Today, D’Angelo‘s latest recording received an official release on streaming services. “Unshaken”, which originally appeared on the 2018 Red Dead Redemption 2 video game soundtrack, is composed by Woody Jackson and is the first D’Angelo release since 2014’s Black Messiah.
The R&B/soul maven earned enormous commercial and critical success with his first two albums, Brown Sugar (1995) and Voodoo (2000). However, particularly following the release of the video for “Untitled (How Does It Feel)“, the lead single from Voodoo, D’Angelo began to feel uncomfortable with his growing “sex symbol” status. The discomfort he felt toward that distinction, in addition to a bevy of other adverse personal situations, led D’Angelo to step away from the spotlight at the peak of his fame, beginning a hiatus from the public eye which lasted nearly 14 years.
He finally resurfaced with the release of his universally-acclaimed third LP, Black Messiah, in 2014. The album was a critical smash, debuting at #5 on the U.S. Billboard 200 Chart and #1 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart.
In March of 2018, the neo-soul pioneer postponed an 8-date European tour to “deep in the recording process.” We haven’t heard anything since, but we’re keeping our fingers and toes crossed for more original music. Considering the high quality of all his previous efforts, we can’t wait to hear what D’Angelo has *hopefully* been cooking up!
As for the Red Dead Redemption 2 soundtrack, the Woody Jackson-composed score also includes music from Willie Nelson, Rhiannon Giddens, Josh Homme, Nas, and Daniel Lanois, as well as collaborations with Arca, Daniel Lanois, Colin Stetson, and Queens of the Stone Age’s Jon Theodore.
Listen to “Unshaken” below: