THE WORLD'S BEST NEW ALBUMS MONTHLY
WORLD TOUR #15 USA SOUTHERN SOUL - MEDIA PLAYERS
World Tour #15 USA Southern Soul
WORLD TOUR #15 USA SOUTHERN SOUL - ALBUMS
clicking cover art opens Spotify
The New Orleans Collection
JON BATISTE
Released 5 February 2025
UMG Recordings
*****
A soulful tapestry weaving jazz roots with contemporary flair
Jon Batiste, a prodigious talent hailing from a storied New Orleans musical lineage, has carved a unique niche in the contemporary music landscape. A Juilliard alumnus, Batiste seamlessly blends jazz, soul, R&B, and classical influences, earning acclaim as a bandleader, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. His tenure as the musical director for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and his Oscar-winning work on Pixar's Soul underscore his versatility and commitment to musical excellence.
The New Orleans Collection stands as a testament to Batiste's deep-rooted connection to his hometown's rich musical heritage. The album comprises a mix of previously released tracks, remixes, live recordings, and collaborations, offering a curated experience of Batiste's New Orleans-inspired works. Tracks like "Freedom" and "Tell the Truth" exude infectious energy, blending brass band exuberance with funk-infused rhythms.
Batiste's virtuosic piano performances are complemented by soulful vocals and intricate arrangements, showcasing his ability to honor tradition while pushing creative boundaries. The album's production captures the essence of live New Orleans performances, immersing listeners in a vibrant, celebratory atmosphere.
Overall, The New Orleans Collection is a masterful amalgamation of past and present, reflecting Batiste's dedication to preserving and evolving the musical legacy of his roots.
Read more… Blue Note Records
Apple Cores
JAMES BRANDON LEWIS
Released 4 November 2022
*****
A sonic tapestry: jazz meets hip-hop in a Raw, Improvised Masterpiece
James Brandon Lewis, a New York-based tenor saxophonist, has emerged as a formidable force in contemporary jazz. Known for his robust tone and adventurous compositions, Lewis seamlessly bridges the gap between traditional jazz and modern influences. His collaborations span a diverse range, from gospel-infused works like For Mahalia, With Love to punk-jazz fusions with The Messthetics. With a discography that reflects both reverence for jazz history and a penchant for innovation, Lewis continues to redefine the boundaries of the genre.
Recorded over two intense, fully improvised sessions with longtime collaborators Chad Taylor (drums, mbira) and Josh Werner (bass, guitar), the album captures the raw energy and spontaneity that define live jazz at its best.
The trio's synergy is palpable throughout the 11-track, 41-minute journey. Tracks like "Five Spots to Caravan" and "D.C. Got Pocket" showcase a seamless blend of jazz improvisation with hip-hop and funk rhythms, creating a sound that's both grounded and exploratory. The recurring "Apple Cores" interludes serve as thematic anchors, providing moments of introspection amidst the album's dynamic shifts.
The Quietus notes that the album "carries the torch of reinvigorated jazz rock," while New Noise Magazine describes it as "an experimentation with rhythm and sound" that culminates in a vivid, imaginative performance.
Apple Cores reflects Brandon Lewis's unwavering dedication to musical exploration and his ability to infuse traditional jazz with contemporary sensibilities.
Read more… Bandcamp
What Now
BRITTANY HOWARD
Released 8 February 2024
*****
A genre-defying odyssey, that showcases Howard's expansive musical vision.
Brittany Howard, renowned as the frontwoman of the Grammy-winning band Alabama Shakes (a generational outfit that recorded just two albums, the most recent a decade ago, but is recognised as an influence for major artists including Drake, Childish Gambino, and Beyoncé).
Howard has consistently pushed musical boundaries. Her 2019 solo debut, Jaime, marked a departure from her band's blues-rock roots, delving into experimental territories that blended funk, soul, and rock. With What Now, Howard continues this trajectory, crafting a soundscape that is both innovative and deeply personal.
The album emerges from a period of introspection, with Howard describing the songwriting process as akin to "journal keeping". This introspective approach manifests in a collection that traverses a myriad of genres, including psychedelic soul, funk, jazz, and electronic music
The title track, "What Now," sets the tone with its raw exploration of relational disillusionment, underpinned by a chugging bassline and Howard's impassioned vocals . "Prove It To You" channels a disco-infused energy reminiscent of Donna Summer, while "Samson" delves into jazz-funk territories, featuring the delicate trumpet work of Rod McGaha.
Pitchfork praised the album as "a grand celestial tour of rock and R&B," highlighting Howard's ability to construct narratives that evolve from impressionistic fragments into fully realized musical journeys. NME commended the album's expansive nature, noting that "everything from psych-jazz, electro-funk, soulful house and the occasional rocker gets a look in here" .
What Now is a bold, eclectic, and deeply personal album that challenges genre conventions while offering a cohesive and emotionally resonant listening experience.
Read more … Brittany Howard
clicking cover art opens Spotify
Soul of a Woman
SHARON JONES AND THE DAP KINGS
Released 17 November 2017
Daptone Records
*****
Soul with grit and grace: Sharon Jones’s swansong stands tall among modern southern testaments
Sharon Jones, born in Augusta, Georgia, was a late-blooming but mighty force in American soul music. After decades of obscurity working as a corrections officer, she found her voice onstage in her 40s, fronting Brooklyn’s Dap-Kings with searing conviction and raw gospel-informed power. The band, co-founded by bassist Gabriel Roth (aka Bosco Mann), helped spearhead the soul revival of the 2000s, grounding their sound in analog fidelity and Southern grit. Jones’s performances were fierce and emotional, earning comparisons to James Brown and Aretha Franklin. She passed away from cancer in 2016, but not before recording her final studio album.
Released posthumously, Soul of a Woman is Sharon Jones’s powerful parting gift. Though recorded in the throes of her illness, the album is anything but diminished. Its inclusion here acknowledges not only her Georgia roots and Southern gospel lineage but her towering influence on the modern soul and funk resurgence.
Few albums in the past decade better embody the spirit of Southern resistance, resilience, and celebration.
From the fervent opener “Matter of Time” to the aching closer “Call on God,” the album traverses impassioned protest, deep heartbreak, and joyous release. Tracks like “Sail On!” and “Rumors” channel the Dap-Kings’ tight, horn-driven funk, while “These Tears (No Longer for You)” is a soul torch song par excellence. Most remarkable is how Jones’s voice—rich, ragged, resolute—holds up against the weight of her circumstances. She doesn’t just endure; she burns brightly.
Soul of a Woman stands as a spiritual and musical bridge between classic and contemporary Southern Black music. It’s essential to any conversation about the genre’s evolution and enduring fire.
Read more … Daptone Records
We Get By
MAVIS STAPLES
Released 24 May 2019
Anti
*****
Mavis Staples and Ben Harper craft a gospel-soul manifesto of perseverance and quiet power.
Born in Chicago in 1939, Mavis Staples began singing with The Staple Singers in the 1950s, combining gospel music with civil rights messages under the guidance of her father, Roebuck “Pops” Staples. Her deep contralto voice and unwavering commitment to justice have seen her evolve into a solo powerhouse over the decades. From collaborating with Prince to Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Staples has bridged generations of American music. She continues to tour, record, and inspire, embodying the enduring fusion of gospel, soul, and Southern protest traditions.
We Get By teams Mavis Staples with Ben Harper, who wrote and produced all eleven tracks. It’s a lean, focused record that strips away artifice and lets Staples’ earthy, weathered and unswervingly expressive voice sit front and centre. The album continues the Southern soul lineage not just musically but thematically, speaking directly to endurance, community, and dignity in the face of hardship.
Harper’s guitar-driven arrangements are deliberately spare, almost folk-blues in their minimalism, allowing tracks like “Change” and “Brothers and Sisters” to land with stark moral clarity. “Heavy on My Mind” and “Never Needed Anyone” explore personal longing and loss, while the title track, a duet with Harper, closes the record with a tender, prayer-like affirmation. Staples turns each song into testimony, drawing from the well of gospel and protest music without succumbing to nostalgia or repetition.
We Get By isn’t a reinvention, it’s a reaffirmation. It stands comfortably among Staples’ late-career high points and reasserts her place as a voice of both musical and moral leadership in the modern Southern tradition.
Read more ...
Strike Up The Band
LITTLE FEAT
Released 9 May 2025
Hot Tomato Productions
****-
Swagger, soul and swampy funk: Little Feat’s late-era groove is sharper than ever
Little Feat, founded in 1969 by Lowell George and Bill Payne, is one of America’s most musically literate rock bands, known for their seamless blend of blues, funk, swamp rock, country, and New Orleans R&B. The band hit its creative peak in the 1970s but continued to tour and record with various lineups. Though their studio output slowed in the 2000s, Sam’s Place (2023) marked a welcome return. Now with Strike Up The Band, they deliver their second set of new material in as many years — a rare feat for a legacy band deep into its sixth decade.
The album opens with "4 Days of Heaven, 3 Days of Work," a track co-written by Bill Payne, Scott Sharrard, and Tony Leone, setting the tone with its driving rhythm and horn arrangements. "Bayou Mama," featuring contributions from Blackberry Smoke's Charlie Starr, blends Payne's keyboard-driven vocals with Sharrard's fluid guitar work.
Collaborations further enrich the album's texture. The title track, "Strike Up The Band," features the dynamic duo Larkin Poe, adding a contemporary edge. "Bluegrass Pines," with Molly Tuttle, Larry Campbell, and Teresa Williams, pays homage to traditional roots, while "Disappearing Ink" showcases the band's lyrical depth.
Produced by Vance Powell, Bill Payne, and Scott Sharrard, the album was recorded at Blackbird Studios in Nashville and Studio One Two Seven in Harlem, NYC. The production captures the band's signature blend of genres, delivering a sound that's both nostalgic and fresh.
The arrangements are lean and lively, the horns punchy, and the production refreshingly warm. Far from a nostalgia trip, Strike Up The Band sounds like a band that, even if it no longer achieves the spine-tingling energies of their peak period (now 50 years past), they are still discovering joy in the jam, bridging past and present with flair.
Read more … Little Feat
clicking cover art opens Spotify
Sun Without The Heat
LEYLA MCCALLA
Released 12 April 2024
****-
A luminous fusion: afro-diasporic rhythms meet personal reflection in mccalla's fifth album
Leyla McCalla, a New Orleans-based multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter, has carved a unique niche by blending her Haitian heritage with American folk traditions. A former member of the Grammy-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops and a founding member of Our Native Daughters, McCalla's solo work delves into themes of identity, social justice, and cultural legacy. Her previous albums, such as Breaking the Thermometer, showcased her ability to intertwine historical narratives with contemporary issues.
McCalla's fifth solo endeavor was recorded over nine days at Dockside Studios in Louisiana. The album's title references an 1857 speech by Frederick Douglass, emphasizing the necessity of enduring struggle to achieve meaningful change.
Across ten tracks, McCalla masterfully weaves Afrobeat, Brazilian tropicalismo, folk, and country influences, creating a rich tapestry of sound . The opening track, "Open the Road," sets an uplifting tone with highlife-inspired guitars, while "Tree" offers a poignant narrative rooted in Greek mythology, accompanied by plaintive plucking.
"Love We Had" stands out as a reimagining of a melody by Ethiopian singer Ali Birra, infused with Brazilian rhythms—a nod to McCalla's father's musical tastes . The title track delivers a powerful message, drawing from Douglass's speech to highlight the ongoing journey toward transformation.
Critics have lauded the album's ability to balance sorrow and joy, with KLOF Mag describing it as "Janus-like" in its emotional range . Still Listening Magazine commends McCalla's accomplishment in traversing centuries of musical heritage while addressing themes from motherhood to the abolitionist movement .
Sun Without the Heat solidifies Leyla McCalla's position as a vital voice in contemporary music, offering a deeply personal and culturally resonant experience.
Read more … Bandcamp
symbiont
JAMES BLOUNT, MALI OBOMSAWIN
Released 27 September 2024
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
*****
Ancestral echoes and futuristic soundscapes: a sonic exploration of black and indigenous resilience.
Jake Blount, an acclaimed banjoist and fiddler, is renowned for his interpretations of African American traditional music and his innovative approach to Afrofuturism. His work often delves into themes of social and environmental justice, blending historical narratives with contemporary sounds.
Mali Obomsawin, a bassist and vocalist from the Abenaki First Nation at Odanak, brings a rich tapestry of Indigenous music traditions and jazz improvisation to her compositions. Together, they merge their distinct musical backgrounds to create a collaborative work that transcends genres and time periods.
symbiont intertwines Black and Indigenous musical traditions with modern electronic elements and so establishes a dialogue between the past and the present, addressing themes of climate change, colonialism, and cultural resilience.
The album opens with "Prelude," featuring a monologue by Jeanne Meserve, setting a contemplative tone. Tracks like "What's You Gonna Do When the World's on Fire?" and "No Hiding Place" blend traditional spirituals with contemporary beats, creating a soundscape that is both familiar and innovative.
"My Way's Cloudy," featuring Joe Rainey, stands out with its fusion of Ojibwe powwow singing and electronic rhythms, exemplifying the album's commitment to cross-cultural collaboration.
Critics have praised symbiont for its ambitious fusion of genres and its poignant commentary on pressing global issues. KLOF Mag describes the album as "a magical fusion of natural beauty, fragility, turbulence and ever-evolving motion," highlighting its ability to capture the complexities of the current climate crisis. The Bluegrass Situation notes that the album is "a dense nest of references across a century of Black and Indigenous music and sound making," emphasizing its role as a radical act of reclamation.
Through their collaborative effort, Blount and Obomsawin offer listeners a profound exploration of identity, history, and the interconnectedness of all living beings.
Read more … Bandcamp
DRIP
NCHOLAS PAYTON
Released 26 September 2023
*****
A soulful reimagining: payton's drip melds jazz mastery with r&b groove.
Nicholas Payton, a Grammy-winning trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist from New Orleans, has been a formidable force in jazz since the 1990s. Known for his virtuosic trumpet playing and innovative compositions, Payton has consistently pushed the boundaries of jazz, incorporating elements of funk, hip-hop, and R&B. Drip continues a rich thread in Payton’s career, which has long embraced reinterpretation—past albums like Smoke Sessions, BAM Live at Bohemian Caverns, Sketches of Spain and Numbers feature inventive reworkings and collaborations with artists such as Marcus Gilmore, Ron Carter, Karriem Riggins, and Butcher Brown. His commitment to honoring Black American Music traditions while exploring new sonic territories has solidified his reputation as a trailblazer in contemporary jazz.
DRIP is Payton's 26th album as a leader - a feat attributable to his continual evolution as an artist. The album features reimagined versions of six of his previously recorded compositions, each infused with fresh energy and perspective. The idea for Drip emerged in 2021 when Payton found himself stranded in Atlanta due to Hurricane Ida. Seizing the opportunity, he assembled a group of seasoned musicians to reinterpret his works with the soulful essence of Atlanta's rich musical heritage.
The album opens with "Big George," a track that sets the tone with its polished funk and rhythmic vitality. "Black Is Beautiful" and "Gold Dust Black Magic" continue the journey, blending jazz improvisation with R&B grooves. "Kimathi" offers a contemplative interlude, showcasing Payton's emotive flugelhorn melodies.
Collaborations elevate the album's depth: "The Backward Step" features pianist Robert Glasper and vocalist Christie Dashiell, creating an airy, meditative soundscape. The closing track, "Visible Light," brings together legends Patrice Rushen and Michael Franks, culminating in a duet that exudes warmth and sophistication.
Drip stands as a compelling fusion of jazz tradition and contemporary soul, reflecting Payton's dedication to musical innovation and cultural expression.
Read more … Bandcamp
clicking cover art opens Spotify
Visions
NORA JONES
Released 8 March 2024
Blue Note Records
*****
Still waters groove deep, even when the tide shifts to soul, synths, and swampy shuffle.
Norah Jones, the Texas-born pianist and singer-songwriter, emerged in 2002 with Come Away With Me, a jazz-pop juggernaut that swept the Grammys. A Blue Note mainstay, she’s since carved a genre-fluid path through country, soul, indie-pop, and even alt-rock collaborations with Danger Mouse and Billie Joe Armstrong. Known for her smoky voice and understated arrangements, Jones has always had Southern DNA in her sound. Visions finds her reuniting with longtime collaborator Leon Michels (of El Michels Affair), shifting toward analog soul with dreamy psychedelia, tinges of swamp-funk, and Laurel Canyon haze. It’s another reinvention, as intimate as it is adventurous.
Visions is Norah Jones at her loosest and most subtly electrified. The album drips with vintage textures - Wurlitzers, funky drums, and sun-warped guitars - while retaining her core strengths: smoky vocals, graceful melodies, and a feel for space.
It opens with the breezy groove of “All This Time,” then leans into Southern soul-folk on “Paradise,” where organ and steel guitar swirl like mist over the bayou. “Running” brings a Sly Stone shuffle, while “I Just Wanna Dance” slyly nods to Sharon Jones-era Daptone rhythms.
There’s a woozy, late-night hush to tracks like “Alone With My Thoughts” and “On My Way,” but also some righteous kick—the slow-burn funk of “Staring at the Wall” feels like Muscle Shoals filtered through a bedroom synth.
While not overtly “bayou” music, the album channels a rootsy Southern sensibility - dusty, humid, full of sway and ache - blended seamlessly with modern soul and analog psychedelia. It's a low-key gem that rewards repeat listens, and another notch in Jones' quietly shape-shifting catalog.
Read more ... Norah Jones
Pieces of Treasure
RICKIE LEE JONES
Released 28 April 2023
Rickie Lee Jones, BMG
*****
Old soul, new standards: jazz reverence from a bohemian icon in full voice.
Rickie Lee Jones has followed an unpredictable artistic path ever since her 1979 debut introduced her as a beatnik-pop poet with jazz phrasing and folk storytelling. Across more than 15 albums, she’s dipped into everything from Tin Pan Alley to trip-hop, but always on her own eccentric terms. Now in her late 60s, Jones has returned to the Great American Songbook — not as a detour, but as a distillation of lifelong influences. Pieces of Treasure reunites her with producer Russ Titelman (from her early Warner Bros. days), and frames her voice, weathered but intimate, in spare, classic jazz arrangements.
Jones doesn't reinvent the standards on Pieces of Treasure; she communes with them. Backed by a small, tasteful jazz combo (featuring Rob Mounsey on piano and David Wong on bass), she draws out the emotional core of chestnuts like “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” and “September Song” with phrasing that’s more Billie Holiday than Broadway. Her voice is relaxed, hushed, sometimes conversational: embodying vulnerability rather than virtuosity. The arrangements are economical and respectful, never crowding her delivery.
This is no vanity project: Jones inhabits these songs with the gravitas of someone who has lived every line. The result is one of her most consistent and emotionally resonant albums in decades - less theatrical than Pop Pop, more tender than The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard, and deeply felt throughout.
Read more … Rickie Lee Jones
Southern Soul
LUCINDA WILLIAMS
Released 17 November 2020
Highway 20 Records, Thirty Tigers
*****
Slow-burning resilience meets swampy groove in a late-career triumph.
Lucinda Williams is one of America’s most revered singer-songwriters, long celebrated for her Southern literary voice and genre-defying blend of country, blues, folk, and rock. Since her breakthrough with 1998’s Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, she’s embraced raw production and ragged glory as hallmarks of her sound. Following a stroke in 2020 that temporarily impaired her ability to play guitar, Williams returned with 2023’s Stories from a Rock n Roll Heart - determined, defiant, and deeply collaborative. Southern Soul continues that post-recovery creative surge, channeling her signature grit into a collection rich with groove and grounded storytelling.
Southern Soul leans more into Muscle Shoals warmth than alt-country grit, but Williams’ gravel-road-but-lyrical voice remains undimmed. Her vocal delivery is rough-edged but emotionally direct - the vulnerability adds weight to every syllable. Backed by a crack studio band, she wraps tales of heartbreak, survival, and longing in slow-burning funk (“Don’t Tempt Me”), gospel-inflected ballads (“Heaven Ain’t Hard to Find”), and greasy Southern blues (“Back Road Revival”). The production, courtesy of longtime collaborator Tom Overby, allows space for horns, B3 organ, and reverb-soaked guitars to simmer beneath Williams’ drawl. There’s nothing nostalgic here — just an artist aging with soul, fire, and purpose.
Read More ... Lucinda Williams
clicking cover art opens Spotify
The Past Is Still Alive
HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF
Released 23 February 2024
Nonesuch Records
*****
A memory-soaked travelogue through punk-folk Americana and working-class ghosts.
Hurray for the Riff Raff is the ever-evolving project of Alynda Segarra, a Bronx-born artist of Puerto Rican descent who found their voice riding trains and busking across the American South.
Their early albums were steeped in folk, blues, and country, while later work embraced indie rock and experimental textures.
Now based in New Orleans, Segarra has become one of Americana’s most urgent and poetic voices, blending personal history with sociopolitical insight. Their 2022 album Life on Earth leaned into synths and ecological anxiety, while The Past Is Still Alive returns to organic instrumentation and storytelling.
The Past Is Still Alive feels like Segarra’s most personal record to date; less conceptual than Life on Earth, but emotionally deeper. The title is more than a phrase; it’s a framework. Across ten tracks, Segarra retraces family trauma, lost mentors, queer identity, and grief, threading these themes through a loose narrative of wandering and returning.
Musically, the album returns to acoustic guitars, harmonicas, and organ swells - an Americana backdrop touched by punk and poetry. “Alibi” and “Buffalo” echo Lucinda Williams in tone and structure, while “Hawkmoon” plays like a dreamstate road song. “Snake Plant (The Past Is Still Alive)” is the record’s ghostly centerpiece - ambient and intimate. Even when the instrumentation picks up, as on “Colossus of Roads,” Segarra’s lyrics stay raw and rooted in memory.
Though it’s not an easy or cheerful listen, it’s full of tenderness and clarity. Segarra reclaims the Southern storytelling tradition for queer, brown, working-class voices, a significant artistic and political gesture. This album belongs here not just for its sonic textures, but for the soul it brings to contemporary Southern songwriting.
Read more ... Hurray For The Riff Raff
The Returner
ALLISON RUSSELL
Released 8 September 2023
Birds of Chicago, Fantasy Records
*****
From trauma to triumph, Russell electrifies the revolution with groove, grace, and goddess fire.
Canadian-American artist Allison Russell rose to prominence as a key member of Birds of Chicago and the Americana supergroup Our Native Daughters.
Her solo debut, Outside Child (2021), was a critically acclaimed, deeply autobiographical song cycle of survival and healing. With The Returner, she pivots from the folk and roots terrain into funkier, more rhythm-driven territory - still lyrical, but now celebratory and defiant. Backed by an all-female, majority-BIPOC band, Russell melds soul, gospel, Afrobeat, and synth-laced pop into a sonic liberation march, retaining her poet’s touch while inviting listeners to dance in the glow of resilience and sisterhood.
But The Returner is not merely a follow-up - it’s a rebirth. Where Outside Child found Allison Russell reclaiming her past through cathartic folk storytelling, The Returner steps boldly into the present, draped in rhythm, spirit, and unapologetic power. Opener “Springtime” bursts with vocal layering and Afrobeat pulses, while the title track rides a slinky bassline that echoes Prince and mid-80s Grace Jones.
Throughout, Russell’s voice soars, unbound - whether channeling cosmic gospel in “Eve Was Black,” electro-soul defiance in “Stay Right Here,” or Sister Sledge-styled disco-pop in “Requiem.” It’s music of community and joy, a Black feminist vision rendered not in quiet confession but glorious technicolor. Strings and horns swell with a cinematic confidence, and yet the intimacy remains: Russell still sings like someone whispering truths across generations.
This is radical, celebratory soul - not in protest, but in presence. Produced by Russell and Dim Star’s Drew Lindsay, The Returner elevates both message and motion, offering an anthem-rich document of rebirth, resistance, and the ecstatic promise of survival through sound.
Read more … Allison Russell
All Is Forgiven
LILLI LEWIS
Released 1 December 2023
Elysium House Music, Lilli Lewis, Righteous Babe Records
****-
When a gospel heart meets Americana storytelling, the result is warm, wild and deeply rooted.
Lilli Lewis is a classically trained pianist, opera singer, and powerhouse vocalist whose solo work blends gospel, folk, and soul into a rich Americana palette. Based in New Orleans and often dubbed the “Folk Rock Diva,” Lewis brings a commanding presence to every project, whether solo, fronting the Lilli Lewis Project, or working behind the scenes as an activist and label executive. Her music reflects lived experiences as a queer Black woman in the South, embracing identity, spirituality, and resilience. Lewis is a passionate advocate for equity in roots music and brings that spirit of inclusivity into her sound.
All Is Forgiven unfolds like a personal reckoning and a public invitation. Lewis pours soul and humanity into every bar, opening with “Sin Is a Thing” - a tender confrontation with trauma and grace. Her voice, church-born but theatre-honed, moves seamlessly across gospel shout, folk hush, and roots-rock fire. There’s a reverent simplicity to “If It Were You,” while “Copper John” draws from the prison-industrial complex, sung like a Southern protest hymn.
Unlike her 2021 LP Americana, which cast a wide net across genres and influences, this album is more introspective, unified by its themes of healing and spiritual clarity. The piano remains central, but arrangements are tastefully restrained — allowing her voice to carry the emotional load. The title track, placed at the close, doesn’t tie things up neatly; rather, it offers a benediction for listeners walking their own path toward peace.
Lewis may not have the name recognition of other roots artists, but All Is Forgiven is as vital and moving as anything released in the genre this past year. With its fusion of gospel, folk, and conscious Southern soul, it earns a well-deserved place on this playlist.
Read More ... Lilli Lewis
clicking cover art opens Spotify
The Fatalist
BUFFALO NICHOLS
Released 15 September 2023
Fat Possum Records
****-
A warm and wise cross-genre comfort record from a songwriter grounded in soul, pop, and radical honesty.
Joy Oladokun is a first-generation Nigerian-American singer-songwriter based in Nashville, known for her candid lyricism, genre-fluid musicality and rich, expressive voice. Raised in Arizona on a mix of gospel, country, and folk, Oladokun brings a deeply personal perspective to her music, exploring themes of identity, mental health, queerness, and faith. Her breakthrough came with 2021’s In Defense of My Own Happiness, which positioned her as a thoughtful chronicler of vulnerability and strength. Blending folk-pop, R&B, and country with a singer-songwriter’s sensibility, Oladokun’s work continues to expand the emotional vocabulary of Americana and mainstream pop alike.
On Proof of Life glides across folk-pop, soft rock, country, soul genres, yet retains an emotional and stylistic cohesion, the product of Oladokun’s velvety voice and her frank songwriting. It’s less introspective than her previous album, leaning instead into connection, optimism, and hard-won wisdom.
Guests like Chris Stapleton, Manchester Orchestra, and Maxo Kream add variety without derailing the flow, each pairing reflecting a different side of her musical self. The Stapleton duet “Sweet Symphony” is gorgeously restrained, while “Changes” and “Revolution” draw on her gospel roots for quiet empowerment. Standout track “Keeping the Light On” feels like a warm conversation between friends, a microcosm of the album’s purpose.
Although not overtly “Southern” in sonics, Oladokun’s songwriting emerges from a deeply Southern lineage of storytelling and spiritual reckoning. Her work sits at the crossroads of Nashville craft, Black queer identity, and modern folk-pop. making Proof of Life a deeply relevant entry for this playlist. The title says it all: this is music about enduring, about finding small joys, and about choosing life — again and again.
Read more … Joy Oladokun
Black Bayou
ROBERT FINLEY
Released 27 October 2023
Easy Eye Sound / Concord
****-
Swampy soul and gritty blues: finley's black bayou chronicles louisiana life with raw authenticity.
Robert Finley, a Louisiana native, emerged as a formidable blues and soul artist later in life, captivating audiences with his powerful vocals and compelling storytelling. Discovered by the Music Maker Relief Foundation, Finley's career gained momentum with albums like Goin' Platinum! (2017) and Sharecropper's Son (2021). His collaborations with producer Dan Auerbach have been instrumental in shaping his sound, blending traditional blues with contemporary elements.
Black Bayou is Finley's fourth studio album and a vivid portrayal of life in North Louisiana. Produced by Dan Auerbach and recorded at Easy Eye Sound Studios in Nashville, the album melds blues, soul, gospel, and rock to create a sound that's both timeless and immediate.
The album opens with "Livin’ Out A Suitcase," setting the tone with its swampy groove and Finley's raspy vocals. Tracks like "Sneakin’ Around" and "Miss Kitty" showcase his storytelling prowess, while "Gospel Blues" delves into spiritual themes with heartfelt sincerity. The standout track, "What Goes Around (Comes Around)," released as the lead single, exemplifies the album's fusion of gritty blues and soulful melodies.
Black Bayou drips with such authenticity and depth that Mojo magazine described it as "filled with stories only [Finley] could tell," highlighting its raw and unfiltered narrative . Rock and Blues Muse praised the album as "a gumbo of blues, gospel, soul and rock," emphasizing its rich musical tapestry .
Black Bayou once again showcases Finley's artistry, taking listeners on an immersive journey through the heart of Louisiana's musical and cultural landscape.
Read more… Bandcamp
Wait Til I Get Over
DURAND JONES
Released 5 May 2023
Dead Oceans
*****
A soulful journey through roots and identity: durand jones' poignant solo debut
Durand Jones, renowned as the lead vocalist of the modern soul ensemble Durand Jones & The Indications, has been instrumental in reviving classic soul sounds with a contemporary edge. Jones' rich, emotive vocals have captivated audiences world-wide as he has toured the earth with the band. And with three acclaimed studio albums and a live set under collective belts,, it was perhaps inevitable that Durand should venture into solo territory. Wait Til I Get Over is that debut as a solo artist, allowing him to delve deeper into personal narratives and musical explorations.
It is a deeply personal and introspective album that pays homage to Jones' hometown of Hillaryville, Louisiana, a community founded by formerly enslaved individuals. The album weaves together elements of gospel, soul, and Southern blues, creating a tapestry of sound that reflects the complexities of heritage, identity, and personal growth.
Opening with "Gerri Marie," a heartfelt piano ballad, Jones sets a contemplative tone that permeates the album. Tracks like "Lord Have Mercy" and "Sadie" showcase his ability to blend raw emotion with soulful melodies. The title track, "Wait Til I Get Over," exudes a church-like fervor, while "Someday We'll All Be Free," a cover of Donny Hathaway's classic, resonates with hope and resilience. Unfortunately, the musical flow is interrupted mid-way by a well meaning, but ultimately indulgent and distracting, spoken-word interlude.
Critics have lauded the album's authenticity and depth. PopMatters praised it as a "powerful and personal" work, highlighting Jones' star power and charisma in his solo endeavor. NME described it as a record that "pleases newcomers and existing fans alike," emphasizing the heart poured into its creation.
Wait Til I Get Over offers listeners an intimate glimpse into Jones's roots and the experiences that have shaped him. It's a compelling addition to the modern soul canon, rich in storytelling and musicality.
Read more … Bandcamp
clicking cover art opens Spotify
Son of a Broken Man
FANTASTIC NEGRITO
Released 18 October 2024
Storefront Records
****-
A raw and riveting memoir in blues and funk: fantastic negrito’s most personal album yet.
Fantastic Negrito, born Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz, is a three-time Grammy-winning artist known for his fusion of blues, rock, funk, and soul. Rising from a tumultuous past that included a near-fatal car accident and periods of homelessness, Negrito's music often reflects themes of resilience and redemption. His previous works, such as The Last Days of Oakland and Please Don't Be Dead, have been lauded for their raw energy and social commentary.
Son of a Broken Man is Negrito's sixth studio album and arguably his most introspective work to date. The album delves deep into his personal history, particularly his strained relationship with his father, who expelled him from the family home at the age of 12. This formative trauma serves as the emotional backbone of the album, informing its themes of abandonment, identity, and healing.
Several tracks wink knowingly at classic rock and funk lineage. “Runaway from You” echoes the slow-burn groove and fuzzed-out swagger of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love,” particularly in its slinky guitar tones and rhythmic pacing. “Skirty” opens with a stomp-and-clap motif unmistakably reminiscent of Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” recontextualized into Negrito’s raw blues-funk hybrid. Elsewhere, “Call Me Poppa” flirts with Sly Stone’s psychedelic soul and James Brown’s rhythmic punch, while “Bad Guy Necessity” channels the anarchic energy of early Funkadelic. These references aren’t pastiche — they’re used as a vocabulary to express generational trauma, masculine pride, and spiritual defiance.
Critics have praised the album's unflinching honesty and musical diversity. Rock and Blues Muse described it as a "powerful song cycle about growing up in a dysfunctional family," highlighting its emotional depth. Louder Sound noted that the album "brings Fantastic Negrito’s story up to date but the pain at its heart stabs harder than anything he’s tackled before."
Son of a Broken Man stands as a testament to Negrito's ability to transform personal pain into compelling art. It's a cathartic exploration of his past, delivered through a dynamic blend of musical styles that underscores his place as a vital voice in contemporary American music.
Read more… Bandcamp
White Jesus Black Problems
FANTASTIC NEGRITO
Released 3 June 2022
Storefront Records
****-
A revolutionary love story retold through funk operatics and Afrofuturist blues.
Fantastic Negrito (Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz) emerged from a turbulent past, including a near-fatal car accident and industry disillusionment, to win the inaugural NPR Tiny Desk Contest in 2015. Since then, he’s carved a singular path fusing blues revivalism with funk, rock, and outspoken social commentary. A three-time Grammy winner for Best Contemporary Blues Album, his work often explores the resilience of Black America, filtered through personal experience.
On White Jesus Black Problems, he confronts ancestral trauma and transcendent love by drawing on the story of his seventh-generation grandparents: an enslaved African man and a Scottish indentured servant in 1750s Virginia.
A conceptual leap from his previous albums, White Jesus Black Problems blends gritty guitar licks with baroque strings, gospel choirs, and theatrical dynamics. It's a genre-hopping journey—part rock opera, part spiritual excavation—anchored in the radical defiance of an interracial couple who dared to love in a world designed to erase them. “Highest Bidder” sets the tone with its swaggering funk and condemnation of commodified freedom. “They Go Low” offers a Prince-like fusion of falsetto soul and revolutionary fire, while “Oh Betty” is a soul ballad wrapped in choral ecstasy. The arrangements veer into the unpredictable—vaudevillian breakdowns, synth stabs, spoken-word interludes—but never lose emotional focus.
This is Afrofuturist roots music: past, present, and prophecy entwined. Less polished than some prior works, but far more daring, it's a project that swings for the fences both lyrically and musically.
Read more… Fantastic Negrito
Done Come Too Far
SHEMEKIA COPELAND
Released 19 August 2022
****-
A fearless blues statement: copeland confronts injustice with soul and fire.
Shemekia Copeland, daughter of Texas blues legend Johnny Copeland, has carved out her own formidable path in the blues world. With a career spanning over two decades, she has become known for her powerful vocals and fearless exploration of contemporary issues through music. Albums like America's Child (2018) and Uncivil War (2020) showcased her commitment to addressing social and political themes, solidifying her status as a modern blues torchbearer.
Done Come Too Far is Copeland's tenth studio album and continues her trajectory of blending traditional blues with urgent, topical songwriting. Produced by Will Kimbrough, the album features collaborations with notable artists such as slide guitar virtuoso Sonny Landreth and Hill Country bluesman Cedric Burnside.
The album opens with "Too Far to Be Gone," a blistering track featuring Landreth's searing slide guitar, setting the tone for an album that doesn't shy away from confronting societal issues. Songs like "Pink Turns to Red" and "The Talk" delve into the realities of racial injustice and the conversations Black parents must have with their children.
"Gullah Geechee" pays homage to the rich cultural heritage of the Gullah people, while "Why Why Why" incorporates gospel elements to question the persistence of hate and division. The title track, "Done Come Too Far," a duet with Burnside, serves as a powerful anthem of resilience and determination.
Blues Rock Review described it as "a modern blues album at its best," highlighting Copeland's ability to expand the genre's boundaries while remaining faithful to its roots. No Depression noted that the album continues Copeland's evolution as an artist, both thematically and stylistically, following in the wake of her previous socially conscious releases.
For Copeland the album's compelling blend of blues, soul and Americana is a vehicle for change, and it speaks to the times with passion and authenticity.
Read more … Bandcamp
clicking cover art opens Spotify
A Southern Gothic
ADIA VICTORIA
Released 17 September 2021
Atlantic
*****
Gothic blues, whispered curses and southern heat swirl in a haunted, poetic reckoning.
Born in South Carolina and based in Nashville, Adia Victoria is a poet, activist, and fiercely original voice in modern blues. Drawing as much from Flannery O’Connor and southern gothic literature as from Skip James or Nina Simone, Victoria reclaims the blues as Black woman’s storytelling.
Her debut Beyond the Bloodhounds (2016) was raw and punk-inflected; Silences (2019) ventured into moodier, more textured terrain with Aaron Dessner producing.
A Southern Gothic, co-produced by Victoria and T-Bone Burnett, deepens her commitment to reimagining southern heritage through a Black feminist lens.
A Southern Gothic lives up to its title - it’s a stark, cinematic, sometimes eerie blues album that feels both rooted and spectral. Field recordings, minor-key guitars, and stripped-down arrangements frame Victoria’s storytelling, which revisits the American South with a gaze both loving and unflinching. “Magnolia Blues” is a standout: - a sinuous, slow burn that speaks of longing and exile, while “Mean-Hearted Woman” flips the blues archetype on its head.
Guest appearances from Jason Isbell, Margo Price, and Kyshona add texture without distracting from Victoria’s voice. Her phrasing - laconic, bruised, defiant - guides each track like a ghost narrator from a half-buried past. It’s a record steeped in myth and memory, filtered through a deeply personal lens. Victoria’s gothic is not nostalgia—it’s a reckoning.
Read more… Aida Victoria
Owls, Omens and Oracles
VALERIE JUNE
Released 11 April 2025
June Tunes Music, Concord Records
****-
Mystical folk-soul incantations rise from the delta with cosmic elegance and spellbinding grace.
Valerie June Hockett, hailing from Tennessee, is a singular voice in contemporary roots music - her sound an idiosyncratic fusion of Appalachian folk, Memphis soul, gospel, country blues, and spiritual mysticism. First gaining critical notice with 2013’s Pushin’ Against a Stone, co-produced by Dan Auerbach, June has steadily cultivated a sound both timeless and utterly her own. Her lyrics often explore resilience, healing, and transcendence, infused with a poetic sensibility that recalls both southern conjure traditions and cosmic Americana. June is also a published poet and holistic wellness advocate, frequently weaving metaphysical themes into her recordings.
On Owls, Omens and Oracles, Valerie June delves deeper into the spiritual and astral terrain she's been circling for years. The album glimmers with acoustic textures, harp flourishes, dulcimer drones, and layered harmonies that float like incense smoke. Opening track “Healing Touch” begins with a whispered invocation, before expanding into an earthy gospel-folk chorus. “Night Creature’s Dream” merges twilight psychedelia with steel-string Americana, while “Spiral and Return” is a trance-inducing meditation driven by hand percussion and harmonium.
Unlike the more radio-leaning moments of her previous album The Moon and Stars, this is music made for moonlight, solitude, and second sight. It’s not immediate in its hooks, but rich in atmosphere, intention, and inner light. Valerie June may not follow conventional pathways, but her vision remains arrestingly pure.
Read more … Valerie June
The Heart, The Mind, The Soul
TANK AND THE BANGAS
Released 30 August 2024
Verve
****-
A triumphant fusion of poetry and sound: Tank and the Bangas' grammy-winning masterpiece.
Hailing from New Orleans, Tank and The Bangas have captivated audiences with their eclectic blend of funk, soul, hip-hop, and spoken word. Fronted by the charismatic Tarriona "Tank" Ball, the band gained national attention after winning NPR's Tiny Desk Contest in 2017. Known for their dynamic performances and genre-defying sound, they've continued to push musical boundaries, culminating in their latest project, The Heart, The Mind, The Soul.
The Heart, The Mind, The Soul is a three-part spoken word collection that showcases Tank and The Bangas' innovative spirit. Each segment - The Heart, The Mind, and The Soul - features collaborations with different producers: James Poyser, Iman Omari, and Robert Glasper, respectively.
The album opens with "A Poem Is," featuring Jill Scott, setting a contemplative tone that weaves through the entire project. Tracks like "They Don't See / Whole Foods" with Aja Monet and "Remember" featuring Samara Joy and Robert Glasper blend poetic narratives with rich musical textures. The closing track, "Who Ha?" featuring J. Ivy, encapsulates the album's fusion of introspection and rhythm.
The album has attracted praise for its seamless integration of spoken word and music. Rolling Out highlighted Tank's ability to share vulnerability, stating, "Her voice is captivating, and she draws her delivery from personal experience". The album's innovative approach earned it the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album in 2025, marking a significant milestone for the band.
Read more ... Tank and The Bangas
clicking cover art opens Spotify
Blues Symphony
WYNTON MARSALIS
DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
JOHN BIGBAMINI
Released 14 March 2025
Pentatone Music
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
*****
A symphonic narrative of African American memory, dancing to the heartbeat of the blues.
Wynton Marsalis, one of America’s most prolific and respected composers, trumpeters, and cultural commentators, has spent decades bridging the worlds of jazz and classical music. With the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under conductor Jader Bignamini, this performance captures his sweeping orchestral vision of African American history through the lens of the blues.
Blues Symphony is a seven-movement orchestral work that reimagines the blues idiom within the structure and ambition of a classical symphony. Marsalis weaves spirituals, work songs, ragtime, swing, bebop, and modern gospel into an expansive score that charts a sonic history of African American resilience. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, under Bignamini’s sensitive and dynamic direction, brings warmth, swing, and clarity to the dense orchestration and shifting rhythmic meters. There are echoes of Gershwin and Bernstein in the brass flourishes and rhythmic drive, but Marsalis’s unique harmonic language and deep rhythmic intuition make this unmistakably his own. The second and fifth movements swing with Ellingtonian poise; the percussion section evokes second-line parades and sanctified church claps in equal measure. While the piece occasionally risks didacticism, its emotional arc and historical ambition make it a landmark work in the conversation around American symphonic music. Marsalis’s commitment to marrying formality with freedom feels especially urgent and timely in this interpretation.
Read more … Wynton Marsalis
Bark Out Thunder
Roar Out Lightning
CHRISTIAN SCOTT ATUNDE ADJUAH
CHIEF ADJUAH
Released 2 April 2021
Single Lock Records
*****
Ancestral sound, reimagined through a new instrument and ancient memory.
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, now performing under the title Chief Adjuah, is a New Orleans-born trumpeter, composer, and innovator who has redefined jazz through his self-described “Stretch Music.” As a direct descendant of Big Chief Donald Harrison Sr., his music is equally shaped by post-bop, West African rhythms, and Afro-Indigenous ceremonial traditions.
Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning marks a powerful new chapter in Adjuah’s evolution. Here, he puts down the trumpet entirely and embraces a hybrid stringed instrument of his own invention—part kora, part guitar, part ceremonial artifact. The album is a conceptual pivot: grounded less in modern jazz idioms and more in the cosmological resonance of African diasporic spirituality. Opening with "Blood Calls Blood," the record pulses with ritualistic percussion, chants, and drone textures, a sonic invocation as much as a composition.
This is Adjuah not as bandleader, but as griot and architect. Tracks like “Xodokan Iko – Hu Na Ney” and “Gumbo Empress” incorporate traditional Afro-New Orleans elements with polyrhythmic layering that echoes both Vodun ceremonies and avant-garde minimalism. The lack of trumpet may be jarring to longtime fans, but the trade-off is a more elemental and ancestral musicality. He’s no longer stretching music—he’s reshaping its foundation. Though at times opaque and demanding, Bark Out Thunder is a revelatory statement: raw, profound, and beyond genre.
Read more … Princeton University Department Of African American Studies
My People
CHA WA
Released 2 April 2021
Single Lock Records
*****
Mardi gras funk meets social fire: a vibrant, defiant celebration of New Orleans roots.
Cha Wa is a Grammy-nominated ensemble from New Orleans that fuses the rich traditions of Mardi Gras Indian culture with contemporary funk, soul, and second-line rhythms.
Formed in 2014 by drummer Joe Gelini, the band features members of the Mardi Gras Indian community, delivering performances that are both visually and musically captivating. Their previous album, Spyboy (2018), garnered critical acclaim and a Grammy nomination for Best Regional Roots Music Album, solidifying their reputation as torchbearers of New Orleans' vibrant musical heritage.
My People is Cha Wa's third studio album and a dynamic continuation of their mission to celebrate and evolve the sounds of New Orleans. The album seamlessly blends traditional Mardi Gras Indian chants with '70s funk grooves reminiscent of The Meters, creating a soundscape that is both rooted in history and forward-looking.
The title track, "My People," sets the tone with its infectious rhythm and poignant lyrics that address themes of resilience and unity. "Wildman" and "Bow Down" showcase the band's ability to marry brass-heavy arrangements with contemporary funk, while "Love in Your Heart," featuring Anjelika 'Jelly' Joseph, adds a soulful depth to the album. A standout moment is their rendition of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War," featuring Alvin Youngblood Hart, which infuses the classic protest song with a haunting, groove-laden interpretation.
My People overflows with the kind of vibrant energy and social consciousness that was the signature of precedents such as Dr John and Alan Toussaint.
My People stands as a testament to Cha Wa's commitment to honoring and innovating within the rich tapestry of New Orleans music, offering listeners an album that is as thought-provoking as it is dance-inducing.
Read more … Bandcamp
clicking cover art opens Spotify
Borned In Ya
MEISSA CARPER
Released 11 October 2024
FAX Records, Epic, Sony
****-
A vintage-inspired triumph: melissa carper’s borned in ya melds country, jazz, and soul with timeless grace
Melissa Carper, affectionately dubbed “Hillbillie Holiday” by collaborator Chris Scruggs, is a Nebraska-born singer, songwriter, and upright bassist. Raised in a musical family, she honed her craft performing in her family's band and later immersed herself in the rich traditions of country, jazz, and blues. Carper's previous solo albums, Daddy’s Country Gold (2021) and Ramblin’ Soul (2022), garnered critical acclaim for their authentic revival of classic American sounds. She's also a member of the trio Wonder Women of Country, alongside Kelly Willis and Brennen Leigh.
Borned In Ya is Carper's fifth full-length album and her most ambitious project to date. The album's title, inspired by a Ralph Stanley quote, encapsulates Carper's deep-rooted connection to the music she creates. Recorded at Nashville's Bomb Shelter studio and produced by Andrija Tokic and Dennis Crouch, the album features a stellar lineup of musicians, including Chris Scruggs on console steel, Billy Contreras on fiddle, Jeff Taylor on piano, and Rory Hoffman on various instruments .
Borned In Ya is a masterful blend of genres, seamlessly weaving together elements of country, jazz, blues, and gospel. The title track serves as a manifesto, celebrating authenticity and paying homage to musical forebears like Hazel Dickens and Lead Belly . "Evil Eva" delves into soul blues, capturing the complexities of a tumultuous relationship. Other standout tracks include "Your Furniture's Too Nice," a Western swing-infused tune, and "There'll Be Another One," which channels the grandeur of big band classics .
Saving Country Music praised her focus on era over genre, noting that the album "immediately transports you back to a period where the roots of American music hadn’t exactly formed separate genres just yet" . No Depression highlighted the album's "smoky, backroom bar feeling," emphasizing Carper's unique blend of jazz, blues, and twang .
Borned In Ya stands as a testament to Melissa Carper's artistry, offering a fresh yet nostalgic listening experience that honors the rich tapestry of American roots music.
Read more... Bandcamp
Borned In Ya
MEISSA CARPER
Released 11 October 2024
FAX Records, Epic, Sony
****-
Trap-country soul from a southern queer voice cutting across genre lines and stereotypes.
A rising voice from Alabama, Cecily Wilborn blends trap, country, R&B, and spoken word into a genre-fluid style that reflects her identity as a Black, queer southern artist. Trained in classical voice and rooted in rural church music, she defies easy categorization. Wilborn's background in social work and activism also informs her lyrical themes - centered on family, survival, and self-assertion. Kuntry Gurl Playlist is her first major solo statement, self-produced and fiercely independent, and builds on earlier singles and collaborative projects with fellow Southern creatives.
Kuntry Gurl Playlist isn’t a concept album in the traditional sense, but it feels like a personal audio scrapbook - raw, homegrown, yet deeply intentional. Across twelve tracks, Wilborn riffs on identity, resilience, faith, and feminine power. There’s Southern gospel in her cadences, but also Memphis trap, Delta blues, and Houston screw. “Smoke Break” is an ambient country confession, while “Front Porch” is all bounce and defiance. She leans into vernacular and rural imagery with pride, while production oscillates between lo-fi intimacy and beat-heavy attitude. The spoken interludes and voicemails give it mixtape flair, but the content is unified by Wilborn’s vision. This is southern music redefined - queer, diasporic, rooted, and radical.
Read more... Cecily Wilborn
Straight From The Heart
KENNY NEAL
Released 20 May 2022
****-
A soulful return to roots: kenny neal's baton rouge blues revival.
Kenny Neal was born in New Orleans and raised in Baton Rouge, a second-generation bluesman whose father, Raful Neal, was a prominent harmonica player. Kenny's career spans over three decades, during which he has become known for his mastery of the swamp blues tradition, blending elements of soul, funk, and zydeco. His previous works, including the Grammy-nominated Bloodline (2016), have solidified his reputation as a torchbearer of Louisiana blues.
Remarkably, Straight From The Heart is his first album recorded in his hometown at his own Brookstown Recording Studios. The album is a heartfelt homage to the music that shaped him, featuring a mix of six original songs and five covers that traverse the rich tapestry of Louisiana's musical landscape.
The set opens with "Blues Keep Chasing Me," setting a tone of introspection and authenticity. Tracks like "Mount Up On The Wings" and "Louise Ana" showcase Neal's ability to infuse traditional blues with contemporary sensibilities. The inclusion of zydeco elements is evident in "Bon Temps Rouler," featuring Rockin' Dopsie Jr. & The Zydeco Twisters, adding a festive flair to the album.
Notable collaborations enrich the album's texture. "Two Timing" features vocals from Tito Jackson and Neal's daughter, Syreeta, blending familial warmth with musical prowess. Christone "Kingfish" Ingram's guest appearance adds a youthful vigor to the project, bridging generational gaps within the blues community.
It's a compelling blend of heartfelt lyrics, masterful instrumentation, and cultural homage that resonates deeply with listeners.
Read more ... Kenny Neal
clicking cover art opens Spotify
Set Sail
NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS
Released 28 January 2022
****-
Soulful swamp grooves and urgent lyrics carry legacy forward with warmth and a modern pulse.
Formed by brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson, the North Mississippi Allstars emerged from Hernando, Mississippi in the late 1990s, fusing electric blues, hill country rhythms, and Southern rock with deep reverence for Black musical traditions. Sons of producer and pianist Jim Dickinson, they’ve long stood as torchbearers of regional roots music while evolving with each release. Set Sail, their 13th studio album, continues that trajectory - grounded in groove, but openly political, celebratory, and unafraid to expand their sonic reach.
Set Sail steers the band’s Delta-soaked sound into funkier waters, layering socially conscious lyrics over swampy rhythms, mellow soul, and tightly coiled blues-rock. Opener “Set Sail Part I” with Lamar Williams Jr. sets the tone - smooth vocals glide over a bubbling, understated groove. “Bumpin’” brings in rapper Sharisse Norman for a laid-back anthem about resilience, while “Didn’t We Have a Time” finds warmth in nostalgia without getting stuck in it. The album is rich with collaborative spirit, subtle political undertones, and the Dickinsons’ signature blend of tradition and innovation. This isn’t a band resting on laurels - it’s one finding fresh wind in the sails.
Read more … Bandcamp
Teeth Marks
S. G. GOODMAN
Released 3 June 2022
S.G. Goodman, UMG
****-
Southern gothic meets indie grit in a fearless meditation on love, labor, and longing
S.G. Goodman, hailing from Hickman, Kentucky, emerged from the Southern Baptist church and the rural landscapes of the Mississippi River Delta. Her music intertwines Americana, folk, and indie rock, reflecting her upbringing and philosophical studies at Murray State University. After fronting the band The Savage Radley, Goodman launched her solo career with the acclaimed album Old Time Feeling in 2020. Her sophomore release, Teeth Marks, continues to showcase her distinctive voice and storytelling prowess.
Teeth Marks is a poignant exploration of the emotional imprints left by love and loss. The album delves into themes such as queer identity, addiction, and the socioeconomic challenges of the modern South. Goodman's songwriting is both intimate and expansive, weaving personal narratives with broader social commentary. Musically, the album traverses a diverse landscape, blending elements of Americana, punk, and indie rock. Tracks like "Dead Soldiers" and "Work Until I Die" exemplify her ability to marry raw emotion with incisive critique. Critics have lauded Teeth Marks for its honesty and musical diversity, with Pitchfork noting its "sharp and thoughtful distillation of modern American small-town complexities."
Read More ... Pitchfork
Shadow On The Day
JEB LOY NICHOLS & JENNIFER CARR
Released 1 April 2024
Jeb Loy's Yard
****-
Low-lit soul, dub atmospheres and whispered harmonies offer comfort in a world gone sideways.
Jeb Loy Nichols is a Wyoming-born singer-songwriter whose understated blend of country soul, reggae, and folk has found a natural home in rural Wales. With roots in the New York no-wave scene and deep collaborations with Adrian Sherwood's dub and roots collective On-U Sound, Nichols is a genre drifter in the best sense.
Shadow On The Day sees him paired again with British vocalist Jennifer Carr, whose subtle phrasing and ghostly warmth add depth to this quietly radical, introspective set. Their previous collaborations hinted at this direction, but here the aesthetic is fully realized.
Shadow On The Day is not designed to shout. Its pleasures lie in the interplay between Nichols’ dusky, conversational delivery and Carr’s tender vocal counterpoint, all set against Sherwood’s beautifully restrained production. It floats between Americana, dub, and minimalist soul, with songs like “Not One Mistake” and “They Never Will” offering stripped-back meditations on loss, resistance, and resilience. There’s a political undercurrent—always there in Nichols’ work—but it never overwhelms the intimacy of the performances. Acoustic guitars, soft keys, and echo-laden textures give the record an earthy spaciousness. This is music for early mornings or quiet evenings, a balm for uncertain times.
Read more... Bandcamp
clicking cover art opens Spotify
Like Neptune
SON LITTLE
Released 9 September 2022
****-
An ancestral download riding on trap bass, mbira magic, and total self-possession.
The stage name of Aaron Earl Livingston, Son Little is a Philadelphia-based singer, songwriter, and producer whose music sits at the intersection of vintage soul, indie rock, R&B, and blues. A Grammy winner for his work with Mavis Staples, he's collaborated with The Roots and RJD2, while steadily releasing a series of intimate, genre-blurring solo albums. Known for writing, playing, and producing everything himself, Son Little channels raw emotion through sparse but sonically rich arrangements.
Like Neptune finds Son Little trading in studio polish for vulnerability and atmosphere. Written during a period of self-reflection and healing, the album unfurls like a private diary set to a cassette tape - lo-fi textures, tape hiss, and aqueous effects envelop tracks like “6 AM” and “deeper.” His falsetto on “bending corners” evokes Prince by way of D’Angelo, while “inside out” pulses with broken-beat soul. The emotional core remains steady throughout: this is music of solitude, gentle defiance, and spiritual reckoning. It’s a shift from the more outward groove of 2020’s aloha, but it marks his most personal and hypnotic work to date.
Read more ... Son Little
Saratoga
EDDIE 9V
Released 22 November 2024
Ruf Records
****-
Old soul, young heart: southern-fried retro blues gets a warm, greasy revival on the front porch of americana
Eddie 9V (born Brooks Mason) is a blues revivalist from Atlanta, Georgia, whose gritty guitar tone and vintage aesthetic recall the golden era of Muscle Shoals and Chess Records. Playing clubs from the age of 15, he gained a reputation for raw, high-energy performances and analog-rich recordings. His sound blends Southern soul, electric blues, and swampy R&B, delivered with youthful fire and reverence for tradition. Signed to Ruf Records, Eddie 9V is now one of the most promising torchbearers of contemporary Southern blues.
Saratoga is Eddie 9V’s most fully realized album yet—sweaty, analog, and full of character. Recorded live to tape in a humble home studio on Saratoga Street, the album buzzes with unfiltered energy. “Yella Alligator” sounds like a lost Stax gem, while “How Long” channels Otis Redding heartbreak through a garage-blues lens. Horns, hammond organ, and call-and-response vocals enrich the arrangements without over-polishing the grit. There’s a looseness here that feels lived-in and real. Unlike some retro-soul peers, Eddie doesn’t mimic—he inhabits. Saratoga proves that the past can still feel vital when filtered through the urgency of now.
Read more … Eddie 9V
Double Play Soul & R&B
WILLIE CLAYTON
Released 14 February 2025
Endzone Entertainment
****-
Two discs, two moods — the same velvet voice navigating love's highs and lows
With a career spanning over five decades, Willie Clayton is a southern soul fixture whose catalog rivals any modern bluesman in depth and consistency. Originally from Mississippi, Clayton emerged in the 1970s under the mentorship of Al Green producer Willie Mitchell, but truly found his stride in the indie southern soul scene from the ’90s onward. Revered for his seductive phrasing, conversational lyrics, and emotionally direct delivery, Clayton has built a loyal following through relentless touring and an astonishing output of albums that straddle blues, soul, and grown-folks R&B. Double Play proves his creative energy and interpretive finesse remain razor-sharp.
Double Play: Soul & R&B is a generous 2-CD set that doubles down on Willie Clayton’s signature strengths: slow-drag soul, mid-tempo heartache, and no-nonsense grown-up R&B. Disc one leans toward traditional southern soul — raw and bluesy, anchored by organ swells, guitar flourishes, and Clayton’s church-inflected vocals. Standouts like “Love Doctor” and “Don’t Make Me Beg” showcase his ability to elevate simple relationship narratives with pure vocal conviction.
Disc two moves more smoothly into urban contemporary territory — clean production, tighter arrangements, and a more modern R&B aesthetic. “Come On and Rock Me” and “In the Mood” could easily sit beside younger crooners, yet there’s never a sense that Clayton is chasing trends. He sings as if he’s been through every line, every plea, every flirtation.
This duality — old-school and new-wave, pain and pleasure — is what makes Double Play resonate. The sequencing feels intentional, as if guiding the listener through the phases of a romantic life well-lived. While the themes are familiar, Clayton’s voice carries the kind of weathered wisdom you can’t fake. For fans of southern soul and contemporary blues alike, this is Willie Clayton doing what only he can.
Read more ... Willie Clayton
clicking cover art opens Spotify
Nobody's Fault But My Ow
THE SENSATIONAL BARNES BROTHERS
Released 20 September 2019
Bible & Tire Recording Co.
****-
Memphis gospel soul revival from a blood-bound duo who sing with the fire of their fathers and the weight of the world.
The Sensational Barnes Brothers (Chris and Courtney) are Memphis-born siblings continuing a family legacy steeped in Southern gospel and soul. Sons of the late Rev. Sammie Barnes, a gospel singer and preacher, they came up singing in church and absorbing Memphis' rich musical heritage. Their debut Nobody’s Fault But My Own introduces them as torchbearers for sacred soul, blending testifying vocals with the groove-driven grit of Hi Records and Stax. Working with Bruce Watson’s Bible & Tire Recording Co., the brothers are key figures in a movement reasserting gospel’s foundational role in American roots music.
The brothers tear into traditional gospel songs like “Try the Lord” and “I Made It Over” with reverent abandon, channeling the ecstatic harmonies of classic quartets and the rhythmic swagger of secular soul.
Musically, this is church with a backbeat: basslines throb, guitars twang with Muscle Shoals economy, and every snare crack testifies. Their voices — Chris’s smoother croon and Courtney’s raw-edged tenor — blend with familial tightness, evoking the classic duos of gospel’s golden age. The title track, a searing version of the Blind Willie Johnson spiritual, becomes a rallying cry and a reckoning all at once.
What sets the Barnes Brothers apart is their ability to embody the holiness and humanity of gospel — not just praising a higher power, but grounding it in sweat, pain, and joy. This album may have been recorded years ago, but its soul feels urgently alive.
Read More ... The Sensational Barnes Brothers
You Make Me Feel
DON BRYANT
Released 19 June 2020
Fat Possum Records
****-
The Hi Records soul survivor returns with grit, grace, and the fire of a true believer.
Don Bryant was a key figure in Memphis soul’s golden era, penning hits for Hi Records artists like Solomon Burke and his wife, Ann Peebles - including the timeless “I Can’t Stand the Rain.” Though he released solo material in the '60s and '70s, he spent decades largely behind the scenes. A remarkable return to the spotlight came in 2017 with Don’t Give Up on Love, followed by You Make Me Feel in 2020, affirming Bryant as both a keeper and rejuvenator of the Southern soul flame. Backed by members of The Bo-Keys, Bryant sings with lived-in grit and gospel-fueled conviction.
Don Bryant’s You Make Me Feel isn’t just a late-career victory lap — it’s a statement of continued vitality. Rooted in classic Hi Records aesthetics, the album is lush with warm horns, sly organ swells, and that inimitable Memphis groove. But it’s Bryant’s voice — still brimming with preacherly fire and worldly experience — that commands attention.
“Your Love Is to Blame” simmers like a lost Al Green cut, while “Is It Over” recalls the aching drama of Otis Redding balladry. Even as the arrangements pay homage to a bygone era, there's no sense of imitation; Bryant owns these songs with the authority of someone who helped write the blueprint. His gospel roots emerge powerfully on “I Die a Little Each Day” and “Cracked Up Over You,” songs of heartbreak delivered with both elegance and urgency.
The album doesn’t just revisit soul music’s past — it makes a case for its present. Working with producer Scott Bomar and the Bo-Keys, Bryant finds the sweet spot between vintage authenticity and modern bite. At 78, he sounds neither nostalgic nor resigned, but rather triumphant. You Make Me Feel is proof that soul — real, grown-folks soul — never goes out of style.
Read More ... Bandcamp
West Georgia Blues
JONTAVIOUS WILLIS
Released 16 August 2024
Strolling Bones Records
****-
A joyous revival of country blues traditions with a modern twist.
Jontavious Willis, hailing from Greenville, Georgia, has rapidly ascended as a torchbearer for traditional blues. Mentored by legends Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’, Willis gained prominence with his Grammy-nominated sophomore album, Spectacular Class (2019). Known for his mastery of Delta, Piedmont, and Texas blues styles, Willis infuses his music with youthful vigor and authenticity, bridging the gap between past and present.
West Georgia Blues is Willis's third studio album: self-produced and featuring a full band, the album comprises fifteen original tracks that traverse themes of heartbreak, resilience, and celebration.
The title track, "West Georgia Blues," opens the album with a minimalist arrangement—just vocals and handclaps—evoking the communal spirit of gospel gatherings. "Keep Your Worries on the Dance Floor" stands out with its fusion of styles, starting with a Clarence Carter-esque guitar lick before evolving into a dynamic interplay of dueling guitars.
Willis's versatility shines throughout the album. "Charlie Brown Blues" offers a lighthearted narrative, while "Broken Hearted Moan" delves into deeper emotional territory. Instrumental tracks like "Jontavious’ West Georgia Grind" showcase his technical prowess and reverence for blues guitar traditions.
Read more ... Bandcamp
clicking cover art opens Spotify
My Fans Only
JETER JONES
Released 23 December 3024
Jeter Jones
****-
Trailride blues king delivers a soulful, genre-blending tribute to his devoted fanbase.
Jeter Jones, born Gary Charles Jones in Mansfield, Louisiana, is a decorated military veteran turned Southern soul artist. After serving in both the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, including combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, he retired as a Sergeant First Class. Transitioning to music in 2013, Jones quickly became known as the "King of Trailride Blues," blending blues, R&B, soul, and hip-hop into a unique sound that resonates with fans across the Southern United States. His prolific output and dynamic performances have solidified his place in the contemporary Southern soul scene.
My Fans Only is a heartfelt nod to the supporters who've propelled Jeter Jones's career. The 15-track album showcases his signature fusion of Southern soul, blues, and trailride rhythms, enriched by collaborations with artists like Myia B Music, FPJ, Kandy Janai, Cecily Wilborn, and JaLi The Gentleman.
Standout tracks include "Another Round," a bluesy mid-tempo gem, and "Nail in the Middle," noted for its unique lyrical content. The album has been praised for its authenticity and musical diversity, earning a five-star review from Southern Soul RnB's Daddy B. Nice, who described it as "pure Southern Soul heaven."
Read more ... Southern Soul RnB Review
Timeless
T.K. Soul
Released 31 January 2025
T.K. Soul
*****
The godfather of southern soul returns with a smooth, groove-laden set that lives up to its name
T.K. Soul (born Terence Kimble in Winnfield, Louisiana) has been a cornerstone of modern Southern soul since his 2002 debut, One Woman Man. A former keyboardist for H-Town and collaborator with Willie Clayton, Soul carved out a solo career blending classic R&B, blues, and hip-hop-infused soul. Known for his self-produced albums and heartfelt songwriting, he’s earned the moniker “The Bad Boy of Southern Soul” while remaining one of the genre’s most consistent and beloved figures.
Timeless opens with “Put a Freak on Me,” a track that blends sultry lyrics with a smooth groove, setting the tone for the record. “The Way I Do,” the album’s lead single, showcases Soul’s ability to convey deep emotion, emphasizing themes of love and devotion. Collaborations like “Freaking with Our Boots On” featuring Luster Baker add a playful dynamic, while tracks like “There She Go” and “Toxic” delve into themes of desire and complex relationships. Throughout the album, Soul’s production remains polished, with layered harmonies and rhythms that invite listeners to both reflect and dance.
Read more … Southern Soul RnB Review
The Elite King
THE ELITE KING
Released 22 November 2024
Sir Charles Jones, ONErpm
*****
Grown-folks grooves and southern soul ballads still reign supreme in this king-sized collection of modern chitlin’ circuit gold,
Sir Charles Jones - often dubbed "The King of Southern Soul" - was born Charles Jones Jr. son of Charles Jones Sr., a composer and pianist, and Blanche Jones, a civil rights activist. Raised in Ensley, Alabama, Jones began teaching himself the fundamentals of music, including jazz, gospel, and blues, from an early age. His self-taught skills laid the foundation for his career as a singer, songwriter, arranger, and producer, leading to his debut album in 2000.
Jones has long reigned over the contemporary blues and soul scene centered around the Deep South’s so-called Chitlin’ Circuit. Jones blends silky R&B vocals, gospel roots, and a flair for sensual storytelling. Rising to prominence with slow jams like "Friday" and "Is There Anybody Lonely?", he’s carved out a loyal fanbase with his slick, grown-and-sexy sound and commanding stage presence. His catalog spans over two decades, bridging old-school soul with modern R&B production.
The Elite King finds Sir Charles Jones doing what he does best—preaching love, heartbreak, and devotion with syrupy vocals and deep Southern groove. Tracks like “Call Me” and “Sweet & Juicy” wrap classic slow jam melodies in plush keyboard pads and steamy basslines. The production stays true to Southern soul’s signature warmth, with live-sounding drums, gospel organ swells, and sensual backing harmonies. His signature falsetto on “Got Me Goin’” shows he's still in top form vocally. While the album doesn’t break new ground, it reinforces his title as the genre’s reigning monarch—refined, romantic, and resolutely Southern.
Read More ... Wikipedia
SunNeverSetsOnMusic | Sun Never Sets On Music | www.sunneversetsonmusic.com
A monthly digest of innovative new music from around the world
especially Jazz, Contemporary, International, Folk, Avant-garde, Soul, R&B and Soundtracks
including album artwork, album reviews
and YouTube playlists, Spotify playlists.