Last year, one of modern soul music’s leading lights, Sharon Jones, sadly succumbed to her battle with pancreatic cancer, passing away at the age of 60. As inspiring and energetic as Jones was in her life, it should come as no surprise to discover that she and her band, The Dap-Kings, were working on new music right up until the very end.
The result is Soul Of A Woman, a whole new album from the group that was recorded straight to 8-track in moments when Jones was feeling up to it. Dap-Kings bassist Bosco Mann gives some insight to the writing process of Soul Of A Woman, saying: “We were all living together on the road, so if somebody was going through something, she was right there with us. She couldn’t really sing something unless she could really own it and sing it from her heart.” And in regard to the recording: “The musicianship and arrangements have to really be on point. It’s the responsibility of the band to get the performance right—there’s no undo, no ‘give me another track.’ There’s a different sense of commitment. It means that you’re feeling a moment that was recorded by musicians, rather than a moment that was assembled by producers and mixing engineers, and I think people grasp that emotionally.”
‘Matter Of Time‘, the opening track from the album, has been released along with a video cut from clips of their final tour. Watch below.
Soul Of A Woman will be released on 17th November through Daptone Records.
