2015’s been a great year for new, indie soul. Right at the start we had the wonderful ‘Tin Man’ from Philly’s Aaron Parnell Brown and now, at the death, as it were, here’s an equally excellent collection from Lyle Divinsky. I don’t know anything about Lyle, save that this lovely 12 tracker was “discovered” by savvy UK soul scribe, Toby Walker (do check his authoritative web site – (www.soulwalking.co.uk).
Toby waxed lyrically about one particular song, ‘Fallin”. He described it as a cross between ‘Galveston Bay’ and ‘Groovin” with, to confuse things, a dash of Willie Mitchell’s production and Daryl Hall’s vocals! And, you know, crazy as it might sound, that description’s spot on. But to fully understand where he’s coming from you need to hear the song, and then you’ll understand. It’s one of those rare tunes where many disparate elements come together beautifully and though you can’t explain why, it just seems to work!
The good news is that ‘Uneven Floors’ isn’t a one track album. There are a lot more good tunes to commend. Here’s a few: The 70s flavoured ‘Hit Man’ is another outstanding effort that would be the highlight on a lesser long player; ‘Disaster’ is a busier tune (showing, I think, Lyle’s respect for Daryl Hall)’ ‘Serious Web’ is a lovely soulful meander; ‘You Want To’ is a dreamy ballad; and the album’s ethereal and sparse title cut could be an outtake from Maxwell’s ‘Urban Hang Suite’…. yep, loads of good stuff here!
You can find out more @ www.lyledivinsky.com but in the meantime, let’s be grateful that indie artists like Lyle are still out there…. taking chances and, musically at any rate, following their hearts and, of course, their souls.
(BB) 4/5
