Alexis Evans's third LP for Milan's Record Kicks, picking up where 2019's I've Come A Long Way left off but reaching wider. Where the previous record was a near-pure deep-soul homage, Yours Truly puts the Bordeaux singer in conversation with Norman Whitfield-era Temptations, Rick James, and even a touch of Prince. The press cycle leaned on Evans' growing reputation as one of the most convincing young soul voices coming out of Europe.
Critics singled out the variety — opener "Closer to the Water" gets compared to Durand Jones territory, single "Mister Right on Time" pushes into quirkier rhythm-and-blues, "Let Them Loose" is straight psychedelic funk, and the closer "The Only Apple" is mostly acoustic with West Coast harmonies. It's the sound of an artist no longer satisfied with revivalism.
Cool stuff:
- "Let Them Loose" was singled out by reviewers as a hybrid of Norman Whitfield, Rick James, and Prince — a track that announced Evans was done playing pure soul-revival straight man
- Includes an instrumental piece called "Hornado" that sounds like a soundtrack cue from a movie that doesn't exist
- The closing track "The Only Apple" swerves into acoustic folk with West Coast harmonies — a tone Evans had never tried before
- Released on Record Kicks, which has built a low-key but consistent roster of soul revivalists across Europe and the US (Aaron Frazer, The Liberators, Speedometer, Calibro 35)
- Evans has said the record was about giving himself permission to write outside the deep-soul lane he'd boxed himself into on the previous album
Spin it for: a young soul singer breaking out of the revival box — funkier, weirder, more playful than the records that came before.
Standouts: "Closer to the Water" · "Mister Right on Time" · "Do Something" · "Let Them Loose"
Sources: Soul and Jazz and Funk review · Record Kicks · Bandcamp · Discogs