Expanding the retro attack of their earlier efforts, Durand Jones & The Indications have returned with a consistently engaging record. Private Space, out today via Colemine Records, finds the group sharpening their focus, and relying a tiny bit less on Sixties tropes, and more on Seventies ones. Which is another way of saying this the bits that feel familiar here at least seem more expansive in terms of artistic vision.
Opener "Love Will Work It Out" and especially "More Than Ever" have a richly evocative sound, string samples and swooning vocals making one think of Curtis Mayfield, or the heydays of Philly soul. These numbers, along with "Sexy Thang" sound like things that should be big radio hits. And if Durand Jones & The Indications are stuck in the past, at least they've picked a good era to get lost in. "The Way That I Do" edges thing closer to disco, but most of Private Space occupies the space that was mapped out in the early Seventies by Marvin, Al Green, The Spinners, Thom Bell, and others. Immaculately arranged and produced, most of these cuts are textbook examples of how to do this sort of thing very well. For any fan of the genre, or for those of us who came of age in the original era, the music of Durand Jones & The Indications offers a nice reminder in 2021 of how great soul can still sound.
Private Space is out today via Colemine Records.
More details on Durand Jones & The Indications via the band's official website.
[Photo: Ebru Yildiz]