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.