What is it with neo-soul singers and their long-ass vacations? D’Angelo’s been missing since 2000. Maxwell just returned after an eight-year break. Let’s not even get into Lauryn Hill. But at least we know where these people are and what they’re up to. Canadian R&B singer/songwriter Remy Shand came onto the scene in 2001, blessed us with one album, and then fell into a musical Bermuda triangle of sorts, never to be heard from again.
Shand’s first single, “Take a Message”, had an old-soul vibe that immediately resonated with “serious” R&B listeners. It was grown & sexy music before the term “grown & sexy” was invented. The multi-talented artist struck paydirt with his album “The Way I Feel”. Scoring Gold sales and earning a handful of Grammy nominations while still a bit under the radar, the future looked bright for Remy Shand.
Nothing has been heard from the man since. In the meantime, he’s been swagger-jacked by Robin Thicke, who has become the Alpha Dog when it comes to fair-skinned soul men. His website has disappeared. No new music has surfaced at all. It’s almost time to stick this guy’s face on the side of a milk carton. Is it possible that Shand quickly grew sick of the machinations of the music industry and decided to fight bears in the woods of Winnipeg? Time will tell if the singer will ever make a return, but in the interim at least we have his (unjustly forgotten) first (and only) album to groove on.
