Black Dove - EP

The exquisitely chill debut EP from Somali Canadian singer Amaal Nuux gives the yearning melodies of late-’90s R&B an atmospheric future-soul sheen. With a crystalline voice that exudes aching vulnerability and tough resolve in equal measure, Amaal floats above the jagged percussive beat and chopped-up harmonies of “Not What I Thought” as if she were teleporting herself out of the broken relationship chronicled within. And if “Later” has the instantly familiar feel of a classic premillennial slow jam, the synth fog hovering in the background lends the track an uncanny dreamlike vibe. However, for all its hermetic intimacy, Black Dove isn’t impervious to what’s happening in the outside world—on the twitchy serenade “Scream,” Amaal instructs her partner to “scream my name like a protest,” savvily fusing the personal and the political.