A ruminant songwriter with a yearning if poised vocal style, the Toronto-based Dylan Sinclair has been on a steady rise since releasing his first commercial single in 2017. Red Like Crimson, the R&B artist's 2018 EP, sparked an alliance with producer Jordon Manswell that has fostered the Juno-nominated 2020 album Proverb and its follow-up, No Longer in the Suburbs, released two years later.

Originally from Thornhill, Ontario, Sinclair was singing in church at a very young age, and in his early teens started writing songs. He self-released his first commercial single, a booming and reflective slow jam titled "Twelve," in 2017, and only three months later, at the top of 2018, was back with the romantic and more ethereal "Too Fast." Red Like Crimson arrived in mid-2018 on Prodigal (not to be confused with the '70s Detroit-based label), expanding Sinclair's fan base considerably, and reaching Jordon Manswell, an emergent producer known at that point for his work on Daniel Caesar's Grammy-nominated Freudian. Sinclair, Manswell, and additional associates cooked up Proverb, a short album released in September 2020 through Manswell's Five Stone Records. Warmly received, Proverb was nominated for a 2021 Juno award in the Traditional R&B/Soul Recording of the Year category. Sinclair was behind a few supplemental singles (including "Regrets"), and a collaboration with fellow Juno nominee Savannah Ré ("Last One"), before he unloaded his second eight-track effort, No Longer in the Suburbs, titled in reference to the fulfillment of his desire to soak up city life after being raised north of Toronto. ~ Andy Kellman