Remember that feeling of laying near the ocean, listening to the waves crash as you sip on your favorite cocktail with your eyes closed. All the while, in the background, the roaring see is accompanied by the smooth sounds of classic reggae, drifting you softly and sweetly into a state of pure bliss. Well, singer/songwriter H.E.R has captured this exact feeling in her new single, “Do To Me.”
This isn’t H.E.R’s first dabble with producing timeless reggae vibes. Earlier this year she impressed the masses with her Skip Marley-featuring performance of “Slow Down” on The Tonight Show, which was composed of some serious dancehall elements. She also premiered “Sometimes” at the GRAMMYs at the top of the year, and then followed up that blazing hit with the dialed back, acoustic track “Comfortable.”
Last month, she also leveraged her platform to express her solidarity with activists and protestors across the nation, and with the entire Black Lives Matter movement via her new single “I Can’t Breathe,” which speaks to the collective exhaustion over the senseless police brutality, and painful loss of life within our communities. When she performed this single on the iHeartRadio Living Room Concert Series she stated that, “…I think music is powerful when it comes to change and when it comes to healing, and that’s why I wrote this song — to make a mark in history,” and she continues to do just that: heal and make history.
Now, although she has returned with a more upbeat number, the record is charged with a uniquely nostalgic beauty. With production by Swagg R’Celious and samples from Sister Nancy’s classic cut “Bam Bam,” H.E.R. uses the track to sing about her love for a person that makes her feel complete euphoria.
“Why, why you make me so blind? Just looking in your eyes, you / Took my soul for a ride, ride. How, how you make me fall down? / Tripping over the sound of you loving me so loud, loud,” she sings as she hypnotizes us with her raspy melody.
There is no doubt that H.E.R has raised the bar within music as she consistently demonstrates her unbridled creativity and versatility in the singing and songwriting department. It is for that reason that we all yearn for her return. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, H.E.R. spoke on what fans can expect from her forthcoming album:
“In general, I definitely want to hear more records with chord changes and more people taking pride in the quality of the sound rather than just taking a loop and putting a beat under it. People like Quincy Jones and even Rodney Jerkins perfected their mixes and made sure each instrument was doing the right thing. They were looking for that feeling, as opposed to looking for that hit.”
While we wait (for what is bound to be a chart topping album), you can stream her latest single, “Do To Me,” below.
