If you are setting up your playlist of new songs this month, then check out these recommendations of notable albums that have recently dropped on streaming platforms.
The Nigerian Queen of Afrobeats returns with her fourth album containing songs that speak to her personal experience of love and heartbreak in a frank and sometimes feisty manner.
It took the 45-year-old graduate of the prestigious Berklee College of Music in the US two years, to make this album that she describes as a healing process.
The title came about from her response to constant enquiries from her team during the production of the album” I don’t have a name; this one is so personal…,” she would say.
Her sound here is more of slick contemporary R&B than your typical Afrobeats. Which should come as no surprise from someone whose career started touring as a singer for Mary J. Blige and performing background vocals on Whitney Houston’s final album, I Look to You in 2009.
The album opens with the emotional I’m Done with Tiwa’s vocal power in full flow, accompanied by a tender piano, expressing the hurt caused by a cheating partner.
There is a happier tone on You4Me flavored with a sample of Tamia’s 1998 hit So into You, and with close to three million plays on Spotify at the time of writing, sounds like the song to carry the album.
Other infectious tracks are On the Low (featuring British rapper Skepta) Twisted, For One Night and the powerful ballad You’re Not the First (You’re Just the Worst).
Travis Greene
Made In the South
This contemporary gospel music heavyweight has released a new album of nine uplifting songs that honor the influence of his roots in the south of the US.
Album cover of ‘Made in the South’ by gospel artist Travis Greene.
Photo credit: Pool
“This record is different from any of my other records,” Travis Greene wrote on social media last week. “The vibe, the features, all of it. It is untraditional worship but worship nonetheless.”
The genre- defying project, from gospel to soul and hip-hop, represents a mission of outreach to a wider audience, beyond the typical gospel fanbase.
The album is packed with powerhouse collaborations: Greene and Jennifer Hudson combine for the explosive album opening track Touched by Fire, while Maverick City Music and Tasha Cobbs Leonard bring a combined force to the deeply spiritual Big Heart.
There is a Caribbean vibe with Jamaican legend Chevelle Franklin and Nigerian gospel artist Limoblaze on Never Ever and soul singer Andra Day powers her way on the anthem of hope and optimism, Let Freedom Ring. There’s an urban edge to Come Through featuring rapper Lecrae and US based Zimbabwean singer Annatoria adds her vocals to There’s Always More.
George Benson
Summer Breezin'
This is a new compilation of 13 of the greatest hits by the legendary guitarist/vocalist and songwriter. George Benson established the template for the crossover from straight-ahead jazz to contemporary R&B, soul and pop which has been so successfully adopted by generations of similar artists like Al Jarreau, Jonathan Butler, Dave Koz, Norman Brown and others
This compilation released on September 5, is a journey from his jazz-fusion, instrumental classics like the enchanting Breezin’, Mimosa, the collaboration with fellow guitarist Earl Klugh and Affirmation to R&B flavoured, mainstream hits like the Quincy Jones- produced 1980 classic Give Me the Night, Turn Your Love Around and Lady Love Me (One More Time).
Benson who turned 82 in March this year, first recorded at the age of nine and by the 1960s had become one of the notable jazz guitarists in the US.
The ten-time Grammy Award winner has contributed a lifetime worth of music to the world as his older fanbase know and for a younger generation out to discover the genius, this compilation is a good starting point as you dig into his extensive repertoire
Lila Ike
Treasure Love
From the first track on the album Scatter it becomes evident that this is an exciting new talent from the island that has produced lots of extraordinary talent through the years.
Album cover of ‘Treasure Love’ by Jamaican singer Lila Ike.
Photo credit: Pool
Born in 1994, Lila is on the vanguard of a new generation bringing a fresh sound to Jamaican music by adding contemporary elements to the tradition of reggae and dancehall.
Her first full- length album was partly recorded at Bob Marley’s iconic Tuff Gong studios in Kingston and executive produced by Grammy nominated artist Protégé who has mentored Lila since the start of her career
Some of the island’s top musicians played on the recording and collaborators include R&B star H.E.R on the album’s biggest hit He Loves Us Both, rapper Joey Bada$$ on Fry Plantain and UK soul singer Maverick Sabre on All That and More. Lila spits the streetwise dancehall vibes and conscious spiritual messages while retaining a smooth soulful vocal delivery
She pays homage to the legends by sampling Peter Tosh’s classic Igziabeher on her opening track Scatter and reworking Patra’s 1990s dancehall hit Romantic. You may get stuck on All Over the World which features her mentor Protégé, thanks to its bouncy feel-good rhythm.
