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DeepLove VibeZ

Forty-nine records about love in its least commercial sense — devotion, grief, repair, and the kind of affection that has survived something.

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DeepLove VibeZ

Most love-song playlists are really about desire. This one is about the other thing: the slower, less photogenic version that shows up after the drama, and the set is assembled accordingly. There is almost no seduction here at all.

The range is deliberately wide — soul, gospel, folk, ambient, Brazilian jazz, a talent-show performance and a charity single all appear — and it holds together because the emotional register never breaks.

What to listen for

Artists for Grenfell's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" is the most context-dependent inclusion here. It was recorded in 2017 in response to the Grenfell Tower fire in London, which killed seventy-two people, and knowing that changes what the performance is doing entirely.

Commodores' "Sweet Love" and O'Bryan's "Still Water (Love)" are the soul anchors, and the O'Bryan is a deep cut most sets would never reach for.

José James and Mali Music's "Let It Fall" is the best-sung track on the list — a jazz singer and a gospel singer meeting in the middle.

Kenny Lattimore and Chanté Moore's "No Ordinary Love" is a brave choice: covering Sade is generally a bad idea, and they get away with it by slowing it down further.

George Michael and Astrud Gilberto's "Desafinado" is the most unexpected credit in either artist's discography, and it is lovely.

Sona Jobarteh's "Reflections" and Dub Afrika's "Love, Peace & Harmony" are the African selections, and Sevana's "Carry You" is the Jamaican one.

Lyfe Jennings' "Midnight Train" and Rahsaan Patterson's "Don't Run So Fast" are the R&B deep cuts, and Simply Red's "Holding Back The Years" is the one nobody expects and everybody knows.

Morcheeba's "Fear and Love" is the thesis statement, and it recurs across several playlists on this blog for good reason.

Go deeper

José James's No Beginning No End and Sade's Love Deluxe are the two albums this set most clearly points towards.

Sona Jobarteh's Fasiya is worth owning, and Morcheeba's Big Calm is the trip-hop record that most rewards a full listen.

Why the range works: the set holds together because the emotional register never breaks, not because the genres match. Gospel, Brazilian jazz, folk and a charity single all appear, and each is doing the same job — describing the version of love that shows up after the drama has passed, which is the harder subject and the less commercial one.

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