Kadhja Bonet: phantasmagoric R&B, soul from another time, another place

October 25, 2016 10:14 PM

Celestial Soul Singer Kadhja Bonet's Voice Has the Power to Stop Time. At least, that's the headline from LA Weekly's interview with young-looking musician who claims that she was born in 1784 in the backseat of a sea-foam green space pinto. But as The Guardian puts it, "Sometimes it’s like listening to music ... from the 1940s, say – drenched as it is in Disney-sweet Hollywood strings. At others it seems as though it’s beamed in from the 2040s, from a science fictional future when soul has become completely deracinated and etherised." Enough talk, time for the music! Enjoy The Visitor, her debut album, and for a stripped-down sound, here's Kadhja performing Fairweather Friend live and This Love in April 2015, just her vocals, her guitar, and a backing vocalist/ guitarist.
posted by filthy light thief (6 comments total)

The album is on her Bandcamp page, where you can find a few more singles. The album is a slightly expanded version of her self-released EP by the same title (The Visitor), available once as a limited-edition, expanded vinyl release (sold out, but the bonus tracks are still stream-able there, or in their individual/ single form from her Bandcamp page). She's now signed to Fat Possum, who released her debut EP expanded into an album.

And if you can't stream from Bandcamp, the album is up on YouTube as an official playlist, though the auto-generated playlist is missing Nobody Other, available there officially on YouTube.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:18 PM on October 25, 2016

Bonus track: Kadhja Bonet, rj & Mark Maxwell - Latenight Munchies (Soundcloud, free download), from the compilation Not For Sale: Red Bull Music Academy Tokyo 2014 (Soundcloud playlist; background on the compilation; official, convenient ZIP'd compilation).
posted by filthy light thief at 10:29 PM on October 25, 2016

Filthy Light Thief! You did it again! Wonderful,wonderful, wonderful, thank you!
posted by ouke at 11:20 PM on October 25, 2016

Most of the way through and the sofar stuff was a trifle too sparse and understated for me, but I'm digging the album. I feel a bit like when Madeline Peyroux hit the scene, but Bonet is definitely carving out her own unique style. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
posted by BrotherCaine at 2:15 AM on October 26, 2016

Now this here is some best of the web. Thanks for putting her on my radar. Playing her album right now and it soars.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 1:25 PM on October 26, 2016

God, I love the Blue! Thanks FLT.
posted by Malingering Hector at 3:43 PM on October 26, 2016