The Predatory Wasp
A fresh A-side from Durand Jones & The Indications finds drummer and falsetto king Aaron Frazer taking the lead on Let’s Take Our Time, a song that has been billed as a Mayfield-era Impressions’-adjacent track, but to my (admittedly untrained ears) sound more like a Smokey Robinson tribute. Either way, it’s likely you’ll know the kind of area in which they’re operating.
https://durandjonesandtheindications.bandcamp.com/album/lets-take-our-time-flower-moon
SAULT start the year with a typically low-key release, their new album Chapter 1 emerging out of the January mists with barely a whisper of hype. Predictably it’s great, perhaps even a career highlight. Time will tell; but if you can’t find something to enjoy with Protector I’m really not sure what’s wrong with you.
Recorded at 5dB Studios in London, anaiis’s new albbum Devotion & The Black Divine explores uncertainty, acceptance, and the experience of new motherhood. The album reflects anaiis’s growing sense of grace and creative freedom, capturing human emotion in its raw, shifting form. I was a big fan of her last album – 2021’s This Is No Longer A Dream – and on the first few listens it seems as if Devotion will prove a worthy successor.
Jazz collective Kokoroko channel the greats of West Africa, building on the foundations laid by Fela Kuti, Tony Allen and Ebo Taylor and lacing together their influences into a soul shaking, horn-fueled sound. Taken from their new album Tuff Times Never Last, Da Du Dah is breezy, jazz-and-funk-laced soul ripe for BBQs and struttin’.
Breezy, sun-kissed soul from sexy crooner Durand Jones that owes a huge (and presumably knowing) debt to Sylvia Striplin’s seminal groover You Can’t Turn Me Away Taken from their new album Flowers, which is destined to soundtrack basically every BBQ I have this summer.
https://durandjonesandtheindications.bandcamp.com/album/flowers
Leon Bridges wrote this a decade ago around the time of his fantastic debut LP Coming Home, but it’s only just seeing the light of day. Nostalgic country-soul stylings from one of the best sounding voices in the business.
Thee modern masters of sweet soul return with We Don’t Have to Be Alone: a gorgeous, floaty ballad that deals with two folks coming to terms with the fact that it’s ok to find comfort and joy in love at a provisional level. Happy Friday y’all.
https://theesacredsouls.bandcamp.com/track/we-dont-have-to-be-alone
duendita’s cutie lands as one of the standout tracks from their new album a strong desire to survive, out via MIKE’s 10k label. It’s a low-slung, slightly off-kilter soul tune that leans into brittle drums, tangled instrumentation and a vocal that pulls everything into place without trying too hard.
https://duendita.bandcamp.com/album/a-strong-desire-to-survive
Penned at his hometown of Wheaton, Maryland, soul boy Jalen Ngonda returns with Just As Long As We’re Together – a smooth, soulful nod to classic Motown, with effortless falsetto, warmth, and lush instrumentation. Channeling the spirit of Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield, Ngonda delivers a heartfelt ode to love, wrapped in rich melodies and timeless charm.
https://jalenngonda.bandcamp.com/track/just-as-long-as-were-together
Here’s another one I missed from last year, taken from American singer, songwriter and producer Bilal’s sixth studio album Adjust Brightness: a heady blend of soul, jazz and funk through an electronic lens. Full of life and warmth, there’s also a menacing undercurrent to The Story that adds to its allure.
The Predatory Wasp 