If you’ve read any of my past posts you might have noted an aversion to the retro soul sound peddled by some artists, and major record labels, over the past few years. For me, the best soul music is moving and substantive, never just an exercise in style. SoulCuts is a pretty broad church and the only criteria I apply when choosing to add music and artists to the blog is whether we like it and not whether it fits in with some preordained concept of what real soul music is, or what’s trendy (or trending, for that matter).
DeRobert & The Half-Truths new EP could easily fit in the retro box, but fortunately provide more soul and substance than style. The Nashville troupe have delivered a set of analog grooves that take the listener back almost half a century. Their name and overall styling is firmly grounded in the past, but much like the recently feted Electric Empire, it’s the quality of the songwriting and the intent with which the songs are delivered that sets DeRobert & The Half-Truths apart as timeless soul exponents.
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Live instrumentation, confident songwriting and, in DeRobert Adams, a charismatic vocalist of power and restraint all combine to produce an infectious EP of soul, jazz and funk flecked cuts up there with the best releases of 2011. Boasting five short vocal cuts and three bonus instrumentals, Beg Me is one of those releases that demands to be replayed as soon as it finishes. From the driving funk of the opening title track, through the steel drum accented low slung funky soul of Just Don’t Care, the smooth yet gutsy blues-tinged Fingertips, the contemplative and haunting Reachin’ Out and the sweet, jazzy soul of the beautiful Call Me, Beg Me hides no missteps.
I do recall the group releasing an album called Soul In a Digital World last year, but I somehow never actually listened to it. I’m kicking myself now, but, at least I’ve got a whole host of good music to go and investigate further, courtesy of those fine folks over at G.E.D Soul Records. Why not join me? You can listen to all G.E.D releases via their Bandcamp site and read more about the G.E.D Soul crew, DeRobert and the rest of them via their official website. Simply, their mission is to Put out as much soulful music as humanly possible. You can’t argue with that.
Thanks to both Roger Williams (Soulsorts) and Brian Hurst (The Hurst Selection, soulandjazz.com) for recommending DeRobert & The Half-Truths via their respective, excellent, shows, both of which are mandatory weekly downloads, available from soulandjazz.com.
