Where the 2017 release from Deltaphonic See Red leaned on psychedelic-tinged treatments of the skillful introspections and nuanced arrangements from front man Andrew T. Weekes, The Funk, The Soul & the Holy Groove achieves fuller resolution—more direct in both conception and execution. Fans may miss the expanse and poetry of tracks like “Too Late To Hang Me” and “By Your Side,” but balance and breadth take a back seat to a take no prisoner stance on this latest offering, leaving more than enough to sink your teeth into.
By the time you reach the first word on the opening track “Liars” you know you are in the presence of the same frustration-fueled authority that fed Tom Petty’s “Joe” from The Last DJ. The southern rock and drone blues excursion that ensues drips with a heavy low-end and a tinge of funk—a sound aptly summarized by those two chosen words pregnant with sweat and blood: “Holy Groove.”
Even the tracks that may have benefited from a more patient approach to the vocal mix still radiate with intelligence and authenticity. While core-sound songs like “Ghosts,” “Bad People” and “Don’t Have To Be Good” approach pre-’80s ZZ Top level dramatic satisfaction, the deliciously Al Green-esque “Starlit” will surely play as well when it is rediscovered 30 years from now as it does on this collection.
The album lulls for a moment on “New Mexican Rockstar,” a western rhumba that according to the lyric was written “for [Weekes’] second home and all [his] friends.” The band breaks character for the sentimental moment that may have been enhanced by the broader lens approach of earlier albums, but the eight-bar pulsing urgency of “If It Don’t Bleed” lifts the record back onto its feet.
The pace stills for the soulful “Mississippi,” where Weekes’ gut punch poetry shines: “Strung out like a mother of pearl / hangin’ ’round the neck of a dead eyed girl.” “The Denoument” offers another departure from the overall sound, this time more successfully. The patient lyric is dressed with plaintive organ and a cello-driven bridge that allows listeners a chance to drop in and realize the album on the whole, throbbing as it may be, is also just plain beautiful.
The record rounds off with a funk-rock reprise of the energetic rockabilly title track from the 2017 release, and if New Orleans at all inspired the swagger of the record’s driving closer, then we can once again give thanks to the blessed gift of this city’s holy groove.
