Drew Vision – “Without You”

December 9, 2016 at 6:06 pm

Drew Vision

Johan Hirvi from Panetoz also has a songwriting career going on outside the band, where he calls himself Sowlkid. A couple of years ago he found the american singer Drew Vision on the net and was caught by his voice. They got in contact with each other and eventually this led to a song collaboration. In April this year Johan went to New York and spent a couple of days with Drew in the studio and a few months later, in August, the singer came to Stockholm and recorded five new songs with five different teams.

“Without You” is the first taste of these sessions and it does feel like sweet mix of Swedish electropop vibes and american R&B and soul feelings. Drew’s vocals is really something special, a wonderful open voice which reminds me of John Legend and with a great soul tint. He released his debut album, “The Balance”, earlier this year, an album which has received surprisingly little attention, especially considering how good it is. Hopefully more people will discover Drew’s talents in this new collaboration, in a song which to me seems to have potential to conquer a wide audience. The song is written by Drew Vision, Lisa Desmond, Chris Wahle and Sowlkid.

Drew Vision’s site – on Facebookon Spotifyon Apple Music

Finis Mundi – “Say That”

November 11, 2016 at 5:20 pm

Finis Mundi

“Say That” is a song collaboration between the Stockolm based producer and artist Finis Mundi, aka Nino de Felipe, and the German artist Novaa. It’s an exciting duet and love drama where the singers interestingly has their own musical theme. The song starts with Novaa’s soft vocals in a laidback, intimate R&B-vibing verse and then switches over to Finis Mundi who cuts through the fluffy pillow with screaming synths and a harder beat. And they continue swapping like this the song through, glued together by sweet overlaps and the underlying theme. A different and creative track.

Finis Mundi on Facebook

Novaa on Facebook

Shaqdi ft. Zagor – “Lover”

October 12, 2016 at 5:44 pm

shaqdi

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.

Shaqdi on Facebookon Spotifyon Apple Musicon Bandcamp

Zagor’s site – on Facebook – on Bandcamp

Alex Vargas – “Giving Up the Ghost”

November 12, 2015 at 7:45 pm

Alex Vargas

The Danish-British artist Alex Vargas is not only an impressive soul-tinged singer, he’s also a most creative producer and songwriter, which he shows on his latest single “Giving Up the Ghost”. I take the opportunity also to add his single from last year, “Till Forever Runs Out”, a much softer song which shows another side of his unique mix of electropop, soul and R&B.

Alex Vargas’ site – on Facebookon Spotifyon Apple Music

Dubious Quip – “The Fear”

September 15, 2015 at 3:48 pm

Dubious Quip

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.

Dubious Quip’s site – on Facebookon Spotifyon Apple Musicon Bandcamp

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