Too often, R&B is entirely an “in the box” phenomenon. For Steven, whose style spans pop, hip hop and R&B seamlessly, we wanted to see what would happen if we added live players. “I was nervous” admits Steven. “I mean, I don’t collaborate with a lot of people on my music. It’s always a personal thing.” 
    Steven was brought to us by dear friend Chris Swanson of Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar and Secretly Canadian labels. After discovering Steven a few years ago, he wanted to help him out, yet didn’t have a professional outlet to do so. When we approached Chris about curating, he was quick to see an opportunity for all. Joining us for the session Swanson noted the immediate cohesiveness of the band despite Steven’s limited history with collaborating: “So much of R&B and soul music seems to be done electronically now and this [song] happening in an organic fashion. Watching the process - not just Steven but the other players too - is very exciting.” 
    Steven’s smooth vocals and warm personality were an immediate hit. Reared in a small town in North Carolina, his demeanor and motivation to work blended quickly with his band mates for the day--Bassist Dave Hartley and keyboardist Robbie Bennett(both from The War On Drugs), as well as the prolific - and Shaking Through staple (see also: Vol. 3 Ep.9) - Christopher Powell ofMan Man on drums. As soon as Powell sat behind the drums, the song rose to life. Steven’s vocals added sensitivity to the hard snare and high synth; the song “Bounty” came together seamlessly. “Everybody just got it,” Steven admitted, elaborating: “the language of music is universal. It was just that feeling, everybody could feel where we were going with the song.” 
    For us, the most enriching part of the session was Steven’s overwhelming desire to move forward in his career and to use “Bounty” as his creative launch pad for future endeavors. As Steven put it, “this has been like heaven. It gives me hope for other people, trusting their tastes – knowing there’s people out there that I can go to that I can create with.” Coming away from the session, we too cannot wait to see what Steven comes up with – in the meantime, we have “Bounty” as a one of our favorite songs and sessions to date.