A small soulful blog entry inspired by Ural Thomas and The Pain. I have lot of interest in soul music even though I rarely feature it on these pages, because I don’t have the time or the knowledge to dig deeper into it. My knowledge of new soul music is pretty much just checking every week that whether my trusted go-to labels Colemine Records and Daptone Records have released something new.

Ural Thomas & The Pain is on neither of those labels, but the making of those weekly playlist led me into the comforting arms of their album The Right Time that came out on Tender Loving Empire on the 28th of September. Ural Thomas is a Portland soul legend that has performed with James Brown, Otis Redding, and Stevie Wonder. Ural released a live album and some singles in the sixties and seventies, but this new album is still, in many respects, his debut full-length. What a remarkable album it is. It’s beautiful, smooth and moves your body and your soul. Here’s a couple of great ones for a taste, but you should listen/buy whole lovely album.

Ural Thomas & The Pain

Next up is the latest from the vaults of Colemine Records. Ben Pirani’s album How Do I Talk To My Brother? came out on the 21st of September and it’s another magical soul gem. Ben Pirani has created some deep, beautiful and captivating soul songs. Absolutely love the vocals and the harmonies on this one and it’s so easy to get lost in these warm and mesmerizing sounds. Maybe even so that a song like Dreamin’s For Free hit me extra hard when I started paying attention to the words. The contrast between the sweetest of sounds and the heaviest of thoughts. It’s a good way to get the message through.

Ben Pirani Website

One from the Daptone family as well. This album Love In The Wind by The Sha La Das is a real family effort too. Bill Schalda and his three sons singing together in perfect harmony. This sweet soul and doo wop combination will keep the summer in your heart even during these dark fall nights. This is my early favorite Just For A Minute.

The Sha La Das Website

Last but definitely not least, one slightly older song from Black Pumas. This song Black Moon Rising has been on that best of 2018 playlist since its release in March 2018, but I don’t think I have shared it on the blog. Black Pumas are a psychedelic soul group formed by Eric Burton and Adrian Quesada and this is debut single is out on Karma Chief/Colemine Records. I can’t wait to hear the full-length album.

Black Pumas Website

20/20 by Gladie is one of my absolute favorite songs of the year. I found it a couple of months ago thanks to the great The Grey Estates blog, bought a download and I’ve been spinning it frequently ever since. Gladie is a Philadephia-based indie rock band/duo formed by Augusta Koch and Matt Schimelfenig and 20/20 is the opening track of their Everyone Is Talking But You EP that came out 16th of May. The whole EP is really good, but this particular song is just insanely powerful and listening to it gives me energy and encouragement. It’s a good partner to have, if the everyday life starts to resemble an overwhelming chaos. Everything feels somehow manageable with this song on my side.

Gladie at Facebook

Following yesterday’s footsteps. It’s another trip around the world (or well some English speaking countries). This time in a slightly folkier setting.

We shall begin from Nashville, Tennessee. Philippe Bronchtein left Portland and the moniker Hip Hatchet behind and is now living in Nashville and releasing wonderful music under his own name. He has a new album Me and the Moon coming out on the 5th of October. The lead single and title track of the album surfaced a couple of weeks ago and it’s one of my favourite songs of this fall. I can’t wait to hear the full album in a few weeks. You can pre-order CD/casette from his website.

Philippe Bronchtein Website

Time to travel to Christchurch, New Zealand and spend an afternoon in the garden with the great folk singer-songwriter Holly Arrowsmith. Her second full-length A Dawn I Remember came out on the 22nd of June and it’s a really beautiful folk album with powerful songwriting. Here’s the album opener The Gardener. Follow the links on the Bandcamp player to hear/buy the whole remarkable album.

Holly Arrowsmith

Moving on to UK where folk songwriter M G Boulter and string quartet The Froe joined forces and created a compelling and beautiful EP called Blood Moon. It came out on the 31st of August on Hudson Records. I’m somewhat obsessed with the song Frances Forlorn, but maybe it’s better to go with stunning title track on this little blog post.

M G Boulter Website

Last stop Toronto, Canada. Travelling wears one down, so time to rest our minds and hearts by drinking with our dear friend Doug Paisley. Oh well, actually this Drinking With a Friend contains some heavy pondering, so it might not lift the spirit of the worn down traveller. Except that it does, because it’s an amazing song and the first outtake from Doug Paisley’s forthcoming album Starter Home that is due out on the 2nd of November. That’s going to be a late entry to the amazing 2018 album vault, so keep a slot open on your albums of the year list.

Doug Paisley Website