When the Geoff Barrows (Portishead) produced McKay dropped in 2003, I naively thought Stephanie McKay was going to lead the modern soul revival, but due to record label politics it was cruelly flushed before a worldwide release. The album found a slow building audience especially in Australia with her connection to Katalyst leading to collabs with the Australian beatmaker, which culminated in her joining Katalyst's touring juggernaut last year (where along with Steve Spacek she was the star of the show). On her new album McKay has gone for a more old skool sound then the hip hop and almost house backing of her debut. The title track sets it off with a driving soul riff and McKay's magnificent voice that is part '60s soul siren and '70s funk diva. Songs like Jackson Avenue showcase how modern soul should be done – a perfect use of beats and cuts with a great chorus as McKay tells us about her hip hop roots: 'Remember the day this crew called Rock Steady would play, Red Alert would spin the old 45s'. McKay can also move you especially on the tune written after reading letters to husbands in Iraq - This Letter, which captures a different emotion then normally presented in popular music about the war.
The Wrap: Don't wait for Amy Winehouse to come back or Erykah Badu to return to form – grab Tell It Like It Is and while you're at it go and
find her debut McKay.
David Knight
