Avery Sunshine – Bags Packed

I love me some retro soul.  And this summer has provided a plethora of sensational records, all throwing back to a time gone by to create original, exciting and forward looking music.  This is no exception, Avery Sunshine creates a raw soul sound on this heavy 60s throwback.  Liking this a lot.

 

 

Master Shortie – Always Like This

This is a bit of a grower, however by the end I was once again a believer in Master Shortie, for he is an interesting fellow.  He flirts with all some many kinds of hip-hop you can never really be sure what you’re gonna get next.  Sometime’s he comes hard, with a really raw boom-bap sound, flooding a track with lyracism… only to follow it up with a radio friendly pop joint.   Always Like This is firmly in the latter camp, complete with Stilton cheese lyrics such as “I got so much drive, Chauffeur”.  It works though and definitely deserves some radio play.

Can’t wait to see what he does next, maybe an acoustic song in Swahili… know what, I wouldn’t put it past him!

 

 

Sonyae Elise – ☠

This girl is cool.  I mean this girl is so cool she didn’t even give the songs on her latest mixtape, Lady Rebel Vol. 2, names.  Just symbols.  How cool is that?  It’s probably because of some deeply meaningful post-modern take on how we interact with music, or something philosophical relating to how music and culture travels in memes that can never be defined… to be fair, all that nonsense is bollocks.  All that matters is this song is incredible, no matter how stupid the name/symbol is!  Superstar in the making, maybe, just maybe on the strength of this.

 

Hollie Cook – Used To Be

Hollie Cook flew in under the radar.  Seriously, I have no idea where she popped up from.  Well somehow I found her music (rather strangely while searching for Kelly Rowland music) and I am glad I did (thanks Kelly).  Her British reggae sound, with a heavy taste of ska is a treat.  This song, in my opinion, is the highlight from an album of them.