Jams of the Week: Cleo Sol, Louis VI, Bodega, Naomi Scott, Sunflower Bean

This week: let Cleo Sol enchant you with her silken vocals, get some jazz with Louis VI, look at the mar­que in 1080p with Bode­ga, make your exes irrel­e­vant with Nao­mi Scott, and allow Sun­flower Bean to bring out the Sat­ur­day morn­ing sunshine.

*** Lis­ten to even more new music on The Fresh List playlist ***

‘Why Don’t You’ by Cleo Sol

Slow­ly but sure­ly, the world is falling in love with Cleo Sol – and you will, too. Now in her 20s, this west Lon­don native has been part of the music scene since her teens. She stepped away from music for a time. But now she’s back with new songs and greater sense of self, and she’s ready to step up to the next level.

‘Why Don’t You’, Cleo’s come­back sin­gle, is an aston­ish­ing mas­ter­class of soul­ful jazz, filled with pres­ence. Cleo’s sonorous jazz vocals are so clear, so silky, that you are prac­ti­cal­ly bathed in them as you listen.

You’ll find equal­ly arrest­ing vers­es and live instru­men­ta­tion on her first EP, Win­ter Songs, which is out now. If you enjoy Sade, Esper­an­za Spald­ing, or Lianne La Havas, you need Cleo Sol in your life right away.

‘Jazz Got Me (feat. Mike Jenkins)’ by Louis VI

Word­smith and pro­duc­er Louis VI is back with anoth­er street-smart hip hop siz­zler in ‘Jazz Got Me’. Self-pro­duced by Louis, it also fea­tures some con­scious vers­es by Chica­go rap­per Mike Jenk­ins. Scoop this.

‘How Did This Happen?’ by Bodega

“Your playlist knows you bet­ter than your clos­est lover,” wails the singer of New York group, Bode­ga. Bass and gui­tar lines jolt like seis­mic tremors on this furi­ous dose of satir­i­cal alt-rock, akin to The Stroke or The Fall. The com­ic qual­i­ty in the vers­es (“Look at the mar­que in 1080p”) make this track all the better.

‘Irrelevant (feat. Nick Brewer)’ by Naomi Scott

Ris­ing star, Nao­mi Scott, best known for her film and TV roles (Pow­er Rangers, Ter­ra Nova), has returned to UK shores and teamed up with fel­low Lon­don­er Nick Brew­er on this slick pop jam, ‘Irrel­e­vant’. Embody­ing a woman wronged by her lover, Scott’s soft vers­es drift through the sparse elec­tron­ic instru­men­ta­tion of this song. And Brewer’s but­ter-smooth rap fits right in with the song’s tone. If you’ve not heard Scott’s pre­vi­ous work, check out her Promis­es EP. Scott’s first UK tour starts in May, and tick­ets are on sale now.

‘Twentytwo’ by Sunflower Bean

‘Twen­tyt­wo’ is cur­rent­ly our favourite cut from Sun­flower Bean’s sec­ond album, Twen­tyt­wo in Blue. The trio – gui­tarist Nick Kivlen, drum­mer Jacob Faber, and bassist and lead singer Julia Cum­ming – have tak­en their har­mo­nious alter­na­tive rock to even greater heights with this ener­getic song. Every time we hear this, it’s like wak­ing up on a Sat­ur­day morn­ing to com­fort­ing sound of The Car­pen­ters and Tame Impala. Instant classic.

*** Lis­ten to even more new music on The Fresh List playlist ***

Image: cour­tesy of Cleo Sol