Do you have soul?
Soul is the most intangible of properties. Displacing R&B as a catch all term for African-American pop (people made a distinction back then) the word came draped in allusions to earthiness, to being in touch with elements slightly beyond the physical realm.
Speck Mountain have soul. Listening to the American duo, you can hear those blue notes, the graceful slides which curl up at the end of each melody line. On another level, though, the pairing – real names Marie-Claire Balabanian and Karl Briedrick – seem to connect with something that has a little more meaning than you might expect.
Listening back to new album 'Bad Water' you come away feeling as if the group have reached out to you, that there is simply something a little more personal than meets the eye in their music.
Out now via Carrot Top Records, 'Bad Water finds Speck Mountain expanding to a quartet with the addition of drummer Chris Dye, previously of Chin Up Chin Up, and Linda Malonis, a former pentacostal church pianist turned drone-rock organist.
There's something mystical going on here, something spiritual. But those are just loose, late 20th century terms for religion-lite – we'd sooner just call it soul. Title track 'Badwater' is our latest Track Of The Day. Grab some soul for free…
Listen to it now… Grab it HERE.
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