Jr. Thomas & Eraserhood Sound: Jr. Thomas In The Eraserhood
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All roads lead to Philadelphia on this collaboration between songwriter Jr. Thomas and Eraserhood Sound, who carry on the proud tradition of the city’s storied musical past while adding a futuristic sheen to proceedings. MK Bennett looks in.
Authenticity is a sacred text, unknown yet apparently immediately recognisable, according to some, at least. Whether these gatekeepers are qualified or not is less easy to determine, but they continue to spread that stink online and wherever those concerned congregate. Soul music, in particular, has this problem, partly due to the evolution of soul and R&B music running parallel to advancements in music technology and the way these branches have spread into a large portion of modern popular culture. There’s an obviously identifiable link between Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong and Little Simz, but soul, like punk, continues and thrives precisely because it doesn’t just exist as one thing. Some see it as a lifestyle; some see it as purely a form of music. Within these expectations lies the idea in the sound, which may be completely subjective to the era in which you were first introduced to it, though Motown and Stax and their monolithic reach still sit comfortably as the layman’s idea of soul music.
Questlove’s studio, or old studio, may have some magic attached to it, as many things associated with the man do; he is a human quality control department, and you would expect anything musical to achieve certain levels of excellence. Eraserhood Sound is now a Philadelphia studio and label whose musical values align neatly with singer–songwriter Jr. Thomas, who was on the lookout for a home for his most recent soul-inspired writing. The production duo’s synth and soul sound proved to be an obvious and fortuitous fit.
Jr. Thomas has a hell of a voice. Sweet and high, it manages to sound like Rufus Wainwright and the ghost of Harold Melvin simultaneously; it is the focus of this wonderful record, traditionalist without being overtly traditional. It understands the rules so clearly that it instinctively knows it can break them or at least bend towards the modern. In common with say, Sound City in Los Angeles, the studio has a history that those who record there are likely keenly aware of, the weight of that history a great inducement to achieve your own personal best, your own lap of honour.
It starts with the Al Green-esque pop savvy of Thank You Honey, a sprinkling of the one-off magnificence of a Charles and Eddie jukebox hit, a slinky arse shaker that sets the exact tone, new and old, but unable to put your finger on which is which, lush orchestration filling in the background. Can’t Leave You Alone is a break-fueled and upbeat soul stomper, not quite Northern but quick and loose, guitars to the front, reminiscent of the UK’s Plan B and his own excursion from his general work a decade ago.
Analogue in spirit and sound, By Your Side continues the theme of love and its complications, with an almost calypso flavour in its funk, a hint of the Black Keys in its modernist edge, and the bass taking you on a nice, long walk. A shimmering, summery sound, more’s the pity the summers mostly gone. Never Be Another starts with a righteous wah-wah, as all songs should, before settling into a William Bell tale of bittersweet Blaxploitation beauty, while T plays it cool and nods approvingly. Waiting For You sits on a pure Philadelphia Sound disco groove, clipped and whipped into submission by a slight but propulsive chorus, four to the floor and working magic.
By accident, design, intention or luck, it largely resembles Questlove’s ’90s supergroup The Soulquarians, a collective of ridiculous talent who produced and oversaw some mighty releases from D’Angelo, Erykah Badu and Common, amongst others, from the drunken jazz beats to the organ sound, a modernist approach to an otherwise standardised genre, it is the detail that sets these things apart.
Temptations is a little more 80s, a touch more Luther & Teddy, it is another pop classic, bass-led and bouncing softly on a very subtle but effective keyboard line with a great hook that nags like an irate husband. Life Of The Party is a fabulous small melodrama, a call and response vocal with more quiet orchestration, colours that fill in the lines, the rhythms constant depth in the bottom end soaking in through your ribcage and your feet. Through The Night is all Rotary Connection in its testifying; the instrumentation holds the air still, pauses the sound as the voices cut into the chorus.
It’s a short record, no time to clock watch as One Of A Kind finishes on a melancholy high. A simple but effective song, with a near James Jamerson bass line, another hook that finishes suddenly as if Jr. had something else to say but had run out of time or words or love. A half hour of stoned and glorious soul music, chrome-plated and shone to perfection.
Throughout the album, the production is immaculate, a future presentation of past sound, vintage and yet up to date, the attention to detail matched by the quality of the writing. May this release see its own equivalent victory, its own run up the steps at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Jr. Thomas’s Instagram | Facebook
All words by MK Bennett, you can find his author’s archive here plus his Twitter and Instagram
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