The Pop Corporation

When a singer who works in the lane of R&B and soul, and they use guitars, wonky production and skittish beats, it’s easy to be super lazy and liken them to Prince and Outkast. While Dijon doesn’t explicitly sound like either, we can’t help but get reminders of them when we listen to his music.

When someone is more fearless in their approach to modern soul music, not especially making eyes at the charts, you’re further reminded of the great lineage of experimental soulies that have existed over the decades, from Sly & The Family Stone, Funkadelic, Stevie, Chaka, Erykah and whoever else you want to be in mind of – and in Dijon, the latest.

While is new album ‘Baby’ may not pit him as an all-timer – it’s a little premature for that – it’s nice to listen to music that’s made on the artists’ own terms. Something of a perfectionist, this is the latest LP after his ‘Absolutely’ debut which saw him dubbed as having the potential to be a generational talent.

No pressure then.

The album lives up to any hype that may have been building, and veers from smooth and silky, to unbridled and chaotic. There’s DIY moments and high-brow studio stuff, and it’s the rough-and-smooth that makes this whole LP tick.

There’s elements that’ll have you thinking about J Dilla’s clicky rhythms and D’Angelo’s fuzzy stuff, and tracks like ‘HIGHER!’ and ‘Yamaha’ are immediate standouts on an album that’s rich with great shit.

By the time ‘Rewind’ rolls around, it’s airy, blissful soul shows an artist that’s surely in possession of a fine record collection or some killer Spotify playlists.

Effectively, what’s so beguiling about this record is that it feels like R&B with the brakes off – not too concerned about what’s hot right now, or too encumbered by the rule book. Don’t be confused – this is a hugely listenable album – but it’s got enough squirrelly details and interesting choices that Dijon feels like someone in their own lane.

If you’re willing to call this an ‘alt R&B’ album, then it’s one that feels like it has huge crossover appeal, which may well be helped by Dijon’s appearance on Justin Bieber’s newest album. New fans will be greeted with an album that’s as frantic as it is refined – all things being fair, the reputation of Dijon will only grow with further listens.

A further point that makes the album so arresting is that there’s a spontaneity and almost live feel to the songs, which is a universe away from the sterile tuning and artificial intelligence music that’s crept into so many corners of music.

When he sings “even when I’m by myself and I start to fantasise – I feel it in the pit of my chest: she loves me“, this is no lazy knocking out of platitudes – this is raw, occasionally unhinged, and a supremely rewarding listen.

This is an album to listen to start-to-finish.