Otis Jr. and Dr. Dundiff are a vocalist and producer, respectively, both from Louisville. They only met and started working together in 2016, before releasing their debut EP on Jakarta. Just last year in March, they released their first album as a duo, Hemispheres. Now they are back with their second album, Cool.

The reason that people will remark on how shortly Otis and Dundiff have been working together is that it’s remarkable how quickly they hit their stride. Seriously, listening to Cool, you would think that these two have been making music together for ten years, not two. There’s just a real ease to their chemistry, where the music and vocals intertwine and build naturally. For this album, Dundiff is working with about a ratio of 60% live instrumentation and 40% samples, but he blends them so well together, it’s not always immediately obvious what is what. The really important thing is that Dundiff creates this blend of soul and hip hop that is both funky and smooth, timeless and modern. This lends itself perfectly to Otis Jr.’s voice, which is incredibly strong and steady, with a great tone and great feel for melody. Together, they’ve made an album in Cool that sounds immediately familiar, as they work their way through songs about self-discovery and what it means to be “cool.” It’s an incredibly warm and soulful album, and it flows perfectly from start to finish. So much so that each time I listen to it, I’m surprised when I reach the end, because I wasn’t ready for the journey to be over.

Otis Jr. and Dr. Dundiff have the kind of chemistry together that most duos work towards their entire career. They’ve made incredible strides in their short career together, and Cool is their best work yet. It’s smart, soulful, and inviting. It’s a great late entry to 2018.