Saturday 22 October 2011

Ben L'Oncle Soul - Same

Retro, neo, nu, or simply Soul

The recent Later....with Jools Holland exposure of this fine French soul vocalist will presumably act as the catalyst needed to promote his album here. It worked for me.

Apart from opener Jack White's Seven Nation Army, this is a collection of self-penned [with assistance] songs and they are authentic enough Motown/Stax sounds to warrant the appellation 'Soul' to his name and album, though some commentators out there have seen this as a little naff.

It is interesting that the songs sung in French have their own nuances: it's a language suited to the sensuous nature of soul. I guess. I don't speak French, but it sounds fine to me. Of course that's because his voice is without question soulful. Playing and production throughout is excellent too [Come Home is a good example].

Like stripping away unnecessary prefixes, this is quite simply great stuff: funky at times and serious about its precursor influences.

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