premiere: uk r&b songstress purple ferdinand delivers breathtaking love sounds in new ep “rain or shine”

Neo soul music had its hey day in the late 90s and early 2000s, with Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, D’Angelo and Musiq Soulchild leading the charge. Contemporarily, there’s been a resurgence in interest in this approach to soul music, and UK songstress Purple Ferdinand is creating these vibes in her new project “The Rain or shine EP.” The 7-track EP approaches love, relationships, growth, and inner peace in unique ways. One of the standout tracks is the intro entitled “Stay.” It sounds like a situation that many have found themselves in, when the circumstances or external pressures start to weigh in on the relationship and how partners interact, and they have to decide whether or not staying is the right thing to do. Or in “Show Me,” how apologizing doesn’t always feel sufficient to move forward and that forgiveness doesn’t mean reconciliation. It seems that Purple Ferdinand has tapped into some wisdom that she’s been able to make into beauty. When discussing the making of the EP she said, “I initially came from a number of different places, moments and changes over this last year. I was experiencing everything life has to offer at those times and things were extremely full on; but when I started to piece the songs together, they almost poured out of me like an inner voice that was starting to make sense of all that was happening. […] My vision was to encapsulate and convey myself in those true moments that I’d found along the way.” With production by Matt Allchin, instrumentation by drummer Pete Biggin, Isaac Adoasi, and engineering by Mark Bowyer and Barry Grint, this EP is a perfect manifestation of love and life. Stream Purple Ferdinand’s “Rain or Shine” EP below.

By T. McLendon, AFROPUNK Contributor