Gallant and Jhene Aiko bring their silky voices to an R & B ballad for the lonely hearts

Red Bull’s Sound Select - a program in which they develop emerging artists – is accompanied by the ‘Sound Select series’ of releases, which produced some real winners last year - thinking of the offerings from Joey Badass and Metro Boomin in particular. The Series has just turned out another gem, this time from LA-basd alt R & B singer Gallant, who has stepped out with a new one, Stepping Stones.

On this one, Gallant's soulful, Sam Smith-esque voice is teamed with the seductive tones of Cali queen Jhene Aiko, an easy-going R & B/pop singer you probably know best from her work with Childish Gambino. The track - which Beats 1 host Zane Lowe premiered on her ‘hottest record in the world’ segment last night - is a love ballad, where the two singers exchange lyrics about loneliness over a simple, elegant beat. Gallant said that it's dedicated to "the lonely ones on this Valentine's Day". Naw. 

I can't really think of a singer in 2016  - apart from maybe Jeremih -  that can pull off the soulful, sensual D’Angelo/Maxwell thing as well as Gallant does, or that has the vocal range/falsetto capability.  If you missed his incredible track Weight in Gold last year, fix that right now - it’s under Stepping Stones, below. Good news for Aiko fans too - she's heading out on her debut tour of Australia next month, dates below.