Alongside news that a release date for his forthcoming album, Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma ­– a full-length project that is also accompanied by the release of a Sundance award winning short film under the same name that visually navigates the album’s exploration of a modernized take on the Black ABC’s – is slated for April 23, Topaz Jones dropped another single. Akin to Herringbone – the first track released en route to DGTYM and his first solo release of any kind since 2018 – D.I.A.L. is more than an auditory reminder that one of the more talented and less definable presences filling voids in the gray areas between R&B, Neo-Soul, hip-hop, funk, and beyond is very much back, but that through the passionate exploration of the project at large, he’s better than ever.

 

For its part, D.I.A.L. is a funky, upbeat track from its foundations that finds strength in the juxtaposing seriousness taken by Topaz Jones’ lyrical direction. It’s a story of many struggles, from being distracted by hunger as a child from not having food at school, to the strain in trying to find a job after being locked up, and so many more places of strife in between, Topaz Jones and D.I.A.L. ultimately emerge resilient and anthemic as a call to overcome and prosper.

 

For his part, Topaz Jones seems to be doing exactly that. Keep an eye and an ear out as we get even closer to the release date of Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma. It’s about to be a paradigm shift.