James Blake Revisits His Roots on ‘Playing Robots Into Heaven’
Playing Robots Into Heaven is ultimately a flawed album, but at times it’s a worthwhile foray for James Blake into more beat-led, dancefloor-friendly music.
Playing Robots Into Heaven is ultimately a flawed album, but at times it’s a worthwhile foray for James Blake into more beat-led, dancefloor-friendly music.
Drawing from disco, funk, and R&B, Little Dragon’s Slugs of Love is genre-crossing music, achieving an artful balance of danceable tunes and reflective moods.
In Bless This Mess, U.S. Girls identify funk and R&B grooves as conduits for the very pulse of life. It’s brilliantly conceived and executed.
Returning from a five-year hiatus, Kelela’s Raven isn’t an explosive comeback for the alternative R&B singer but a downtempo reflection.
Morfo is an amplification of everything making Charlotte Dos Santos an entrancing artist: gossamer voice, luscious atmosphere, and a pervasive sense of wonder.
In Dawn FM, the Weeknd carries the weight of party hauntology, which explores how our cultural past haunts the present and future and mourns what never comes.
Kainalu’s warm style of simmering psychedelic yacht-funk powers “Intuitions / Inhibitions” with its nourishing blend of style and substance.
While Renaissance occasionally sports more style than substance, Beyoncé emerges as the re-coronated Queen of Pop and the reigning regent of eclecticism.
Aaliyah’s patented brand of Black pop, a mélange of hip-hop, electropop, and soul, set the standard by which other urban-pop singers were judged and set the stage for Beyonce and Rihanna.
British genre-bender James Blake dazzles a rapturous crowd in a heartfelt return to the stage in Berlin.
Pop renaissance man Shamir channels trauma, rage, and feelings of angst, and in response to our troubled times, he’s released an album of uncommon beauty.
In these challenging times, soul and R&B walked tall and carried a big stick, while also being a much-needed balm and source of warmth in 2021.