US soulstress KENYA JOHNSON charmed us all last year with her ‘My Own Skin’ long player. Since then a selection of choice cuts from the album have been released in remix form and the latest, ‘Never Giving Up’ is currently riding high in all the credible UK Soul Charts.
That new mix (courtesy of the Edgewood Agents) takes pride of place of on this new Kenya collection; though “new” isn’t exactly right. ‘Skin Deep’ is essentially a reworking of the ‘My Own Skin’ album through various remixes from some top names in the wonderful world of mixology! Several of the new versions, though, have been available over the last 12 months. So, serious modern soul connoisseurs/collectors will by now be familiar with the loping remix of ‘My Own skin’, the thumping Sean McCabe tweak of ‘Let Me’ and the classic modern soul vibes of Tom Glide’s re-working of ‘Take Me Away’.
New to me are a pleasant acoustic look at ‘Brownskin’ and electro-flavoured mix of ‘My Heart’. I believe they’re previously unavailable, while the mixes that have been issued before were only available as digital singles. So, if you enjoyed ‘My Own Skin’ here’s the opportunity to enjoy it over again courtesy of people like Sean McCabe, Tom Glide, Edgewood Agents and Opolopo. who all give a new spin to some great contemporary soul.
(BB) 4/5
