Can we officially declare that the proper dance music diva has returned in a major way? Obviously there's Katy B, Rinse's resident songbird, but in a moment of synergy, today we stumbled onto two new crazy bass tracks led by women belting their faces off. "Nervous," the next release from terrific dance label Numbers, is a collaboration between SBTRKT (who we wrote about yesterday) and Jessie Ware (above), an emerging London singer with a silken power-warble. She's done backup vocals for Man Like Me and Jack Penate, but clearly this chick needs to be front and center on the mic, preferably wearing something fabulous, over the top, and suitable for when (we hope) she gestures like Martha Wash. Alternately, the track by Swedish synth-funk ensemble O'Spada is technically a remix—they had London producers Devil's Gun give their album track "Let Go" a juiced up dose of club. But lead singer Julia Spada, whose Teena Marie-ness has been noted here before, sounds just as commanding over big-room crescendos as she does on her group's glossy Apollonia funk. Here's to hoping this is an actual zeitgeist (hey dudes, three examples make a trend #journalism). Watch O'Spada's trippy "Let Go" video after the jump.
Jessie Ware & SBTRKT - Nervous (previews of NMBRS8) by Numbers
