Drizabone Soul Family-All The Way (Album Review)

Drizabone Soul Family-All The Way (Dome Records)

If there is one song that has probably been requested more than any other over the last twenty years on the more soulful dancefloors of the nation, it would be the (almost) one hit wonder “Real Love” by Drizabone, a track released in the early 90’s that seemingly came from nowhere but went on to become a massive summer hit.

The band went on to release a few more less successful singles and one critically acclaimed album ‘Conspiracy’, as well as remixing hit tracks for the likes of Lisa Stansfield and Shanice (the #2 “I Love Your Smile”), but seemingly then disappeared.

As we all know there have been a few soulful families over the years, The Jacksons, The Isleys, Five Star (?), but the Drizabone Soul Family are different. Original band member Billy Freeman has revived the name and recruited some of the UK’s strongest (some previously unsigned) vocalists (to give them their full credit, namely Denise Gordon, Nataya, Anneka Johnson, Natalie Valentine, Keni Stevens, Sh'niece McMenemin) to join his family and perform with him on 11 perfectly crafted tunes that reflect every angle of the soul music genre.

Now be aware that in a time when R&B rules the charts and airwaves, what we have here is ACTUAL soul. First single “I Fell Apart” is an indication of this. Reminiscent of Natalie Cole’s “This Will Be”, like much of the album, it is a summer groove that sticks in your head from first hearing. You can tell that much of the set has been inspired by classic albums like “Off The Wall” and has elements of everything from Northern Soul, TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia) and past Brit-Soul stars like Loose Ends and Brand New Heavies.

Standouts on the album are “Love Me Like A Lover Should” & “No More Sorry” (a more pop-soul track that wouldn’t even sound out of place on the latest Kylie album), both of which are voiced by Anneka Johnson. Also of note is “Lovin’ U” a real old school duet, complete with talky intro between Nataya & Keni Stevens, which harks back to the times of Diana & Marvin or Alexander O’ Neal & Cherrelle.

In fact it is new talent Nataya that brings the whole thing full circle with the albums final track, a 2010 reworking of the aforementioned “Real Love”, which is only subtly updated and will not upset the true connoisseurs and fans of the original.

Overall this is an easy listen and much of it is radio friendly, a fact that has been reflected by it being chosen as album of the week on both Radio 2 and Smooth FM. If you want something cool to chill out to in the Summer sunshine, you could do a lot worse than give this album a go.

Paloma Faith at the itunes festival, 7th July 2010

Summertime means really only one thing in the live music world these days, festival time. But while most usually take place over a couple of days a motorway journey away in a muddy field, the itunes festival is slightly different. Like it’s sponsor, it’s a bit cooler and smaller taking place over an entire month at just a single venue, Camden’s Roundhouse. Now in it’s 4th year, the selection of acts is just as diverse as any other festival, but you can still get the tube home after the gig.

Artists appearing this year range from openers Scissors Sisters via the currently hot Florence & The Machine/Ellie Goulding/Plan B to the likes of Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Bennett. Twitter king Stephen Fry even puts in an appearance later this month.

Tonight was the turn of two local residents. Alan Pownall, a cool singer-songwriter in the vein of Jack Johnson or Jason Mraz but with a Brit feel. A bright and breezy set from Alan kicked us off and included tracks from his debut album “True Love Stories” plus a very laid back version of The Strokes “Someday”.

Then it was the turn of the lady who is fast becoming a national treasure, Miss Paloma Faith, fresh from opening up the final day at Glasto and ahead of her appearance at T in the Park. From the out it was clear that this set was geared toward those larger crowd events. The Hackney girl arrived on stage in a sparkly white sexy cat-suit with heels that were almost as tall as her and possibly the wildest hair style we have seen her sporting to date, launching straight into a rock-up version of her debut hit “Stone Cold Sober”.

It’s been a good year for Paloma with the success of her debut album “Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful”, as well as the continuation of her acting career which saw her appear in Heath Ledger’s last movie and numerous guest appearances on tv panel shows. But it is on stage where she really gets to show her personality and what she can actually do.

Known as something of a modern British style icon, every detail of Ms. Faith’s show is immaculate; including the band’s matching outfits. Her stage set is grand with a huge art-deco mirror as it’s centrepiece and two giant helium filled balloons either side which we soon found out were to be put to good use. Before performing “Broken Doll” she strapped them to her shoulders, likening herself to the characters in “Up”. In fact it’s a wonder that the tiny Ms. Faith literally did not take off at any point, and perhaps with a gust of wind at one of the outside gigs that could be a strong possibility.

She carried the huge inflatables around for the next few songs, which included the album’s title track played in it’s original ballad version but then cleverly reworked into the funkier uptempo“Widower” remix which helped get a few toes a tappin’. “Smoke And Mirrors” followed to keep the vibe going which in turn lead to our first cover of the night, a version of The Korgis 70’s classic “Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes”. Once again this was a more rocked up take on the song and all credit to her band who got the chance to show just what they can do on it, especially guitarist Seye Adelekan who clearly enjoys letting rip whenever possible.

You can tell that Paloma is totally at home on the stage and that acting is in her blood. There’s plenty of those ‘looking innocently around in wonder’ moments, just like Alice or Dorothy and she also uses the drama to full effect when performing some of the big ballads. “Play On”, dedicated to Edith (Piaf-one of her inspirations) ends with her falling theatricality in a heap on the floor.

One of the high points of the show follows. This time in honour of another of her idols, Etta James, she performs the second cover of the evening, a breath-taking version of ‘At Last’ which surpasses other recent takes on the song (I’m talking to you Ms. Knowles) and truly shows the power and perfection in her vocal ability.

The energetic “Upside Down” introduces the band then brings us all too soon towards the end, but not before we have her signature tune as the finale, the soon to be re-released (but nobody’s entirely sure why) “New York”. A proper sing-a-long which saw Paloma jump down off the stage and into the front of the crowd. All in all a fine way to wrap things up.

There were minor problems with the sound on the night, though no fault of singer or band, and there’s always the fact that when an artist has only one album’s worth of material to pull from, song selections are going to be limited but these are very minor flaws in what was a near perfect show (other than a slight wardrobe malfunction which lead to her taking off the aforementioned giant heels towards the end of the night).

Her personality is infectious, style is unique and most importantly her voice is incredible. Like George said, you gotta have Faith!

Set List:

1. Stone Cold Sobert

2. Romance Is Dead

3. Broken Doll

4. Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful

5. Smoke And Mirrors

6. Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes

7. Play On

8. Stargazer

9. My Legs Are Weak

10. At Last

11. Love Ya

12. Upside Down

13. New York

JUMPINSOUNDS BLOG

Well, thought it was about time.
Everyone else is doing it so why should I, right?
This will be the place for me to tell you about things I've done, seen or heard.
But that's kind of the point I suppose

J