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James fauntleroy follow you cover art
James fauntleroy follow you cover art

James Fauntleroy Just Won't Stop--Listen To New Cuts "Follow You" + "Cold Fire"

Lenny Kravitz, Grace Jones, Lauryn Hill, Lion Babe, Thundercat, SZA & More Rock The Afropunk Festival 2015 in Brooklyn, NY.

You've got to hand it to James Fauntleroy. A hyper-prolific songwriter, producer and vocalist, the man most likely has stacks upon stacks of hard drives full of unused ideas--promising melodies, hooks and loops that might someday become Billboard chart-crushing singles. But rather than keep it all wrapped up and encrypted at home, Fauntleroy has made it clear he intends to share. Now, after releasing almost a dozen singles through SoundCloud already this summer, he's back with two more dreamy love tunes: "Coldest Summer" and "Follow You." We ain't mad--not one bit.

"Cold Fire" opens like a syncopated distress call, Fauntleroy's voice fractured and folded in upon itself by phasers. "Girl I can tell by your breathing / You've been overheating" he admits, digging into some of that darkly gorgeous groove sensibility that worked so well for him (and that guy Frank Ocean) on Channel Orange.

"Follow You" captures much of the magic that made Fauntleroy a crucial component of Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience. Backward-masked guitars and piano come across like a brighter take on "Blue Ocean Floor," and Fauntleroy's own voice harmonizes with itself perfectly, painting concentric whorls over hard-chopping drums. It's the come-down interlude from that first perfect kiss; a song to end the summer.

And speaking of summer, almost all of these new uploads from the past month bear the tag "The Coldest Summer" on SoundCloud...Is this just James feeling some kind of way, or are we perhaps due for a proper compilation release of all these shining jewels he's bestowed upon us lately? We're not going to start conspiracy theories--we're just going to recommend you listen below.