Sumil Heera, best known within electronic music circles as XO is an up-and-coming 20 year old, Staffordshire, UK-based producer and songwriter, who has quickly received both national and international attention for a sound that possesses elements of neo-soul, funk, hip-hop and deep house with an abstract twist; in fact, in a relatively short period of time, Heera’s work has received attention from the likes of media outlets such as Pitchfork, NME, Annie Mac’s BBC 1 Radio Program, this particular site and countless numbers across the blogosphere, as well as praise from the likes of Diplo and SOHN.
After the release of his first two, critically acclaimed EPs, Heera has returned with the release of “Divine Disaster”/”Night Time Solace,” a collaboration with Australian-born, Berlin-based singer/songwriter and producer James Chatburn, who has developed a reputation both of his soulful production work, which frequently possesses elements of soul, blues and indie electronica and for his own solo work and work as one-half of The Septembers.
The A-side single “Divine Disaster,” pairs Chatburn’s silky smooth, soulful vocals seemingly floating above the mix with a wobbling house music-leaning production consisting of choppy keyboard chords, and propulsive yet skittering drum programming to craft a song that’s danceable yet soulful, ethereal yet subtly muscular, futuristic yet leaning towards classic house and R&B.
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