The 14-year lapse in D'Angelo's catalogue is due partly to the Virginia-born neo-soul sophisticate's early excellence: the hefty task of matching avant-R&B masterstrokes like 1995's smoky organ-jazz number “Brown Sugar” and 2000's profoundly intimate “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” seemed to paralyze the perfectionist creatively. But when D'Angelo returned in 2014 with The Vanguard, his new material was equally indispensable—from the cinematic marvel of “Really Love” to the militant funk distortion of “1000 Deaths”, no one does experimental soul better.