WONGIE SOUL SONG(s) OF THE WEEK: leon bridges - bad bad news / bet ain't worth the hand

leon bridges - bad bad news
directed by natalie rea and starring the gorgeous paloma elsesser, this jazzy groove jam marks an updated sound from the soul crooner that has diehard fans learning how to process potentially dancing to his music from now on. all this makes his upcoming album 'good thing' very exciting for the rest of us who are more than happy to go along with whatever musical direction he's taking us on.

leon bridges - bet ain't worth the hand
[UPDATE 4/2: check out the video premiere of this dreamy video!] ok fine, you want retro soul, you got it! leon channels the spirit of the doo wop era with lush orchestrations of the 60's thrown in. it's gorgeous and marks a perfect bookend of what's to come on this album. so excited!!!

WONGIE SOUL SONG OF THE WEEK: corinne bailey rae - been to the moon

corinne bailey rae - been to the moon
the return of corinne bailey rae is both joyous and mysterious as she has taken the discreet road over the years as an artist to only reveal herself when new material is ready. with the new album 'the heart speaks in whispers', corinne offers up a beautiful jazzy number accompanied by this gorgeous video by directors favorite colour black. we have missed you, but you're back so happy news for all!

AUDIO PREMIERE: mary j blige - therapy

mary j blige - therapy
co-written by jimmy napes and sam smith, this jazzy gospel number is by far the best thing i've heard from mjb's upcoming 'the london sessions' so far (call me blasphemous, but every song just lacks a certain oomph). working with the creme of the current uk soul scene, you would have thought that the disclosure, naughty boy, emeli sande touches would bring something kick ass to this diva. maybe the other tracks will surprise me...

COOL MIX: robert glasper feat emeli sande - somebody else

robert glasper feat emeli sande - somebody else
jazz pianist robert glasper recently offered up a surprise of an album featuring a slew of collaborations including jill scott and norah jones, all singing over robert's special musical sauce. but one of the highlights definitely comes in the form of this number featuring emeli sande. though it's mellow in nature, the song showcases emeli's ability to take on characters through her lyrical vocals. pretty neat.

here's an additional bit of cool, robert describes how he met emeli and how she ended up recording this slick track for his new album: