Thee Sacred Souls Tap Into Classic Vintage Soul On Daptone Self Titled Debut (ALBUM REVIEW)

The self-titled debut from Thee Sacred Souls is a collection of original “souldies”, throwing it back in smooth style as they gorgeously sing about love and life. The Daptone Records release contains that label’s vintage sound and rich production as the slick grooves and pristine, 1960’s inspired offerings, seep out. 

The San Diego, California-based trio of Alex Garcia: Drums, Sal Samano: Bass guitar, and Josh Lane: Vocals, meld into a syrupy sweet concoction throughout their Bosco Mann (The Dap Kings) produced debut as added instrumentation (guitar, organ, percussion, strings, horns etc) and backing vocals round out the core sound. 

The smooth soul begins squarely in the pocket with the opener “Can I Call You Rose?”, a loving question that sets the relaxed tone for all that follows. The band gives clear nods to classic artists of the genre with the Smokey Robinson-sounding “Lady Love” and the Four Tops-inspired groove of “Easier Said Than Done”. 

Garcia’s slapping snare leads the way on “Overflowing” as the group follows the percussive charge while vocalist Jensine Benitez joins in for some excellent duetting lead vocals on “A Trade Of Hearts”. Most tracks are brief, quickly displaying their vintage-inspired idea and moving on but “Weak For Your Love” sprawls out and hypnotizes the listener with rich bass, keys, ‘ooh and ahh’s’ around Lane’s insanely powerful falsetto flights.

The group pile on string arraignments and layers of backing vocals in less successful fashion during the overcooked “Future Lover” and “For Now” slows it down to the point of dragging but better is the brief “Sorrow For Tomorrow” which includes sweet singing and spoken word from Lane on top of an upbeat funky groove. The deep and distant low-end booms for “Happy and Well” offset the light vocals expertly while closer “Love Comes Easy” brings horns and organ to the party as the tempo picks up, ending the album on a joyous note.    

Fans of retro soul need to get onboard Thee Sacred Souls’ train immediately as the group has tapped directly into that classic sound with precision and grace on their debut self-titled offering. 

Related Content

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

New to Glide

Keep up-to-date with Glide

Twitter