EP Review: Kelela – ‘Cut 4 Me’

Singers’ teaming up with forward-thinking dance producers to make pure pop has become a trend in recent years – think Jessie Ware and Julio Bashmore.

It seems US singer Kelela had the same idea when deciding to become a singer by teaming up with skewed and grimy sounds of Bok Bok and Girl Unit.

Kelela’s debut free mixtape ‘Cut 4 Me’ sees her channel the diva spirit of classic era Mariah and Janet but with a distinctive nasal coo that’s very much her own.

‘Cut 4 Me’ has to be one of the most forward-thinking releases of 2013 that is a well constructed Launchpad that Kelela’s acquired and she definitely doesn’t waste it. If the chemistry between Kelela and the music hadn’t been genuine the results of the mixtape could have lacked human touch.

‘Cut 4 Me’ has floaty Sci-Fi production that has poise and precision (‘Enemy’) and is a tense, restricted piece of R&B that is reminiscent of 90s Aaliyah and Brandy (‘Bank Head’) that Kelela has said both have heavily influenced her throughout this mixtape.

It is an ambitiously catchy record as well as being aesthetically pleasing. Kelela takes these moody electronic sounds (‘Go All Night’ and ‘Cherry Coffee’) that orbit club nights and gives them a pop-friendly edge.

The result is an album full of top shelf love songs that sounds like they’ve come from the very near future.

Listen to Kelela’s mixtape ‘Cut 4 Me’:

By Jordan Shepley