American soul crew Sharon Jones And The Dap Kings have confirmed a handful of British tour dates.
Soul is a timeless commodity. Yet actually doing something fresh with the genre can be tricky. The charts are littered with slick, smooth approximations of 60s soul yet few grasp the grit and determination needed to match those recordings.
Hailing from New York, Sharon Jones And The Dap Kings have revitalised soul music. Recording on archive equipment, their sound at at once retro and timeless, putting their own stamp on a well worn template.
Over the course of three self-released albums the band have become a cult phenomenon, with The Dap Kings being recruited by Mark Ronson. Working with the superstar producer, the horn section will provide some grit moonlighting on the Mark Ronson & The Business International album.
Re-joining Sharon Jones, new album 'I Learned The Hard Way' has become a breakout success. Gaining much wider exposure, the album's raunchy soul grooves retain a real sense of fun.
As well as this, Sharon Jones has been able to work with a number of artists. Everyone from Denzel Washington to Lou Reed is a fan, with legends such as David Byrne asking the vocalist to work with them.
Arranging a series of British tour dates, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings are not the only members of the Dap Tone stable to be making a noise on this side of the Atlantic. The Budos Band are due to release their third album later this year, a bizarre mixture of psych-rock and retro soul.
“Heading into the studio for Budos III, I really thought we were going to make the first psychedelic, doom-rock record ever recorded at Daptone,” Jared Tankel said. “but somehow it ended up sounding like a Budos record.”
The Budos Band III is out on October 4th. Meanwhile, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings are warming up for the following dates:
November
3 London Roundhouse
4 Manchester The Ritz
5 Edinburgh Queens Hall
6 Dublin Tripod
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