Today's more athletic brand of R&B is all fine and good, but sometimes you want a bit more than the slick production and endless sea of oversinging and falsetto that seems to be mainstream R&B's flavor du jour. So, where do you look when you need a little bit of substance and art with your soul music? Look no further than indie artist Diggs Duke. If you're familiar with the sound of Coultrain or Jose James, then Diggs will be right up your alley. A vocalist as well as an multi-instrumentalist, he utilizes the textures of jazz in his work to create a rich, full sound that is at once soothing and attention grabbing.
Look no further than his latest EP, Gravity, for proof of this. The title track is a short but sweet groove anchored by the slight rasp of his voice that, as its title suggests, you'll find yourself pulled to for repeated listens. Elsewhere on the EP, "The Epic Lie," though shorter than its title suggests, blends jazz and soul effortlessly as Diggs has a musical heart-to-heart with his lover about where their love is going. Right now, Diggs is offering the five-track EP on his Bandcamp page. If you're lucky enough to be one of the first 200 downloaders, you'll be able to grab it on a pay-what-you-like basis. While you're downloading, you can also visit his SoundCloud page to listen to -- and download -- a few more goodies from Diggs. For those who haven't hightailed it to snatch up the EP, check it out, including "Gravity" and "The Epic Lie," below.
