The Heavy

So I remember growing up with the Big Chill Soundtrack and loving the sound of anything Motown at the time. Then when I got older I realized that the R&B that I had loved so much was dead and that now it R&B had turned itself into what I call "humpin' music". Gone were most of the big band sounds that made Motown so influential & musically enjoyable. That was R&B in the 80's & most of the 90's for me. It seemed to have lost its soul.

The late 90's & early 00's gave us the Neo-Soul movement that I loved so much. There was soul and real passion other than just for the opposite sex, it was easy to love. Erykah Badu, D'Angelo, Angie Stone, Jill Scott, Macy Gray & the sort really sparked a soul revolution. Then came the Daptone Label, which brought back a lot of the funk and live band element that had painfully absent.

With this revolution artists like Amy Winehouse borrowed the Dap-Kings from Sharon Jones and sold well over one million albums based, in my opinion, mostly on the sound backdrop created for her. By the way, if you have not heard her, check out anything Sharon Jones has done. True SOUL.

Anyway, there is a group from England , The Heavy, who just released an album a few months back. You can tell that they have been on a classic soul kick, but aren't totally immersed within it. They still have some modern flavor to them to go along with the slow drippy soul and deep funk they utilize so well. The first time I had to tell anyone about this group I said the lead vocalist sounded like Lenny Kravitz before he stopped playing instruments and just programmed a computer to make his music. Remember when he rocked? Am I the only one??? Someone else said that the vocalist had more of a Curtis Mayfield vibe to him...so if it makes them more easy to listen to, the guy sounds like Mayfield and not Kravitz.

The album is called "Great Vengeance & Furious Fire" and it is so deep and dirty like a deep south fried funk soul hybrid, you wonder how the hell these guys came out of Britain. It sounds like they were cryogenically frozen & just recently thawed. It also sounds like they have been getting into some of the great hip-hop & electronica of the last 10-15 years as an additive to their sound scape.

The album starts out deliberately & slow with the "Brukpocket's Lament." The narrative of the song is great, and the use of a great bluesy guitar is the perfect element. "Colleen" really kicks off the big soul sound. It has a brilliant usage of female vocals in the chorus and sounds like I would have found in an old record store rather than on a new album. "Set Me Free" continues this trend masterfully, while "That Kind Of Man" has an element of some old Sly & the Family Stone to it with the big horns. "Doing Fine" may be where the Lenny Kravitz comparison comes in for me. It sounds like a more soulful & gravelly version of something I may have found on "Mama Said." The fuzzy vocals & guitars of "Dignity" are so different from what had been heard prior on the album that it really sets itself apart. It feels a little out of place comparatively, but works in the grand scheme.

"Girl" is a standout track on the album with its stark departure from everything else that had been heard on the album. This is certainly where the modern music has taken hold of the group. It is bold, brash, & brilliant. No matter how many ties I have heard this profanity-laced track, I can't get over how good it is. The album closes with "In the Morning" which is big and loud, along with "Who Needs the Sunshine?" which is more of the slow & somber sound that the album opened with.

Overall the album is a fun listen. You would not expect to hear so many differing sounds on an album that is not a compilation, but it works well. I will be very curious to hear the next project these guys put together.