Soul Strutter: 08/18/23

Friday, 18 August 2023

Robert IMtume Owens [2023] - Elementary [EMP Worldwide, Inc.] MUSIC VIDEO

The new single from Robert IMtume Owens ,"Elementary", dropped on Saturday (12 Aug) and a music video has now been produced for it.

Once again the song has been produced by Sound Of Superbad's Andy Welland who collaborated with him on his UK soul chart #1 hit "Vibration" in 2021 (released on vinyl by Izipho Soul), "Don't Give Up" (Mar '22) and the ensuing Club Mix (Oct '22).

The latest single is a real grower, getting better with each listen, and is already at #8 on this week's Soul Associates Top 30.

Robert recorded his first single in 1979 as part of a show group, Showtime, who recorded a cover of Commodores "Three Times A Lady". He went on to study jazz percussion at Kansas University and formed a fusion jazz band called Group Therapy (which lasted about two years) and was the lead singer for a pop band called Kokomo from 1984-1994 (not the UK band of the same name).

He won the Budweiser Showdown two years in a row which introduced him to Max Groove, a contemporary jazz artist from Kansas City, who was one of the judges. Max asked him to record the vocal for the title cut for his 1988 "Midnight Rain" album. This was the turning point when Robert decided to go professional and led to him working with Gerald Albright, Freddie Jackson, Najee, Alex Bugnon, Eric Gable, Tony Terry, Ashford and Simpson, and Grover Washington Jr. to name just a few.

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Details

Rating:	8.5
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	New Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Self Released
Cat No:	None
Date:	11/08/2023
Key/BPM:	4B/105
Price:	£1

Pale Jay [2023] - Bewilderment [Karma Chief] (Full Album)

The debut album from Pale Jay, "Bewilderment" has dropped today after four singles have been drip fed from it since April, leaving four fresh tracks.

The first was "By The Lake" (14 Apr ) which we posted it in Dec '22 so it may have been withdrawn and reissued) and then "In Your Corner" (30 May), "Dreaming In Slow Motion" (27 Jun) and finally the title track, "Bewilderment" (25 Jul).

Pale Jay is a trained jazz vocalist and pianist from L.A. who seems to want to hide his true identify, both name and face, as he wears a balaclava to cover his face. His influences are given as wide ranging as Labi Sifre, Carol King to 70s/80s Nigerian funk artist William Onyeabor.

We were first introduced to the music of Pale Jay via his debut EP "The Celestial Suite" in Oct, '21

The album is also available on CD and vinyl.

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Full Album Playlist on YouTube HERE

Details

Rating:	8.3
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Retro Soul
Format:	Album
Media:	Digital / CD / Vinyl
Label:	Karma Chief
Cat No:	None
Date:	18/08/2023
Price:	£7.49 / £12.79 / £22.86

Omar & Joss Stone & Morgan Munroe feat. SANITY [2023] - Girls [Defected Records]

A number 3 UK pop chart hit in Mar/Apr 1975 for Moments & Whatnauts is the vehicle for a remake by Omar, Joss Stone and Morgan Munroe featuring rap from SANITY who had a single, "Late Night", out at the end of June with Blue Lab Beats and Melonyx.

The vocals are shared by Stone and Munroe but we don't detect Omar's voice in evidence, so perhaps he just composed/produced the song?

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Details

Rating:	8.3
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Defected Records
Cat No:	None
Date:	18/08/2023
Key/BPM:	3B/102
Price:	£1

Leon Thomas [2023] - Electric Dusk [EZMNY Records / Motown Records] (Full Album)

Brooklyn born, L.A.-based, singer, songwriter, producer and actor Leon Thomas first featured here last Dec with the excellent "Breaking Point" and re-recorded a remix with Victoria Monét on 28 Jul.

Today he has released his sophomore album "Electric Dusk". which includes both versions as well as three previous singles "Crash & Burn" (Apr '23), "X-Rated" (May '22) and "Love Jones" (Aug '22).

Thomas is from a musical background, his mother (Jayton Anthony) a singer, father (Leon Thomas II) an opera singer and his stepfather played guitar with B.B. King.

At the age of 10 he played Young Simba in "The Lion King" on Broadway, at 13 starred in Nickelodeon's "Victorious" and then in the HBO series "Insecure" as well as several other films and TV series.

He emerged as a song writer in 2012 and has written and produced with the likes of Ariana Grande, Kehlani, J. Cole, Rick Ross, and others and received a Grammy Award for writing credits on Babyface and Toni Braxton's 2014 joint album "Love, Marriage & Divorce". He also contributed to the writing on Drake's chart topping album "Certified Lover Boy" in 2021.

His debut EP "Genesis" (Aug 2018) earned him a nomination for Best New Artist at the 2018 Soul Train Awards.

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Full Album Playlist on YouTube HERE

Details

Rating:	8.3
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Album
Media:	Digital
Label:	EZMNY Records / Motown Records
Cat No:	None
Date:	18/08/2023
Price:	£10.29

Morttimer Snerd III [2023] - Katfish (Miggedy's Full Dizko Slap) [Self Released]

Chicago producer Morttimer Snerd III aka Steve 'Miggedy' Maestro (aka Stephen Maskall) takes the Four Tops 1976 song "Catfish" (retitled "Katfish") as his latest remix project.

There are two mixes "Miggedy's Full Dizko Slap" and "BVP Dizko Drumz" which we've omitted as it's essentially just drums and pretty monotonous and probably only included for DJ mixing as on it's own is plain boring and 7:26 of your life you won't get back! Apart from a heavier bassline, it's not too dissimilar to the Four Tops' original as it uses their vocals with the unmistakable timbre of Levi Stubbs.

The song was written by Fred Bridges (Masters of Soul), Four Tops member Lawrence Payton and Mikki Farrow (cropping up again as mentioned earlier on the Bobby Eli post). Farrow was married to Detroit saxophonist Mike Terry.

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Details

Rating:	8.2
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	New Soul / Remix
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Self Released
Cat No:	None
Date:	18/08/2023
Key/BPM:	8A/122 / 7B/122
Price:	£1

Soulnaturals feat. CeCi Munette [2023] - I Found Love In A Discotheque [British Soul Standard]

A couple of weeks ago London's The Soulnaturals released a Hotmood Remix of "I Found Love In A Discotheque" and today release the 'main' mix along with the remix.

Not surprisingly, it's a disco tune with the Hotmood Remix having more than a hint of house and features the vocals of San Diego soul/gospel singer CeCi Munette.

The Soulnaturals are led by Tooting's Tony Cannan and released their debut album "Love Says Yes" in Apr 2017.

The group regularly features guest, normally female, vocalists such as CeCi Munette, Kylie Auldist, Jo Kelsey, Gloria Pryce, Chantelle Nandi, Sharon Gitau, Lotus D.

In addition to CeCi Munette, the new single features Yvonne Park and Kadesha Charles on background vocals. We are told that the single is from a forthcoming, sophomore, album "Parlo Discoteca?" from which we're sure you can deduce what the contents are likely to be.

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Details

Rating:	8
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Nu Disco, Soulful House?
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	British Soul Standard / Self Released
Cat No:	None
Date:	18/08/2023
Key/BPM:	8B/120 / 9B/120
Price:	£1.98

Teddy Bryant [2023] - Dinner For Two [Stormyweather Records] (Full Album)

Having pre-released two tracks as singles in the last few weeks, the full album, "Dinner For Two", by Teddy Bryant is released today.

We posted the two singles, "Wrapped Around Your Finger" (21 Jul) and "Love I'm Given" (4 Aug) together as we missed the first one.

It's a pretty solid set with a mix of ballads and uptempo songs and difficult to choose any particular standouts from the ten song set (plus an intro and outro). We suspect that the uptempo "8,9,10" may initially get most attention.

He featured here previous to that with Space Ghost in Apr '22 on a three tracker titled "Heaven Sent" and before that with his only solo album under his own name (as far as we can tell) "In The Beginning" in Oct '21.

Bryant is a singer, composer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist from Conway, SC. He's the son of a jazz musician and was a member of a jazz band called Urbyne and released three albums under the moniker Moonlight Ora in 2012, 2016 and 2019.

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For Full Album Playlist on YouTube Click HERE

Details

Rating:	8.6
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	New Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Stormyweather Records
Cat No:	None
Date:	04/08/2023 / 21/07/2023
Key/BPM:	2B/90 / 10B/85
Price:	£1