5 Songs I Love w/ Aeolus White

Following the release of his latest 7-track EP 'outcry', Flex caught up with Brooklyn-based alternative R&B artist Aeolus White to find out what influences his eclectic sound. If you enjoy Aeolus's picks, be sure to check out 'outcry' at the end of the article.

1. Alone Again Naturally -  Nina Simone

This is an interpolation of Gilbert O’Sullivan’s tune, an already incredibly sad song, but Nina Simone adds the most brutally honest and vulnerable lyrics I’ve ever heard about her relationship with her father. This song inspires me as an artist to be fearless in my expression, and I listen to it every time I need that reminder. Every time I listen to it, I’m almost shocked that she would say something so honest and haunting.

2. Know That You Are Loved - Cleo Sol

This song feels like a prayer, a mantra, a meditation. It’s repetitive, but the harmony is soft and the instrumentation and evolving. The message is so clear, and I’m grateful to Cleo Sol for choosing clarity when expresssing something so beautiful and important. 

3. Pienso en Ti (House Mix) - Masters at Work feat. Luis Salinas

I love every single mix of this song, and it was almost impossible to pick any one. I settled on the House Mix because this is one I’ve known the longest, but they’re all beautiful. This is jazz-infused house with sounds from the Spanish and African diasporas. It reminds me of Miles Davis’s Blue in Green on a house beat. 

4. I Fall In Love Too Easily - Gregory Porter

Gregory Porter sings this standard so beautifully, and his band breathed incredible life into this arrangement. When I want to hear a gigantic, masterful, vocal male jazz performance, I put on this record. It humbles and inspires me as a vocalist and reminds me of the beauty in re-interpreting jazz standards. 

5. My Love is Free - Double Exposure

This song feels so good. It always has and always will. This is a mid-70s disco classic that added groove to many cookouts, barbecues, family reunions, birthdays and wedding receptions. The vocal is so soulful, expressive, high and light, the arrangement has an unmistakable energy. I love it, and I play it everytime I need to get myself out of a funk. 

Listen to Aeolus White 'outcry'