THEE SACRED SOULS レコード& CD

Review: The Daptone label, renowned for its modern yet classically soulful sound, recently hosted the outstanding debut album from Thee Sacred Souls. Produced by Daptone co-founder Gabriel Roth, the record exuded endless warmth and texture and combined 60s soul with 70s r&b with heartrending vocals and poignant rhythms. Now the whole thing has been stripped back to its instrumental core and gets served up here on a standalone limited red vinyl album. It's just as good in this format as the original and allows the skilfulness of the musicians to really shine.

Review: Thee Sacred Souls made a big splash with their lovely debut album last year after a great run of singles. They came on the Penrose label in Spain and that is where they return now with a new limited 7". 'Running Away' opens up in frantic but soul fuelled fashion with quick and slick drums and gorgeous vocal falsettos up top. Things slow down and take a sentimental turn on the flip with 'Love Comes Easy', featuring aching vocal yearns and expressive sax lines heightening the mood. Tow more gems from this ever more prominent outfit.

Review: Thee Sacred Souls dropped a well-received debut album last year after a great run of singles, all of which came on the Penrose label out of Spain. They have already started with more singles post that LP and 'Future Lover' is next up. The title tune takes up the a-side with its slow-motion soul, languid guitar licks and gorgeous vocal harmonies. Fans of Leon Bridges or Khruangbin will love this one. 'For Now' then strips right back to a beautiful falsetto and star-gazing guitar that makes you ache for you don't know what, but it's a lovely feeling.

Review: 'Easier Said Than Done' is another single taken from the superb recent debut album by Thee Sacred Souls. It was a record that showed the Daptone's artists to be as skilled in classically inclined soul as they are serving up supreme modern reinterpretations. This A-side tune from it, like many on the record, mixes up Chicano, Philly, Chicago, Memphis, and Panama soul. The flip side offering 'Love Is The Way' is as raw musically and emotionally and is packed with warming texture and lovely vocal work.

Review: Those masters of the modern but classically inclined soul sound that we know as the Daptone label are back again, this time with a fantastic debut album from Thee Sacred Souls. This is a record that was produced by Daptone co-founder Gabriel Roth, and it is brilliantly warm and textured throughout. Mixing up 60s soul with 70s R&B, each performance is majestic with heart-aching vocals and longing rhythms powering it along. Chicano, Philly, Chicago, Memphis and Panama soul all colour the sound while the rawness and realness of the tunes connect deeply on many levels.

Review: Thee Sacred Souls will have your head in a spin and your heart bulging with their new 7" for Spain's Penrose. The group consists of Alex Garcia, Josh Lane and Sal Samano and they have been releasing music since only 2020, all of it on this label, all of it excellent. Their fourth 45rpm is another timeless one that has all the old school aesthetics and frayed edges we love with some new school vocal gold. 'Trade Of Hearts' is a dreamy and woozy number that encourages day dreaming and then lush falsettos on 'Let Me Feel Your Charm' picks up the pace with a more dynamic groove for tender dance floors.

Review: Penrose is a brand new "sub-division" of much-loved revivalist soul and funk label Daptone. It was established by main man (and producer extraordinaire) Bosco Mann to showcase soul and funk music from in and around Southern California, where his studio is now based. The imprint's first single comes courtesy of Thee Sacred Souls, a San Diego-based trio who recorded this fine debut single under Mann's watchful eye. A-side "Can I Call You A Rose" is particularly potent, with super-sweet lead and backing vocals rising above an emotive bed of glistening jazz guitar licks, slow drums and warming bass guitar. The future SoCal stars pick things up on the flip, delivering a retro-futurist, reverb-laden gem that reminded us a little of some of Mayer Hawthorne's most loved-up works.