Solange Knowles has stepped out past sister Beyonce’s explosive career and has paved the way for her own smooth retro-soul sound. Entering the music industry back in the early 2000’s with a smooth contemporary R&B sound Solange’s most recent work includes collaborations with the likes of Pharrell Williams, Gucci Mane and the-Dream releasing her fourth album “When I Get Home” just two months ago in March 2019. The singer is set to tour the summer festival season playing music festivals such as Primavera Sound Festival, Parklife 2019 and Lovebox Festival.

I was surprised to hear the return of Solange Knowles just a few months ago and was even more surprised at how much I enjoyed her 19 track album. I’ve never really been that into Beyonce’s sound and understandably always associated Solange with sister Beyonce thus, never listening to her previous works. When I heard “Binz” and “Stay Flo” I was impressed by the retro-soul genre of her new music. I’m quite excited to go back through the rest of this artists extensive career to see what I’ve missed through unfairly categorising her as the same pop genre as her sister.

 

The song writing process

Sharing the same beautiful, soulful voice as sister Beyonce, I love the rawness of this clip and the peak inside the creative process inside Solange’s head. The clip features a number of jam sessions which show the experimentation and collaboration used throughout the process of creating “A Seat at The Table” released in 2016. The footage and the subject of content (the music) is edited in such a way which makes the 11 minute clip feel like a documentary. I love the creative thinking behind this clip and wish that it was a more frequent thing that artists did.

an unlikely film clip

This was definitely not the film clip I or the rest of Solange’s two million listeners thought they’d be watching for popular track “Binz” off her new album. The self-shot clip is an ode to feeling yourself and loving what stares at you in the mirror – literally.

 

Beautiful cover art

I absolutely love Solange’s beautiful cover art and think her last two albums have shown the growth of this artists triumphant career. “A Seat at the Table” on the left and most recently “When I get Home” on the right signify the musicians journey into making more sophisticated and experimental soul music. The artistic nature of the film photographed album covers create a more creatively fulfilling package in my eyes.