Eternally tethered by analogue instrumentation, a rangy register, and a meaningful pen, the UK’s Aaron Taylor is a timeless master of soul. Lately – since 2019, but especially prolific with his 2020 run of singles – he’s unearthed an even more refined aesthetic defined by a newfound level of confidence and play in his broad vocal range, and an ever emerging comfortability to be present as the face behind the music, even when that means being in front of a lens.

 

With his newest single en route to the expected late September release of forthcoming debut album, Icarus, Aaron Taylor dominates both ends of his artistry with audiovisual masterpiece, Flowers. By itself, the track is a remarkable delivery for 2020. Not only is Flowers a funk-laden, upbeat jam that could have been rooted in the soul spectrums of any of the last five decades; its video is also a creative case study on the ingrained racism of overinflated threat posed by black men.

 

            “Black men are stereotypically perceived as more threatening or menacing.”

                        -Journal of Personality and Social Psychology // 2017

 

Through the video, a series of black men originally framed as threatening or menacing end up tossing bouquets not molotov cocktails, holstering flowers not guns, and lightheartedly enjoying the funk and soul of Aaron Taylor’s tune. And in the amalgamate funk, soul, and social statement of it all, Aaron Taylor again proves himself a key character in the force of today’s Neo-Soul scene.