The young New York-based singer and rapper Topaz Jones comes from a family of '70s funk musicians, and he injects his own music with the squiggly musicality of his forebears. Last month, Jones came out with a double-A-sided single -- or the streaming version of a double-A-sided single, anyway. Both of his songs, "Toothache" and "Zoom," impressed the hell out of us. That was apparently the first in a whole series of two-song singles, and the second one is out now.
Jones has just shared two new tracks, "Nectar" and "Pleasure Pain Passion." "Nectar" is a squirmy, funky lope with a nasty, off kilter synth line and lush, jazz-inflected pianos. It's a self-consciously sexy song, and it's got a whole lot of Prince in it. "Pleasure Pain Passion," meanwhile, is slower and more introspective, but Jones still flexes on it, and it's got the same sort of '70s-throwback strut to it. On both tracks, Jones switches fluidly back and forth between rapping and singing, and he does both with a graceful sort of panache.
Jones has lately been playing shows with Portugal. The Man, which is probably a smart career move for him. But he's gifted enough that his music demands an audience outside of the Spotify-core world. Listen to both of his new tracks below.
"Nectar" and "Pleasure Pain Passion" are out now.
