It’s been a good year for female singers who peddle the retro soul sound. AMY WINEHOUSE, though not producing any new music, has never been out of the limelight (and remember what they say about “any” publicity?) while ADELE and then DUFFY have enjoyed major success with songs that seem to have their roots in 60s soul. Even ex-TEXAS leader, SHARLEEN SPITERI has a solo set which some critics claim owes a debt to Motown and SARAH BAREILLES’ recent chart rider ‘Love Song’ was redolent of the whole LAURA NYRO/ 5th DIMENSION thing. Those who dig that sound can now look forward to more of the same from new band LITTLE JACKIE – comprised of ADAM PALLIN and sweet toned vocalist IMANI COPPOLA. Native New Yorker, COPPOLA was brought up in musical household by a black mother and white father and her musical CV includes work with the DIGABLE PLANETS and a whole bunch of indie soul releases. Now teamed up with Boston multi-instrumentalist ADAM PALLIN in LITTLE JACKIE, IMANI says they want “to bring back positive soul songs like the Motown era“. The songs on the album – ‘The Stoop’ – certainly have the catchiness of Motown but there’s also a real swagger about them while the clever and provocative lyrics will call to mind the above-mentioned LAURA NYRO. The debut single – ‘The World Should Revolve Around Me’ is released on 25th August while the album – ‘The Stoop’ – is out at the beginning of September. The label is Parlophone and there’ll be a full review on www.soulandjazzandfunk.com very soon.
