Sugar
Lonely Lands Records
Producer: Tash Sultana
On this EP, the artist commands the mic on the soul-pop “Bitter Lover,” with a strong feature by BJ the Chicago Kid. Together the singers bring it on in a song that’s as catchy as a cold. (I’m puzzled, though, by the sudden shift to a jazzy/loungey saxophone outro.) Sultana is mellow and mid-tempo on the super-catchy “James Dean” which, again, is expertly layered with sonic sensations that add flavor, but never overshadow the vocal. Lastly, while “1975” ends with a puzzling outro, its middle is full of the sonic sophistication of the other tracks, especially the new-age vocal dubbing.
