Music Review

09 January 2009 20:57 BST

Beverley Knight: Music City Soul

Parlophone, out May 7th.

In a nutshell…

Bold, brave, soul-filled stormer

What's it all about?

The sixth release from Beverley Knight features 15 soulful numbers including a thoroughly different cover of the Rolling Stones' Time is On My Side and Taj Mahal's soul classic Ain't That A Lotta Love.

The Stones' Ronnie Wood also features as lead guitarist on three of the tracks and the entire album boasts musicians who played alongside music greats such as Al Green and Elvis Presley.

Recorded over just five days in a studio in Nashville Tennessee, Music Soul City is produced by Mark Nevers - the man recognised best for his work on Candi Staton's acclaimed His Hands album.

Who's it by

Beverley Knight disappeared after her last album - 2004's Affirmation - received mixed reviews from the critics. A few brief television appearances and the obligatory Best Of… album later, Beverley is back with an entirely different sort of album.

Where Affirmation stumbled along trying to find the line between American chart success material and a kind of r'n'b/rock vibe, Music City Soul appears to be the Wolverhampton wonder deciding to go back to her roots and to what she does best.

Arguably her most successful track was 2002's Shoulda Woulda Coulda which was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, which could go some way to explaining why she felt the need to return to Music City for her most recent release.

As an example…

"People say keep your head up/Watch the sun rising/Everybody has big advice for me/
But all I want to know is/What the hell went wrong/Oh what went wrong…"

Taken from forthcoming single No Man's Land

Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys

Critics may be surprised by the depth and rawness of Beverley's vocals on this album. Strong, yet sensitive, Beverley's latest accomplishment is bound to do well with soul-supremos and fans alike.

What the others say

"Plenty of Aretha-style belting here from Britain's premier female vocalist as she grooves her way through a slew of gospel-influenced soul and R&B, backed by the likes of Ronnie Wood and Nashville musicians who once played with Elvis and Al Green." - Daily Express

"There is a rawness to the vocal performances and a classy, timelessness to the brassy, authentic arrangements…" - Paul Taylor, the Manchester Evening News

So is it any good?

Without wishing to sound like I'm going overboard here, this is easily the best album Beverley Knight has made to date. The passion and ferocity which escape her throat when belting numbers like Saviour and Black Butta is awe-inspiring and the band's support makes you almost believe you are in some smoke-filled bar in Tennessee.

The production is flawless, with Nevers cleverly managing to take the big band sound and bring the record to life without drowning out Knight's impressive vocals.

Even though the rawness and boldness of this album is apparent from the word go, you get the feeling that this product was almost effortless for Knight to create; you just somehow know that she really enjoyed doing this.

References to Aretha and Tina Turner are often bandied about with new soul-singers but in this case, the comparison is justified.

There's no pretension, no over-the-top vocal warbling and best of all not a trace of an American accent.

This is the album Joss Stone wishes she could have made. All hail the real British Queen of Soul.

9/10

Charlie Thomas