https://soundcloud.com/bluenoterecords/jose-james-u-r-the-1
Modern jazz singer José James must have been eager to return to the studio after last year’s No Beginning No End, as he is already set to put out its follow-up, While You Were Sleeping, just next month. With its rushes of gleaming synth, “EveryLittleThing” was a kind of edgy lead single for the project, but James has offered an even more head-turning glimpse of the record with this new track “U r the 1.” His voice is smooth, as usual, but it lays atop a surprisingly sparse instrumental, whose foundation is a strange, stilted snare line. The results are quite interesting, and now While You Were Sleeping has got to be one of our most anticipated contemporary R&B records of the year. It’s slated for release via June 10 via Blue Note Records.