Travis Garland Goes Silky Smooth On New Song “Motel Pool”: Listen

Sam Lansky | September 4, 2013 12:02 pm

Travis Garland has been quietly making some of the best new R&B in the game for a minute — his EP Fashionably Late II grabbed my attention this spring — and now he’s prepping the release of his debut full-length record, a self-titled LP that’s due to drop September 10.

It’s produced by The Stereotypes, which is a solid pedigree (look no further than Danity Kane‘s “Damaged” and Justin Bieber‘s “Somebody To Love” for more), and it’s smooth R&B that doesn’t revert into nostalgic funk — crisper than Robin Thicke or Justin Timberlake but with the same sensibility.

In anticipation of the album release, he’s unveiled the new song “Motel Pool,” which pushes all the right buttons: Velvety falsetto and spare electro-R&B production, it’s a Frank Ocean song as imagined by Chris Brown if you didn’t hate his guts, with a little bit of Usher‘s “Climax” thrown in for good measure. That is to say, it’s gorgeous.

Listen below.

Travis Garland — “Motel Pool”