By Berlinda Recacho
I like to check out the dedications on records. Whether obvious or cryptic, general or specific, practical or indulgent, they reveal something about the artists' histories, inspirations, and gratitude. They might read like scrolling movie credits, or as enigmatic epigrams. Dee C. Lee has gotten her "thank you"'s just about perfect, printed elegantly on the matte back of Just Something, her new album on Acid Jazz, and you don't even have to pull out the sleeve! She calls her children her greatest achievements. She names John Weller as one of the departed always in her heart. The common link between these mentions is Paul Weller, son of John, father of Nathaniel and Leah, and Lee's ex-husband and bandmate. This fascinating history is borne out in her music. Lee transports the listener "Back in Time" (to quote the title of the first track) for a vivid musical experience from the late Seventies and early Eighties. Rather than being retro, it sounds of the time, and not just inspired or influenced by it.
Lee knows about this musical period firsthand: she lived it. She was impossibly chic as a background singer and dancer for Wham! supporting their first record Fantastic (1983). Listen to The Style Council, the brave and audaciously eclectic pop group formed in 1982 by Paul Weller after disbanding The Jam and you'll hear Lee's voice underlying Weller's lead vocal, rich and deep, warm and resonant, usually in the background, but sometimes stepping out into the spotlight, as in the chorus of "Wanted", the verses of "A Man of Great Promise", and the counterpoint in "Changing of the Guard", to name just a few.
After a seven-year run spanning jazz, soul, pop, R&B and the beginnings of house music, The Style Council folded in 1989. Twenty years later, The Long Hot Summers, a 2019 documentary about the band, brought Lee back together with drummer Steve White, keyboard player Mick Talbot, and Weller himself to re-record their shimmeringly beautiful track "It's a Very Deep Sea". Fast forward five years and Lee is finally issuing this album, set in motion by that reunion.
Lee is comfortable at center stage. Her singular voice is in fine form. She can be as breezy and light, or deep and full of shadows. She takes the microphone with a supple confidence and imbues the songs with lived emotion and empirical knowledge. The ebullient "Don't Forget About Love" captures a perfect, halcyon day. "Walk Away" is playfully soulful. "Anything" will have you singing along with the chorus. "Trojan Horse" is darkly triumphant calling the bluff of a toxic friendship. "Mountains" is moody and mysterious while "How to Love" and "Be There In the Morning" are coyly assertive. There is a seductive, mesmerizing quality to these arrangements. "Every Day Summer", penned by Lee's daughter Leah Weller, captures the lingering fall and swoop of attraction.
Passion, dedication and affection drive these songs. As Lee declares in the ultimate track "I Love You": "Problems we may have, but everybody does/memories we cherish of the present, than what was." This is what she might have sounded like as the Chairwoman of The Style Council, backed by irresistible rhythms and fierce flute trills. Of all eleven tracks, "For Once in My Life" is the closest to Lee's credo, set to music. Funky and uplifting, turning on a dime from past misgivings to newly-minted self-confidence, she joyfully proclaims: "I'm gonna take a leap /I believe what I believe/And I believe in me." The album title belies the depth and reach of its songs; it's a triumphant return, decades in the making and well-worth the wait. The last line of the dedication sums up the album's depth and reach: "to those that came before and will come after me: live music, love life, love each other and peace to all."
Just Something by Cee D. Lee is out now via Acid Jazz. Details below.