Whilst all the self-appointed cool kids, those earnest music gatekeepers and wannabe important musicologists, are repackaging Americana and alt-country to varying success, The Wild Violets have taken a different, and much more fun, path and got on with celebrating the glory and glamour, the groove and great sound of soul and disco. And, as unfashionable as that might be in some (holier-than-thou) quarters, the results are fantastic.
“Sweet Redemption” is a song that blends the infectious soul grooves of Chic with the acid-jazz-disco-funk of Jamiroquai, at least, as an oldie, those are my reference points. But, rather than merely replicating the sounds of the past, they run them through more cutting-edge production, adding even more polish and pizzazz, as well as more grace and groove, and even more sophistication and style.
The result is a glorious blend of high-octane sounds – intoxicating harmonies, wild and wonderful piano lines, depth-charge funk bass, contagious beats, chiming guitar licks, all manner of clever dynamics, and energy levels that run headlong into the euphoric end of the dance spectrum.
Disco was certainly a maligned force when it first hit the public consciousness, who remembers the “Disco Sucks” movement set up by narrow-minded rock music fans scared that the Donna Summer and Kool and the Gang were going to turn up at their house and demand that they hand over their Foreigner and Styx albums? But The Wild Violets are the perfect reminder that, at its best, disco and ’70s soul were a force to be reckoned with —an infectious, liberating, adventurous, and enlightening sound, not to mention the soundtrack to a more than one social and political movement regarding race and gender. I don’t remember any REO Speedwagon songs being that vital!
But I digress. The Wild Violets are fantastic, and “Sweet Redemption” is the perfect reminder of just how glorious soul and disco could be…and, thanks to them, is again.
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