When Anderson .Paak talks about music, I tend to listen. And, so, with a simple tweet he posted a few weeks ago, I learned about Kadhja Bonet. I’ve been in a bit of a swoon ever since.
The word that comes to mind listening to Bonet’s music is ethereal. There are so many influences and genres in her music — heavy on jazz, soul, and folk with blushes of psychedelia, classical, and funk — but the overall feeling I get is mystical and magical. Everything is held together by Bonet’s voice, an arrestingly low-toned, buttery soprano that lends all of her vocals a wonderfully intimate quality. Singing full volume, it still feels like she’s whispering…and just to you.
Mother Maybe is the second single pre-released off of Bonet’s upcoming album, Childqueen (due out June 8). It is a supremely groovy track. Driven by a catchy and stone-cold funk bass line with glitzy backing synths (with bit of Moog in there!), the song moves along without ever being hurried. Bonet’s voice delicately flits in-and-out, slowing down the tempo sometimes, soaring above it at other points in a dreamy falsetto, and swelling the track with layered backing vocals.
The lyrics also have a whiff of mystery; opaque and poetic and quietly astounding. Bonet has said that Mother Maybe isn’t about her mother, rather it’s about the mother she may be. She sings, “You’re the thought wrapped in my head / You’re the ink that leaves this pen as I write all about you / As you are / Mother I may be / Or maybe not.”
Kadhja Bonet is talented and deep y’all.
In My Ear 