Welcome all music lovers and participants alike! Your music library is a collection and I intend to help you expand it, one step at a time. The musical term suite pertains to a loose collection of instrumental compositions. I love sharing the new songs/artist/bands etc. that I discover, as well as those I absolutely respect, and think people need to know about. So welcome to the suite, keep an open mind, and I hope you enjoy this week’s features…
With such an awesome sense of fashion and style, and a spirit that’s not afraid to be free, Solange Knowles has reached many goals this year alone. She was recently appointed to be the new art director for the sneaker brand Puma. To top that, she started Saint Heron, a project where she “founded her own Sony imprint Saint Records and [executive produced] its first release.”
Saint Heron is a compilation of songs from R&B artists that she thinks are underrated and need to be heard (which is quite similar to my drive for Steph’s Suite Sounds!), so I thought this would be quite fitting to share with everyone. The “mixtape” features artists that we’ve heard of before, or have experienced, such as Cassie and Jhené Aiko (who was recently featured on Drake’s Nothing Was the Same album). Saint Heron is setting out to do an annual project where Solange will gather more artists every year for a certain theme. The theme that Saint Heron puts forth is an eclectic spin on the new R&B of our generation. The compilation is like a full piece of everything different that your ears have been waiting to hear and your creative soul has been waiting to experience.
To my surprise, two artists that I had just discovered are featured in this work, Sampha and Kelela! Sampha, like Jhené Aiko, was featured on Drake’s track “Too Much” from Nothing Was the Same. At first listen, without looking at the song title and feature, I thought it was James Blake, but it wasn’t! Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised to hear someone else with such a distinguished tone but in a very different style.
Saint Heron is an experience, and I think it’s a brilliant way to get artists’ voices circulating. To experience some of the masterpieces on this LP, I found a playlist on YouTube that features some of the full versions of the songs on Saint Heron. Solange even threw a track on there herself, called “Cash In.”
Here are some of the tracks that I especially like from the LP:
- Kelela – “Go All Night“
- Iman Omari – “Energy“
- Sampha – “Beneath the Truth“
- Jhené Aiko – “Drinking and Driving“
- India Shawn – “I’m Alive“
The creativity that has been brought together on this LP is beyond worthy of recognition—from the art work, to the projects, down to the vocal levels on each track. Solange Knowles has brought this transcending project forth at the right time. I mean, thank heavens because I know I’ve been crying about how there haven’t been any sudden splurges of R&B lately, besides the singing rappers. Well, now I can sit contentedly for a couple months (or at least until my music thirst builds up again). Support the damn movement, guys! Check out Saint Heron, and be free! Here’s a link to the website, saintheron.com. I know I’m pumped for the next Saint project to surface next year–you should be too! Get ready.