*** This review first appeared in TSMM's January 26th newsletter where you can get all the tip (and more) first ***
Thankfully, the start of year lull means I get a bit of breathing space and a chance to discover slightly older music, which often gets rapidly buried in the new release avalanche. Well this deep soul debut from Parisian Sophye Soliveau was definitely the “throwback” find of last week, made all the more special by the fact she was completely off my radar.
Soliveau is a singer, harpist and women choir director, keen collaborator and nocturnal composer with a serious knack for fusing her classical training with a deep soul sensibility that nods to the twentieth century greats, looks around at the deeper end of the nu-soul present and celebrates the increasingly forgotten blues and gospel roots of soul music. The arrangements have a stripped back, spacious feel, with her (sadly anonymous) band and backing singers seemingly on a collective mission to selflessly elevate the star of the show and provide emotional encouragement at just the right times.
I have some slight reservations about the actual recording and mastering quality, it sounds a touch thin and a tad distant at times, so you might have to crank the volume a bit for the recording to fully hit home, but that minor quibble aside, the deep soulfulness and quality are very real. Expect to see her on a label for her sophomore.
Playlist Companion
Find Sophye Soliveau in fine soulful company over at the Slow Soul Playlist.
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