Rose in the Dark

Timelessness is a dubious concept that is all too often used to boost conservative music and erase historical realities. But DAMN, this album dropped as if from somewhere completely outside of the passing of the decades. It feels somehow contemporary with Curtis Mayfield, D’Angelo, lovers’ rock, Saint Etienne, Jill Scott, Theo Parrish and Dusty Springfield all at once. Its guide to hopes, dreams and growing up, delivered by Sol with gentle purity but earthy confidence, feel like centuries old wisdom - yet at the same time it’s completely of 21st century London. It’s as great as any record from the SAULT collective, which Sol forms part of with husband Inflo, and there’s no question at all that it will stand the test of time.

2020 debut album from UK soul artist Cleo Sol was an exemplary collection of intimate soul and close-up R’n’B with hints of dub and jazz, given a contemporary feel via producer Inflo’s Black music history mix-and-match approach. Sol delivers a series of tender, kindhearted and reflective songs across the range of soul music flavours, from the string-soaked contemporary soul “When I’m In Your Arms,” to the finely-wrought delicate acoustic ballad “Butterfly” or classy R’n’B finisher “Her Light.” Throughout her voice is a tender, lightly bewitching instrument that has little need for overtly showy melisma or overblown soul-screaming, her tone simple and pure, the emotional weight contained in gently controlled melodies and softly sweeping harmonies. Rose In The Dark possesses a simmering, low-key, late-night intensity, the musical equivalent of quietly glowing embers rather than ostentatious, gaudy flames.