure performances such as this have the ability to stand out and make a difference thanks to their realness and the clear talent at their core. Ride For You is a humble and beautiful release, a moment well captured.
A colourful and fairly classic hip hop vibe meets with an uplifting and melodic soundscape, decidedly and intentionally retro, reminiscent of the nineties, and creating precisely those beach-side vibes and the rhythmic embrace designed to get you feeling good.
D’Antre impresses with smooth yet softly raspy vocals and a selection of engaging melodies on this latest album. Beginning with the poetic and expressive Last Night, the project involves the listener from the offset, whilst also proving deeply personal and intimate in nature – walking the line effectively between exclusivity and accessibility.
Driving with an ambient and emotive beat, complex and expressive in itself – the work of producer Sean Wright – True Love proceeds to offer lashings of soulful melody, heart-felt intention, and just enough passionate rap to really let the concept and sound sink in.
A pristine and professional soundscape creates a trip-hop-like ambiance, a peaceful moment of escapism. Alongside this you get Kenni’s seemingly free-style vocal melody, meandering through the layers, offering personal insight & contemporary references that often feel well-rooted in modern hip hop.
From a distance, there’s a simplicity to the sound – an easy pop groove that lights up the room as it should. The closer you get though, the more intently you listen, the taller those personal details and that truthfulness stand amidst the ambiance.
The creative life follows pathways as meandering as the artist’s own writing habits, and this track encapsulates that. Both Tolen and Saint Crown deliver with confidence and determination, adding in pace and grit but never so much so that it takes away from the fluidity of the music.
For a track supposedly made by accident, Ygor Sunny’s Guillotine is brilliantly engaging and beautifully hypnotic for the extent of its short-lived, one minute twenty five second life-span.
With some decent exposure, I could imagine Let Me Know appealing to a very broad demographic: it’s a confident slice of hip-hop that ticks all the lifestyle-centric tropes of current on-trend bangers. It feels mature and authentically honest without being too knowing or too cynical, and deserves to be shared around.
Germany-based artist and songwriter Nomina has crafted a stunning new single and video for her latest release, offering up a blissfully mellow and intricately designed ambiance, rightfully world-music inspired but following a soulful RnB vocal along and a notably tribal rhythm that builds and increasingly energizes throughout.
The hopeful and colourful energy of the soundscape and the melody really helps create a clever contrast with any turmoil detailed in the verses – the song in full leaves a sense of possibility and motivation lingering in the room. A job well done, in more ways than one.