Francis and the Lights - Farewell, Starlite! (2016)

Like his collaborators Kanye West and Bon Iver, Oakland’s Francis Farewell Starlite has little regard for traditional song structures and much love for Auto-Tune. Pulsing gently with synths, finger clicks, and keening vocals, Farewell, Starlite!’s alt-R&B takes enough left turns to almost hark back to The Doobie Brothers’ soft-rocking soul—albeit a spartan, deconstructed version. “Friends” is the gorgeously shimmering centerpiece, but “Thank You” clears away the synthetic effects to underline Starlite’s sharp melodicism.