Soul Strutter: 08/25/23

Friday, 25 August 2023

Aphrose [2023] - Roses [LRK Records]

The new single from Toronto's Aphrose (Joanna Mohammed) is "Roses" is out today (25 Aug). It follows "Ya Ya" (7 Jul) and "Good Love" (19 May) and is the title track of her sophomore album due on LRK Records later this year.

The song was written by Aphrose with her long time musical collaborator, Scott McCannell (SafeSpaceShip) and guitarist Heather Crawford). It is dedicated to her grandmother, Rose, who has influenced her most and from whom she takes her artist name. It pays homage to her grandmother's remarkable resilience and strength escaping an abusive relationship and emigrating with her children from Trinidad and Tobago to Canada and raising them as a single parent.

It's a delicate, poignant, heartfelt, ethereal and emotional ballad which Aphrose states:

"holds immense significance in my heart, serving as a poignant tribute and a heartfelt love letter to my beloved late grandmother, Rose. A beacon of unyielding strength, she has been my guiding light since childhood, alongside my mother and aunts, who collectively serve as my source of inspiration."

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Details

Rating:	8.3
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	LRK Records
Cat No:	None
Date:	25/08/2023
Key/BPM:	8B/71
Price:	£1

Victoria Monét [2023] - JAGUAR II [Lovett Music / RCA Records] (Full Album)

"Jaguar II", is the new album by Victoria Monét which, naturally, follows "Jaguar" from Aug '20. Depending on who and how these things are decided, it's her second full album although she has two pairs of EPs "Nightmares & Lullabies - Act 1 & Act 2" and "Life After Love - Pt1 & Pt 2".

Since her UK chart topping single "Coastin'" in Sep '21, she's released three of her own singles (her last "Oh My Mama", "Party Girls" and "Smoke" all included on the album) and featured on another two. One with Leon Thomas a few weeks ago "Breaking Point Remix" and a Spotify only single "We Might Be Falling In Love" with Byron Tiller.

There are several new songs that stand out on first listen, "Cadillac (A Pimp's Anthem)", "How Does It Make You Feel", "I'm The One", "Stop (Askin' Me 4Shyt)", "Good Bye" and "Hollywood" which features Earth, Wind & Fire and Hazel Monét (sister/daughter? most likely her daughter as there's a baby's voice right at the end and she gave birth to a daughter in 2021).

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Details

Rating:	8.6
Explicit:	Y Tracks: 1, 4, 7 & 9
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Album
Media:	Digital
Label:	Lovett Music / RCA Records
Cat No:	None
Date:	25/08/2023
Price:	£7.99

Mr Maph [2023] - Sweet Dancer The E.P. (Remastered) [House Of Parliament Music]

We first came across London born, Marbella resident, Mr Maph (aka Michael Andrew Peter Harding) in Feb with his superb single "Sweet Dancer". It got lost in the mix over Christmas / New Year as it was originally released on 14 Dec '22.

He has now included it on a four track EP "Sweet Dancer The E.P. (Remastered)" which includes recent single "Who Cares" (22 Jun) along with earlier singles, "Emotions" (29 Mar) and "Romeo & Juliet" (17 Jan).

He's a prolific artist as we count 22 singles released already in 2023, but many of them are EDM aimed squarely at the club scene.

With a background in gospel, he's been in the business for over 25 years and was a finalist in the Spanish version of The Voice.

It looks like this one may be streaming only as it is not (currently) available for purchase on Amazon, but all are available individually in their non-remastered states.

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Details

Rating:	8.5
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	New Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	House Of Parliament Music
Cat No:	None
Date:	19/08/2023
Price:	£N/A

Soul Liberation [2023] - Who Are You (Remastered) [BBE] (Full Album)

Another album we posted over three weeks ago was a digital reissue of "Who Are You?" by Soul Liberation. It has been remastered and reissued again digitally today which coincides with the double vinyl, gatefold and CD release.

Soul Liberation was a Gospel group from Dallas, TX, led by Jimmy Miller and Teresa Miller. They were the brainchild of minister Tom Skinner, a former gang-leader turned evangelical preacher from NYC, who toured the states doing revival-style crusades. He began using local choirs and bands as his backup and then decided to recruit a dedicated band.

They released their first, self-titled, album in 1974 and another "Who Are You" in 1982. The latter is hard to find on original vinyl and a decent copy will set you back between £200-£300 or more. It was reissued digitally in 2015 by BBE and licensed to Japanese label BBQ for CD reissue in Japan only. It was also unofficially reissued on vinyl in France by Rainbow in 2015.

Back in the day London's two step scene latched onto "Touch Me Again" which is reminiscent of The Controllers "My Secret Fantasy" (which didn't come until after long after this release) with shades of Keni Burke's "Rising' To The Top" so not surprising that it caught on.

Other tracks of interest include "It Won't Go Away" and "Send Me". Only two of the songs received a single release, the title track "Who Are You" (which is also rather good) coupled with "Blessed" on gospel label Rainbow (which is probably why the Rainbow name was used for the French bootleg).

Only one single was released from their first album but Luv N' Haight reissued an album track "Who Is Your Friend" from it in 2010 which sounds quite advanced for a 1974 recording as it has an early 80s boogie funk sound.

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Details

Rating:	8.5
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Gospel Soul
Format:	Album
Media:	Digital / CD/ Vinyl
Label:	BBE
Cat No:	None
Date:	25/08/2023
Price:	£7.99 / £16.99 / £30.23

Soul Tune Allstars [2023] - The Soul Of The Viking [Soul Tune Records] (Full Album)

Just over three weeks ago we part posted Soul Tune Allstars "The Soul Of The Viking" ahead of it's full release today. A few singles have been pre-released and a few tracks were available to listen to on Bandcamp.

You can now listen in full and purchase either digitally or on vinyl. The album's eleven tracks are predominantly instrumental with only four vocals. The standout is still the "Oh Your Love" feat. Maria Sanchez for our ears along with "Love Comes Easy" feat Desmond Foster. The two vocal tracks feat. Carlton Jumel Smith are 70s, funk, Blaxploitation oriented.

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Details

Rating:	8
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Retro Soul
Format:	Album
Media:	Digital / Vinyl
Label:	Soul Tune Records
Cat No:	None
Date:	15/08/2023
Price:	£6.49 / £28.99

Allen Stone & EJ Worland [2023] - Many Rivers To Cross [AMR Songs]

You just can't keep a good song down! A classic song, "Many Rivers To Cross", written and first recorded in Dec 1969 by Jimmy Cliff. It has been covered up to a hundred times, initially by Percy Sledge, but Martha Reeves also did it on her debut solo album in 1974. Perhaps the most famous version was by UB40 in 1983 from "Labour Of Love".

Cliff's original failed to chart and the only other version to chart in the UK was by Cher in 1993. A few other notable soul versions were by Lorraine Ellison, Oleta Adams and Marcia Hines and many pop artists have had a 'pop' at it including Joe Cocker, Bryan Adams, Walker Brothers and Annie Lennox.

Cliff says that he wrote the song out of frustration after emigrating from Jamaica to the UK in his teens and not being able to break through. It's one of only a few of his recordings to feature organ which gives it a gospel feel.

The latest rendition is by Allen Stone & EJ Worland released today. Allen Stone is a blue-eyed soul singer from Chewelah, Washington and EJ Worland is an Australian who has been performing on Stone's "Live At The Lodge" shows. The show is filmed every week in Eastern Washington State at the one hundred year old former speakeasy, The Zephyr Lodge. This song was recorded there in Oct 2020, so it's taken a while for them to decide to release it.

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Details

Rating:	8.3
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Classic Soul / Cover Version
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	AMR Songs
Cat No:	None
Date:	25/08/2023
Key/BPM:	10B/66
Price:	£1