Column aiming to present 6 glowing with quality tracks, under the “future soul” genus; An amalgam of soul, contemporary R&B and even hip-hop and electronic elements.
-not to be confused with Daley’s “Future Throwback Soul” term-
Yellow Shoots – ‘Possessed’
Quick pitch:
A glorious blend of psych r&b, hip-hop and soulful sounds by Yellow Shoots. Obsessed!
dynamic: ★★★★/5
style: ★★★★★/5
performance: ★★★★/5
Trivia:
Worlds collide, and we’re left with a sound. That sound preserves vestiges of the two respective halves, but it’s wholly new at the same time. Yellow Shoots encapsulates a similar phenomenon. Founder, vocalist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Greg Matthews uncovers a catchy and cosmic crossroads between progressive rock instrumentation and soulful R&B crooning. As a result, the Philadelphia-born and Brooklyn-based alternative maestro realizes a focused, fresh, and fiery style on his 2018 independent full-length debut, everything.
“I wanted to develop music that took all of these quirky UK rock bands I grew up on and combined them with American R&B,” he explains. “Over the years, it slowly started to come together more naturally one song at a time, so I decided to make an album that fused both of my passions. That’s the genesis of it.”
The seeds for such a project were unassumingly planted long ago. By third grade, he picked up saxophone before eventually transitioning to guitar in high school spurned on by prog giants Yes. Devoting countless hours to the instrument as well as devouring the catalogs of Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Jill Scott, Bilal, Zapp and Roger, and Bill Withers, he attended University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Post-graduation, he cut his teeth performing with GoGo Morrow at high-profile gigs like Jay-Z’s Made In America Festival in addition to collaborating with City High’s Ryan Toby. Another Philadelphia scene stalwart Noel Terrell tapped his talents soon after. For nearly four years, he would accompany Terrell’s band at multiple church services per day.
Upon relocating to Brooklyn, Greg formally launched Yellow Shoots with the More Alive EP in 2015 and the 2017 follow-up Stormy Weather. Not only did the artist personally sing and perform guitar, drums, bass, saxophone, and keyboards, but he also wrote and produced. This holistic approach attracted the endorsement of early supporters such as Paste Magazine, Magnetic, and more as Spotify touted the tunes on playlists, including “Fresh Finds” and “New Indie Mix,” to name a few. After years of quietly tinkering, he honed this vision to perfection on the single “everything.” Fusing synth bass and a wavy beat into an ambient trip rounded out by funkified riffing and spacey vocal warbles, it quickly cracked 229K Spotify streams and heralded the forthcoming record.
NDN – ‘SPELL’
Quick pitch:
From Malta & NDN a smooth r&b gem with strong pop identity.
dynamic: ★★★/5
style: ★★★/5
performance: ★★★★/5
Trivia:
Malta-based R&B artist NDN (na-deen) finally releasing her own original work. An established YouTuber, NDN has garnered attention through her song covers and now shares her videos with 3,000+ subscribers.
Tom Tripp – ‘Glow’
Quick pitch:
‘Melt lava’ vocals on this soulful r&b banger by uprising Tom Tripp.
dynamic: ★★★★/5
style: ★★★★/5
performance: ★★★★★/5
Trivia:
The self-produced ‘Glow’ is an early hours R&B jam that he wrote at the beginning of the year following the inevitable demise of an emotionally abusive relationship. “I was depressed at the end of 2018 and I met this girl online. Thought she was a nice person at first, but she would be mentally abusive,” he recalls. “She just ruined me, ruined my whole head. And I managed to get out ‘Glow’ about that girl.”
Nao Yoshioka – ‘Liberation’
Quick pitch:
A perefecty balanced fusion of neosoul, contemporary r&b and orhestral pop by Nao Yoshioka. An anthem of liberation!
dynamic: ★★★★★/5
style: ★★★★★/5
performance: ★★★★/5
Trivia:
SoulTracks’ 2015 New Artist of the Year, who combines a powerful voice and New York-styled delivery to create a modern taste still deeply rooted in the history of soul. Since her single “Make the Change” was released by SWEET SOUL RECORDS in 2012, she has received praise from a number of soul music veterans including Grammy-winning Gordon Chambers and Grammy-nominated Eric Roberson.
Winner 2018 UK Bright Star Award for The Best International Artist, Nao continues to evolve. 4th album Undeniable worldwide on 8/16.
Tera Kòrá – ‘Walls’ w/ Youp & Thierry Ganz
Quick pitch:
A sui generis blend of R&B and soul coined as Soulswing by Tera Kòrá.
dynamic: ★★★★/5
style: ★★★★★/5
performance: ★★★★/5
Trivia:
From the sunny Carribean island of Curacao comes Tera Kòrá, an Amsterdam based DJ and producer whose new single ‘Walls (feat. Thierry Ganz)’ alongside fellow Dutch producer Youp is due for release on August 2nd, via Majestic Casual.
Moe Chaieb – ‘Sweetergal’ (feat. Lea Keeley)
Quick pitch:
A smooth rnb slowjam with great soulful vocals. Dope!
dynamic: ★★★★/5
style: ★★★/5
performance: ★★★★★/5
Trivia:
Moe Chaieb is a Monteral-based producer. This song is a modern RnB slowjam. It marks my first collaboration with Lea Keeley, a truly impressive Montreal talent.
“Soul Professor”: Christos Doukakis