UK singer/rapper/producer Kay Young can shift gears effortlessly from jazz to rap, but her new single “The Way You Look At Me” would have been labeled “soul” in the late 60s. It’s a throwback classic in the style of Quentin Tarantino’s soundtrack for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood – the director’s paean to 1969 Los Angeles. The song has the unmistakable vibe of The 5th Dimension, The Mamas and The Papas, and The Friends of Distinction (“Grazin’ in the Grass”).
There’s something really refreshing about Young’s analog approach to this track, with its crisp horns and funky bass lines. She even wears a multicolored Hendrix-like headband in the song’s video, which has the visual flair of a 60s club sans the dance cages and trippy light shows.
“The Way You Look At Me” is Kay’s first new music since her 2021 EP This Here Feels Good, which included the intimate, velvety smooth “Suddenly”. Her upcoming EP will no doubt offer a similar mélange of sophisticated jazz, rap and neo-R&B.
Young’s fans in England can’t wait for her headlining performance at the Brick Lane Jazz Festival in April. Meanwhile, let the artist channel soul icons Marilyn McCoo and Freda Payne on this fabulous new record.
Watch the video for “The Way You Look At Me” below, or find it on the streamers.
