For years major labels have been scratching their heads asking themselves how they could shift serious units in unfashionable genres but now they’ve finally cracked it. All it requires is an outrageously beautiful and talented young performer with a back catalogue of proven classics. Witness Charlotte Church for opera, Jamie Cullum for jazz and now Joss Stone for soul.
That 16-year-old Stone has been plucked from Devon by Steve Greenberg (S-Curve Records) to perform re-workings of soul classics and modern hits takes nothing from her precocious talent. Gifted with a voice of incredible depth, she’s capable of twisting songs such as The White Stripes, ‘Fell In Love With A Girl’ to her own suiting. What’s more, she infuses her vocals with a smoky sassiness that resembles Alicia Keyes. Under the guidance of Betty Wright and accompanied by the likes of The Roots and Angie Stone, The Soul Sessions sees Stone combining with an all-star team of soul session musicians to stunning effect. These are the kind of musicians who know how to push their singer to the fore without leaving her stranded.
Stone still needs to work on conveying raw emotion but as debuts go, this is damn good.