#electronic rnb

[lil-m0thra]

[iheartmoosiq]

Our favorite purveyor of sultry burning after dark vibes, London-based Swedish-Iranian nightingale Ayelle, is back with yet another feather in her cap in Parts. The moody confessional is equal parts emotionally pummeling and passionately, voluptuously enthralling. Ayelle’s smoky curling, serpentine coiling voice, ever so glamorously captivating, snakes its way through a foggy atmosphere of dark drum pads and nebulous swirling electronic production. It’s such a thick, humid soundscape that it almost feels like we’re being smothered, suffocated, but in a pleasurable, musky way, like when we fall intensely for another person and can’t untangle ourselves from them despite distant alarm bells or the apprehension that accompanies self-preservation. Ayelle turns in another stunning performance on Parts, exuding raw honesty and inimitable vocal magnificence. Parts comes with an intimate home video-styled accompaniment directed by Magdalena Wolk and Ayelle herself. And, as every Ayelle release has done in the past, Parts lingers in our ears, coursing through our bodies, racing through the chambers of our feverish hearts, long after the song and video end. Stream/download Parts, here.

[iheartmoosiq]

We were swift to shower George Maple with praise when the Australian singer songwriter made her debut over four years ago and took our breathes away with her sultry smoldering performances on songs like Fixed and Uphill. She went on to work with production greats like Snakehips and What So Not, and she dazzled us at SXSW a few years ago. We’re delighted to note that she’s been back recently with some new music, of which the latest is empowering Magic Woman, her first single on indie label etcetc. Now LA-based, George Maple draws inspiration from the end of a relationship and rises like a phoenix on the arresting R&B ballad. It’s a bold, sizzling track with shades of Mary J Blige mixed in with a dark edge evocative of visceral Sevdaliza and broiling BANKS. George Maple also launched a brand new live show named Utopia in Melbourne last month. It’s a live conceptual experience, as written, directed, and designed by Maple. Hopefully, we’ll get to see the show on tour in North America at some point. 

She explains of the show: “My vision was to create a performance space for multiple mediums to interact. A place where narrative, performance, technology and art could share a language. A place for communities to unite in the name of storytelling. The show is a multi-layered spectacle based on the film synopsis I wrote prior to this upcoming record. The show is called Utopia and marks the completion of my last life cycle and an awakening into a completely new era.” 

Stream/download Magic Woman, here.

[iheartmoosiq]

Marian Hill songs are always spicy snacks, but the Philadelphia duo really serve up a piquant prickling, fierce blazing new tingler in Take A Number, featuring Queens-based Morroco-American singer songwriter, model, and activist Dounia as a peppery gripping guest. Take A Number is a teasing debaucher of a Marian Hill jam, infused with the pair’s signature crisply unorthodox beats and dark seductive heat. It’s like a sinful rendezvous on Halloween night, mischievous and sexy, with the scalding touch of melted candle wax. This spectral ghoulishness translates visually in its ghostly music video. Take A Number is out on Marian Hill’s new label Platoon. Stream/download Take A Number, here.

[iheartmoosiq]

In the days leading up to the release of Ayelle’s new song Psychopaths, she teased us with a clip from its video, in which a beautiful albino snake wraps malleably around her. It’s the spitting image of the Swedish-Iranian siren’s music, which we so often describe as sensuously winding, like a seductive serpent. But unlike a venomous viper, Ayelle’s R&B, nestled in beds of dusky alluring electronic production, is nourishing potion for our mended hearts and consoling elixir for our rejuvenated souls. So we looked forward to Psychopaths with much alacrity, and as always, we were not disappointed by the breathtaking ballad, on which the London-based chanteuse teamed up with New Zealand producer BAYNK. On it, Ayelle also addresses a train of thought that I’ve often pondered myself regarding psychopaths and their lack of empathy and emotion. Ayelle transfixes us with her smoky swirling voice in a slow burning soundscape expertly and hypnotically crafted by BAYNK. Though her songs are often darkly incised with torments of the heart, Psychopaths could be her darkest yet, which is a welcome bonus. The captivating video accompanying Psychopaths was co-directed by Magdalena Wolk and Ayelle herself. You can stream or download Psychopaths, here.

[iheartmoosiq]

I shuffled through hundreds of email submissions and new music releases today to try and catch up on the week’s treasure trove of gems after having been kept away by an injury to my right hand. While I probably shouldn’t be using my hand at all, I’ve found a limited number of hot items that can’t be put off from featuring, including this brand new one from Canadian duo aiwake. Today, the Toronto-based project released Tonight (Sundown) on Majestic Casual, and we can’t get enough of their sensuous haunting R&B and nocturnal electronica on the murky brooding, dark sweltering tune. Dorian Voos and Euan Robertson channel feelings of despair and melancholy alongside nostalgia and hope on moody yet dance-able Tonight (Sundown), permeated with intricate syncopation and gritty dissonance. 

aiwake says: “Endless seeking. Hunting for some sort of satisfaction, with no clarity as to what it looks like and no end game in sight. Sometimes life passes by while we are trying too hard to live it. Sometimes we look right through the very thing we are searching for. These are symptoms of the age of distraction. We all take part. True contentment, while undeniably fleeting, seems to fall into place on its own more often than it can be contrived. 'Tonight (Sundown)' is written from this experience. From the moment we finally settle into the place we feel we belong.” Stream/purchase Tonight (Sundown), here.

[iheartmoosiq]

Skittering beats, breaking percussion, and sinuous, serpentine vocal seduction abound on shadowy seducer Your Nerves, a new song from Tara Carosielli, a talented Londoner whom we somehow managed to miss out on previously even though she already has a full length out from 2017. Rich atmospheric electronic production permeate her comeback anthem, a mesmeric and impassioned, crimson sizzling, steamy prowling song reminiscent of both BANKS and Ayelle. Now that we’re finally in tune with this magnetic songstress, we’re looking forward to more new music, perhaps a new full length? Stream/download the commanding performance, here.

[iheartmoosiq]

Yesterday was an incredible day for fans of BANKS like us. We counted down the hours till we could hear Jillian Rose Banks’ long awaited return, Gimme, which made its debut by Zane Lowe as World Record on Apple Music’s Beats 1. And it was sure worth the wait! There’s no one out there who can deliver sultry alt-R&B and dark sensuous electro-pop like BANKS. She’s as hypnotic and sexy as ever on the song, of which BANKS says: “‘Gimme’ is a song about getting what you want. It’s about knowing what you deserve, saying it out loud, and demanding it with no apologies. I’m ready to release this into the world and begin a new chapter.” She wrote the song with Buddy Ross (Frank Ocean, HAIM) and joined forces with Hudson Mohawke and BJ Burton to complete her vision. Gimme is the first new song from BANKS since her 2017 single, Underdog. Stream/download incendiary and fierce GImme, here. One new song means more to come, right? We’re hoping so!