velvet negroni intoxicates with ‘wine green’

One could argue that R&B has always been experimental. Way before indie rock fans bandied about ham-fisted catchalls like “PBR&B” to describe the apparently left-field R&B they were hearing, there were artists like Teddy Riley, Doc McKinney, and Missy Elliott, and Timbaland were hybridizing the sounds of soul with other genres. In the tradition of the experimentalists before him, Jeremy Nutzman aka Velvet Negroni blends melody with machinery on his new song “Wine Green.”

Co-produced by Minnesota mainstay Psymun (thest4ndard, Future and JuiceWRLD’s “Fine China”) and Elliott Kozel (Sleeping in the Aviary) the track builds on the foundation of metronomic bass kicks and spattering drum machine percussion before giving way to bright synth flourishes. Nutzman’s vocals fluctuate between a choppy Reggae-inspired delivery and a smooth, enveloping melody. The juxtaposition of man and machine is transfixing as Nutzman recites his stream of consciousness lyrics in a white-walled room in the bare bones video for the song. If this is a sample of what’s to come on his forthcoming album, Neon Brown (Aug. 30), then I’m most certainly here for it.