Dwele

Some Kinda, the new album from Detroit neo-soulster Dwele, gives listeners more of the same, which is actually more positive than it sounds. Fans of his 2003 major-label debut, Subject (or even his much-admired, much-out-of-print indie debut Rize), will be glad to hear that Dwele is still in the mellow swing of things. He goes the Prince route, nearly writing, producing and playing every instrument (the man even plays the flügelhorn!) in order to turn out another album of heavily soulful lounge music. Whether you have a snifter of brandy or a girl named Brandy in your possession, it’s perfectly acceptable background music.

The former rapper still manages to throw some hip-hop nods into his tunes. Fans of the movie Scarface may get a kick out of his singing “I must be high off someone’s supply” (I know my cousin and his girlfriend did; they replayed it at least five times when they heard it) on the jazzy, idealistic playa anthem “A Pimp’s Dream.”

Some‘s best numbers, like “My Lova” and “Weekend Love,” have him spreading the downtempo grooves while vocally spitting enough smooth game to make even the Golden Girls give up the drawers. And if those don’t work, there are always club bumpers like the playful “Flapjacks” or the Mike City-produced “I Think I Love U” that’ll make the ladies just sweat off their knickers.

Some Kinda shows that Dwele, the boho bon vivant that he is, still knows how to conjure up that Motor City medium-cool.