Got A Story To Tell

Thee Sacred Soulsの待望のフォローアップ・アルバム『Got A Story To Tell』

サンディエゴのスウィート・ソウル・グループThee Sacred Soulsの代表曲"Weak for your Love"、"Can I Call You Rose?"含む大傑作『Thee Sacred Souls』から約2年、待望の新作アルバムがフィジカル化!

今までで最も力強いドラムとベースが特徴のAlex Garciaがクリスマスの朝に書いたというポップなR&Bソングであり、アルバムのオープニングソング"Lucid Girl"。ジャマイカのロックステディと60年代のガール・クルーズ・ポップからインスピレーションを得たバラード"My Heart is Drowing"はモータウンのMary Wellsを彷彿とさせる魅惑的な1曲。"I'm So Glad I Found You, Baby"は長い旅から戻った時に愛に包まれる感情を歌い、人生の浮き沈みを経てハッピーエンドを迎えるアルバムを締めくくるのにふさわしい1曲となっています。

Following the breakout success of their eponymous debut album, Thee Sacred Souls cemented their following by touring across Europe and the United States numerous times, offering their brand of rootsy retro and Latin soul to growing audiences. Their NPR Tiny Desk Concert brought praise for nearly a year on social media. During their road sojourn, they matured as a unit and developed into one of the tightest trios in pop or R&B. This sojourn across the continents occurred as the bands individual members were dealing with family issues, heartbreak, economic tensions, etc. Got a Story to Tell offers 12 original songs that expand the outfits emotional and musical reach. Rather than follow the current pop standard where each album ultimately becomes a diary entry in her/his career, Thee Sacred Souls offer a more relatable approach to songwriting influenced by the Motown and Brill Building traditions. The three founding members -- singer Josh Lane, drummer Alex Garcia, and bassist Sal Samano -- are joined by guitarist Shay Stulz, pianist/keyboardist Riley Dunn, and backing vocalists Viane Escobar and Astyn Turrentine. Producer Bosco Mann (Gabriel Roth) hired strings and horns to adorn various cuts. Opening track and single "Lucid Girl" is pro-feminist anthem wedding polished soul and retro pop. Written by Lane, it reflects a woman whose self-esteem lifted her persona and spirit above her environment, with lushly layered strings, entwined backing vocals above a sensual melody, three-part harmonies, and Lanes silky-smooth delivery. "Price Ill Pay" is a midtempo soul bubbler with an infectious delivery in Lanes glorious tenor buoyed by fingerpicked electric guitars, entwined backing vocals, and the rhythm sections insistent yet unobtrusive groove. Just these two tracks offer listeners placement in an unfolding narrative that may not be linear but gets the meaning across. The elegant strings and hand drumming in "On My Mind" are underscored by guitars and lush backing vocals that recall Philadelphias Delfonics, in a personal manifesto on growth. The bumping, lithely funky "Live for You" descends in a direct evolutionary line from Marvin Gayes "Mercy Mercy Me," with sparse strings hovering in the backdrop, rumbling bass, and snare breaks as Lane rises above the mix to offer commitment, empathy, compassion, and inspiration to listeners in his convicted yet joyous vocal. "My Heart Is Drowning" melds polished Motown soul-pop and rocksteady reggae in a startling mix that juxtaposes Lanes soaring falsetto with his backing chorus in a plea for love and understanding. Its the albums finest track. In sum, Got a Story to Tell is a masterpiece of growth, musical integration, and unvarnished emotional truth. ~ Thom Jurek

デビュー作が好評を得たサンディエゴの3人組から2年ぶりの新作が到着。ドゥワップからモータウンやフィリーに至るまで、今回も50～70年代のマナーを蕩けるような歌と演奏で現代に再生していく。レトロ、ヴィンテージ、ソウルディーズなど呼び名は何でもよいが、スウィートなソウルの美学が脈々と継承されていくことの素晴らしさも感じられる作品だ。
bounce (C)池谷瑛子