ALBUM REVIEW: Thee Sacred Souls – S/T

Penrose/Daptone

Released: 26.08.22

Penrose is the So Cal-based Daptone imprint that has slipped out a bunch of really great sun-kissed 7”s over the last couple of years, and now Thee Sacred Souls debut album, which as expected is an absolute delight. This is classic seventies soul done right – that usual Daptone approach of being authentic without being a hollow facsimile.

Opening track (and their debut single) tells you all you need: a sultry slow jam with gorgeous horn stabs and a spoken passage that is so perfect it’s almost daft. “I was meditating on love and you and roses…”. The band have that tight-but-loose thing going on, vocalist Josh Lane sings like one of the greats. Lie back, soak it in and pretend you’re in Imperial Beach.