Canadian soul/rhythm and blues producer Slakah The Beatchild is making us wait a little longer for the long-awaited Soul Movement vol. 2, which is now due to be released in January 2014. Thankfully the good man has released five tantalising bonus tracks available for free download off the beatchild bandcamp page, which you can find here.
This is an exciting taster – all five tracks showcase Beatchild’s extraordinary ability to blend elements of different genres seamlessly, whilst still maintaining a signature sound as a producer. Take I Surrender, for example – this sweet, soulful ballad sails over sparkly acoustic guitar and silky vocal harmonies. His sound is reminiscent of neo-soul legends such as Dwele and Bilal, but there is an unequivocal folk/ballad softness to counteract the RnB flavour. Getting In The Way is by far the most distinctive RnB track, with its 808 drums and and funky fretless bass. With a smooth, sexy groove and lots of dominant seventh chords (responsible for that sexy tension), Afrocentric ad lib vocal improvisations coalesce to produce a very Dwele-esque track.
I was really impressed by what I heard in these five bonus tracks. RnB producers are a dime a dozen these days, but artists that can create and maintain a unique sound are few and far between and I think Slakah The Beatchild falls neatly into this category. My only criticism is that the vocals on these five tracks sound very similar, with the focus being directly on high-end harmonies (especially on Plunderland), to the point that the lower register harmonies tend to be neglected. Soul Movement vol. 2 is released January 6 2014 but you can preorder your signed 12″ copy of the album here.
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