After releasing her debut EP last year, Portland singer Reva DeVito quickly garnered attention for her soulful, smoky vocals. Her style recalled the jazz/R&B style of artists like George Benson and Gil Scott-Heron (namely his work with Brian Jackson). There was also a touch of disco and hip hop to the production, which helped her sound more contemporary, and the appeal was pretty obvious. To follow up her debut, she teamed up with producer and fellow Portland resident Roane Namuh.

Namuh is a DJ and producer, and his work with Reva DeVito is a great marriage in styles. DeVito had already established herself with her first EP, but Namuh pushes her subtly, bringing in some boom bap to her sound, but also further delving into some mid ‘90s hip hop/R&B, now bringing to mind artists like Toni Braxton and TLC in her vocal lines. Namuh is able to create some really sultry grooves in the process. An interesting choice that was made was to move DeVito’s vocals into the middle of the mix for most of the EP, so her voice fluctuates between our natural association with a lead singer on a record and that of a sampled piece of vocals that a deejay/producer would incorporate into a track. While the majority of the record is down tempo, the title track also brings in some early ‘80s funk, and will definitely get people on the dance floor.

With the exception of the title track, the majority of this collaboration is an intimate affair. It won’t blow you away on first listen, but it will grow on you. Namuh and DeVito have an interesting and unique chemistry together, and I’ll be curious to see what they both do in the future.