Smooth as butter and layered like an onion, RINI’s new single goes above and beyond what the artist has ever done before, and coupled with the talents of EARTHGANG the two manage to make a wonderful neo-soul tune true to the genre, while remaining true to their vision.

The first thing that will grip the listeners is the contrast between the two voices, which feel both so perfect and so different from one another. Like Yin and Yang, the two complete one another, especially in this chilled-out tone that persists through the entire song. RINI’s harmonies serve wonderfully to support EARTHGANG’s parts, and the rapper’s verses feel poetic, melodic, and just right. RINI answers those parts in the song’s chorus, which is almost infectiously catchy. After the second and last chorus, the song ends with a beautifully melancholic piano and string section fading the song out, but not without blessing listeners with interesting chord variations and key changes. It’s a perfect way to end such a song, and even makes the transition from beginning to end all the more appropriate when looping the song. 

Something that I couldn’t help thinking while listening to the song was the similarities between RINI’s sound and Daniel Caesar’s first album, 2017’s Freudian. That album really redefined neo-soul and R&B to come, and the first I had heard of RINI was through his gorgeous cover of Best Part by Caesar and H.E.R. This newest single, in some ways, feels like if Daniel Caesar had continued in that style with his second album, instead CASE STUDY 01. Not to say that RINI’s sound is dated, on the contrary. Daniel Caesar had just dug out this gem and never got the chance to polish it further, taking his music in a different direction, and left it for artists like RINI to come and give it their own twist to it.

From start to finish, Out of the Blue is a purely soothing and groovy slow-moving track. It’s highly replayable, and will mellow out even the most uptight. The two artists in this tune did a wonderful job paying homage to the artists that inspired them, all the while sounding as original as can be. The ending is a very pleasant surprise, and altogether makes RINI’s future all the more exciting.

Author: Nicholas Gaudet

Music producer and writer from Dieppe, Canada.