Continuing to revolutionize the modern understanding and expectation of R&B, Son Little delivers an unadulterated transmission of black American music performed in its praying and pleading mother tongue.
Conceived in a cabin overlooking the Delaware River in upstate New York, Like Neptune is an open and vulnerable portrayal of unbridled joy and self-acceptance. In this verdant space of freedom, Son Little transmutes the chronic pain of self-doubt into a beautiful opus about overcoming generational trauma, decorating the altar of the primordial blues, and elevating the labor of healing to high art. - ANTI-Records
Release Date: September 9, 2022
Label: ANTI-Records
Recording Location: New York
Photo credit: Cynthia Perez
Bandcamp Daily Album Overview
"Born Aaron Earl Livingston, Philadelphia native singer and guitarist Son Little kept journals as a kid. The emotional catalyst for his latest album Like Neptune was formulated during the time Livingston spent during the pandemic reading through more than seventy books of letters written to and from himself throughout his youth. The result is a set of songs that are deeply personal reflections on life, healing, and self-actualization.
The album’s opener “Drummer” is a slick and funky, mid-tempo tune with a nimble bassline and a gorgeous bridge. Lyrically, Livingston calls back to James Brown’s famed proclamation that we “give the drummer some,” submitting the drive of the music to its foundational element: the rhythm. From here, Livingston expands into a plea for his own emotional well-being, “You been giving me something, but I’ma need a little air/ You giving me nothing but I’ma get it somewhere I swear.” With its dreamy synths, finger snaps, and Livingston’s sweet, vulnerable vocal, “6AM” conjures an emotional space not unlike the bittersweet romanticism of Parade/Under The Cherry Moon-era Prince."
Continue reading Bandcamp Daily's article by John Morrison here.
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Image taken in Listening Room #2 at the Dubai Audio Showroom, Sheikh Zayed Road.
