Look, I know it’s not Friday, but the weather was so beyond perfect on Friday in Nashville that the last thing I wanted to do was sit in front of a computer screen after the depressing and dismal winter we have had. The sun was out and warm, and it was 70 degrees, so can you really blame someone from spending the day outdoors? The time was not a waste though as I dived deep into some of the new albums out this week. Sunday is the Super Bowl, as the entire world is aware and two of the halftime performers have new records out in time for the ‘big game.’
However, there was one album that stood above the rest and really captured the repeat button on iTunes and that album was….
Joss Stone Never Forget My Love
It is hard for me to comprehend that it is has been close to twenty years since radio first heard Joss Stone’s voice on her cover of the White Stripes hit “Fell in Love with a Girl.” It is even harder for me to wrap my mind around that, despite all of the years that have passed since her debut record The Soul Sessions was released, she is only 34 years old.
Stone has sold over 15 million albums over the years so it is not fair to say she’s not a success – it’s just that more was expected from her career at this point. The British singer-songwriter is back with her first album in seven years. Never Forget My Love finds the singer returning to the soulful sounds that made her famous. The album was produced and co-written by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame and features some amazing arrangements that have not been heard in contemporary music in years.
The last time Stone and Stewart worked together was on her attempt at alt-country, 2011’s LP1. The pair removed the gentle folk guitars on LP1 and replaced them with funk ones that flow through the album’s title track along with keys, strings, and brass.
The album is full of the retro soul-pop Stone is known for, but one of the many standouts from Never Forget My Love is “The Greatest Secret,” a tango infused number about how loyal she is to someone that has confided in her with their secret while power-ballad “You Couldn’t Kill Me” finds the Grammy winner walking away and letting go of a toxic relationship.
Stone and Stewart recorded the new album at the legendary Blackbird Studio in Nashville. Joss came to Music City to record the album and decided she had had enough of flying around the world and announced she was staying. Never Forget My Love is a throwback to The Soul Sessions in its sound, but instead of the long dresses and bare feet she was known for in 1997, the new album sparks visions of Stone in long sequined dresses and long silk gloves. Comparisons to Dusty Springfield, Dionne Warwick and even Burt Bacharach are fair and earned. Motown legend Smokey Robinson once referred to Joss as ‘Aretha Joplin,’ calling her voice a mix of Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin.
The comparison to two iconic voices like those is a lot to live up to, and many will say her career has yet to do that, but maybe Never Forget My Love is the reset button Stone needs to put her star back on its trajectory. Stone and Stewart have also collaborated on the upcoming musical based on the best selling novel The Time Traveler’s Wife, due to open on the West End this year and she has her own podcast, A Cuppa Happy, featuring positivity-focused interviews from some of the world’s deepest thinkers.
2022 is gearing up to be a big year for Stone and starting it with a tremendous record like Never Forget My Love is the right first step in reaching all of her goals. @JossStone
P.S.
Mr. Stewart if you see this could you please call up Annie and give the world the Eurythmics reunion the world has been yearning for for decades? The Police, the Cars, Genesis and even Guns ‘N Roses have reunited. I don’t ask for much from life, but this is one thing I really need to happen.
Check out some of the other great releases this week as you prepare the guac for your Super Bowl party:
- Snoop Dogg BODR
- Mary J. Blige Good Morning Gorgeous
- Eddie Vedder Earthling
- alt-J The Dream
- Yo Gotti CM10: Free Game
- Amos Lee Dreamland
- Kim Petras Slut Pop
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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