Forced To Have You In Rewind

It feels a bit as though I'm living on a musical diet of R'n'B 'slow jams' at the moment. Maybe I'm in heat? Or maybe I'm just tired of being clobbered about the head by the chart pop and dance music 'du jour'?

Anyway, 'Careless Over You' is the latest track from Sasha Keable, a vocalist you might recognise from the Disclosure album, or maybe even this Zinc track. It's a sultry track with Keable's silky vocals soldered on to a backdrop of keys and electronic beats, with more than enough quirkly production flourishes to keep things interesting.

It reminds me of some of fellow-Disclosure collaborator Jessie Ware's material and definitely bodes well for her forthcoming 'Black Book' EP.



She's also recently uploaded a series of acoustic versions of the EP tracks that reveal the true power of her voice:

Let's Die For A Few Hours

Earlier today, Solange announced plans for the first release on her Saint Records imprint. Saint Heron is a compilation of new tracks from artists like Kelela, Kingdom, Cassie and Solange herself.

Another inclusion on the compilation is an artist I've admire for a while: Brussels-born and Cape Town-reared musician Yannick Ilunga, aka Petite Noir. Ilunga, previously played as part of South African electropop outfit Popskaar, but his work as Petite Noir is darker, permeated by a brooding intensity that's mirrored in the videos for his songs.

He himself describes the music as “noir wave” or “new wave with an African aesthetic”. His native influences are certainly present and a number of his tracks are anchored by spectres of African shuffles. Other elements, meanwhile, hark back to the gloomy sounds of New Order, Depeche Mode or Joy Division, with a smattering of Foals and Bloc Party thrown in for good measure.

I'm looking forward to hearing what he's come up with for Miss Knowles's collection, but my favourite of his tracks to date is probably 'Noirse'.

Try So Hard But You Can't Conceal It

'Bipp' by Sophie is a song I heard a few months back but came across again when Pitchfork featured Sophie as one of their 'Rising' artists last week. Since then, I haven't been able to stop playing it.

Despite the name and the high-pitched vocals on the track, Sophie is apparently a Scottish man by the name of Sam. I really enjoy the sense of humour he adopts in his approach to his work, whether it's his playfully standoffish response to Pitchfork's attempt at an interview, his vaguely ridiculous website or this bizarre segment he did on Skream's radio show.

Sophie's other tracks are all pretty great, even if none quite match the dizzy synth-driven genius of 'Bipp'. Supposedly another double-track single is coming before the end of the year. Good news.

If It Wasn't For You, I'd Be Alone

Yet another Scandinavian export that's caught my attention is Mapei, whose current single 'Don't Wait' has been lodged in my head the past couple of weeks.

Her voice has a quality that reminds me of Kelis and the combination of vocoders, doo-wop finger snaps and a slathering of talk-sing come together very nicely on what is quite simply a great pop song. Her debut album is due out next year on SpankRock's 'Downton Records'.

Dirty Bed So I'm On The Ground

Elliphant first caught my attention late last year with the excellent if occasionally nonsensical 'Down On Life', the kind of pop song that sort of screeches into sight and and stops traffic.

Sadly, not much off the Swedish singer's material tickled my fancy in quite the same way. Today, however, she's come up with something that certainly comes close to the dizzy heights of 'Down On Life'.

Electropop with a hint of hip-hop swagger, 'Could It Be' bodes well for Elliphant's forthcoming debut album on Dr Luke's Kemosabe imprint. Her English might not be perfect, but the song's theme of festering post-relationship staleness sounds out loud and clear, while the 'Requiem For A Dream'-inspired video works a treat.

I Don't Need It To Be Black And White

"BOMBTRACK" is, at the time of writing, the top comment on Samsaya's 'Stereotype' video and that's a pretty fair assessment, if you ask me.

Musically, Samsaya reminds of Yadi when she sings, M.I.A. when she raps and Santigold when she's in between. The lyrics for 'Stereotype' veer towards clichés occasionally but, given that Samsaya has come to us from India via Norway, we probably should make some allowances in that regard.

The track was produced by Fred Ball of Roc Nation and is released on Samsaya's own label 3mm (which is precisely the size of the gap between her front teeth apparently.)



Thanks to Alex for the recommendation.

Palms To The Sky On A Religious High

In the past two years, rapper Azealia Banks has served up a masterclass in squandering hype. Alienating those who fell in love with '212' by picking internet scraps with anyone and everyone, while repeatedly pushing back the release of her fabled debut album 'Broke With Expensive Taste', she has found the likes of Iggy Azalea and Angel Haze muscling in on the playing field.

Although his behaviour has been considerably less objectionable, UK producer and singer Jai Paul too seems to have crumbled under the pressure of premature hype. A bizarre incident earlier this year apparently saw him 'go renegade' by leaking his own album and now there are a number of emerging artists, gunning for the 'sound of 2014' tag, producing music that seems to be influenced by his.

One such artist is UK singer/producer Ben Khan. The spidery guitar and breathy bedroom-soul vocals of Khan's track 'Eden' certainly recall Paul's 'Jasmine', and the inclusion of elephant-like blasts of horn seem in keeping with Paul's inventive approach to production.

Khan is pulling the ol' 'mystery identity' card, which has perhaps inevitably led some to speculate that he is in fact Jai Paul. Whatever the case, Khan is probably be a safer bet to have an album out in 2014 than Paul. Or Azealia Banks, for that matter.

Someone Who Gives A Fuck

There's a peculiar thing happening in music right now. R'n'B singers like Ciara, Cassie and Brandy can't seem to catch a break and, despite their best efforts, haven't troubled the charts for quite some time.

And yet, vocal tracks by these very same artists remain in high demand among a generation of emerging producers, who are appropriating elements of late 90s/early 00s R'n'B for futuristic dance concoctions (see: Jacques Greene, Le Youth, Follow Me).

Perhaps inevitably, we're beginning to see a new wave of artists emerge producing music that owes a debt to R'n'B's Timbaland-helmed heyday but also embraces up-to-the-minute production. Los Angeles singer Kelela is one such artist.

Her debut mixtape 'Cut 4 Me' is available free from Kingdom's Fade To Mind imprint. Established beatmakers Bok Bok, Nguzunguzu and Kingdom himself bring their respective A-games to the table but, a few tracks in, it's clear that Kelela's running the show.

Her 'light-touch' vocals certainly have more in common with the likes of Aaliyah, Kelis and Cassie than today's crop of chart-toppers and, over the course of the mixtape's 13 tracks, she showcases remarkable versatility and range.

From the spiky sass of 'Enemy' to feather-light slow-burner 'Cherry Coffee', 'Cut 4 Me' is the sound of a bright new talent making her presence felt.

Dowload the mixtape for free here: