First Listen: Sy Smith returns gloriously with "Slide"

(October 13, 2023) DC raised, L.A.-based singer and songwriter Sy Smith has been called the hardest working woman in showbiz. The whirling dervish of an artist regularly performs with Chris Botti or The Foreign Exchange crew when she isn’t on one of her own solo tours.

But for those who’ve been following Sy’s career for the past 20 years, the better description for her artistry is “fearless.” Smith has never shied away from reaching artistically, whether it has been to club-ready dance, spacy funk, neo soul vibes or quirky, adult-focused jazz.

So, I wasn’t quite sure what style we’d hear on Sy’s long awaited follow-up to 2018’s Sometimes a Rose Grows In Concrete. But the new single, “Slide,” somehow brings all those mentioned influences together into a glorious three minutes of musical brilliance. Produced by Zo! (The Foreign Exchange) and Tall Black Guy, “Slide” pulls together seemingly incongruous musical elements – funk and hip-hop syncopation is countered by rich strings and Quincy Jones-like progressions, all topped by Sy Smith’s airy, smooth soprano styliings – into a whole that blows away all of its parts.

It doesn’t overstate it to say “Slide” sounds like a parallel universe, futuristic collaboration of Minnie Riperton and Charles Stepney – it’s that good. There is simply nothing like “Slide” on the radio in 2023, and it makes us anticipate the album Until We Meet Again album, due in December, even more. Check it out below.

By Chris Rizik

Sy Smith - "Slide"