Snoh Aalegra’s Bold Reinvention by Embracing the Past
While Snoh Aalegra (deservedly) is placed in the conversation of modern R&B heavyweights, she’s always managed to stand out from the crowd. Many of her peers have soared in how they embrace the blurred lines between the genre and hip-hop. Those artists lean rap adjacent in both sound and collaborators. Some of SZA’s biggest hits carry booming 808s that wouldn’t be out of place in any rapper’s catalog. And Summer Walker has cultivated strong relationship with Drake & Young Thug acolyte London on Da Track. Though Aalegra has done similar things on tracks like Whoa, she’s continually set her eyes on classic era R&B all the same. Do 4 LOVE, her sole release from 2022, is proof enough. A cover of Bobby Caldwell’s “What You Won’t Do For Love,” her version brought refreshed and modern production to go under the now timeless lyrics.
Retro Sounds on “Wait A Little Longer”
So as she gears up for what seems like a new project, Snoh Aalegra is dipping into that well again. We got a first glimpse of that with Be My Summer, released last month,. There, a stripped back instrumental cleared space for the singer’s voice to take center stage. And her latest single, Wait A Little Longer, is absolutely more of the same. Here, weightless piano and whisper-quiet drums set the tone, and establish an old school atmosphere a la Stevie Wonder. That comparison is driven home in the middle portion of the track as well. Jazzy string sections work in place of a bridge, giving the track a breezy and alive quality. The song is expertly structured, but Wait A Little Longer is at its best when it gives the audience the impression that we’re looking in on a jam session rather than pressing play on a single.
If you’re paying attention to the peripherals on these past releases, something’s definitely brewing for Snoh Aalegra. “Wait A Little Longer,” “Sweet Tea,” and “Be My Summer” share a botanical theme in their visualizers and lyric videos. That points to a possible album on the way- but we haven’t gotten confirmation just yet. Even on their own, these three tracks have given R&B fans plenty to enjoy in the meantime, with Wait A Little Longer proving to be the standout in this recent work.
