TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND “Future Soul”

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ARTIST

Tedeschi Trucks Band

ALBUM TITLE

“Future Soul”

LABEL

Fantasy

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What on earth, to borrow a famously colourful phrase from Italian political jargon, does the Tedeschi Trucks Band have to do with the monstrous future of the hyper-technological, robot-threatened city depicted on the cover? Very little, one might say, judging also by the artwork’s naïvely science-fictional, vintage aesthetic, though it is hard to tell how much of this is deliberate and how much accidental. The band’s musical formula, by now firmly established and deeply rooted in tradition, would hardly seem to hold much that is modern or futuristic. But if we pair future with the second magic word, soul, then we can certainly hope that at least some of it will survive into our tomorrows.

One thing is certain: Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, dressed not coincidentally as superheroes, are here precisely for this reason – to keep alive the flame, or rather the blaze, ignited by the combustion of blues, blues-rock, R&B, Southern soul, country soul and a dash of jazz. Founded in Jacksonville, Florida, in 2010, the supergroup has now reached its sixth studio album and this time has chosen a producer less closely associated with its usual circle: California-based Mike Elizondo, a collaborator of Eminem and Dr. Dre whose experience spans a broad spectrum of genres, from hip-hop above all to heavy metal, hard rock and country.

This more external perspective may have influenced the decision to opt for a certain concision compared with the past – just 42 minutes, following the four-disc I Am the Moon… – and a greater concentration on the songs themselves, without fully unleashing the firepower of the twelve musicians involved. This is something that becomes apparent with repeated listening, once the initial impression of a certain muted coldness and polish, and of music less fiery than we have come to expect, begins to fade.

The focus of Future Soul is the album as a self-contained mechanism, a mosaic of well-juxtaposed pieces and a finely balanced interweaving of different genres, without a single filler track or moment of fatigue. The ballads and mid-tempo numbers stand out in particular, glowing with inspiration and pathos, thanks also to Susan Tedeschi’s warm, tousled and supremely classy voice. The choice lies between the soul ballad “Who Am I”, underpinned by a simple, spacious “atmospheric” progression; the semi-acoustic interlude “What in the World”, enriched towards the end by the soaring slide guitar and gospel backing vocals; and the irresistible “Shout Out”, perhaps the finest track on the album, with its catchy riff and a structure that builds towards the chorus with the support of the horns.

There is also plenty of room to enjoy the rougher-edged material, from the iconic riff of “Crazy Cryin'” to the straight-ahead rock of “Hero”, with its splendid vocal surge in the chorus, and finally the mid-tempo urban blues shuffle of “Devil Be Gone”, which closes with a sumptuous guitar duel, the two instruments at last given free rein.

The final impression is that, while offering no sensational innovations, Future Soul effectively focuses and “distils” the band’s signature style.

Pietro Cozzi

DISTRIBUTED BY

Universal

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