Blossom and Hot16’s Singer-Producer Collab Yields Chilled-Out R&B for Warm Summer Nights

When the pair are on, they find a propulsive pocket of groove and exploit it like experts.

By Patrick Lyons

Blossom & Hot 16, Tease (Liquid Beat)

[NEO SOUL REVIVAL] Somewhere between Erykah Badu's earthy charm and Lianne La Havas' cosmopolitan cool lies Blossom, a singer whose effortless voice impresses from its first exhale. Her partner-in-crime for this 24-minute mini-album is HOT16, a producer whose astral remixes of R&B and soul classics make him a prime candidate to helm the type of retro futurism Tease goes for—think the late '90s Soulquarians scene by way of the hip L.A. Soulection collective. Blossom's mindset is very Zen throughout, staying "cool, calm, collected" and unworried by typical earthly drama ("If the stars align then you'll be mine"), mostly to the benefit of a chill vibe but sometimes to the detriment of pulse-quickening intrigue. When the writing gets lazy or cliché-driven, and the beats become more retrospective replicas than skillful pastiches, Tease feels like it isn't living up to its creators' respective talents. But when the pair are on, as they are for highlight "SuperWoman," they find a propulsive pocket of groove and exploit it like experts.

Related: Blossom Overcame Culture Shock and Stage Fright to Become One of Portland's Best R&B Artists.

SEE IT: Blossom plays Rontoms, 600 E Burnside St., with Wet Dream, on Sunday, Aug. 27. 8:30 pm. Free. 21+.

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