Marvin Dark smouldered his way into the dark soul RnB pantheon with his cosmically exotic release, BODY –

Few contemporary RnB singles could be considered truly timeless, but Marvin Dark’s decadently trippy single, BODY, will refuse to lose its cosmically scintillating power as genre trends shift beyond what the icons and assimilators are pushing out of the pipeline. The Los Angeles-based independent RnB artist has put himself on the map with his emotionally driven records rooted in intimacy, confidence, vulnerability and honest storytelling, and BODY brings that ethos into a more nocturnal, club-lit frame.

It’s a heady mix of dark soul, interstellar ambience and artful recontouring of RnB flavours. In spite of the innovative complexity in the timbrally lush arrangement, Marvin Dark brings enough commercial potential to hypnotise DJs into spinning it on repeat. The production feels expensive without becoming sterile, letting the low-end roll with velvet pressure while his vocal presence slips through the electronic layers with sensual restraint.

The Afrobeat-tinged flavours bring a sense of warmth and soul, but there’s a stylistic twist within the synth architecture that gives the release the appeal of an underground kinetic floorfiller. BODY makes his growth feel tangible, sharpening the intimacy of his sound while pushing it towards a wider dancefloor. Marvin Dark understands that RnB can still feel intimate while moving bodies.

BODY is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast