Despite being solely 24, singer-songwriter Omar Apollo is possessed of a remarkably mature voice. It effortlessly meandered by way of a nonchalant tenor and crooning falsetto on 2017’s breakout single Ugotme and has since traversed the whole lot from guitar-laced funk to Latin folks and club-readRob&B. This genre-hopping, over the course of two EPs and 2020’s mixtape Apolonio, has drawn comparisons to the likes of latest neo-soul artists Daniel Caesar and Miguel, with out committing to a specific st One.
On his debut album Apollo finds his energy within the whispering intimacy of downtempo ballads. Highlights are available its softest moments, from the plaintive guitar strumming and stacked harmonies of Mr Neighbour to Invincible (that includes Caesar) – dovetailing the pair’s remarkably related voices over snappy, compressed drum professional Uptempo.
Uptempo numbers such because the Pharrell-produced Tamagotchi and the chugging Speak, in the meantime, really feel shoehorned in for radio play, eradicating respiration house for Apollo’s vibrato-laden over stuffingerstuffing the document to 16 tracks. Apollo’s aptitude for sudden genres can present lovely outcomes, as on the Exarning En El Olvido, however it may possibly equally converse of a jarring restlessness. As soon as he embraces the knowledge of that softness, he’ll come into his personal.