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Hip-hop and soul always mixed quite nice, and Boston band The Wondermics hits just the right balance with “Meltdown.” With much talk about “neo-soul” infiltrating the mainstream—with acts like Pharrell Williams and Maxell often billed as proponents of the movement—it’s worth asking just what soul is in 2014. “Meltdown” has a clear Stevie Wonder vibe to it, set to the kind of revitalized, big band swing sound Bruce Springsteen championed back in the “Born to Run” days. Intelligently integrating rap—almost seamlessly—with more traditional R&B vocal, the track is a great sample of work The Wondermics’ did on the rest of their ButterChild mixtape, which is now available to stream on Soundcloud.
