Southern Avenue Mature on New Album

Southern Avenue’s new album Be the Love You Want dropped today, and it’s another beauty by the five piece from Memphis, Tenn. Their third studio album had been on my radar screen since the June 11 release of the excellent Push Now, the first of three upfront singles I covered here. While it feels like a bigger and more contemporary production compared to the band’s first two records and there’s a guest appearance by pop artist Jason Mraz on Move Into the Light, the second upfront single I reviewed here, Be the Love You Want at its core still sounds very much like Southern Avenue’s music I’ve come to love: A tasty blend of blues, soul, funk and gospel, combined with elements of modern R&B.

Be the One You Love kicks of with the title track. It sets the tone for an album that according to Southern Avenue’s website “showcases an exhilarating, and deeply emotional collection of songs that captures all of the shared experiences that bring us together—joy and sorrow, unity and separation, love and hate.” Like most of the other tracks, it was co-written by guitarist Ori Naftaly and lead vocalist Tierinii Jackson, who co-founded Southern Avenue in 2015, together with drummer Tikyra Jackson, Tierinii’s sister. It’s a strong opener featuring Tierinii’s seductive voice, beautiful harmony vocals by Tikyra, nice work by Naftali and keyboarder Jeremy Powell, and a great grove fueled by Tikyra and bassist Evan Sarver.

I’m skipping the funky Control, which I previously reviewed here, and go right to Don’t Hesitate (Call Me) where the band slows it down a bit. It’s a beautiful tune full of soul and a cool sound. I also really like Naftaly’s guitar work. Check it out!

Again, I’m skipping a track, the above noted Push Now, and go right to Fences, another soulful gem on the slower side. It was co-written by Naftaly, Jackson and Itay Shimoni.

Let’s Get It Together picks up the groove again. In addition to Naftaly and Tierinii Jackson, the tune is credited to the rhythm engine of Evan Sarver and Tikyra Jackson. Great funky stuff – I love it!

Let’s skip the aforementioned Move Into the Light and do one more: Move On, the excellent closer. It’s got some more of that great funky groove. The lyrics in a broader sense seem to reflect Tierinii Jackson’s struggle for acceptance by her church and her parents who reprimanded her for pursuing music outside the church. “I had a few viral videos out at some point,” Jackson told American Songwriter. “But I became this embarrassment to the church. I was openly reprimanded in front of the church. So, I just walked out and never went back. That drove a rift through me and my parents for a while. But we grew through it and we’re still growing.”

Be the Love You Want, which appears on Renew Records/BMG, was co-produced by Naftaly and Steve Berlin who has won multiple Grammys and worked with the likes of Los Lobos, Deer Tick and Jackie Greene. The album follows Keep On (May 2019) and the self-titled Southern Avenue (February 2017). You can read more about Keep On here. I’ve also repeatedly covered music from the band’s eponymous debut, for example here.

The last word shall belong to Tierinii Jackson. “We reworked it with the band and made it all churchy and soulful and as Memphis-y as we could,” she previously explained to American Songwriter, referring to Move Into the Light, the album’s second upfront single featuring Jason Mraz. “It turned out really, really great. It’s kind of a wild card, because it’s more of a dance song, but it’s still got that church vibe, it still has the soul.” While her statement is more fitting to that particular tune, I feel it also nicely sums up the entire album – more mature and contemporary production but still Southern Avenue!

Sources: Wikipedia; Southern Avenue website; American Songwriter; YouTube

Best of What’s New

Welcome to another installment looking at newly released music, which oftentimes features artists and bands I encounter for the first time. This week, it’s a blend of new and familiar names, including what perhaps is my favorite contemporary band and an artist I first discovered through Best of What’s New last October. Let’s do it!

Southern Avenue/Control

If you are a more frequent visitor of the blog, you will likely have seen previous posts about Southern Avenue. This cool group from Memphis, Tenn., which has been around since 2015, blends Stax-style soul with blues, gospel, funk, rock and contemporary R&B. Their members include guitarist Ori Naftaly, who originally hails from Israel; sisters Tierinii Jackson (lead vocals) and Tikyra Jackson (drums, backing vocals); as well as Jeremy Powell (keyboards) and Evan Sarver (bass). From the time I first came across Southern Avenue in July 2017, thanks to a post by fellow blogger Music Enthusiast, I’ve dug this band. Control, co-written by Naftaly and Tierinii Jackson and released yesterday (August 13), is the latest single from Southern Avenue’s upcoming third studio album Be the Love You Want scheduled for August 27 – yet another great tune with killer vocals and an infectious groove!

A Great Big Pile of Leaves/Halloween

A Great Big Pile of Leaves is what I face around my house each autumn – actually make that many! It also is the name of an indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York. I can safely say I much prefer the group over the piles of autumn leaves! According to their Apple Music profile, they were founded by guitarist/singer Pete Weiland and drummer Tyler Soucy, Connecticut natives who moved to New York after their band Farewell to Arms split up in 2007. Their sound was rooted in both breezy classic indie pop and ’90s American underground acts like the Dismemberment Plan. The duo worked on and self-released two EPs, Fiery Works, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. After the release of these recordings, they expanded to include Tucker Yaro and Matt Fazzi. As the band gained momentum, they began touring, eventually doing shows with Saves the Day, Motion City Soundtrack, and Say Anything. In 2010 they completed their first full-length album Have You Seen My Prefrontal Cortex?. Fast-forward to August 13, 2021 and Pono, the band’s third studio album, their first new one in eight years. Somewhere along the way, Fazzi departed, making A Great Big Pile of Leaves a trio. Here’s Halloween credited to the group.

Son Volt/The Globe

Son Volt are an alternative country and Americana rock band around singer-songwriter and guitarist Jay Farrar. Farrar formed the group in 1994 after the breakup of Uncle Tupelo, another alt. country outfit he had co-founded in 1987. Son Volt’s studio debut Trace appeared in September 1995. The band has since released nine additional records, including the latest, Electro Melodier, which came out on July 30. The group’s line-up has changed over the years. In addition to Farrar, the current members include Chris Frame (guitar), Mark Spencer (keyboards, steel guitar), Andrew DuPlantis (bass) and Mark Patterson (drums). Here’s The Globe, which like all other tracks on the album was written by Farrar. The band’s website calls out the Moog line from Won’t Get Fooled Again – something I hadn’t noticed at first. It’s at around 2:13 minutes. The tune reminds me more of Bruce Springsteen than The Who – check it out!

Daniel Romano/Nocturne Child

Let’s wrap up things for this week with an artist I first featured in a Best of What’s New installment last October: Canadian singer-songwriter Daniel Romano. From that post: Wikipedia describes Daniel Romano (born Daniel Travis Romano in 1985) as a Canadian musician, poet and visual artist based out of his hometown of Welland, Ontario. He is primarily known as a solo artist, though he is also a member of [Canadian indie rock band] Attack in Black and has collaborated with [fellow Canadian music artists] Julie Doiron and Frederick Squire. He has also produced and performed with City and Colour, the recording project of Dallas Green [another Canadian music artist]…and is a partner in his own independent record label, You’ve Changed Records. Romano is a prolific artist. His solo debut Workin’ for the Music Man appeared in 2010. He has since released 12 additional albums under his name. Only since last year, he has also issued seven records together with his road band The Outfit as Daniel Romano’s Outfit. And this doesn’t count various additional collaboration albums. Nocturne Child, written by Romano, is a single that appeared on July 16 from yet another Daniel Romano’s Outfit album, Cobra Poems, scheduled for September 10. Check out the Stonesy guitars – love it!

Sources: Wikipedia; Apple Music; Son Volt website; YouTube