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Real Love and real soul from Ryan Shaw – the best we've heard from him! On this album he once again shows love for classic American soul, be ascending, emotive anthems or funk-tinged slower cookers. The production by Jimmy Bralower and Jimmy Gale – the latter of whom also handles a lot ...

A stunner from Georgia Anne Muldrow – a record that makes us love her even more than before – and that's saying a lot, given the love we've shown her over the years! The cover's got the feel of some dusty old record, and many of the tunes do too – some wicked 70s soul elements ...

Killer work from Ledisi – one of the best underground soul singers alive! This album has Ledisi opening up her bag a lot from her Soulsinger debut – moving into some more jazz-based material, sung with a sweet mellow vibe that still retains all the soulfulness of earlier work, yet ...

An excellent bit of modern soul – very much in the vein of Jill Scott, Laurnea, N'Dambi, or some of the other current underground divas from the US indie soul scene! Ledisi's got a heck of a voice – very rich and mellow, in a style that reminds us a bit of classic work by jazzy soul ...

The amazing debut of Ledisi – presented here in the original mix and with the original cover! Ledisi's got a heck of a voice – very rich and mellow, in a style that reminds us a bit of classic work by jazzy soul singers like Jean Carn or Dee Dee Bridgewater, but with more of a bite, ...

A sweetly soulful debut from Glenn Lewis – a modern singer with a classic approach to vocals, dipped heavily in the tradition of Stevie Wonder, especially on his early 70s masterpieces, produced here with a bit of the current vocal processing approach used in the NuSoul era. Andre Harris co-w ...

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A sweet surprise from Andy Compton of The Rurals – work that's even more profoundly steeped in deep soul atmosphere – with Compton collaborating with seductive female vocalists for one of the sultriest underground soul sets we've heard in a while! This is one of those records that you'd ...

A key addition to any collection of The Brand New Heavies! The set features remixes of some of the group's best tracks, plus a few older and rarer cuts, and some other favorites. Titles include "Mind Trips (BNH rmx)", "Brother Sister (Angel rmx)", "Keep Together (Jan ...

The debut LP from Ollie Woodson – ex lead singer of The Temptations, and a deep voice soul maestro who looks like he's really ready to move on his own! The set's got all the hallmarks of one of Expansion's "instant classic" soul sets – strong songwriting, very well recorded ...

A second great helping from Soul Unsigned – a wonderful series that offers a first look at up-and-coming underground soul! The EP only features 4 tracks, but all of them are great – surprisingly strong, surprisingly professional soul acts – all with a depth of feeling and a ...

Strongly emotional and slowly simmering craft from Ty Causey – a veteran of the midwestern smooth, jazzy soul scene – and his efforts are as strong as ever here! There's an easygoing confidence in Ty's approach that he's carried for a while – and that continues in full effect ...

The first solo set from funky soul songbird Fanny Franklin – and it's a great one! Fanny was the original singer for Orgone and she's been an in-demand voice for a few years now – collaborating with contemporary and legendary figures from Shawn Lee to Dennis Coffey – so it was ...

Cinematic soul rooted in the rawer organ, drums and horns vibes that resonated deeply in records from north to south in the 70s – done with a lean, tight and head nodding groove no doubt informed by Aloe Blacc's own roots in hip hop – on his best album yet and one of best raw soul ...

A (sadly) posthumous release from Amy Winehouse – a voice we loved for a couple good years before knowing how troubled she was in real life and now lament the loss of – and this set, largely put together by producer Salaam Remi turned out surprisingly well! It'd be pretty easy to bow ...

The second chapter of Erykah Badu's New Amerykah – recorded for the most part, quite incredibly, during the same period and with the same collaborators as the mind-altering, murky and righteous hip hop funk experimentalism that was Part One – some months that must be among the most ...

A nice one from Badu – one with a depth of feeling and genuine soulful vibes that live up to its title, despite the fact that she records for one of the world's biggest media conglomerates! It's all about the vibe here. Erykah rolls her syllables, scats and emotes feelings more than an ...

Do you need a dollar? You just might get one with this stellar and soulful single by Aloe Blacc – rawly produced, memorably composed, and one of the finer underground soul singles of 2010! "I Need A Dollar" may sound familiar – it's the theme song to How To Make It In ...

A (sadly) posthumous release from Amy Winehouse – a voice we loved for a couple good years before knowing how troubled she was in real life and now lament the loss of – and this set, largely put together by producer Salaam Remi turned out surprisingly well! It'd be pretty easy to bow ...

4 of the best tracks from Omar's excellent Best By Far album – offered here in a limited edition promo ep! The set includes the stunning "Essensual", a hip bossa nova soul groover that's based on a Lalo Schifrin track from the Bullitt soundtrack, redone by Omar with a groove that's ...

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A really wonderful set from Yolanda Johnson – the daughter of 70s mellow soul genius Samuel Jonathan Johnson, but a heck of a great artist in her own right! Yolanda's definitely inherited some of her father's talent for a laidback groove – and this album's a masterpiece in understated ...

Great work from the Chicago Steppers scene – normally built around older music or imports, but occasionally a great source for new soul music as well! This set's the soundtrack to the Next Level DVD, but it actually stands even more strongly on its own – a great set of mellow numbers ...

Incognito have done it again! It's been over 10 years since Incognito first hooked up with the Talking Loud label – and that relationship has led to some of the strongest new soul releases of the past decade! For this release, leader/producer Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick has pulled ...

An indie soul classic from Gary Taylor – his first full album, originally issued in 1987 for Virgin! The set's got a style that's very much in the 80s mellow soul groove – a fair bit of electronics in the backing, but a smooth, round style in the tunes that snakes out with a good late ...

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A wonderful overview of contemporary female soul – none of it commercial, and nearly all of it from the mighty Expansion family of labels – home to some of the hippest Neo Soul around! Work here is from both American and overseas sources, and although a few tracks are issued under the ...

There's a lot more soul than smooth jazz here, especially the sort you'd find on an American compilation of this nature – no surprise, given that the 2CD package is really just a great sampling of work on London's hip Expansion label! The collection's got a depth that goes way beyond any ...

Wonderful work from Incognito – perhaps their greatest album ever! By the time of this 1993 release, this Brit funky soul combo was in perfect form – blending together classic modes of jazz funk into a tight modern blend that's lasted a lot longer than anyone might have thought at the ...

Raphael Saadiq meets Dawn from En Vogue meets Ali Shaheed Muhammad. Sounds too good to be true? It's not, it's Lucy Pearl. With the huge hit "Dance Tonight" plus "La La", "Everyday", "Without You", "Don't Mess With My Man" and "Do It For The ...

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The debut LP from Ollie Woodson – ex lead singer of The Temptations, and a deep voice soul maestro who looks like he's really ready to move on his own! Ollie's voice is instantly captivating – and the set is proof that he's still got a heck of a lot to offer, and is looking forward to ...

15 tracks from one of the best jazz funk bands of the past 25 years! The Brand New Heavies have a wonderful sound that mixes 70s jazz funk with a tight modern soul groove – never sleepy, and infused with all the best energy of older groups. They first sprung into being in the early days of ...

A huge change in the music of Ed Motta – an album sung completely in English, which should get Ed's talents out to a whole new audience! The music style's a bit different too – almost more serious overall, with some tremendous blue tones in the tunes that really deepen the feeling a ...

The only album ever from Groove Theory – but the set that introduced the world to Amel Larrieux – whose vocal talents alone are worth the price of admission! The feel here is a bit more mainstream soul than some of Amel's later work – but given the mid 90s date of release, the ...

A nice little second set from Javier – funky, chunky, and with a stripped-down sound that's mighty nice! The record avoids the sometimes sophmore tendencies to pack things up a bit more than before – and Javier's held onto all of the charm that made his first record so nice, and most ...

Sweetly stepping grooves from the Chicago scene – one of the greatest albums to come from the Windy City in a while, and easily the best so far from DJ Inc! The group have a mellow bottom groove that's totally great – spare beats and basslines that never lapse into the too-slick, or ...

Another amazing set from Bluey and Incognito – one of the few groups who seem to get better and better as the years go by! The title of this album is a line from Roy Ayers' classic "Everybody Loves The Sunshine" – and the group begin the record with an excellent cover version ...

An essential overview of the wealth of underground soul work at the moment – a few tracks each by 5 different NuSoul acts! The set features the kinds of artists we highlight on the pages frequently – independent soul artists working on their own, cutting groundbreaking work that has a ...

Beautifully bouncy right from the start – a record that's definitely got an indie soul vibe, but which also comes across with the kind of polish of some of the best major label sets from a few decades ago! Victor's clearly a pro at this sort of thing – and finds a way to balance his ...

Righteously soulful and warmly spun sounds from Darnell Kendricks – who's previous Strawberry Lemonade album won us over, and Smooth Soul Café is even better! It's smooth soul for sure, but done with passion, honesty and genuine emotion, warm and real,, skirting smooth soul radio ...

A sparkling batch of modern soul from Trace Ellington – singer, songwriter, and the sole force behind this sweet batch of tunes! Trace has roots in the midwest, but he's been rolling in Cali, too – and it feels like he's absorbed the best of both worlds. The sound is rich with keys ...

Great stuff from Eryka Badu – sweet, mellow, soulful, and with a very righteous vibe! The record's got some impeccable production – and the best cuts have a stripped-down groove that mixes keyboards and vocals in a way that's similar to recent work by D'Angelo and Jill Scott. Eryka's ...

The best yet from Nneka – a creative beacon for modern artists balancing political and social lyricism with universally resonant hip hop soul! The Nigeria-born, Germany-based singer bridges genres masterfully, skirting trends and delivering straight up excellent, unique songs. Reggae ...

Damn – we love Conya Doss! Just one note into the record, and we're reminded again of why we've had so much faith in her music over the years – and why she's one of the few who can rise up from the underground, yet still keep things real – moving with an instant-classic approach ...

Spacey soul from this enigmatic duo – a pair who've got a groove that nicely fits their trippy name – and a cosmic approach overall, one that's somewhere in the territory of Georgia Anne Muldrow, and some of the more adventurous talents in the underground! There's a real edge to some ...

A seductive and once again completey excellent album from Meshell Ndegeocello – one of rare few great artists of our time to break out big early on and to go on to deeper, more alluring and creatively fruitful work later that's beloved by a smaller, but much more appreciative flock! Weather ...

The first taste of a great new wave of music from Vikter Duplaix – all tracks that really further the sound he initially dropped on us a few years back! The tunes here all have a slinky, languid sort of quality – one that's spacey, but still pretty focused – a mellow soul groove ...