Soul Express Album Review

Buy this album from our CD Shop

Many will know of my disdain of British "Soul Music" – I prefer the real thing, but with no hesitation I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Britain's Kenny Thomas knows how to deliver the real thing. I have always liked this gentleman and only recently added his Touchdown Mix of "Best Of You" to my new toy – sorry – iPod! Kenny has garnered phenomenal interest in his works since the release of two FANTASTIC singles: "Crazy World" and "Him". The dancefloor reaction to "Crazy World" was great – as popular and justified as you could ever want for a great uptempo tune. Needless to say this monster tune is here in all its glory.

As is the KILLER track, "Him" which is over 7 minutes of REAL SOUL HEAVEN. I cannot stop playing this track, and it is one of many on here to remain on my playlist for the soundtrack to summer 2006. Miss this track at your peril. This spiralling, swirling string-laden groove is superb – imagine the best efforts of Incognito clashing head on with Love Unlimited and voila! "Him". Helping out on this masterpiece of UK Soul are two great names, South Africa’s Jonathan Butler and UK producer, Simon "Funky Ginger" Law who did some great work with Chanté Moore and J.T. Taylor back in the early 90s. This song has been hailed as one of the finest UK Soul records ever. Quite some statement, but I ain’t one to argue with that!

The CD is a must for these two tracks alone, but what really and truly floored me was the KILLER ballad "Let It Rain" which has Mr. Law at the production helm. This song weighs in at a mighty 6 minutes plus, and it has to be my track of the moment without a shadow of a doubt. It is soulful, moody and has prosody that many UK created songs simply cannot match. The joyous "No Way In, No Way Out" offers a higher tempo than the previous song and contrasts perfectly. The chorus is superb and offers quite a memorable hook. Needless to say that Kenny’s deep, rich and ultra-soulful vocals are paramount on this CD. In fact, I would say that the man has improved with age like a fine wine; he sure is proving himself with this vintage effort for 2006.

The upbeat and acoustic jiggler "Foolin’ Around" adds more summertime sparkle to an already mouth-watering album and is as impressive as anything you could wish to find on the market today. Kenny likes to offer his interpretations of old favourites, and this is not untrue for this set. We have three on offer. The first kicks off the set nicely and is a vocal interpretation of Mezzoforte’s 1983 hit "I Will". With a slight Earth, Wind & Fire vibe you can hear that Kenny is having a ball and that this was certainly no chore to drag himself to a recording studio to lay down some jams. Rod Stewart had "Don’t Come Around Here" written for him by Kenny as a single back in 2001 – and jolly good it was too – and Kenny does his own song very nicely too. The beautiful Norah Jones isn’t out of reach for inspiration either. Her hit "Don’t Know Why" is livened up no end and is also a very good moment to boot. In short, Kenny Thomas does a lot of justice to these songs and makes them into his own creations which is what I really look for in a cover version. Temptations please take note!!! LOL.

"Sunshine Girl" and "You’ll Be Mine" are two more excellent cuts and prove beyond doubt that Kenny has offered an album that is a serious contender for one of my top 10 albums of 2006. Welcome back! This album is released in the UK on 17th July. Don’t overlook this!
- Barry Towler

The Latest CD Reviews

Albums of the Month in 2006
Albums of the Month in 2005
Albums of the Month in 2004
Albums of the Month in 2003
Albums of the Month in 2002
Albums of the Month in 2001
Albums of the Month in 2000
Albums of the Month in 1999
Albums of the Month in 1998
Albums of the Month in 1997