Read below for a round-up of September soul music releases! 

Sy Smith – ‘Camelot’

For her third single from the terrific Sometimes A Rose Will Grow In Concrete, Sy Smith has selected ‘Camelot’. Opening with light scats, Smith tells a story of ethereal bliss with her feathery soprano as the main vehicle. The fantastic quality of the album is its careful design. The same applies to ‘Camelot’. Every pluck of guitar, layering of backing vocals, and touch of drum programming feels meticulously designed to create this dreamy romantic euphoria. ‘It’s all in my mind,’ Smith sings – accepting that what she describes is fantasy, yet embracing it wholeheartedly. The song reaches an almost orgasmic intensity by the close, with Smith extending her voice on the song’s title, fuelled by a choir behind her.

Bashiyra – ‘Mother Earth’

Independent artist Bashiyra has been attracting buzz on soul/R&B radio stations across the UK and abroad. Her recently released album, Independent (2018), was seven years in the making and yielded a handful of stomping dancefloor/house tracks, and more subtle, quiet-storm numbers. ‘Mother Earth’, an album track, falls into the latter category. Rest assured, the song avoids the virtue-signalling environmentalism that some may fear from the title. Rather, Bashiyra sings of indebtedness: ‘Give back to Mother Earth / The loving I stole / The loving that I owe’. In the artist’s own words: ‘’[Mother Earth is] about peace in nature, the mother energy and how it sustains us, allowing for us to appreciate the synergies of well-being in its full glory and the experience of reciprocal benefits.’ Bashiyra sings delicately on this organic arrangement with vintage horns.

India Arie – ‘That Magic’

India Arie has always shown an adeptness at writing doting and amorous neo-soul/R&B jams. ‘Chocolate High’, ‘Brown Skin’, ‘Ready For Love’, ‘He Heals Me’, the list goes on. Her recent release, ‘That Magic’, continues in that vein. A bongo beat flows into a daintily produced mid-tempo, with Arie extolling the virtues of the spiritual, miraculous, and loving gentleman in her life. It’s something we’ve heard from Arie before, and musically it lacks the depth of the other songs mentioned above. But, she sounds great – particularly as she slides down the note.

Reel People feet. Tony Momrelle – ‘Buttercup’

Reel People, a jazz, soul,  and dance collective based in London, have released the first single from their upcoming album, Retroflection. The group have tackled Carl Anderson’s ‘Buttercup’, first released on Anderson’s 1986 eponymous album and penned by Stevie Wonder. It is an enjoyable if not a particularly radical treatment; the group thicken and modernise the arrangement slightly. Momrelle sounds like a young Stevie, singing with slabs of butter. The song takes off at around the 2-minute mark with a scat breakdown. Perhaps it is a rendition that will benefit more from a live rendering? Fortunately, the group have announced that live shows are in the pipeline.

(Image copyright: Psyko Records, Bashiyra, SoulBird, Reel People Music)