Half The City (studio album) by St. Paul & The Broken Bones

From buzzdainer 04/07/2018 18:47

Blue-eyed soul isn't normally a genre that I'm drawn to much. In general, it feels like music that white people have appropriated from black artists and homogenized for white audiences. Too often, the "soul" becomes lost in translation. But that's not at all the case with St. Paul & the Broken Bones, largely on the strength of Paul Janeway's huge voice and the strength of his songwriting. They're from Birmingham, Alabama, a place with a checkered racial history, to be sure, but also paradoxically with a history of deeper racial integration than in most places that see themselves as more "progressive" than Alabama. I have little doubt that this history finds its way into the band's music, and the result is a genuinely affecting, powerful, danceable collection of tunes.

Great soul music. My favorite songs on this album are:
I'm Torn Up, Call Me, Half the City, and Don't Me a Thing.

My favorite songs : Call me.....Half the city.....That glow......Sugar dyed.....Let it be so

pure energy

From zdwyatt 01/09/2015 16:57

Like so many albums out of Muscle Shoals, this is a group of great musicians led by a charismatic singer. In this case, it's a gospel-tinged nod to James Brown and Otis Redding, but packaged into what looks like an accountant. If there's a group of white dudes making better soul music, I haven't heard it.