(Truth & Soul/Daptone)

Them Daptone artists sho’ is funky!

Lee Fields has been creating his own brand of gravelly soul/funk since the 1960s, but has been largely unrewarded for his efforts. If there’s any justice, his latest release on the noted Daptone label (home to Sharon Jones) will bring him that long-lacking recognition. As fits a Daptone artist, his latest album My World is funky soul music with authentic grit – many of these songs could have come from the Apollo in the 1960s, or pre-disco dance clubs of the 1970s (think Delfonics and Stylistics). What’s particularly satisfying about My World is the way Fields and his Expressions (studio musos who have played on records by the likes of Amy Winehouse and even TV On The Radio) manage to hark back to the past, while simultaneously sounding utterly fresh and exciting. For all its retro grooves, Fields’ music frequently hits a contemporary note. The wonderful Ladies, for instance, shares melodic qualities with the likes of Gnarls Barkley or N*E*R*D. Opening track Do You Love (Like You Say You Do) has a great combination of slow-burning rhythm and divebombing Hammond organs, while Fields emotes like the finely aged master he is. The album manages to sound both smooth and dirty at the same time, as lush horn and string arrangements are wonderfully soiled by an array of raw, bass-heavy grooves. Fields is the DJ trainspotter’s wet dream, as indicated by his recent work with French house producer Martin Solveig. However, his all-inclusive sound should also cement Fields as an exciting discovery for anyone who digs no-frills rhythm and blues.

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MATT THROWER

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