Destin Conrad's latest album, Roadrunner, is a celebration of his Jamaican roots and queer identity, featuring languid reggae basslines, gyrating dancehall rhythms, drinks-in-the-air swagger, and come-hither lyricism. The 26-year-old Floridian has had a busy couple of years: three albums, one Grammy nomination, and a string of collaborations with fellow R&B up-and-comers such as Bellah and Nia Smith.
A Multifaceted Artist
Pick any record from Conrad and you'll hear a different side of him. His spring 2025 debut, Love on Digital, pays its dues to the genre that raised him while swerving derivative cliches with small production quirks – a vocal glitch here, a skittering Jersey beat there. Last summer's Whimsy is a sprawling alt-jazz album that was written in two weeks, inspired by his time in a high-school jazz choir.
A year later, Roadrunner arrived, and it doesn't gloss over reggae and dancehall's history of homophobia, nor does it simply condemn it. On "Chi Chi," Conrad interpolates the notorious chorus of TOK's "Chi-Chi Man," flipping its calls to burn anyone seen driving with gay men into a brag: "Yes, I know they don't wanna see me drivin' / So I make sure I drive off in a Benzy."
Defiance and Freedom
He makes defiance against bigotry seem easy – fun, even – and spends the rest of the album revelling in that freedom. "I know I make them nervous," he winks over the throbbing sub-bass of "Nervous." "You want fi control me," he moans on "Obsessed." Those last two lines are about flexing on peers and teasing lovers, but what's a turn up without a little bump and grind?
This Week's Best New Tracks
Madonna and Charli xcx – "Danceteria Afterhours": Charli blends her origin story into the Confessions II highlight, PC Music and "flavoured cocaine" mingling with Basquiat and Haoui Montaug.
Jane Remover – "Beauty Sleep": Heavily compressed even by her standards, the US singer-producer condenses her digicore-hyperpop style into a seething, tinny cube of sound – but graces it with one of her loveliest melodic top lines.
Lily Konigsberg – "Free Byrd": If your song centres around the word "free," it'd better feel that way. Konigsberg fulfils the brief with a winsome, characterful indie jangler about betting on herself over a too-safe relationship.
Tegan and Sara – "Our Year" (ft Lights): Another song eyeing the exits, set to wistful, jewel-toned synths and balmy horizon fantasias that make the Quin twins' notion of quitting a tired town almost viscerally alluring.
Catherine Elicson – "Figure": The front person of estimable Philly garage rock band Empath strikes out solo, defugging her band's haze for a plaintive ballad on lo-fi electric guitar, with Vini Reilly-ish soloing.
Morphine – "Cocoon": From a forthcoming rarities album, "Cocoon" revels in the sleazy, disarmingly seductive brew of sax, idle crooning and heavy bass that made the Boston band – and late frontman Mark Sandman – so brilliant.
Space Afrika – "Pretty Gospel" (ft Kiala Ogawa): Surfacing out of the cold, slow currents of ambient, post-rock and dub on the Mancunians' new album Quiet Storm is this jazz ballad, with Ogawa's kindly yet melancholy vocals reminiscent of Cleo Sol.
