NEW ALBUM: LEON BRIDGES | GOLD-DIGGERS SOUND

R&B singer Leon Bridges releases his third studio album, "Gold-Diggers Sound," he further explores the styles of R&B and soul from his previous records while integrating poppier beats and synthesizers. The 33-year-old Texan singer who launched his career as a retro R&B singer so successfully that his 2015 debut, “Coming Home,” scored two Grammy nominations, earned him an appearance on “Saturday Night Live” and even a performance for the Obamas at the White House. His latest offering maintains the traditional elements of old-school soul heard in his previous work but introduces a new, vibrant, almost luminous aesthetic comparable to Snoh Aalegra and Brent Faiyaz. The enticing ‘Steam,’ for example, armed with a rich instrumental palate and packed full of colour, exudes a beach-ready bounce on which Bridges finds himself hooked on love: “You know you got a hold on me.” The album is named after the East Hollywood “studio, hotel and bar/speakeasy” where Bridges lived during its creation, and the songs range from “Sweeter” to love songs. It all adds up to the strongest and most fully realized album to date from an artist determined to keep evolving.