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Leven Kali Soundz

Eight tracks from a Southern California singer, producer and multi-instrumentalist who has quietly been a favourite of other musicians for years.

Leven Kali Talks New Project "Hightide" and Eventual Tour | Teen Vogue

Leven Kali

Leven Kali occupies a specific and useful position in contemporary R&B: he is the artist other artists cite, without ever having had the record that would make him a household name. He writes, sings, produces and plays, which is why his tracks have a coherence that session-built records lack.

The sound is Californian in the most literal sense — warm, unhurried, built on live bass and electric piano, with a lightness that is much harder to achieve than melancholy. Where most of his contemporaries were making records about damage, Kali has mostly made records about pleasure, and he does it without ever sounding trivial.

He also turns up repeatedly on other people's playlists, which is the honest measure of a musician in this era.

What to listen for

"Do U Wrong" with Syd is the essential track and the best introduction — two voices that sit in almost the same register, over a bassline that does most of the emotional work.

"Smile" is the sunniest thing here and the one most likely to stay with you, and "Yours" is the most soulful.

"Mad At U" is the one where the writing is sharpest — a small domestic argument rendered without any of the melodrama the subject invites.

"Thursday" and "Nunwrong" are the deep cuts, and both show how much of the arrangement he handles himself.

"iKYLi" with Komari and Crystal Caines is the collaborative one, and Maeta's "Doesn't Mean A Thing" is the guest appearance that shows how well he works in support of another singer.

Go deeper

The Low Tide EP is the place to start — short, complete and the best summary of what he does.

Syd's Fin and The Internet's Hive Mind are the records that share his world most closely. For other singer-producers working the same warm, live-instrument seam, follow Mac Ayres, Steve Lacy and Jordan Rakei.

Listening note: the bass is doing the emotional work in almost every track here, and it is usually him playing it. Follow the bassline rather than the vocal and you will hear why other musicians rate him so highly — the parts are melodic in a way programmed bass almost never is, and they carry the mood on their own.

Eight tracks is a short introduction, so treat it as a door rather than a summary and go to the EPs next.

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