Soul Strutter: 05/15/24

Wednesday, 15 May 2024

Nia Smith [2024] - Give Up The Fear [Polydor Records]

Nia Smith is from Brixton, London and is a BRIT School graduate. She apparently rose to fame via a cover of Adele's "Set Fire To The Rain" on TikTok which has received some 3m views.

She has supported Mahalia and Tems (who is doing very well with her current single "Love Me JeJe" but is not appropriate for these pages.

Nia's debut single "Give Up The Fear" was released on Friday (10 May) along with a music video for it shot in Windrush Square, Brixton.

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Details

Rating:	8.4
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Polydor Records
Cat No:	None
Date:	10/05/2024
Key/BPM:	3B/92
Price:	£1

Sio [2024] - Sarang [STY TRU BTS] (Full Album)

With four singles released from it each month from Feb leading up to the release of the full album, "Sarong" by Sio (Siobhan Lulama King), the album was delivered on Friday (10 May).

There are several tracks of interest depending on your musical preferences but our choice cuts are the ampiano flavoured single "No Lymyt" and "Autumn" and have included music videos for them below. We'd also highlight "Debut", "Stay Near" and "Olympus".

Sio is Johannesburg based multi-hyphenate (self-published author, model, DJ, actress and poet) Siobhan Lulama King. It's her fifth full length album since her first,"sbtxts" in 2019.

We can't help draw parallels in her vocal stylings to Erykah Badu.

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Click icons below for further information or to connect with the artist.

Details

Rating:	8.4
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Album
Media:	Digital
Label:	STY TRU BTS
Cat No:	None
Date:	10/05/2024
Price:	£8.99

Elsa [2024] - No Harm [Self Released]

Elsa Geyer is an upcoming singer-songwriter from South London who is making waves on the live alternative R&B scene. By day she also works as an events manager and community creative/content creator.

She released her first single "As You Please" in Apr '23 with a BNMO Remix of it in Jun. We posted her second single "Fall" in Jul '23. Another single was released in Nov '23. Elsa writes all her own music.

Her new single today, "No Harm", is her third this year following "Better Days" (17 Apr) and "Crown" (15 Mar included in our "Q1 Neo Soul Selections").

With three singles in quick succession it will come as no surprise that she has a debut 5 track EP "How I Love Me" on its way, with "Crown" being the lead single, so no doubt the two recent singles will also feature on it.

A live version of her last single "Better Days" was uploaded to her YouTube channel yesterday which we include below along with the first single of the year, "Crown".

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Click icons below for further information or to connect with the artist.

Details

Rating:	8.2
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Self Released
Cat No:	None
Date:	15/05/2024
Key/BPM:	1A/84
Price:	£1

ANGELCONCEPCION [2024] - What A Shame [Halo Records]

Emerging Philadelphia based Filipina singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist ANGELCONCEPCION (Rose Angela Concepcion) has released her third single, "What A Shame", today.

Not surprisingly, she lists Jazmine Sullivan, along with Summer Walker and Yebba as her influences, as this is very much in the Jazmine Sullivan mould, soulful R&B of the best kind.

She has been posting bedroom videos of cover songs on YouTube dating back 9 years but her first official release was in March '23. Her second was as a featured singer on Lukey's "MANGO NECTAR" in Oct '23. Lukey (Noel Lucas Geniza) also released a new single "CRUSH" yesterday.

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Details

Rating:	8.5
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Soulful R&B / Neo Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Halo Records
Cat No:	None
Date:	15/05/2024
Key/BPM:	7A/69
Price:	£1

Carrie Baxter [2024] - Woman [Self Released]

Jazz and soul singer Carrie Baxter was born in Waterford and moved to London in 2009 to study at the London School of Musical Theatre. She released he debut single "Lady" in Oct 2019 which garnered support from BBC Introducing, followed by "Love me Better" in Jan 2020.

Carrie has now racked up close to twenty singles and two albums. Her last single, "Selfish", was released in Nov '22' which she co-wrote with James Berkeley who featured on an album with edbl "edbl & Friends - James Berkeley".

After a break from recording for 18 months she's back with a new single "Woman".

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Details

Rating:	8.4
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Self Released
Cat No:	None
Date:	08/05/2024
Key/BPM:	5A/85
Price:	£1

KHY [2024] - Trust Yourself [PinkPixelMedia]

Another new artist making her first release is KHY with "Trust Yourself". The song is written by Chakyra Smith, who we presume to be KHY?

We can find nothing about her but did find a rap song called "Picasso" (P!CASSO) from Jun '22 by Coach Cam (from Jeffersville, IN) on which she featured along with Hoosier, Jettbaby Dada & Kuda Baby. The name Chakyra Smith also features on song writing credits, so she's not a complete newbie.

There are other artists using the same name, but we do not believe that they are the same artist.

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Details

Rating:	8
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	PinkPixelMedia
Cat No:	None
Date:	15/05/2024
Key/BPM:	2A/80
Price:	£1

Kenzo Collective [2024] - Bad Bad News [Self Released]

A cover of a Leon Bridges song "Bad Bad News" (from his 2018 "Good Thing" album) by Kenzo Collective has been released toady (15 May).

We believe that they are from Kent, WA, led by Ekene Okpareke and their recordings made in Seattle. This is only their second release (following "Lockdown" (Dec '20)) and is recorded live.

Muscians are: Yvonne Idro (vocals), Kevin Mironyuk (guitar), Ekene Okpareke (keys), Daniel Mbumba (bass), Samual Panasyuk (drums).

Another song from Bridges' album, "Bet Ain't Worth the Hand", won a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019.

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Click icons below for further information or to connect with the artist.

Details

Rating:	8.75
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	New Soul / Cover Version
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Self Released
Cat No:	None
Date:	15/05/2024
Key/BPM:	3B/112
Price:	£1