Five months ago, Sam O.B. released a rich slice of R&B-laced funk called ‘Common Ground’, which reintroduced the artist formally known as Obey City to those hungry listeners. Today, we have the second track under this new moniker, ‘Midnight Blue’, which is quite simply perfect. Much like Samuel Obey, this track is a reinvention, based on a hook that the songwriter-producer marked out as having potential back in 2011. Luckily for us, that structure has been fleshed out with distorted synths and electronic chimes arranged into R&B swoons. There’s also some jazzy undertones with the tapping percussion and soul to be found in Sam O.B.’s tastefully auto-tuned vocals, singing out sultry lines like “slip into the ocean, deeper than you.” ‘Midnight Blue’ is equal parts ‘90s R&B and modern synth-pop, topped of with sublime production. - HT