It’s rock n soul time from Portuguese soul sister Marta Ren as she returns to take herself outside and have a word with herself on 22:22. What? Yep, Ren says 22 is “a number that pursues me and this song is about me having a conversation with myself when I was 22, a milestone year for me. At the same time I am also speaking to any girl who relates.” Cue three-plus minutes of horns
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Tag Archives: Record Kicks
MARTA REN: 22:22
THE DEVONNS: Blood Red Blues
The Devonns channel What’s Going On-era Marvin Gaye on new single Blood Red Blues, which, as the title suggests takes a look at the lack of progress towards injustices in the U.S. Unlike Gaye’s perspective of a Vietnam vet. returning to a nation affected by hatred and bigotry, singer Mat Ajarrapu’s perspective is from within the same nation, decades after stuff
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THE DEVONNS: Tell Me (Vinyl 7″)
Just before the debut LP release of relatively recent Record Kicks signings The Devonns (pronounced ‘De Vaughns’ rather than like the English county home of the cream tea) comes new limited 45 single Tell Me. A jaunty lilting affair that channels pre-funk soul, the single provides enough warmth to raise both room temperature and the corners of the mouth. Based in Chicago, the band have been heavily inspired by the city’s soul music
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CALIBRO 35: Momentum
If Calibro 35’s previous LP, 2018’s Decade, marked something of a watershed in what was the tenth year of their career, so, apparently does new one Momentum. The band put it like this, “If Decade was the sum of everything…in the previous ten years, Momentum is the prequel of what you will hear in the next ten.” And they do have something of a point. Not only does the new album feature
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CALIBRO 35: Fail It Till You Make It
Mere days from unleashing their seventh studio LP, ‘Cult cinematic funk combo’ Calibro 35 drop another single Fail It Till You Make It. Not that this lot have failed anything since both Dre and Jay-Z have previously sampled them. Perhaps it’s a comment on their new more electronic direction for, having spent most of their career with their heads in the – er – heady world of sixties and
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TANIKA CHARLES: Tell Me Something (video)
Tanika Charles follows up the brace of dancefloor stormers delivered on last single Love Overdue with her latest drop, soul slowie Tell Me Something. Apparently it’s about that, “moment in every new relationship when you need to establish what exactly the status is. Hopefully you arrive at that point at the same time, but sometimes one of you needs a little extra encouragement. Maybe
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MARTA REN: Worth It (Vinyl 7″)
“Was it worth it? Am I worth it? The pain ain’t worth it? I don’t know,” sings Marta Ren on the hook of new 45 Worth It – like she doesn’t already know the answer. Of course it was worth it! We commence with the rumbling bass, funky drums of a heavy mid-tempo soul groove, in comes some tremelo guitar and then the Porto soul queen is off, “Something told me this was a trap.” No –
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TANIKA CHARLES: The Gumption
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When Torontonian singer Tanika Charles blew in the a couple of years ago with debut LP Soul Run, she made big waves on the underground soul scene and catapulted herself onto a global stage. Ask most people and they’d tell you that label Record Kicks had unerringly struck gold once again. Which they obviously had – given the fuss. Sadly the monkey wasn’t feeling
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TANIKA CHARLES: Love Overdue b/w Remember To Remember (Vinyl 7″) + video
Rating: It’s turning out to be a vintage year for lovers of retro soul music and with this new 45, Record Kicks signing, Toronto-based soul sister, Tanika Charles unleashes her own double broadside by way of a lead single off her forthcoming second LP, The Gumption. On the A-side for example, we have Love Overdue a club mover with added clap-along appeal that harks back to classic early/ mid sixties Sugar Pie
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ALEXIS EVANS: I Made A Deal With Myself + video
Record Kicks’ new boy is the Anglo-French Alexis Evans and the label’s just released the video of his jaunty album-teasing northern soul-flavoured I Made A Deal With Myself. Deal with yourself eh, Alexis? And the nature of said deal? Oh, it’s to do with the missus – it’s over! Right? But how to represent such a matter in audio-visual format? Maybe you stick your earphones in when she starts
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