This year, we once more have collected 15 albums you might have missed over the past year, but are nonetheless very worth giving a spin. Our team collected albums by the likes of Ganavya, Michael Kiwanuka, Baby Rose, Orion Sun, Leon Thomas, and many more. Listen to the playlist and read about every release below.
- Dawuna – Naya
Lo-fi electronic R&B with a miniature feel. The record found its place in the world during the start of the pandemic. Dawuna had the music brewing for a while and uploaded it to the internet in November 2020.
It attracted the attention of ambient nomads Space Afrika and jazz drummer Moses Boyd. Its success warranted an official release (and a fresh remastering) via London label O___o.
His new record, Naya, lets the spotlight linger longer over Dawuna’s distinct take on the form, with his most enveloping and satisfying work since Glass Lit Dream placed him on the map in 2020. Crackly flashbacks, references to The Congos and Wings, broken production, and layered, pitched, panned, and phased vocals take us back to when we first heard Prince’s If I Was Your Girlfriend.
- Ganavya – Draw Something Beautiful
Trained as an improviser, scholar, dancer, and multi-instrumentalist, Tamil Nadu-raised and New York-born critically acclaimed vocalist Ganavya lives, learns, and loves fluidly from the nexus of many frameworks and understandings.
Draw Something Beautiful, one of the first pieces Ganavya ever composed when she was still a child, offers four strikingly tranquil minutes in which her voice floats delicately amid a gratifyingly minimalist, spacious arrangement. It’s accompanied by an even more meditative track, the eight-minute Ami Pana So’dras, an otherworldly combination of remarkable melody and a quiet glass harmonica drone improvised with Nils Frahm.
- Michael Kiwanuka – Small Changes
Much has changed in the five years since Michael Kiwanuka last released a record. Against the backdrop of the pandemic and a string of prime ministers passing through his native UK, Kiwanuka has faced tectonic shifts in his personal life. After recording the Mercury Prize-winning Kiwanuka in 2019, the singer finally left London, where he was born and had lived for decades. He also became a father of two, an experience that forced him to develop a steadier hand.
His new record, Small Changes, highlights a more subtle minimalist vibe in his approach to music. With his previous releases feeling like those of someone struggling and walking through the world, on Small Changes, Kiwanuka is floating above us all.
- A Song for You – Home|
Aiming to harness the power of collective singing, Berlin-based vocal ensemble A Song for You formed in 2022 to showcase the thriving alternative soul and jazz scene that operates outside the city’s reputation as Europe’s techno capital. Exploring themes of love, doubt, and communication, A Song for You makes what is human even more human—the act of singing together and finding community in music. The album is recorded and presented in such a way that you can feel yourself being a part of the over 50 members that make up the group.
- Baby Rose – Slow Burn
On the 19th of September, we had the privilege of having Baby Rose over for a performance in the upstairs room of Paradiso. Hailing from the Carolina countryside and currently based in Washington D.C., she toured Europe during late summer with her recent album Slow Burn.
Entirely produced by the Canadian band BADBADNOTGOOD, the record looks into her past as a youth growing up in the countryside without a lot of emotional attachment to the place she was located. The songs on Slow Burn were inspired in part by Rose’s experiences driving between her family’s home bases, the noise and chaos of D.C., and the quiet Carolina countryside.
- Kaicrewsade – Yvette
Kaicrewsade, the 21-year-old rapper, community organizer, and jazz fan aiming to shape the future of Chicago while making great music along the way, released the incredible Yvette last September. With a youthful approach to a genre that at times might seem like it has little connection to pop culture, Kaicrewsade—real name Makhi Miller—makes music that is infused with sonic references to drill, neo-soul, and trap, without losing his sense of self in this big puzzle.
- Lynda Dawn – 11th Hour
Lynda Dawn is a vocalist, producer, and songwriter from London. Exploring the sonic spectrum between soul, funk, and jazz, she draws upon her musically inclined upbringing to deliver a distinctive style of storytelling. Dawn’s nostalgia-tinged tracks embody her early influences via captivating grooves and celestial vocals. She cites the crackling sounds of her parents’ records along with growing up in the Pentecostal church as her spiritual education in funk and gospel expression. The record feels like a good talk with a family member you haven’t seen in a while—warm, welcoming, and hopeful.
- Orion Sun – Orion
Orion Sun’s artist biography reads, “Becoming through music.” This sentence perfectly represents the feeling captured on her new record, Orion. After doing an extensive tour around the USA, she will come over to Amsterdam on the 25th of February 2025. Orion is an honest collection of songs surrounding themes of love, heartbreak, and connection.
- October London – October Nights
Foremost a soul-rooted artist whose smooth, heartfelt vocals recall giants of the past—especially Marvin Gaye—October London is a versatile artist who also raps and is equally comfortable with R&B throwbacks, slick house productions, and organic contemporary country ballads, among other styles.
October executes the sometimes stale soul tropes in such a slick and personal way that you can feel nothing but warmth radiating from the ever-so-smooth and polished vocal performance.
We are lucky to announce that October London is performing at Tolhuistuin on the 28th and 29th of January.
- Terrace Martin – Nintendo Soul
Terrace Martin, known for his solo work as well as collaborations with Robert Glasper, 9th Wonder, Kamasi Washington, and Kendrick Lamar, has been on a spree when it comes to releasing music.
After releasing an EP in February of 2024, he followed up with a full-length album in September. The mix of soul, hip-hop, R&B, and experimental beats, in combination with the title, makes it easy to see that the project is partially inspired by Terrace’s experiences with video games as a youth.
- Ego Ella May – FIELDNOTES: COMPLETE
Ego Ella May is an R&B, neo-soul, and contemporary jazz musician from South London, England. FIELDNOTES is a project that began during the first COVID lockdown and took three years to complete.
Ella writes, “It’s about coming back to yourself time & time again, it’s about love, it’s about growth pains, & it’s about listening to your inner voice. God speaks in whispers.”
This last sentence—“God speaks in whispers”—is a perfect description of the entire project. The intimacy inherent in most of the songs on the album makes for a very compelling listen. While listening, Ella is not entering your head; you are entering hers. Sometimes it is hard, both as an artist and as a person, to say something without feeling held back by your own judgments. Ella explores this tension while reflecting on her own life.
- Leon Thomas – MUTT
Leon Thomas, full name Leon George Thomas III, is a singer and record producer from New York City. MUTT is his 2024 contribution to his discography, and it’s quite an addition. The sonic references range from T-Pain to Marvin Gaye to soul classics, as well as instrumentals reminiscent of what emerged from LA in the early 2010s. The former TV actor’s vocal performance is expressive and lyrically dense, but never overwhelming or “just too much.” The record feels like a new vintage jacket you got for a steal—fresh but with character, lived-in but not dusty.
- Fényan – Douvan Douvan
A fluent drummer, dancer, keyboard player, and composer, Fényan is deeply rooted in Black music. His live performances navigate through house music, hip-hop, broken beat, jazz, and Caribbean jazz. Douvan Douvan is a Caribbean tale about the Kreyol language, legacy, and resilience—about turning victimhood into proactivity. Douvan Douvan can be translated as “avant-garde” in Kreyol. It is a story about people growing up, facing themselves and their elders, in order to move forward toward enlightenment. It is your story.
- Bnnyhunna – Echoes of Prayer
Echoes of Prayer leans into Bnnyhunna’s West African heritage sonically and draws from the conventional experience of growing up in the church. On the project, elements of ‘70s-era funk and highlife grooves exist harmoniously alongside contemporary hip-hop rhythms, jazz undertones, and gospel choirs—all of which showcase his versatility. We recently sat down with the Amsterdam-based musician Bnnyhunna to discuss his recent releases, his vision for creating art, and the influences he grew up with.
- Lord$ – Speed It Up
LORD$ is a striking band from France that makes a danceable mix of funk, prog, pop and soul. Rémi Klein, Jay Adams, Bastien Bonnefont, Gary Haguenauer and Zablon joined forces as a group in 2021, after which they quickly began performing in various small venues. In particular, the band played at La Petit Halle de la Vilette, a venue in Paris known as a veritable hotbed of French jazz revival. In the spring of 2024, the band released their debut album, “Speed It Up,” a swinging record full of snappy songs about Billy Joel, dick pic’s and Mario Kart, among other things.
