Charlotte Day Wilson was the satin surface in the “smooth-ass R&B” Toronto quartet The Wayo. Her low voice draped around their suave arrangements just like Sade’s around her group of smooth operators. A smoldering guest spot on BADBADNOTGOOD’s recent ’70s jukebox number “In Your Eyes” made her credentials as a warden of the old school all the more official. But her debut solo EP, the mainly self-produced CDW, shoots ahead a couple decades to a more polished, contemporary adult sound. With Sade still a touchpoint—as well as Maxwell’s stylish neo-soul and some pre-“Heartbreaker” Mariah Carey sprinkled in too—Wilson’s quiet storm whirls with similar magic.
Only, the opener “On Your Own” is a bit of a red herring. The short, freeform piece is a soundscape built on futuristic keys and Vangelis-esque ambience. Words are hard to make out, but the atmospherics spark as Wilson’s voice emerges on the horizon. It’s not until the blurry ballad “Work” where you hear how well her woozy production and voice work together. Her musings are vague, and her thoughts are scattered, as she quietly sings, “It’s going to take a little time but with you by my side/I won’t let go ‘til I’ve got what’s mine.” The familiar feelings of relationship anxiety come through clear as a crystal tumbler.
With a chorus that soars, “Find You” is the nearest thing CDW has to a brash pop number that stays inside Wilson’s dapper parameters. The EP’s high point, though, might be “Where Do You Go.” Produced by rising star River Tiber—the only person other than Wilson invited to jump behind the boards—the horns and basement club jazz underpin a feeling of loneliness and isolation as the singer ponders the whereabouts of her missing-in-action lover: “Where did you go today?/It could have been anywhere.” Her voice doesn’t just sound great on the ear; it carries a huge emotional weight.
The one thing missing is friction. A longer release would have benefitted from one or two more muscular productions, or some stylistic shifts to keep you guessing. But even without some extra force pressing down, these six tracks show Wilson has already mastered her strengths. The smooth-as-hell Canadian’s got the voice and a lot more besides. CDW funnels timeless sounds through her own distinct filter, making songs for doomed lovers sitting alone in a dimly lit living room over a bottomless bottle of cheap bourbon.
