R&b bops of the week, with a late-night soul record about the kind of pull between two people that nobody has a clean word for.
R. Nelson – Gravity
R. Nelson serves up a gorgeous piece of contemporary soul: atmospheric, emotionally precise, and the kind of track that sounds better the third time than the first.
“Gravity” takes the idea of invisible pull between people and turns it into a production choice: the track breathes and kind of evolves slowly. R. Nelson builds his sound around the emotional registers that sit between confidence and self-doubt, between closeness and distance, and “Gravity” is the clearest expression of that instinct yet. This one’s as smooth as butter and has an incredible groove; but best of all the song on top of the groove is fantastic. Excitingly, it’s already picked up international playlist support and media coverage. We’re not really surprised, cos it’s a vibe.
R. Nelson operates out of Washington, DC under his own Ashy Knuckle Productions imprint, and has been steadily building a catalogue that includes “Why Are You So Beautiful” and “Do I Deserve Love” alongside this latest single. His reference points are classic soul traditions filtered through contemporary production sensibility, and we just love where it ends up. A great single, can’t wait for the next one.
Montana Joanna – Same Stars
Montana Joanna’s “Same Stars” is a gorgeous modern retro soul debut: horns, funky rhythm, a self-taught bassist who went looking for songs and found some brilliant ones quickly
“Same Stars” is built on live instrumentation and a playful, jazzy vocal that sits squarely in the classic soul tradition without ever feeling backwards looking. This has a serious groove, with the horns and funky rhythm section giving it the ‘band in a room ‘ warmth. And not just that, the craft in this song, and melodic confidence, suggests an artist who has been listening closely to this music for a long time before deciding to make her own version of it. It is a strong, fully formed debut single that establishes a clear direction from the first bar.
Montana Joanna is a Santa Fe-based singer, songwriter and bassist who taught herself bass guitar in 2020 and began writing original songs on the instrument almost immediately. She performs across multiple bands and genres, including indie rock band Luminatrix, whose album Hide and Seek charted on college radio in 2024. Her solo work as a modern retro soul artist centres on live instruments and a wonderfully clean, natural vocal tone that owes as much to her jazz background as to the soul records she draws from. It’s incredibly exciting debut and we’re eager to see where Montana goes next.