Leol Releases New Single 'Move'

Leol's new song Move is a laid back slice of R&B with a serious groove.

Cashing in on the current popularity of anything Drake, Move sounds similar to Drake vs PartyNextDoor with a dash of Wizkid and some dancehall vibes for good measure. Produced by Blindforlove, it has explicit lyrics but also a decent hook and a variety of melodies to encourage listeners to react to the tune. Blindforlove likes PartyNextDoor's sound, judging by recent social media posts, so this similarity is not entirely unexpected.

Move is available on Spotify and there is an audio-only video on YouTube. Clearly Leol wants the music to do the heavy lifting, rather than a flashy video, despite having previous video directing chops and Blindforlove offering a mean line in beats too. The relaxed vocals are upbeat and more pop-oriented than some R&B tunes, centering around the age-old themes of love and infatuation delivered in a seductive style. Iyan Leol, to give him his full name, is from Chicago, so has a rich musical seam to mine. Apart from having a killer groove, Move owes something to the influence of trap and house, with an interesting use of percussion to add depth and rhythm. It starts quietly, with piano chords before the snappy snare and Leol's vocals kick in. These vocals are smooth and flowing, filled with longing, almost pleading in parts. 'Am I meant to move?' he asks, his voice sounding slightly electronically enhanced. The backing is spare and minimal, the percussion and chiming chords mixed low to allow Leol's voice to shine.

Two of Leol's previous releases, Type and Sing 2 You, established him as a purveyor of softly insistent songs with a mix of speech and sweet vocal harmony, and this formula is repeated here. He mainly sticks to the dancehall sound with cultured beats, but can also be darker and more moody at times. While Move is a bit louder than Type, it is still in the same languid style. Besides being a recording artist, Leol is a video producer and director in his own right, with a single due out in October called Savages.

Perhaps surprisingly for someone who comes across so relaxed in his songs, when he's not laying down rhymes, Leol likes to play survival horror games such as Left 4 Dead, Alien Isolation, Dead by Daylight, and Resident Evil 2 Remake.

Leol's social media can be accessed via his Linktr.ee entry.