Kansas City, MO music artist and producer, Contrell, is currently promoting his single “Real Love”. It feels like evidence that the track is a more ambitious and grandiose project than its predecessors. It’s also a better and more satisfying song, which plays to its author’s considerable strengths. This is an introspective canvas which reveals Contrell’s inner thoughts, feelings and past experiences. The listener seamlessly drifts between a tasteful melody, a shuffling slow-burning beat and resonant pianos under the direction of Contrell’s distinctive vocals and mesmerizing beat.
The production of “Real Love” is refined and impressive, with some particularly finessed instrumental writing, which helps set the scene. The instrumental lines alternate between shimmering key stabs to thumping kick drums, and wishing hi-hats to warm synths and sliding basslines.
The combination of these elements helps to create an emotional and sentimental vibe throughout. The song relies on Contrell’s expressive vocals just as much as it depends on his more broken and raspy tones.
“Real Love” is a very strong outing from Contrell and is a soulful stroll on the shores of traditional R&B that visits the realms of hip-hop. With this song, Contrell’s energy, passion and ability to create his unique sound is unquestionable.
The single shows that Contrell is a versatile and imaginative musician whose skillset rightfully rises each day. “Real Love” is nostalgic love vibe, which is wonderfully crafted and leaves the listener satisfied but also desperate to see what Contrell is able create in the future.
At the heart of Contrell’s music lies an emotional unburdening of exuberant proportions. It’s present in the shades of intensity his voice carries between croon and rasp, the luxurious kinetics of his inspired instrumentals.
On “Real Love”, Contrell maintains this blueprint as he masters the equilibrium between meticulousness and ease, between vintage R&B and new-school hip-hop. The song is awash in golden timbres and full-blooded textures. It’s lush and artfully mixed.
Residing in the clearly defined and easily accessible contours of mainstream verse-chorus-verse song structures, Contrell also allows those boundaries to blur and shift, giving way to a chilled-down groove.
Throughout, Contrell is shrewd enough in the design and construction of his music to prevent the amalgamation of these elements from slipping into a pastiche. Hence, he produces a sonic palette that surpasses the works of many of his contemporaries working under a similar style.
Perhaps more than any other track in his back catalog, “Real Love” highlights Contrell’s pure vocal and songwriting ability. Although superficially it appears to be a fairly straightforward love song, Contrell’s varying cadence and ear for an interesting melody really elevates the record.
For those who are excited by an artist unafraid to invent, experiment, and unpack his emotions at the same time, then look no further than Contrell and the sound of his authenticity on “Real Love”. He arrives here with more maturity to add to his stylistic flair.
OFFICIAL LINKS: INSTAGRAM – FACEBOOK – APPLE MUSIC – SPOTIFY – YOUTUBE
