Review: "Transition" EP by Sonny Dumarsais
New Jersey’s Sonny Dumarsais is aiming to slap a fresh new face on Neo-Soul/RnB - but by bringing the genre back to its roots. As with many RnB EPs, this one was birthed from a bad breakup and an aching heart. Fortunately, music was there to act as his catharsis and truly bolster his voice and sound as a musician. It’s just the beginning for Sonny, as he’s already working on a follow-up album for 2019, but things look promising for the Neo-Soul newbie, who can articulate the language of heartbreak as well as delving into his own sound through the rich history of his genre of choice.
Almost all the tracks on this EP feature an old school RnB guitar (namely 80’s, but the eras meander), instead of the eye-roll worthy, manufactured Tory Lanez artists that seem to be churned out every day. In that sense, we appreciate Sonny for his lack of autotune and overly showy production chops.
He does need to work on his production and mixing quality, but that goes for every indie artist starting out with their first EP. And to be honest, we prefer that raw and unfiltered version of an artist as opposed to an overly edited and bedazzled version that’s not nearly as organic.
Even in his intro “Transitions”, we can weed out some gorgeous harmonizing that almost reminds us of Bon Iver vibe gone RnB, with a richly luxurious bass-line added in. The haunting harmonizing (courtesy of Candi Blue), and slightly sped up beat on days and nights almost makes us think of a male remix of SWV or Destiny’s Child, breaking up the guitar-heavy tracks with some dynamic lightness.
Sonny Dumarsais’s instrumentals are addictive, and with the right innovations, we have faith that this emerging artist can soar to new heights for his 2019 album that’ll soon be on the horizon.