Atlanta’s rising R&B star retreats to the sanctuary of her mind

Summer Walker isn’t one to floss; the Atlanta R&B singer prefers to remain in the shadows and let her music do the talking. “When people come up and ask what I do, I tell them I clean houses. I don’t tell them I do music,” Walker told Beats 1. That low profile gives her debut album a mysterious, nocturnal patina that’s steeped in bare-bones emotion. Her voice is a sultry murmur exploring carnal desires (“Girls Need Love”) as well as safe spaces (“Deep”). Her hit single “CPR” was born out of a tragic situation, one she transformed into a therapeutic song about self-revival. That’s just how she rolls, Walker told Beats 1: “I don’t really have a lot of friends, so I put it to paper. I kind of counsel myself with music.”