Cool Million

Cool Million

Cool Million is a Danish soul, funk and house group made up of Rob Hardt and Frank Ryle. The duo works as a production team and collective, with a focus on contemporary soul music shaped by earlier styles.

Background

Frank Ryle founds Cool Million and is known in Denmark as a soul music figure. He also establishes Soulportal.dk, described as Denmark’s leading soul music page, and through that work builds an international network of artists, radio and club DJs, and record companies.

Rob Hardt, also known as Seductive Soul, is the German member of the group. He works as a remixer, songwriter and producer and has credits including work with Chaka Khan on Never Miss The Water, Keith Sweat on Twisted, and Roger Troutman & Zapp on Livin For the City, all for Reprise Records. He also, with Harry Zier, produces Donald McCollum’s debut album U Don’t Want My Love, which appears on Dome Records in 2006.

Releases and style

Hardt also releases music under his own project The Defloristics, including the jazzy deep house set Back In The Days on Lil Angel Records. Cool Million’s early releases include the single “Naughty Girl”, featuring Lene Riebau on vocals, which appears on the Expansion Records compilation Soul Togetherness 2007. Another track, “Walk Away”, features Scottish artist Eleana and appears on Sundae Soul Recordings. The group’s debut album is Going Out Tonight.

Their work draws on music from the early 1980s, with references to 808 drums, handclaps, party-oriented arrangements and strong vocals. The group describes its approach as aiming to keep the spirit of soul music intact while placing it in a modern setting.