Love Bites: R'n'B Romance

It’s pouring. And while everyone else seeks cover in warm pubs and under shop roofs, Victoria Monet keeps me company in the music video-esque rain. ‘Is your favourite colour blue 'cause you something like my kryptonite,’ her lyrics in F.U.C.K (Friend You Can Keep) remind me to bring out my phone and write a modern-day love letter to a lover-to-be. ‘Let’s get together tonight,’ I type through the cold. Love song pioneers like Monet and my dedication to R'n'B in cold winter months keep me inspired and romantic in a period usually associated with cold, dark, isolating days. 

Instead of longing for the hazy, smudged memories of summer (although I do plenty of that too), a new playlist of old and new love songs gives the perfect soundtrack to refamiliarise myself with my body, feel full, soulful, and connected. Gentle neo-soul vocals, jazz melodies and an electric guitar to keep me guessing wrap me like a handmade scarf as I replace long walks at the beach with dinner by candlelight. Usually, I am serenaded by Luther Vandross. ‘Never too much, never too much, never too much,’ he croons, and I take his passion for intimacy to heart. 

I hum The Internet’s Hold On to myself, with sandalwood incense burning and a yoga mat on the floor reminding me to move and love my body, even if self-care is all practise until we feel worthy of it. To my friends, I give Ravyn Lenae’s voice whispering, ‘Don’t deny yourself from nothing, it’s not worth it,’ when they are anything but kind, honest and loving to themselves. I love R'n'B and the passion for passion it lights in me. As we wake up in this dark middle of winter, I’ll keep searching for honey vocals and romantic lyrics to bring me warmth.