Here at Albumism, we live for new music—music to feed our unquenchable thirst for albums that elevate and energize us. It’s been a very long wait for new solo music from Raphael Saadiq, but all the signs are that that wait is nearly over. Having mined soul music’s past as inspiration for The Way I See It (2008) and Stone Rollin’ (2011), we waited with baited breath to see what would provide the impetus this time around.
Today, Saadiq has officially revealed plans to release his fifth solo studio album entitled Jimmy Lee on August 23rd and the project’s lead single “Something Keeps Calling Me” has arrived ready for consumption across all streaming formats. A snippet recently teased on Saadiq’s Instagram account revealed a fuzzed up Ronald Isley-esque guitar to send soul fans salivating. Within a split second of hearing the full track, that same gloriously lugubrious bass that enveloped Solange’s A Seat At The Table (2016) is also evident, sending us in to rapture.
Featuring Rob ‘Fonksta’ Bacon (presumably playing the bejesus out of his guitar), it captures both the past and the present, while forging a future that has us on tenterhooks to hear the rest of the album when it drops in late August. Details are scant but one thing is for sure: we can’t wait. Catch the lead-off song below, reserve your tickets for his upcoming summer tour here, and join us in counting down the days to the 23rd of August.
LISTEN: