New single from 21 year old South East London singer/songwriter Raelle was released 26 Feb 2021, which I believe is her fifth single to date.
It's a smooth, bossa nova inspired, melodic and soulful sound.
Saturday, 6 March 2021
Kamauu Feat. Adeline & Masego [2021] - Mango (Remix) [Atlantic]
A remix of 'Mango' (the original version was released last year) was released on 26 Feb 2021.
Kamauu (real name Kamau Mbonisi Kwame Agyeman) is a Washinton, DC, born, Brooklyn, NY, based singer rapper.
Janeé Latrice [2021] - Back To Me [Self Released] (Full Album)
A new album from Janeé Latrice 'Back To Me' was released 4 Mar 2021. It's a
mix of Neo soul/R&B/Hip-Hop but has a few decent soulful tracks
including:
'Think About You (feat. Erica Mack)', 'All Night (feat. Jerome Scott)',
'This Time',
'When Will I'.
It looks like she's gone with 'All Night (feat. Jerome Scott)' as the
first single, so that's what's featured here.
Listen to Full Album
here.
Studio 21 [2021] - Destiny [Soulful Evolution]
A 2021 reworking of The Limit's 'Destiny' from 1984 released 19 Feb 2021.
The Limit were founded by Bernard Oattes and Rob van Schaik from Holland and had a UK Top 20 hit in 1985 with 'Say Yeah', this was on the flip side.
Jackie Queens [2021] - Higher (Benny T Mix) [NuLu]
A hypnotic afro dance track from Jackie Queens released 19 Feb 2021.
Forget the other mixes unless you're into house/techno or instrumentals.
This is the mix to have.
This could almost be described as Sade singing over a Hamilton Bohannon
instrumental! It's different and breaks up the monotony of samey neo soul
and house tracks.
Jackie Queens is a singer/songwriter from Zimbabwe now living in Cape
Town. There's an interview with her on
Red Bull Academy.
Kiwanee [2021] - Fuck With Me Tonight / Cool With You [Self Released]
A 5 track EP from Kiwanee released 14 Feb 2021. It seems that she's gone
with the Caribbean flavoured 'Luvin' You' as the single but there are two
better tracks for soul people i.e. 'Cool With You' and 'Fuck with Me
Tonight'. The other two tracks are a bit 'poppy' and have a 40's swing
feel about them.
I can't find even a snippet about her so have to assume that this is her
self-released debut?
Fuck With Me Tonight
Cool With You
Kevin Robinson from B.B.&Q. Band [2021] - Gotta Keep Movin' On [Crystal Eyes Muziek]
The first single from B.B.&.Q. Band (Brooklyn, Bronx & Queens Band) new album 'The Legacy' due Spring 2021. It was written by group members Davide Romani & Kevin Robinson.
For some reason the video for it is billed as Kevin Robinson from B.B.&Q. Band.
Kevin Robinson didn't
join the band until 1982 so wasn't a member when they had their biggest hit
'On The Beat'
in 1981. They had two UK Top 40 hits which didn't even enter US R&B
chart with
'Genie'
in 1985 and
'Dreamer'
in 1986.
He released a solo album and a handful of singles in the mid/late
80s under the moniker Chad, two of them were US R&B hits: 'Luv's Passion And You'
in 1987 and
'Jennie'
in 1988.
Curtis Hairston
was also a member of B.B.&.Q. Band who went on to release a few
successful singles such as
'I Want You (All Tonight)',
'I Want Your Lovin' (Just A Little Bit)',
'The Morning After'
and died at a tragically young age of 34 in 1996.
Change Gonna Come
I also found a good version of Sam Cooke's 'A Change Is Gonna
Come' sung by Robinson.
J&J [2021] - Great Big Bundle Of Love / I Think You Got Your Fools Mixed Up [Mango Hill #MHR-025]
J&J are Jason Joshua & Jose Quinones. This is a new release n ngo
Hill where they join forces to cover two sides by Brenton Wood. The flip
side 'I Think You've Got Your Fools Mixed Up' is a hammond organ driven
instrumental.
Apart from this cover there a few other vocal versions of the song, Brenton Wood (1967 orginal), an unreleased demo from 1981 by The Jam
(Paul Weller), The Point, a debut single by a group from Austin, TX released by Breakaway on their
Drop Shadow imprint in 2019 and a strange 'ambient' version by
Banana Cream
released in Nov 2020.
I also came across this clip of 'I Think You Got Your Fools Mixed Up' studio recording and outtakes which include studio chatter. A little bit of music history.
Riva Starr Feat. Gavin Holligan [2021] - If I Could Only Be Sure (Danny Krivit Edit) [Snatch!]
This one will make the purists wince! Presumably released on 22 Feb 2021 as a
tribute to Nolan Porter who we lost on 4 Feb 2021.
This is a reworking of one
of his Northern Soul favourites (which I must admit I've never really
liked and always thought was overrated).
Paul Weller
also covered it on his Studio 150 Road album in 2004!
I don't even know why I'm posting it as for me it is (and always has been)
a pop record! Just out of curiosity I guess! I even had to double take as
at first I thought it read Ringo Starr.
Don't even think about the other mix (William Djoko Remix), the song is
virtually unrecognisable to the original.
Producer Riva Star is Stefano Miele who is based in East London. Gavin Holligan is an ex professional footballer who at one time signed to West Ham but was released in 2001 and joined Wycome Wanderers. He is now a singer.
I just found another version released at the end of last year (Dec 2020)
which is probably a better mix.