We’re a small outfit over here at SoulTracks.com and it’s hard to keep up with all the great new music that comes across our desk and through the airwaves on the regular. Accordingly, some great new music we’d otherwise spotlight slips through the cracks. Here’s a list of 10 songs we wish we’d had the time to expend more ink on that came out in the last year. We might play this kind of catch-up from time to time to keep you abreast and us better on our toes. Enjoy these cuts and tell us what you think of them in the comment section below.
10. The Jack Moves – “All At Once”: Flawlessly delivering that early ‘70s doo wop sound with that ringing falsetto lead, Zee & Teddy’s music reminds us of the Delfonics at their peak, only this was just released last fall. How’d they do that?
We’re a small outfit over here at SoulTracks.com and it’s hard to keep up with all the great new music that comes across our desk and through the airwaves on the regular. Accordingly, some great new music we’d otherwise spotlight slips through the cracks. Here’s a list of 10 songs we wish we’d had the time to expend more ink on that came out in the last year. We might play this kind of catch-up from time to time to keep you abreast and us better on our toes. Enjoy these cuts and tell us what you think of them in the comment section below.
10. The Jack Moves – “All At Once”: Flawlessly delivering that early ‘70s doo wop sound with that ringing falsetto lead, Zee & Teddy’s music reminds us of the Delfonics at their peak, only this was just released last fall. How’d they do that?
9. Alex Isley – “La Brea”: The urban chic single from a direct inheritor of the Isley Bros. legacy evokes midnight drives along streets of bright lights and big dreams. This sumptuous aural jam is the perfect introduction to Alex Isley’s new and long-awaited debut album, Luxury.
8. Sid Sriram – “Moment of Weakness (Live)”: While we listed it as one of the best songs of the year for 2015, we never quite got around to giving it the write-up it deserved. The former winner of the SoulTracks Editor’s Choice Award continues to impress us with his soulful, seamless blending of Eastern and Western sounds.
7. Nola Adé – “Love”: Channeling a bit of the Pointer Sisters during their boogie-woogie period with a whiff of retro soul, newcomer Adé mixes old school vocal phrasing with a contemporary hip hop soul beat on her debut single in ways that sends tingles down the spine.
6. Justin Alexander – “Sweet Thing”: We didn’t think there was any way to cover this Rufus featuring Chaka Khan jam that we hadn’t already heard, but North Carolina newbie Justin Alexander’s creative interpolation of Khan’s classic hook against layered, melisma rich harmonies and a D’Angelo by way of Al Green southern fried vocal lead took us by surprise in the most impressive way possible. His Her comes out in 2016.
5. Brandy – “Beggin’ and Pleadin’”: Embarrassingly, this thrilling return by one some call the “Vocal Bible” is one that literally everyone but us penned something about last year. Anyone who is saying Black soul is dead couldn’t have heard these church ‘n’ street drenched vocals with its classic call and response motifs.
4. Eddie Gomez – “You Lie So Well”: Sixties-era Stax Records would’ve been proud to call this bit of bleeding heart retro soul one of their own. One of four throwback tracks from his Retro-Fitted EP, Gomez shows us how he’s getting stronger as both a songwriter and performer and finding his niche with more traditional fare.
3. Tweet – “Magic”: It seems an eternity that we’ve been waiting for the release of Tweet’s third full-length album, Charlene, but it appears the wait might finally be over. This bluesy soul first single seems to pick right back up where her debut album left off, reminding listeners why we fell in love with Tweet’s unique instrument from day one.
2. Boostive – “Dream (feat. Salami Rose)”: This release from Boostive’s totally left-of-center hybrid project sounds just like its name: a fever dream. Indeed both Salami Rose-featured experimentations on Room for Living sound like the ghost of Billie Holiday trapped in a downtempo fantasy world. It’s both eerie and sublime.
1. Eryn Allen Kane – “Piano Song”: While we’re now jamming to the raw soul of “Dead or Alive” from her new Aviary: Act II EP, the song that started our infatuation with all things Eryn Allen Kane was delivered courtesy of this song featured on Being Mary Jane. The epic last two minutes of this singer-songwriter’s delivery told us there was way more to come, beautiful, gorgeous things. How right it was.
By L. Michael Gipson
*Editor's Note: Some songs take longer to load in the player than others but ALL of them will play, just give them a minute. The player is designed to prevent web rips of the material (i.e., five-finger discounts) and sometimes that slows up the process. But, we promise that good things come to those who wait.