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Mayer Hawthorne’s music is a throwback to a time when sweet, sweet soul ruled the airwaves and solid backbeats were recorded without any digital enhancements. “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out” is from the school of Impressions-era Curtis Mayfield or Miracles-era Smokey Robinson — it’s got Hawthorne’s falsetto vocals ruling over a minimal bit of funk (also provided by Hawthorne, who plays all the instruments). Did we mention he’s a 29-year-old white kid from Ann Arbor? If you like the track, check out the single.

Dublin’s Laura Izibor has a voice that sings up and out over her surroundings, bringing a little bit of sunshine wherever she goes. She represents the new sound of soul music and brings to it a touch of sass and passion that makes her particular style stand out from the pack. “Don’t Stay” is breezy, windswept funk with Izibor shining on the vocals – it’s orchestrated warmly and with the intimacy of a Sunday morning church service. If you like the track, check out the album now available for $7.99.

The second album from Foreign Exchange works as a blueprint of how R&B ought to sound in the future. The eleven tracks found on Leave It All Behind are a set of well-crafted songs that bring out the best of producers/group members Nicolay and Phonte. Dreamy folk-soul and hip-hop are mingled with West London broken beat – but it’s all within an R&B structure. “Take Off the Blues” is sound of soul music to come . . . If you like the track, check out the album.

Born in New Jersey but raised in the Dominican Republic, Daniel Santacruz brings the sounds of north and south together in the music heard on his second album, Radio Rompecorazones. Indeed, heartbreak weighs heavy on the mind of our man Daniel, as you can hear in the bachata-flavored, crooning pop gem, “If I Give You My Love.” If you like the track, check out the album.

Sharp-eared R & B fans will recognize Slim as the pleading, falsetto voice of 112 (“Only You,” “Peaches & Cream,” “Cupid”). Now a solo artist with a new album, Love’s Crazy, Slim follows the success of its first single, “So Fly,” with the propulsive title track. Slim ponders the sanity of l’amour in his distinctive voice that’s smoother than leather soles on a fresh-waxed parquet. Bonus cameo by OutKast’s Big Boi, who drops an insane 16 bars. If you like the track, check out the album.
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R. Kelly taps into a groundswell of emotion for “I Believe.” Opening with samples from Obama’s acceptance speech, this moving tribute to Kelly’s fellow Chicagoan-now-President-elect uses choirs, string arrangements, and a dramatic jet flyover to create his most celebratory track since “I Believe I Can Fly.” “The night Obama was elected I was inspired to write this song,” says R. Kelly. “Hopefully it touches anyone trying to accomplish something special in their life. Anything is possible if you believe.”

Working in front one of the all-time great crate-digger beats, Karina makes it easy to fall for her thoughtful, boom-bastic pop. Karina is a pianist/songwriter/teenager whose debut, First Love was produced by Tricky Stewart and The-Dream and has already gained a little bit of love thanks to the single “Sixteen @ War.”

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Algebra Blessett is an R&B songbird from Atlanta whose gentle rain caught the ear of Kedar Massenburg, who assisted D’Angelo and Erykah Badu early on in their careers.  With “Run and Hide”, Blessett curls toes with a sensuous tale of elusive love, heightened by synthesized strings, hearbeat keys, and a bedrock beat.  Nothing complex about this Algebra; enter her classroom and get schooled.

Duffy has quickly become one of the 2008’s most exciting musical figures in the U.K. The sound on “Mercy” is one that’s out of time – glassy go-go soul with smoky undertones of regret. The young Duffy takes centerstage and does her best Dusty Springfield. It’s a finger-snapping Motown groove with some white-hot soul power underneath.

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This “Single of the Week” also happens to be nominated for a grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. The track mixes DeVaughn’s laid-back, Marvin Gaye-esque croon against a classy, tinkling, piano-addled groove. But the lyrical spins about women (special, beautiful, strong, grown) gives the gift of empowerment in under four minutes.