George HaffendenWhen we first started TFSR at the beginning of this year we thought we knew many of the top soul and funk artists in the business, but as started to build an audience and started to received musical submissions it became clear that there was far much more great music our there than we had ever imagined. Whether it’s new music from Marlon McClain, Ultra Van Krome or even The Fatback Band, we’ve been blown away by the quality of the new soul music that is being produced and released today. That trend continues on our latest musical discovery, that of Gina Carey, a talented soul and gospel singer who is preparing to release her new album Can You Dig It this August.
Born in Chicago but raised in Los Angeles, Carey has been in the music business for two decades, recording and releasing eleven albums, as well as performing in Christian plays and writing an e-book. Now, however, she’s promoting her enjoyable new album Can You Dig It, blending her unique retro sound with contemporary soulful beats. Firstly, its important to note that Carey possesses a brilliant soul voice, potentially one of the largely undiscovered female voices of the past two decades, at least here in the UK.
The album’s lead single ‘Gimme That Soul’ (which you can hear below via SoundCloud) blends the classic soul of the late sixties and early seventies with a modern, dance-inspired beat. Impressively, Carey has chosen to use real horns rather than merely synthesising them – something that pays dividends throughout the album, with the horns sounding like they could have been lifted straight out of an Al Green/Willie Mitchell collaboration. The song harks back to the days when soul music was all over the radio, with Carey singing about the feeling you get when a funky piece of music comes on. It’s a good choice as lead single, and is one of the better songs on the album.
Another song that is right getting some attention is ‘Funkalicious’, a tasty neo-soul groove combined with those great Memphis-sounding horns that are arranged so beautifully. Carey again impresses with her vocals, demonstrating her ability to get funky. ‘I Love You’ follows in a similar pattern: the dance-beat with the seventies style horns works again, with this tune featuring a delightful bass track. Once again, Carey is on point on this one, reaching great heights of emotion and power in her vocals.
Carey is equally adept at delivering a ballad; she impresses particularly on ‘You Take Me’, a song detailing where her lover takers her – ‘to Jupiter, to Mars’. The groove is laid back and stripped back, giving Carey ample space to do her thing, allowing another side of her voice to shine through. ‘It Don’t Mean A Thing’ follows in a similar groove, slightly more up-tempo with a slightly more modern groove.
Can You Dig It demonstrates that Gina Carey is a talented singer, songwriter and producer, one who deserves more attention than she’s current receiving. This is a rewarding and enjoyable album, one perfectly suited for both the current summer days and nights. Can You Dig It is set to be released on August 3rd 2015. You can find more about Gina Carey on her website; you can follow her on Twitter, and like her page on Facebook.
If, like Gina Carey, you are an independent soul/funk/disco/jazz artist and want to get your music reviewed by us here, drop us an email: haff@thefunkandsoulreuve.com!