Neo Soul

There are clearly a few soul points of reference on Sweetest Thing, a ten-track album from Nova Scotia-born artist Katherine Penfold. There are notes of '90s neo-soul, the classic R&B of a couple decades prior and slices of funk and jazz sprinkled in between. Penfold's bright vocals have a clear quality and maintain integrity through the various vocal runs she lands over the course of the proceedings. Penfold has a hands-on approach to music making: she co-produced the project with David Sikula, literally built her recording studio from scratch and brings along the expertise of folks like soprano Amber Navran of Moonchild, and producers like Eye 3 Brandon and Chin Injeti to ensure a savoury feel to Sweetest Thing.

Calvin Richardson made a small impression as part of the short-lived mid-'90s urban group Undercover, whose smooth contemporary soul showed the influence of Jodeci, childhood friends of Richardson. So, it shouldn't come as a great surprise that Country Boy, his 1999 solo debut, also recalls Jodeci (it even features K-Ci on the opening track, "I'll Take Her"). To Richardson's credit, he does show signs of developing his own vocal style, even if the music either is too close to Jodeci for comfort, or a little too generic. That said, there are several very strong songs – inlcuding the single "True Love," which features Chico DeBarge, and the Monifah duet "Close My Eyes" – that keep Country Boy enjoyable, even when it sounds a little samey.

At last! - Liquid Spirits will release their new soul album Years in 2021. After their 2015 instrumental project, Evolution of the New Spirit, Liquid Spirits’ founders and producers Wiboud Burkens and Manuel Hugas started a collaboration with singer and songwriter Ivan Peroti. And working with Ivan’s soulful voice definitely brings all musical spirits to the next level! The new album evolved from the relentless quest to create unique and authentic songs; hand crafted by real musicians. Using modern techniques, they created 8 brand-new but analogue sounding, groovy tracks which ooze the love of soul classics and underground hip-hop and jazz vibes, graced by the warm vocals of Ivan Peroti.