In case you haven’t heard, D’Angelo is back. The prodigal son of soul and funk dropped his new album online in December 2014, with no fanfare, no hype and no upfront announcement. The soulternet lit up like a Christmas tree. For one so talented 15 years seems like too long a time to wait between albums (we've had to wait so long 'Black Messiah' has been described as “the black 'SMiLE'”), but D'Angelo had demons to slay, issues to resolve, yada yada yada... (for 15 years!?). Anyway, he's back now, reborn, refreshed and sounding as wonderful as ever. The album cooks up a gumbo of the greats - a dash of Marvin, a sprinkle of Minneapolis, some P-funk pepper and Sly salt, all simmered together to make 'Black Messiah' the tastiest real-soul stew around right now. Essential!