Keep Reachin' Up cover
Released

Go figure: one of the great underappreciated singers of the 2000s funk/soul revival’s early wave was an American ex-pat Brooklyn native cutting records in Helsinki. Nicole Willis’s turn in the mid ’90s acid jazz ensemble Repercussions sent her off into an unpredictable run of slept-on psychedelic R&B throwbacks, with Keep Reachin’ Up, the first record she cut with the Soul Investigators in this anything-old-can-sound-new-again mode, as a stunning (re)arrival. The Curtom-funk pump-up of “Feeling Free,” the cognac-hazed, langourous string flourishes of early ’60s breakup vibe “No One’s Gonna Love You,” and the sophisticated strut of Pam Grier flick-worthy “Blues Downtown” make fine accompaniment for her voice’s ability to soar, punch, coo, and seethe with the best of them.

Nate Patrin

Recommended by

Suggestions
The Inflated Tear cover

The Inflated Tear

Rahsaan Roland Kirk
I Learned the Hard Way cover

I Learned the Hard Way

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Blacks and Blues cover

Blacks and Blues

Bobbi Humphrey
Jean Carne [JID012] cover

Jean Carne [JID012]

Adrian Younge, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Carlos Dafé
My World cover

My World

Lee Fields & the Expressions
Music of My Mind cover

Music of My Mind

Stevie Wonder
Naturally cover

Naturally

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Give the People What They Want cover

Give the People What They Want

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings