Smoove & Turrell is a collaboration between beat-maker Smoove & soul singer John Turrell.
“Antique Soul” is the sound of one of the finest beat producers in the UK hitting his stride. That man is Smoove and this is his second full album release – his first having been snapped up by the legendary Acid Jazz label.
Ask anyone on the funk or breaks scene who’s dropping a rocking beat and “A Man called Smoove” is the earnest reply. So far so good. A Nu-funk legend is dropping his latest album – should be good.
But it’s not just good, it’s career making good and the reason why is that in John Turrell, Smoove has found his vocal match.
Throwing down somewhere between Otis Redding and Animals frontman Eric Burdon, geordie Turrell is the epitome of blue-eyed soul. A working class family man with a voice that takes him and everyone who hears it to a place so far away from everyday life – it’s like a door to a different world is opened in your ear.
Known mostly for uptempo, northern soul influenced, funk and beats jams, on this album Smoove finds someone who can roll with him on those lofty highs but then provide the gravel voiced soul for the comedown. Songs like “Darker Dayz” and “Without You” mean that this is an album with depth from a soul that can be as twisted and dark as it is joyful.
Not that you’d know that from sitting in the pub with them. Then it’s two lads with warm accents and infectious laughter who light up a room and make everyone wonder who the hell it is that’s turning a drab local boozer into the funniest place in the world.
Their first collaboration was “I Can’t Give You Up” - a track that was never meant to go beyond a 500 edition run of a 7” on an obscure german label. When the last copies of that run reached the heady heights of £166 on ebay with Northern Soul and funk fanatics in a bidding frenzy the boys knew they had found something a bit special in each other.
The BBC’s funk afficionado and occasional hellraiser Craig Charles certainly thought so. He has heavily supported tracks from Smoove & Turrell on his radio show and has even put pen to paper to write the liner notes for Antique Soul.
Smoove – even his mum now calls him that - describes this album as having an “old dusty feel to its production mixed with fresh contemporary edges”.
“I wanted a retro feel while keeping hip-hop production values in my beats. It reflects the different styles I play in my DJ sets - soul, latin, funk, jazz, easy listening, northern soul and hip hop. I’m a real crate digger and only play vinyl in my DJ sets. I found an amazing track by 70’s songwriter Lynsey de Paul that we sampled for You Don’t Know. Normally samples take forever to clear but someone played it directly to Lynsey and she loved it. We got everything cleared the same day ”
The lyrics that Turrell brings to the game reflect his own life experiences, from his relationship with his wife and family to his binging habits over cigarettes and alcohol. But while he deals with everyday subjects, his lyrics are never mundane, finding beauty in the ordinary and elevating the everyday to poetry.
John Turrell is a singer and lyricist who defiantly wears his heart on his sleeve whether it involves belting out his angst on dance floor fillers like “I Can’t Give You Up” or bearing his soul on the deep and funky “Darker Dayz”. Brought up by family members on a diet of Steely Dan, Free, Joni Mitchell and Cream he takes influences from all of those but as he grew older it was the soulboy delivery of Bobby Brown, George Benson and After Seven that started to inform his musical education.
Coupled with a vintage crate digger like Smoove and that delivery is turned into a funk weapon of the highest order.
So with the album finished the next thing was to find a deal. A copy was sent to Jalapeno Records who made an offer within one hour of hearing it.
The lads have gone from strength to strength both on the UK scene and across Europe. Previous to there album being snapped up by Jalapeno they have released a limited 7” single “I can’t give you up” on German label “Club Tikka”. The single soon found itself in a bidding frenzy on Ebay with copies reaching a startling £166, surely not for a new 7” I hear you cry!
Craig Charles BBC 6 Funk & Soul Show put pen to paper to write the sleeve notes for the album “Antique Soul” and also invited the whole 7 piece band down to Manchester to perform a live session on his Radio show. It doesn’t just stop there the boys have also been called in for a live set on The Janice Long Show (BBC Radio 2) and on the legendary Clive Anderson “Loose Ends Show” (BBC Radio 4). To top it all off the boys also won single of the week on Marc Radcliff’s BBC 2 Show.
Smoove and Turrell have released some outstanding singles this year, working with some of the best remix artists in the country and beyond.
•“I Can’t Give You Up” includes club remixes from A Skillz and Lack of Afro.
•“You Don’t Know” was smashed for the dance floor with remixes from Kraak and Smaak and Featurecast.
• “Don’t Go” was a limited 7” of the 80s classic. Smoove and Turrell style…some serious funk.
And now Smoove and Turrell are gearing up for their next full single “Beggarman”. Not only will there be some heavy, heavy remixes from the likes of Crazy P and Basement Freaks. They have also been hard at work filming their first video to co-inside with the release, shot in their home town of Newcastle. To top it all off the video is already being played on rotation on Deluxe TV in Germany.
John Turrell has recently found him self collaborating with other high profile artists like Ashley Beadle, Omar, Kraak and Smaak and has also won the male lead vocalist in the “Fantasy Funk Band” on BBC 6 Music which is being recorded and performed live at the legendary Maida Vale Studios for its 70th Birthday Celebrations.
The boys are currently on tour in Europe and in the UK, having just rocked Kendal Calling Festival, Glastonbury and the Big Chill Festival over the summer. Things are looking extremely good for Smoove & Turrell and it’s not even the end of the year. Watch this space!
'Sure to be one of the best albums of 2009 - This should be the future of Soul music in my book!' - DJ Andy Smith.