As dexter within the newsagent, Charmaine Ayoku conjures hushed acoustic ballads and down-home dance pop that pulls from an analogous nicely as Frank Ocean and PinkPantheress. But the Londoner’s new track, “Particular,” is uniquely elegant: so assured in its breeziness, so beneficiant in its feeling. Co-produced with Kurisu and SAIONTHEBEAT, it’s composed of little greater than fluttering guitar figures and puttering beats—a serene ambiance match for daydreamers. However Ayoku refuses to let this summer season romance stay in her head. “I can love you such as you need me to,” she opens the track earlier than doubling down: “I can’t be alone.”
This line would, normally, sound determined. However “Particular” doesn’t, nor does it really feel like a susceptible confession. The phrases spill out of Ayoku’s mouth with such quiet assurance that they turn into an inevitability. These are the ideas of somebody in love, for whom time spent with a crush is so nourishing that, earlier than lengthy, life appears unimaginable with out them. The music mirrors that seamless transition: a kick drum seems mid-song, shortly taking up a Jersey membership lilt, and every little thing appears that a lot brighter. “Particular” is the soundtrack to breathlessly awaited texts, dates that flip into one other excuse to the touch, and the moments when, within the midst of an ideal summer season evening, a thought begins to floor: This could possibly be perpetually.