‘Electric Love’ is here to act as the soulful soundtrack to your summer
Brother Wallace’s debut album finally lands — and it’s just as full of energy and powerful vocals as we’d all hoped.
★★★★½
Photo: Hana Snow
Brother Wallace is one of the newest voices on the soul scene and has quickly been making a name for himself after the release of his first single, Who’s That?, which acts as the opener for the album Electric Love.
With a thumping horn section lying right at the centre of the track, Who’s That? works as the perfect introduction to Brother Wallace, showcasing not only his incredible vocal range but also his skills in songwriting. I couldn’t think of a better way to open the album.
Final single You’re The Man slows the tempo down a little, but Brother Wallace’s vocals adjust really well to this much more vocal-centred track; layering his voice over the top of the chorus adds a layer of depth. In the verses, the instrumentation is minimised to just the keys, allowing the power of his voice to swing the track forward into the steady beat of the chorus.
Gone With The Wind, once again, takes on a different angle to the previous tracks, showcasing his adaptability to different subgenres within the style of soul. The more key-driven rhythm works wonderfully with these smoother vocals.
The titular track, Electric Love, along with Top Shotta, bring up the tempo again. It feels refreshing to hear a voice so powerful and driven amongst tracks with an equally strong drum beat, although it never feels as though Brother Wallace is competing with the backing; the two work seamlessly together to create a result quite transfixing.
No God In This Town takes a much more ballad-esque approach, the slowest so far. The lyrics really lend themself to this type of song, and this feels like Brother Wallace at his most vulnerable on the album, with the song slowly building up into a wonderfully mournful track — sonically, it works so well.
Who Do You Love?, with its almost Elton John-esque keys, has to be one of the highlights of this project. Practically bursting with energy, the climactic beat drop at the heart of this song sums up exactly why Brother Wallace is one that has to be watched. Any Day Now couldn’t be more different from the prior track and, although I think that his more upbeat tracks are just incredible, these slower songs provide a platform for his songwriting to really shine through. The lyricism on Who Do You Love? is quite easy to lose amongst the blaring horns and vocals, but this track forces the listener to sit down and face Brother Wallace’s songwriting head-on, with only a gentle guitar strum to aid it. He really lets the lyrics speak for themselves.
A Patient Man and Midnight Valley guide us into the second half of the album. Once again, those horns really add some flavour to the tracks, almost harmonising with his vocals. In the song Jealous, Brother Wallace provides a narrative. We hear about the heartbreak of watching someone you love with someone else. It’s a really moving song and, in true Brother Wallace style, it also sounds great.
Hope of Fools tones down the instrumentation a little, with bongos seemingly at the centre, and keys that lay down something almost reminiscent of a bass line. The closer of Electric Love, Let’s Get Together, finishes the album on an upbeat note, with Brother Wallace even encouraging the listeners to get up on their feet and dance, a seemingly impossible invitation to decline when this track begins to really kick in.
Electric Love is the perfect way for Brother Wallace to introduce himself: full of great upbeat tracks and incredible vocals. I’m excited to see how he progresses and grows as an artist after such a wonderful debut.
Electric Love is out now via ATO Records.
