For our latest Lockdown Round-Up we have new material from Nyah Grace, Natalie Duncan, Lady Blackbird, and Mica Paris

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Nyah Grace – Honey Coloured

Nyah Grace‘s debut album Honey Coloured is a delightful mix of neo-soul and jazz, with a summery hue and gorgeously relaxed vocal performance that will attract fans of Lianne La Havas and Corinne Bailey Rae (who sings with Grace on ‘My Sista Told Me’). Admittedly, the vibe and texture of the piece occasionally overshadows the hooks. The album is best appreciated as a continuous listen from start to finish, immersing the listener with its gentle instrumentation and Grace’s delicately overdubbed vocals. The clear hit from the record is first single ‘Sooner or Later’, but the title track and ‘Sunday’ have ear-worm grooves too. A strong first offering from a very promising artist.

Natalie Duncan – Free

Nottingham-born soul singer Natalie Duncan caught this writer’s attention back in 2011 when she released a chilling, acoustic rendition of The Rolling Stone’s anti-war anthem ‘Gimme Shelter’. With the release of her debut album Devil In Me (2012), several critics drew parallels to the likes of Nina Simone and Alicia Keys. Fair enough. Like the two aforementioned artists, Duncan can summon a soulful, bluesy melody, helmed by a classical pianism and delivered with a good measure of rasp. The first release of Goldie’s Fallen Tree 1Hundred imprint, Duncan’s sophomore album Free flexes a jazzier vocabulary compared to her debut, relying largely on percussive, piano-driven arrangements. The thirteen tracks – all composed and arranged by Duncan – grapple with themes of identity and the vicissitudes of relationships. Duncan’s deeply introspective material burns slowly. ‘Nova’, ‘Atrium’, and ‘Diamond’ are the highlights, propelled by her grainy alto.

Lady Blackbird – ‘Beware the Stranger’

One of the most promising figures in contemporary jazz, Lady Blackbird (Marley Munroe) delivered a chilling rendition of Nina Simone’s ‘Blackbird’ as her debut single. Her latest release ‘Beware the Stranger’ is a reinterpretation of The Krystal Generation’s deep soul hit ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ – later turned into a funk-soul scorcher by Voices of East Harlem with production from Leroy Hutson and Curts Mayfield. “When we started working on this song, we thought it would be cool to expand on the choir vibe that’s in the outro of the “Voices of East Harlem” version. It felt right to do a lyrical gender flip to the tell the story of a powerful woman with this powerful song,” she explains. Her dramatic, slowed-down rendition begins with piano, double bass, and drums before the choir creeps into the mix adding its haunting pulse. Lady Blackbird’s snarly alto – rich, but peppered with breaks and rasp – is seductive at one turn and menacing at the other.

Mica Paris – ‘In Broad Daylight’

‘In Broad Daylight’, a piano ballad written by Paul Michael Barry, recounts the tragic, racist murder of George Floyd. Mica Paris delivers an emotional performance, communicating the horror of the event but suggesting also that change is upon us. ‘This man’s life has got to count for something,’ she sings. Proceeds from the single will be donated to the non-profit Music Against Racism.