London's B-ahwe has been in the business of honing her artistic craft for a few years now, having issued a number of digital-only singles and EPs via Bandcamp, yet it's with Motions—her debut physical release—that she seems to have cemented her identity as an artist.
A collection of six gorgeous compositions replete with a semi-instrumental, pace-setting introduction, Motions may be slight in its run-time but it is by no means insubstantial in content. Indeed, you'd be hard-pushed to find a better collection of dreamy neo-soul workouts to have hit shelves this year; though Australian outfit Hiatus Kaiyote are a definite reference point in B-ahwe's sound, Motions is every bit as impressive as that Antipodean outfit's excellent and recently released Mood Valiant.
Rich sonic flourishes that are at once both luscious in their depth and markedly restrained in their delivery, Motions' five songs pair B-ahwe's tremendously expressive voice with a set of rhythmically-taut, jazzily-nuanced backbeats that tread the line between contemporary funk and indie-soul with a degree of confidence rare for any artist as much of a relative newcomer as her.
Opting to self-release Motions, its author has issued this set on vinyl, marking the inaugural release of her work on a physical format. Manufactured by Czech powerhouse GZ Media, the EP's roughly mid-weight slab of black wax certainly looks great; our copy was free of the surface marks that can at times appear on the surfaces of discs handled with insufficient care during the packaging process—and, reflective of that, it sounded great.
GZ's pressings tend to boast whisper-quiet noise floors and this release is certainly no exception in that regard but, even better, we also found our copy to be free of audible surface noise, resulting in a pleasurable listening experience that allowed us to enjoy the EP's rich soundscapes in uninterrupted fashion. Indeed, Motions' slick production and sonorous mastering come through with full force on this pressing, lending its compact compositions a striking auditory immediacy.
Presentation for this release is also arresting; the cover boasts art that feels entirely apropos to the sonic content it represents offering, as it does, imagery that is at once both ambiguous and immediately engaging. The cover itself is constructed modestly, having been wrought from standard-width cardstock, but that is entirely understandable considering both that this is a self-released title from an emergent artist and that it has been offered at a very reasonable price-point (£12.99) direct from the artist's Bandcamp page.
As it is, the print quality and colours are excellent throughout and the labels likewise look great. An evident labour of love from those involved, B-ahwe's Motions is a confident and deftly engaging introduction to a considerable talent and, in its vinyl release, listeners have the opportunity to immerse themselves in its soundstages through the ideal format for such poignantly understated soul.
