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100. CITY FATHER – “Coquette”

99. BILLIE EILISH – “Bellyache”

98. SABRINA CLAUDIO – “Belong To You”

97. PETRA GLYNT – “Fell In A Hole”

96. HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR + SHARON VAN ETTEN – “Omnion”

95. GIRLI – “Hot Mess”

94. THE SOFT MOON – “Burn”

93. J.I.D – “Never”

92. ACE TEE + KWAM.E – “Bist Du Down?”

91. CRALIAS – “Hope You Are”

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90. CHROMATICS – “Shadow”

89. RUN THE JEWELS – “Legend Has It”

88. CARDI B – “Bodak Yellow”

87. YELLOW DAYS – “Hurt In Love”

86. JFDR – “Airbone”

85. SUSANNE SUNDFØR – “Undercover”

84. TOM TRIPP – “Aurelia”

83. SUPERORGANISM – “Something For Your M.I.N.D.”

82. KAN WAKAN – “Still Feather”

81. NILÜFER YANYA – “Baby Luv”

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80. WAKE CHILD – “In The End”

79. JAJA BU – “Sweetness”

78. ALVVAYS – “Dreams Tonite”

77. KIDÄ – “Bone Mother”

76. HÅN – “The Children”

75. ULYSSE – “Mañana”

74. SHY GIRLS – “You Like The Pain Too”

73. GOURMET – “Delicious”

72. SORCHA RICHARDSON – “4AM”

71. MILLIE TURNER – “Underwater”

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70. NABIHAH IQBAL – “Something More”

69. KEDR LIVANSKIY – “Your Name (имя твоё)”

68. MORGXN – “xx”

67. GRIZZLY BEAR – “Mourning Sound”

66. DANIEL CAESAR + KALI UCHIS – “Get You”

65. DILLON – “2.KIND”

64. COUCOU CHLOE + SEGA BODEGA – “Flip U”

63. THE TRP – “Soda”

62. JAY SOM – “The Bus Song”

61. GFOTY – “Tongue”

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60. SELENA GOMEZ -“Bad Liar”

59. ELA MINUS – “Juan Sant”

58. EMPRESS OF – “Go To Hell”

57. SHE Major – “Please Don’t”

56. VAGABON – “Cold Appartment”

55. NADINE – “Ultra Pink”

54. SONDER – “Feel”

53. RINA SAWAYAMA – “Alterlife”

52. SEGA BODEGA + SHYGIRL – “CC”

51. GOLDLINK + BRENT FAIYAZ – “Crew”

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50. CRATER – “Unearth”

49. QUAY DASH – “Decline Him”

48. YELLE – “Romeo”

47. GABRIEL GARZÓN-MONTANO – “Fruitflies”

46. WESLEE – “Bathwater”

45. FOREST SWORDS – “The Highest Flood”

44. KENDRICK LAMAR + ZACARI – “LOVE.”

43. ALEX CAMERON + ANGEL OLSEN – “Stranger’s Kiss”

42. SMERZ – “Oh My My”

41. SASSY 009 – “Are You Leaving”

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40. CHARLI XCX – “Roll With Me”

39. TESSA DIXSON – “Prayer”

38. TOMMY GENESIS – “Tommy”

37. SSION – “Comeback”

36. PIXX – “Romance”

35. DANNY L HARLE – “1UL”

34. LCD SOUNDSYSTEM – “american dream”

33. LANA DEL REY – “Love”

32. KING KRULE – “Dum Surfer”

31. SAMPHA – “(No One Knows Me) Like The Piano”

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30. MAKTHAVERSKAN – “Vienna”

29. CCFX – “The One To Wait”

28. KLLO – “Downfall”

27. KELLY LEE OWENS + JENNY HVAL – “Anxi.”

26. BLUE HAWAII – “No One Like You”

25. FEVER RAY – “Wanna Sip”

24. JULIEN BAKER – “Turn Out The Lights”

23. LIL PEEP + LIL TRACY – “witchblades”

22. FAKA – “Uyang’khumbula”

21. TR/ST – “Bicep”

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20. SARO – “Eyelids”

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19. BROCKHAMPTON – “Summer”

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18. TYLER, THE CREATOR + KALI UCHIS – “See You Again”

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17. O-SHiN – “A Revelation”

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16. ionnalee – “SAMARITAN”

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15. Vince Staples – “Crabs In A Bucket”

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14. WWWATER – “My Hands”

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13. Björk – “Blissing Me”

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12. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Cut To The Feeling”

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11. Big Thief – “Mythological Beauty”

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10. SZA – “Drew Barrymore”

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9. Frank Ocean – “Chanel”

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8. Wy – “Bathrooms”

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7. SOPHIE – “It’s Okay To Cry”

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6. Moses Sumney – “Doomed”

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5. Kelela – “Onanon”

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4. Arca – “Desafío”

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3. Lorde – “The Louvre”

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2. Perfume Genius – “Slip Away”

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1. Yaeji – “Raingurl”

Listen to the 100 tracks of 2017 according to the HighClouds‘ staff via Spotify, Youtube and Deezer.

Brent Faiyaz wastes no time dragging listeners straight into the depths of his own memories. We join up with him around the time of high school, hearing the details of a mother berating her son for shitty grades – atop some gentle harmonies, of course. Brent’s always been good at painting a vivid picture with his lyrics, but there seems to be even more attention to detail here than on previous releases, as he sticks steadfastly to the chronology and concept of what is essentially his life story.

Brent Faiyaz debut “Sonder Son” is a cohesive twelve-part story but doesn’t offer a song well-worth obsessing over.

As such, “Sonder Son” does cover a lot of ground emotionally. “Gang Over Luv” explores adolescent friendships and their lasting impact; L.A. describes the grind and struggle that preceded Brent’s musical success; and “Needed” serves as one of a handful of songs that get into the dirty specifics of how love and sex change and fit within the context of his overall journey. While each track does have a little something different to offer thematically, “Sonder Son” really does feel like a cohesive twelve-part story being told through developing emotional states, rather than just bits of information about what happened in the past.

Unfortunately, despite the larger-scale success of mapping out a well-defined project, the sonic output of the album just doesn’t feel as good as it could have felt. Sonder’s “Into EP” had all the makings of a quietly revolutionary album within R&B, and yet, with this solo venture, Brent Faiyaz neither furthers that sound, nor does he branch out into a sound of his own.

Guitar driven production is a hallmark of Brent’s work with Sonder, and there’s certainly more than enough guitar here – it’s just the depth that’s missing. Tracks like “Sonder Son (Interlude)” and “Needed” hint ever so slightly at the deep, dark instrumentals that have helped Brent’s voice to shine unbelievably brightly in the past, but there’s just something unshakably thinner-sounding about the production work here. Maybe it’s the clunky, dated percussion that rears its head throughout the track listing, or the weaker acoustic guitar tones that often sound a bit too strummy and unrefined but, one way or another, there’s a missing layer to the sonic foundation of “Sonder Son” that seems to affect everything up through Brent’s ability to craft a truly memorable melody on what he’s singing over.

And so, it’s a bit tough to reach a verdict on “Sonder Son”, having hoped for it to be a stunning next step after one of the year’s best R&B EP’s. Brent Faiyaz is still the immensely talented vocalist he’s always been, and an even better story-teller than when we’d last heard of him. However, there’s just not a song on the album that feels well-worth obsessing over.

Sonder is composed of producers Atu and Dpat, along with vocalist Brent Faiyaz, who told The FADER, “’Into’ is a reflection of shit that my ego won’t allow me to speak on in everyday conversation. It’s everything from relationships with women and family to living too fast.” This range of themes and emotions is palpable throughout the project, brought to life by Brent’s crystalline voice and the vast, fluid production underneath. Brimming with spotless guitars and ghostly backing vocals, the instrumentals of “Into” are hugely complex, often undergoing change within each song, especially on “Too Fast” and “Feel”.

Sonder‘s “Into Ep” is a good debut that manages to work both as a fluid front to back listen and a collection of solid standalone tracks simultaneously.

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For how cavernous the “Into EP” can be, it’s surprising how many acutely memorable melodies there are to take away from it. Choruses like those of “Lovely” and “Sirens”, with obliquely heartfelt lines like “I almost fell in love with you after the club last night” and “If I closed the door and shut my mouth, how would it be right now?”, are almost designed to echo in your head. Beyond that, one of this debut’s greatest strengths is the way it manages to work both as a fluid front to back listen and a collection of solid standalone tracks simultaneously.

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Where ‘Into’ suffers is similar to where it thrives. This is a project that lets you get lost in wide open spaces – with long instrumental breaks and passages of vocal riffing – for better or worse. There is a thin line between careless floating and aimless drifting, and ‘Into” treads it at times. Aside from that, the most unfavorable things that can be said about the EP is that “Baldwin Park” makes for a lackluster instrumental break, “Lovely” was recycled from Brent Faiyaz’s “A.M. Paradox” EP, and that the smooth talking here can be a bit too smooth at times.

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When I first heard “Too Fast” in 2016, images of a revolutionized R&B landscape led by Sonder and devoid of generic, dark trap beats and autotune flashed through my head. In the end though, “Into” is not a revolution, but a beautiful step in a direction that’s both progressive and in touch with its roots.

Last year, the trio, that is comprised of Brent Faiyaz‘ vocals on productions signed by Atu and Dpat, already brought some sensuality during the Fall with the release of four singles which hit the mark! Today, they just shared their debut EP that is loaded with claps, snaps, choirs and an overall sweetness that is reminiscent of 90’s R&B acts such as Boys II Men or Babyface. Obviously, the soulful project keeps the modern touch of their debut with a subtle production that enables the 7 tracks to continuously deliver consistent emotions.

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Vocalist Brent Faiyaz wrote to The FADER, which premiered the EP earlier today:
[su_quote]’Into’ is a reflection of shit that my ego won’t allow me to speak on in everyday conversation. It’s everything from relationships with women and family to living too fast.[/su_quote]

Connect with Sonder on Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud, and Spotify.