Naturally

‘Naturally’ was ‘rediscovered’ singer Sharon Jones’ second album outing with contemporary funk label Daptone house band the Dap-Kings. It’s a highly effective revisiting of late 60s / early 70s soul and R’n’B, recreating the horn-laden southern-soul sound of Stax Records. Jones is on superb form, sailing across the soul and funk grooves laid out by the band, and this feels less like pastiche and more a glorious revelling in classic sounds. A talented and much-loved artist, Jones sadly passed away in 2016 and heart-wrenching ballads like ‘You’re Gonna Get It’ clearly demonstrate just what we lost. 

If anyone was still cynically skeptical about the prospects of a 2000s act that was far closer in sound and spirit to Marva Whitney than Whitney Houston, the second full-length by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings was made to give those people a sophomore thump. Where do you want to start? The anxious pacing-in-a-tight-room shuffle of leadoff cut “How Do I Let A Good Man Down?”, the most magnanimous breakup song of the last 20 years? The happenstance reunion of the Otis-and-Carla-style Lee Fields duet ballad “Stranded in Your Love”? An ambling but rousing version of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” that can best be described as Stax Socialism? Whatever the case, at this point we’re talking about the best soul singer in America and one of the few bands who could do her justice, so just pick a track blindly and get stunned no matter what.