Label: Garden Records Released: July 2021
Flwr Chyld is an artist who is truly worthy of the term. For those of you uninitiated on this exceptional talent - he is a producer, musician and singer from Atlanta. Through his unconventional but accessible blend of traditional R&B, Funk & House he has released two solo albums, and a collaborative live project with James Tillman in which he plays some of the most beautiful solo Fender Rhodes I’ve ever heard, in any context.
Recent single ‘Feel Your Love’ opens with a strange drum pattern followed by gently filtered bass that provides and then underpins stabs within this broken yet fluid groove. The conversation between the bassline and the veiled wall of synth then leads into gentle broken chords on the Wurlitzer that meticulously warble beneath the cool romance of Flwr Chyld’s vocal. This being the first time he’s performed his own vocals on a track-only further affirms his already boundless repertoire of musical excellence.
The middle eight though is where I am truly assured of the musicality at play here. At this point I am reminded of the legendary Patrice Rushen, who mastered that great duality of being able to incorporate the sophistication of Jazz into commercial tracks, making it completely fluent even for those who do not speak the language of music. An artist who indeed is unfolding like a flower facing the sun, Flwr Chyld is at the very top of my ones to watch for the coming year. He possesses the abilities of the old masters, yet has the vitality of an ultra-musical modernist. The best is truly yet to come.