Album Review: Durand Jones - Wait Til I Get Over

Anyone with any sense at all is already a fan of Durand Jones And The Indications. They more than delivered on their debut album’s promise with its follow up, American Love Call, which took several leaves out of the conscientious soul book written by Marvin, Curtis and Stevie in the early seventies, and then they hit the dance floor with LP number three Private Space. If that wasn’t enough, drummer and co-vocalist Aaron Frazer delivered another great record with his underrated solo turn Introducing…

“I’ll have a bit of that,” says our man Durand, probably, keeping the ball very firmly in the air with Wait Til I Get Over. There's a concept involved, which isn't always a great sign but it's well-handled here, about Hillaryville, Louisiana, Durand's home town which was, as he tells us, founded by eight slaves as reparation after the American civil war. Accordingly, there’s a couple of spoken word pieces - 'The Place You'd Most Want To Live' and 'See It Through' - in amongst this collection of arresting songs. When he's not talking, Mr Jones, as per usual, sings his pants off.

Take the opening 'Gerri Marie' for a start. Over stately piano and some beautiful strings, the voice rises up to the "this I know" refrain with both admirable control and soulful timbre. ‘Lord Have Mercy’ places a robust Southern foundation beneath wah-wahing guitar and some later day Keith N' Ronnie shapes while Jones gives it the full Otis before the arrangement threatens to topple in on itself in a pleasing way, and ‘Sadie’ goes for that country soul territory as Durand duels again with a rattling guitar that delivers a solo dripping in honey.

There’s more of a gospel tinge than previous efforts, especially on the choir rising up behind the clattering stop-start chain-gang rhythm of ‘I Want You’ and the field holler turned church spiritual title track. A lot of the voices sound like the man himself, surrounding his own ascending voice, which makes it all even more impressive.

‘Letter to My 17 Year Old Self’ is centrepiece of sorts. Stretching out to nearly six minutes, it shows Prince-like ambition as it swirls from a piano opening through a bumpy rhythm with a saxophone break and then the choir of Durands resurface before a smokey nightclub ending. He even finds room for a theme-appropriate cover of Donny Hathaway’s ‘Someday We’ll All Be Free’ – a ballsy move he pulls off with ease – complete with an unexpected rap break from Skypp. As with every other note on this fine record - 'That Feeling' is a joyous slab of sound and 'Secrets' is a suitably gentle closer - when Jones' voice comes back in to reclaim the song, you’re listening to a man who knows what he’s doing.