Tortured Soul Gently Rocks You, Your Mom
by Zach Huff – A&SB Contributor
Smooth jazz doesn’t get nearly as much props as it deserves.
Enter Tortured Soul to save the day and gently rock you and your mother.
The band cleverly maintains a soft jazz edge on their album Did You Miss Me while merging it with dance and elevator music. A lot of funk and groove is laced in the bass lines and keyboard riffs, but it’s never anything too hectic or sweat-inducing; you’ll find yourself tapping your toes and swaying with the beat, but not grinding up against the crotch of an adjacent person who also feels the groove.
The vocals are a pretty awesome amalgamation of things that probably don’t belong in the same sentence. They’re Hall and Oats meets Prince meets Stevie Wonder, with the songwriting sensibilities of Erasure.
Take “Another Lover” as an example. It has hardcore 80s vibes with some spaced out synths, and throws a funky bass line and soft soulful vocals into the mix to force your head to uncontrollably bounce and your jheri curls to suddenly become popular again (Rick James fans rejoice!).
The lyrics on the track, as with most of the album, are pretty light fare about the ins and outs of relationships. As lead singer John-Christian Urich croons about being unfaithful, “baby you left me alone/ never called me on my phone/ so it happened naturally/ hope you’re not too mad at me.” We’re not talking Hemmingway here, but it certainly matches the simple, uncomplicated fun that the music has to it.
A lot of the subject matter tackled on the album revolves around the guys not being around but hoping that their woman is faithful. Apparently they’re really busy guys, but they can be sure about their girls approximately 99 percent of the time.
They also like tequila, as evidenced by their track We Like Tequila. It has the feel of a lounge act, with a vocal delivery that has Urich calmly implying that everyone likes tequila in the type of tone that subliminal messages are made of. A female vocalist joins the fray, repeating “tequila” with an inflection that turns from inquisitive to hyper sexed up in a matter of seconds. The whole track crescendos into a quasi-Hokey Pokey in Spanish as a crowd of Mexican singers come out from the woodworks to make their voices heard. Seriously.
Tortured Soul has crafted some fantastic, guilty pleasure-worthy music that is worth a listen. Their music has a knack for grooving its way into your heart, and its uses are about as varied as the musical styles they draw inspiration from. It’s not quite music to make love to, but it’s certainly suitable for your next wine tasting party.
Don’t forget the brie. Listen here.
Related posts:
- Serena Maneesh – Abyss in B Minor [Review]
- A&SB May Round-up
- Copeland – You Are My Sunshine
- The Soft Pack – The Soft Pack [Review]
- Zinner Bound, Gagged by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
