DOWNLOAD: Jae Franklin - Always Needed You
Jae Franklin may be classified as R&B, but "Always Needed You"—the title track off an upcoming free album—is more Portishead than Beyonce. But that just goes to show how underground contemporary R&B bears as many similarities to mid-'90s trip-hop as it does to TLC. "Always Needed You" has a faded elegance, as best embodied by the haunting piano loop that courses through the track. The air in the song is smoky, a word that can also be used to describe Franklin's voice, which has the upper register cooing of many contemporary R&B singers as well as the worn purr of jazz singing. Sad and sleepy, this is the kind of track for all of you who stay home, but also stay up way, way past your bedtime.
Jae Franklin - Always Needed You
