Music Review // Aries Marquis "Experience" (Ageless Music LLC)

https://open.spotify.com/album/3BIrgZmiGi4KW0YNRIjxl6?si=bR0pi85sTGOnnslPvaZQ8Q&nd=1

Aries Marquis has accomplished something on this "Experience" EP that many artists in this day and age simply cannot.  There exists two styles of R&B music.  When most people think of R&B in a modern sense there are artists who have a lot of studio made sounds, autotune and things of that nature.  Whenever I think of R&B music I always go back to my days listening to cassettes in the late 1980's and early 1990's.   Aries Marquis has created songs here which are worthy of being on cassette in 1989 but also fit right in with modern R&B you might hear on the radio.

The first song kicks off with bass synth and the flute.  Throughout this album there are elements of pop and it reminds me of artists such as P.M. Dawn, who remain grossly underrated.  "Nikki" has synths and feels like a song which might be made by Michael Jackson (or the entire Jackson 5) if they were making music in the present tense.  "Daydream" is just a really fun song while "Phases" makes me think this album could be synthpop.  The way the synth cuts does begin to feel somewhat like a carnival.

Modern artists such as Bruno Mars come out though "Ghost" perhaps has the strongest '90's R&B song of any on this EP.  "A Part of Me" has strong singing, like Michael Jackson again, and it just feels like a huge ballad based on the focus of the vocals.  Pop, synth and beats all come through on "Wanted" and it just shows that from start to finish any song on this EP could be the single you hear on the radio.

The biggest thing to hear in this album is how much it can sound like Jodeci or Shai- just an artist which I have a cassette for that was purchased back when it came out, far too long ago.  And yet at the same time, listening to the songs on the radio today and considering those artists like Justin Timberlake and Usher, this feels just as modern as them.  So for Aries Marquis to be able to flawlessly blend those sounds from different times together just makes this EP really stand out and everyone should hear it.