The singer and producer Shaqdi, aka Madeleine Rönnberg, moved to London to develop her music further. There she met the producer Zagor and together they spent one year working on the EP “Lover”, which was finally released in September. And it shows because it’s a thoroughly worked-through album with strong tunes all seven of them, perfectly cut for Shaqdis sensual soul vocals. Here they have found their own blend of R&B, hiphop, soul and jazz in a laidback and at times seductive ambience. There’s a great variation that keeps my interest up through all the tracks, from catchy songs with strokes of ’90s R&B to jazzfunk influences to the finishing great hiphop-vibing track where the rapper Sway comes visiting. Here are two of my favourites.
Akiine has released a new song as a follow-up to the last single “Paranormal Activity”. It’s called “Brixton”, a song that sounds more of dark electropop vibes than being jazzy this time, but she’s still in her very own whispering dream dimension.
I’m heading for the weekend with this new single from the UK band Mamma Freedom. Soul coloured funkrock with an awesome, cool, retro-inspired sound. Could it get any better? The single “Cast the First Stone” is taken from their second album “The Voodoo Suite Sessions I”.
Akiine is back with a new single, “Paranormal Activity”, which is also a taste of her upcoming EP “Neptune”, to be released on the 30th of October. The song feels like trip back to where I first heard her in a minimalistic music with her soft soul voice at the front. There’s a shimmer of retro patina over her vocals, like if she were a Billie Holiday of the 10’s, but at the same time I get the feeling that she comes from a different dimension, a dreamy, hypnotically beautiful and warm dimension. The best I’ve heard so far from Akiine.
Dubious Quip, aka Daniel Rosenholm, makes a splendid comeback with the new album “The Fear”, his first release in 6 years. He is bringing 6 dub-inspired tracks which breathes of laidback grooves and a calm thoughtfulness. There’s a wonderful mix of retro influences, sound experimentation and acoustic tones. He moves effortlessly across various genres from for example the John Lee Hooker-beckoning “Boom Boom Boom”, to the soul vibing “Sunny Weather”, which makes me think of Bill Withers, to the R&B-inspired “Tears of Happiness”.
The title track “The Fear” is the last song and is a piano ballad about the fear of strangers that lurks behind many doors in our society. It’s a sad and painfully beautiful song, but there’s no resignation here, rather a calm decisiveness and a humble peace.
He has declared that all revenue from the record goes to the organisation Save The Children and their work for helping the Syrian refugees. The official release is on Friday but the entire album is available now on Bandcamp.
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