Cleo Sol continues to prove, with her new album Gentlewoman, our Album of the Week, that she is one of the most essential voices in the neo-soul and contemporary R&B scene. Also heard as a vocalist for SAULT, she is adept at hypnotizing audiences with her voice and melodies, and the title track from her latest LP is a prime example. ‘Gentlewoman’ is the Song of the Day.
The production’s elegance, hovering somewhere between neo-soul and the minimalist doo-wop spectrum, is the song’s most obvious strength, remaining calm and focused throughout its duration. Sol avoids anything that veers toward dullness with the power of her melodies, utterly seductive and worth losing yourself in.
The British artist steps into the shoes of a ‘gentlewoman’ desperate to prove to her ‘gentleman’ that he can always count on her (‘Don’t leave me, don’t leave me, don’t leave me out of this / Because I can be your gentlewoman‘).
Thus, the song’s lyrics are as peaceful as its music. In this sense, it is a perfect match: ‘I believe in the truth you fight for / You wait, the world is yours / For you to let me in, all you have to do is open the door’.
