NPR’s All Songs Considered is premiering a powerful new track from modern soul innovator SON LITTLE. GQ once described SON LITTLE
as “soul music for the hip-hop generation.” Never has that description seemed more prescient than on the new track “Demon To The Dark” a simultaneously beautiful and heartbreaking soul ballad. The song is from Son Little’s forthcoming album New Magic which arrives this September 15th. Listen here: http://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2017/08/01/540732221/son-little-summons-a-gospel-singers-spirit-in-demon-to-the-dark
The song begins with the confessional proclamation, “I’m gonna beg for your forgiveness. I’m gonna do that from the start. Gonna need you as a witness, though you may have a hardened heart. Have I always been a sinner or did the world pick me apart.”
SON LITTLE says of the track, “Sometimes when things get hectic or I'm feeling low I listen to Washington Phillips, an old gospel/blues musician who played an autoharp-like instrument he made called a ‘Manzarene’. I tried to emulate the sound of the Manzarene with an omnichord and ended up with “Demon to The Dark” which is basically an imagined conversation with Mr. Phillips, a very devout religious man, who no doubt wouldn’t approve of a lot of the things going on around here these days (sex, drugs, rock and roll.) Still his music gives hope because it sounds like love and forgiveness.”
Each of songs on New Magic
draw from the diaspora of American blues and soul that includes not only modern R&B, but also rock & roll and hip-hop and transforms them into a singular sound that is propelled by his mesmerizing and soulful vocals and production that artfully balances between rustic immediacy and hip hop cut-and-paste.
SON LITTLE will embark on an anticipated series of North American live dates starting this August with an appearance at the Afropunk Festival in Brooklyn.
Live Dates:
08.27.2017 Sun, Afropunk, Brooklyn, NY
09.13.2017 Wed, One Longfellow Square, Portland ME*
09.14.2017 Thu Petit Campus, Montreal, QC*
09.15.2017 Fri CityFolk Ottowa, ON
09.16.2017 Sat, Fresh Grass North Adams, MA
09.16.2017 - 09.17.2017 Grand Point North Festival, Burlington VT
09.19.2017 Tue Stage One Fairfield, CT*
09.20.2017 Wed, The Haunt, Ithaca NY*
09.21.2017 Thu, Club Cafe, Pittsburgh PA*
09.22.2017 Fri Rumba Cafe, Columbus OH*
09.23.2017 Sat, Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN*
09.24.2017 Sun, Culture Center Theater, Charleston, WV*
09.26.2017 Tue, White Rabbit Cabaret, Indianapolis, IN*
09.27.2017 Wed, Zanzabar, Louisville, KY*
09.28.2017 Thu, The Southern, Charlottesville, VA*
09.29.2017 Fri, Boot & Saddle, Philadelphia PA*
09.30.2017 Sat, Boot & Saddle, Philadelphia PA*
10.19.2017 Thu, Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY***
10.20.2017 Fri, Bearsville Theater, Woodstock, NY***
10.21.2017 Sat, The Sinclair, Cambridge MA***
10.25.2017 Wed, The Barns at Wolf Trap, Vienna, VA***
10.26.2017 Thu, The Mothlight, Asheville, NC***
10.27.2017 Fri, Smith’s Olde Bar, Atlanta, GA***"
10.31.2017 Tue, Antones, Austin, TX**
11.01.2017 Wed, Club Dada, Dallas, TX**
11.03.2017 Fri, Valley Bar, Phoenix, AZ**"
11.04.2017 Sat, Soda Bar, San Diego, CA**
11.05.2017 Sun, Constellation Room, Santa Ana, CA**
11.07.2017 Tue, Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA**
11.08.2017 Wed, The Chapel, San Francisco, CA**
11.10.2017 Fri, Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR**
11.11.2017 Sat, The Biltmore Cabaret, Vancouver, BC**
11.12.2017 Sun, Tractor Tavern, Seattle WA**
11.14.2017 Tue, The State Room, Salt Lake City, UT**
11.15.2017 Wed, Globe Hall, Denver, CO**
11.17.2017 Fri, Reverb Lounge, Omaha, NE**
11.18.2017 Sat, Turf Club, Saint Paul, MN**
11.19.2017 Sun, Lincoln Hall, Chicago IL**
11.21.2017 Tue, Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto, ON**
* Doe Paoro supports
** Jade Bird supports
***ALA.NI supports