The year in music is closing out extremely strong this year with new releases coming from Adele, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Alicia Keys, and Blake Shelton still to come before the ball drops. This week’s new releases include albums from Little Mix, The Wanted, Jason Aldean, and DaBaby among others. While many were anticipating the 30th anniversary super deluxe edition of Nirvana’s Nevermind and Taylor Swift’s version of her 2012 album Red the most anticipated R&B album of the year dropped this week.
Now that we made it to the finish line of the week and the weekend is looking us right in the face, it’s time to push play on some of the great music out today. The weather is a bit colder and it’s getting darker earlier so it is the perfect time to cuddle up with that special someone put on some new old-school.
Silk Sonic An Evening with Silk Sonic
As soon as the opportunity came, I pushed play on the debut album from the collective of Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak that is better known as Silk Sonic. The moment the first notes rang through the speakers I looked down and was shocked to find roller skates on my feet. An Evening with Silk Sonic rushed me back to the 1970s at a time where a break from today’s world is much needed and appreciated.
The album sounds so authentic to the era that it is easy to believe that Mars and Paak found a time machine and returned over 40 years to the past to record the record. The duo purposely searched high and low for the right equipment and instruments to produce the sound necessary to give it the authenticity they set out for. Funk legend Bootsy Collins of Parliament-Funkadelic fame serves as the host on the album popping up throughout the record.
An Evening with Silk Sonic is hands down one of the most anticipated albums of the year next to maybe only Adele’s 30 that releases next week. The album, conceived and recorded during the pandemic, drops you right in the middle of the time after Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On and sounds as if it would have been an excellent follow up to the classic album for the R&B crooner. Lead single “Leave the Door Open” which was released back in the spring to critical acclaim is dripping of Philadelphia soul not heard in years. Fred Wesley who was a trombonist for James Brown described the genre as “putting the bow tie on funk” and Silk Sonic definitely made sure the tie is perfectly tied.
Bruno has been known to work as a perfectionist a lot like Prince where Anderson is known for his laid back vibes. Lesser artist may not have been able to coexist in such an environment but it is noticeably clear these two meshed extremely well in the studio. Paak’s drumming is one of many highlights on the record only matched by the funky grooves of Collins’ bass lines.
It is hard to not envisioning Don Cornelius introducing the next single from An Evening with Silk Sonic on Soul Train while the Soul Train dancers dance down the line. The album just screams of a time and era that is nearly impossible to duplicate and leaves the listener begging for one more night. @silksonic
Steven McCash is the Lead Music Writer and Utility Man for SoBros Network. Steven is the host of the ‘Drinking With…’ podcast, and the pioneer of New Music Friday, highlighting each week’s new releases in the world of music in addition to the occasional live show review. He also pitches in as a Nashville lifestyle writer and football analyst (hence the ‘Utility Man’ title). Follow on Twitter: @MC_Cash75
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