Listen: Kwabs - "Into You"

10 June 2014, 12:45 | Written by Chris Taylor

(Tracks)

(Kwabs)

At this point, it’s just a waiting game to see if Kwabs is ever going to make a bad tune. Since “Last Stand” permanently planted itself in my head, an earworm that made it impossible to think about anything else other than Kwabs’ wonderfully soulful vocals, he’s yet to make a misstep and continues to release stunning track after stunning track. His latest effort comes in the form of “Into You”, taken from his most recent release, Pray For Love EP.

Kwabs has an exceptional ear for tasty beats that continue to compliment his smooth yet bombastic vocals. In SOHN, who produced most of his earlier singles, he seemed to have found the SBTRKT to his Sampha. Now, courtesy of Chris Loco, he’s once again found a producer capable of creating the perfect beat to match his voice. With “Into You”, he’s taken a step back from the apocalyptic feel of much of the rest of the EP, albeit only slightly, by flavouring it with a recurring tribal percussion which adds just a little bit of gaiety to the proceedings. It feels less like the sky could fall down any minute, aiming more for the “just a heavy thunderstorm” feel; still packed with emotion but just a little bit less serious.

Of course, this isn’t going to stop Kwabs trying to reach as high as he possibly can with his powerfully emotive voice, filling every single space of this track that it almost feels like it might burst out. His voice alone would probably be enough to create a wonderful track but when the guy has such a flawless ability to pick exactly the right beat for the moment it really elevates things to a whole other awe-inspiring level.