Soul Express CD Review

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Here we have some more classy US soul from Expansion and the fabulous Duffie Brothers aka Kloud 9. If you loved their first album back in 2002, then you will equally love this album. It’s exactly what the doctor ordered. We have some great steppers, some ballads and midtempo efforts and will appeal to everyone who would regularly read these pages. The brothers collaborate with a number of classy acts including Mitchell Jones from The Commissioned.

Let’s take track one – this AWESOME stepper is one bundle of soulful joy committed to CD, and Mitchell Jones co-wrote this with the fantastic Parkes Stewart, the result of which is like a brilliant, shining example of Commissioned-styled music set firmly in the secular world. Soul music in 2005 really does not get any better than this. This song really makes my day a lot happier, and I heartily enjoyed the quip about not needing a new school groove. Hear hear, that man!

The bouncy castle feeling, as I call it, continues with a vengeance with the excellent “Crave” and the MONSTER “Gimme Gimme Gimme” – this element of jazzy sax and guitar adds more lustre to this great song. Mitchell Jones seriously shines on vocal chores here. I absolutely adore the acoustic, loose and flowing ballad, “Can’t Be Love” which features Commissioned’s Mitchell Jones. This is a STRONG ballad and is, again, right in the Commissioned / Parkes Stewart bag. This song is simply fantastic and, for me, along with “Priority” rates as one of the best things the group have recorded to date. Songs like this make me feel so good about our music when the majority of it is bland, bland, bland.

Bluey from Incognito adds his flavour again to the Kloud 9 mix in 2005 with the boogie tune, “So Many Reasons”. This is quite a nice track and the Duffle Brothers adapt well to this type of homespun groove.

“Yearning 2 Love” is another real KILLER. I even like the “US Radio presenter” bit. I wish we had radio like that here in the UK. I used to love listening to the Voice Of America US Forces radio. I used to get a great amount of quality soul from there! Anyhow, this ballad is second to none and again rates as one of their best recordings.

“The Kind Of Man I Am” is a haunting number with bubbly keys, echoey beats and haunting synths. The vocals here are floaty, crisp, sincere and are well recorded. Superb, superb, superb! Jermaine Jackson’s 1989 classic “Don’t Take It Personal” gets a nice working with a delicious Flugel Horn from Michael Fair and sax from Kirk Whalum! Another Commissioned tie-in here: Maxx Frank appears on synth bass, so the more the merrier I say. The guys actually manage to keep the Dave “Pic” Conley / Surface sound pretty well, and that is good.

I really, really enjoyed this set. Overall it is as strong as their debut CD, but I feel that individual tracks are much stronger, and the input of the likes of Parkes Stewart and Mitchell Jones has certainly added to this. Please do not overlook this most excellent CD.
- Barry Towler