Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators - "Keep Reachin' Up"

Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators - If This Ain't Love (Don't Know What Is) (Light in the Attic 2007)

Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators – Keep Reachin’ Up / Light in the Attic

Though you have to put up with all the rowdy immaturities of her pop divaness, you got to give a few props to Amy Winehouse for helping re-popularize classic funk-backed soul music to a young audience. She is obviously not the singular reason for the stylistic shift from the over-produced dance-heavy digital backing tracks of the late 90s/early 00s to the raw, live-sounding retro-soul in the mainstream today, but again, having a new generation research names like Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan just because they are listed as Winehouse’s influences is absolutely a good thing. I only even use Winehouse’s name as a comparison to Nicole Willis, where I should probably be citing Beverly Knight or Jill Scott as similar contemporary artists, because Willis has a discography that made that very transition from fronting trip-hop or electronica acts from the 90s to sporting a retro-soul-funk outfit with her third solo outing, Keep Reachin’ Up. With the help of the Finnish answer to the Daptones, The Soul Investigators, the Pekka Kuusisto String Orchestra, her husband Jimi Tenor, and producer/engineer Didier Selin, Willis has crafted an album of classic soul workouts that easily shows why Seattle’s always-impressive Light in the Attic Records was willing to follow up their Betty Davis re-issues with it.

Brooklyn-born, Nicole Willis has utilized her earthy, calm, soul-drenched croon for a number of acts in the last two decades. For the most part, she has stuck with the flow of the pop-soul genre as it transitioned from a number of styles, from acid jazz to trip-hop to urban to today’s retro-soul, always sounding completely effortless and natural. Over the years she has contributed her vocal chops to a range of diverse artists including Curtis Mayfield, Brand New Heavies, Deee-Lite, Wax Poetic, The The, Leftfield and most of the Mo’ Wax roster. All of the Finnish connections throughout Keep Reachin’ Up can easily be traced to her husband, Jimi Tenor, an alum of WARP, Matador and Ubiquity who is described as techno’s first cabaret star by AMG. Tenor has no doubt had a big influence on Willis over the years (or perhaps the other way around) as he has progressed from techno to IDM to new-groove to the recently released Joystone on Ubiquity where he teams up with the West African rhythm section Kabu Kabu for a Fela-meets-Stereolab sound.

Anticipation for this release has been stirring for a while now especially since London’s renowned DJ and tastemaker Gilles Peterson proclaimed opening track and hit single “Feeling Free” as the 2006 Worldwide Winner Song of the Year. Really though, that can’t be too much of a surprise if you have ever heard Peterson’s radio show as he is quick to champion most anything that is both danceable and soulful all the while molding the Northern Soul sound to his tastes for a number of years. “Feeling Free” is a hell of a song though as it pairs a backing track that can easily be traced back to Mayfield or Hayes with it’s string-heavy climaxes and deep funk rhythm section. Willis vocally swoons with grace overtop never sounding forced and teasing each and every syllable with her sexy alto. I find the vocal arrangements to be much less emphatic soul workouts as proto-disco paint-within-the-groove accompaniment. In contemporary comparisons, less Aguilera, more Winehouse.

As on the first track, The Soul Investigators color each track with Motown-like pop-funk instrumentals that are less concerned with fiery solos as masterfully capturing a groove and perfecting it. My personal favorite track, “If This Ain’t Love (Don’t Know What Is)”, is a great example of this. The Investigators head-nod there way into an easy-going groove that would have Berry Gordy bopping all night long while Willis effortlessly swaggers with minute harmonic precision never really grabbing the spotlight, but never missing a beat either. Tenor even contributes a quality flute solo that of course is strung through an echoplex plug-in; once an electronica artist, always an electronica artist. Later, “Invisible Man” ups the pop factor hand-clapping it’s way into Jackson 5 territory as Willis ups her vocal pitch that though sounding slightly uncomfortable, works well. “Blues Downtown,” on the other hand, is more of a workout for The Investigators with a deep funk organ and elliptical horn groove while Willis coos with jazzy melodic waves.

Though most of the names in the credits are Finnish, Keep Reachin’ Up sounds more Detroit circa the mid-60s when The Four Tops and The Supremes were teaming lush arrangements with party-soul vocals. While I want to group in Willis with contemporary soul vocalists like Sharon Jones, she is much less funk and much more pop-soul. The Soul Investigators and the Pekka Kuusisto String Orchestra doing a wonderful job of contributing a great live setting for Willis to shine over; they play with great talent, precision and most importantly soul, riffing just enough to loosen the arrangements but without ever stealing the spotlight. Keep Reachin’ Up is a solid outing for all the artists involved and should do wonderfully in the Northern Soul circuit, and thanks to the recent American pop-soul mainstream shift, may even make a few waves here in the States.