Quiet as it's kept, Fort Lauderdale’s Kyle Dion has been producing some of the most luxurious, smooth jams of the last half-decade. 2019’s SUGA formally introduced Dion as this generation’s sensually-sweet voice to rely on, ripe with nostalgic groove and progressive soul. His reputation has only matured with time, with his vision strictly focused forward throughout the tracks of SASSY, Dion’s 2022 follow-up.

Then Dion did what is most difficult: he stepped away when the going was good, taking a year to collect experiences for creative purposes. “I was super inspired because of how much life I had been living and experiencing after the release of my album SASSY,” Dion says of this period. “I took the time to get to know myself, not as Kyle Dion, but as Kyle. I disconnected from Kyle Dion for a bit because I had always been fully submerged in my art and, in a sense, I feel like that could have hindered the authenticity of my previous releases.”

‍While Kyle Dion has always been capable of piercing through with his trademark falsetto, the Kyle we meet on the artist’s newest release wears his pain on his sleeve, leaving little doubt as to the candor of each lyric. If My Jeans Could Talk prioritizes Kyle, with little to no layers separating the listener from his personal accounts of codependency, sexuality, love, and heartbreak. “With this EP I’m a bit more vulnerable, a bit more real, and a bit more carefree,” Dion explains. “I didn’t worry if anyone would like it, but instead focused on how it made me feel, and how I love it and how I wanted to create it for myself, for Kyle.”

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As one would expect from Dion, the EP presents him in many forms – euphorically in love on the effortless “Kissy,” emotionally embattled with a vengeance on single “Hang Me Out To Dry,” and clear-eyed and intentioned on translucent closing track “XYXY.” There’s little standing in his way as he marches forward with a new perspective. Perhaps most exciting is the prospect of what’s to come, of which Dion hinted at ahead of the EP release: “I feel this is a project to give to my fans to let them know that I am back and here is an appetizer before my 3rd album,” he shares, along with the news of a pop-up tour coming to the US and EU in February. In the meantime, fans old and new are invited to get to know Kyle, the man behind one of R&B’s most exciting ambitions.

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